The template I have been using on this blog for the last 3 months or so closely resembles the classic Twitter look (see the image below).

Nice, isn't it? Well, I just love its look; it just gives (may be) not a little credence to the main topic of this blog: Microblogging. With that cartoonish, blue sky background, it is less harsh on your eyes when you are reading this from a computer. You can actually get this cool theme from this site. However, there are few things you have to check out for before applying any third-party Blogger template. If you hate to read source code you'll end up agonizing why your templates do not show properly at all.  So it is better to get your hands dirty if you would like to get the results that you desire.

How to choose a good, Third-party Blogger Template

I'll not delve into the choice of colors  to choose for your site. That is best left to you, the site owner. However, the most important factor that influences the look of a website's template are images mostly the embedded ones and the background images. Without this, many templates would be wholly made of CSS color schemes that mostly have a matt look.
If you are about to apply that glossy, third-party Blogger template to your site first analyse the template using this simple checklist (be ready to immerse yourself into CSS, Blogger XML format: source code):

1. Where are the template's embedded and background images hosted? This is very important. I once had the misfortune of running one third party template that had some images hosted on ImageShack. At the start it was alright. A few months down the line, the blog had error messages all over in place of the colorful images. . I just had to apply another template. One way to know where the template's images are hosted is to read the template's source code. Wherever there is an image URL, pick the URL and run a search for the image online. The best free, third-party Blogger templates usually have all their images hosted on Blogger but this is not a guarantee that the image cannot be deleted. Steer clear of templates that have images hosted on the developer's website.
2. Are you allergic to sponsored links on website templates? If you are, then it's best you choose some premium templates for your site.

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