Starting this week, I’ve switched to a cleaner, more traditional design with black type on a white background. It’s got a newspaper feel to it that should make it easier to read. For those of you who read WordCount via your RSS feed, check it out at michellerafter.wordpress.com. The design is based on WordPress’ Journalist v1.9 theme, which debuted recently.

I’ve also added a paged called About WordCount to explain the mission of the blog, and made a few other changes.

If you like WordPress, you’ll be interested in hearing that Automattic is getting ready to launch a new version of the popular blogging software. The expected release date is Nov. 10. According to Lorelle on WordPress, expect to see a new Administration panel interface, Comments panel overhaul and lots more.

Here in Portland, WordPress users are gathering to celebrate the event. The organizers of the recent WordCamp Portland conference are holding a WordPress 2.7 release party on Nov. 10 at Cubespace, the shared workspace on S.E. Grand. Read more about the event here.