One problem with the default layout is that it takes up a lot of vertical real estate, to the point where the first post in a thread is below the screen and I have to scroll down to see it!

Removing the search bar helps, but I can’t help but think there is a better use of space here.  For instance, the thread title and path are displayed twice: in big letters at the top, and in the dropdown navigator below.  (Three times if your blog has a nav bar: it’s displayed there, too.)  The thread title is displayed three times when reading it, because there is an additional bar devoted just to that, which is separate from the page navigation bar.

I’d like to have an option to make all that stuff more compact so the actual content is easier to see.  I have some ideas, but since I don’t know how everything is coded, I’d like to throw out the idea first and see if our awesome developers have anything to say.