In spite of getting involved in all this design disscussion and enjoying every minute of it, I have to admit that what you say makes the most sense we've heard so far. I've even recanted on my original aversion to the templates idea. A friend of mine explained it to me in a way that finally penetrated my thick skull to the extent that I now feel very enthusiastic about its possibilities. So... let's leave well enough alone and seriously reconsider templates as a means of allowing us all to make our own brew in the future.
I think the one thing I'd still like to add to the discussion is to say yes, we should keep both formats but that 'top' should have the Userpic added for parity. I'd also like to remind people that the 'top' option comes into its own in a framed situation where other things can be added to left and/or right. In that situation being too wide for comfortable reading doesn't apply.
[]
http://www.wopr.com/w3tuserpics/Eileen-sig.gif[/]
