Layout help for the utterly clueless?

[blackmare]

I know there are plenty of custom layouts available for DW, but it's like pressing my nose against the candy shop window and knowing I can't have any, while the other kids are in there getting toffee and chocolates.

You see, none of the instructions I have found even make sense to me.  I'm not literate with coding and I don't even know what most of the references are to layers, etc., so I seem to be stuck. I need someone to actually walk me through this. I tried once on my own and the results were awful.

Please, is there a Guide for The First-Timer? Preferably with visuals, so that "Enter X code in Y layer" translates to "Type this code into this field right here on this page, see?" 

If there is, it'll help drive a lot more users here, IMO. The two biggest obstacles I'm seeing at LJ are "none of my friends are moving" and "I would move but I hate DW's styles."

For what it's worth, I've already moved, and paid, because my privacy is more important than my layout, but I feel the frustration all the same. 

Comments

[zvi]

If you did mockups of styles as either HTML or big graphics, and posted it to style_system or stylemakers, you might find someone who knows how to use the style system who would like to collaborate on "softer" layouts.

If you just would like to make color schemes for existing layouts, you can read the Quick and Dirty Guide to Creating Color Schemes and then submit your color schemes to dreamscapes.

And if you don't want to get into any of that, that's cool, too, but we would like to have styles that appeal to people who don't like any of the styles we currently have, and I don't know that any of the people who have been making styles are suddenly going to get hit with a brand new aesthetic any time soon.