Category Archives: themes

Do I need a better theme?

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I had switched to the WordPress default theme some time ago on this blog. The main reason was to test some plugins in a neutral scenario, but it sort of grew on me and I never changed it. I guess that’s a good sign for a default theme, but maybe time has come to add a bit more flair here.

The thing is, which theme should I use? I’ve been thinking about switching my personal blog to a wordpress photography theme, after all, I use it mostly for photos of the kids! So maybe I could use that theme over here.

Not sure though what do you like to see on a WordPress Guru’s blog?

School themes for WordPress

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I’ve just came across a collection of free school themes for WordPress. They will be useful for anyone building up an educational site, whether it’s for a school, an after school club, or even a particular class. There are a couple of good themes; I haven’t actually tried any out, but you can tell just by looking at them that they have some decent styling.

So, if you’re building a website for your class, or even setting up a sat prep site, check them out; I’m pretty sure you’ll find a theme that suits the idea you have in mind.

WordPress Theme: Innovation

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I came across a great theme called Innovation that has a great feature list including:

  • 14 custom option modules
  • 20 custom widgets and unlimited sidebars
  • 10 highly customizable page templates
  • Unique+powerful features and tools
  • Exceptional design and accordion slider
  • Accessible system for multiple galleries and portfolios
  • Special sections for News and Articles

The theme looks exceptional and is recommended for anyone who wants their blog or website to look like a million bucks. So, if you’re after something special, install the theme; project it onto a widescreen TV, mount some home theater seating and sit back and feast your eyes.

Test drive the theme here

Spotty Theme

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I’ve been playing with some ideas for a new site and using a theme called Spotty. It’s not like the theme has severe acne or anything like that; but it has a dotty like design in the page header and footer. Unfortunately it doesn’t have all the features I wanted (images and floating areas in the post content for example); and while I could update the theme to do all those things, well, sometimes it’s easier to pick a different one and start over.

Anyway, I’ll let you know once the site is live.

Looking for a new theme?

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If you’re looking for a new theme, there are a number of theme directories that can help you find what you’re looking for. One interesting one is Top WP Themes, a collection of WordPress themes that are great for any circumstance. There are themes you can use for plain blogs, themes you can use for ecommerce sites; themes you can use to sell ballet shoes and themes you can use can use to sell Baldwin hardware; themes to set up a college blog , or themes to set up a celebrity blog.

Check it out, you may find something exciting.

Top WP Themes

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I’ve pulled down some cool themes the other day from a website called Top WP themes. They have a collection of free themes which are really quite interesting. I’m playing with one called ClassicMag at the moment which I’m planning on using on a site I’m putting together at the moment. It’s a purple theme, which wouldn’t look too good on a site selling furniture or bathroom fixtures, but it fits the client’s logo, so it just might work.

I’ll let you all know when it’s up and look forward to your critique.

Check out the Freshtweet theme

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Have you noticed the new theme running down at my main blog? It’s called Freshtweet and has some really awesome features. My favourite is the dynamic menu on the left that exposes a set of functionality controlled by whatever widgets you place there. But the sidebar is dynamic in that it opens up to show the topmost widget and a user can select which other one they want to see.

So, for example, if you look at the site you’ll see the TweetRoll widget running on top. However, if I log into the blog, the first thing I see is my admin menu. Now that’s just genius, showing the user the thing they most likely want to see. Now if only LCD tvs could do that, rather than showing you what someone random THINKS you want to see.

Check out Freshtweet

BuddyPress 1.1 Beta

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Have you noticed the BuddyPress has moved onto v1.1? Well, the Beta was announced a few days ago which was quite lucky for me actually. I’ve been working with BuddyPress on a couple of sites and had decided to do with an interim release for one of them.

There are a few changes in this release, but the biggest one for me is the change in theming strategy. BuddyPress now uses child themes which makes it much easier to create an manage all the different pages in the site. Child themes work a bit like adding bed wedges to a bed; you have the same underlying theme, but you’ve overlaid it with something that can change the shape, style and layout of what you’re building.

So, go get the new download, but make sure you read the instructions on how you migrate to the latest version.

A design contest

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As WordPress 2.8 approaches an idea has been floated to try and improve the nav header at the top of the pages. The design contest is outlined on the WordPress blog, and there’s very little time to get your submissions in before the 2.8 go live. If you miss 2.8, there’s still a chance to get in on the 2.9 timeframe, but it would be a nice addition to have in this release.

Admin design is starting to become like the auto insurance market. A lot of offerings are starting to look similar, but you can see the differences when you look a bit closer. Certainly WordPress has a number of features I haven’t seen on other blogging and CMS platforms. My favourite feature is the auto-upgrade feature for the core and plugins. Can’t wait for it to catch on on other platforms.

WordPress lookup

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Are you a WordPress developer or theme designer who seems to spend hours hunting around for help around a particular tag or function? If so, Google has probably been your friend till now, as the quickest way to find the information you’re after. Now, however there’s a quicker way. Enter WPLookup, a quick way to search through WordPress’ codex.

wplookup

It’s a simple concept, you key in the tag or function you’re interested in and it takes you straight to the page you’re interested in. And you can also add it as a custom search directly in your browser. Simple idea, but effective.

Sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that are the most effective, and the ones destined to the most success. Who know, maybe one of these days I’ll come up with a killer idea, make my millions, then I can take one of those round the world trips, with a night in Nepal, one of those Vegas vacations and a round the world cruise.

One day …