How To Blog

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My Comprehensive WordPress Theme List Crosses the 600 Mark!!

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Wow, I can’t believe it — I’ve just uploaded the latest update to my WP theme list and it now contains a mindblowing 615 free wordpress themes that wordpress users can download and use on their blogs for free.

Some of the themes have been tested on WordPress 2.0, and have been marked as such, and a few of the themes are actually specifically for WordPress 2.0 and won’t work with 1.5.x (also marked accordingly).

I’m super excited about the prospect of all the new themes to come down the pipeline now that WP 2.0 is out — and for all of the updates to current themes that theme authors might be lured into performing given the fabulous customization that wordpress 2 allows.

For those who don’t know, WordPress 2.0 has taken themes to the next level in a serious way, providing the ability for theme authors to actually allow theme users with options that can be easily customized through a panel in the adminstration area of WordPress.  If a theme is customizable, there will be a tab under Presentation for “Current Theme Options”.

The Default theme that is packaged with WordPress 2.0 allows you to make changes to the theme’s header, including the font color and colors used for the background of the header.

But themes like Regulus 2.0 really take it up a knotch by providing checkboxes allowing the blog owner to change the header image, the color scheme, whether to show full posts or excerpts on the homepage, whether to display the post’s author on the homepage, as well as sidebar options such as ‘show calendar’, ‘show recent posts’, ‘show all archive months’, etc. 

You can also see a running demo of a new WP 2.0 theme called BloxPress which actually allows the blog viewer to change the layout of the theme, dragging and dropping theme sections around to change their order in the sidebar at will and adding and removing content as it suits them (something which I wish was incorporated into the WordPress core for the blog owners, at least).  Seriously cool stuff.

It’s a beautiful thing, this level of customization.  I sincerely hope that more WordPress 2.0 theme authors create their themes with these sort of theme options (and more!) in mind!

WordPress 2.0 also allows theme designers to include a screenshot as part of their theme package which will then display on the Presentation|Themes tab so it’s much easier to select a theme that’s suited to your blogging style.

I’m going to need a better way of managing my theme list now that some themes are for v1.5.x and others just for 2.0, etc which isn’t something I can easily due from within the constrains of TypePad.  Which leads me to my next post….feeling like I’m stuck in limbo and with a conundrum on my hands.

WordPress Theme Toolkit allows users and authors to add an admin menu to existing themes

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Just found out that Ozh has created a WordPress Theme Toolkit which, upon editing three lines of code in any existing theme, will provide Theme Authors with an admin menu accessible through the WordPress Presentation UI.  Very cool stuff — all would-be wordpress theme authors should check it out!  Same goes for those of you dabbling in modifying existing themes.  Nice work Ozh!

Holy Moly! WordPress Theme List grows to over 460 WP 1.5.x Themes!

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Boy, theme authors have been busy during the month-plus while I was sick! 

I just spent the entire day working on updating my comprehensive wordpress theme list, and it's now up to a whopping 463 wordpress themes! 

When I first started the list, I never guessed it would grow to be so large!  I thought we'd hit a huge milestone when we crossed the 200 mark.  Now we're at 463 and growing -- way to go to the wordpress community and all the theme authors that so generously have shared their work with us! 

Color me blown away!

369 Free WordPress Themes now available - the wp theme list has been updated!

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Just a note that my comprehensive list of free themes for WordPress 1.5 and up has been updated to add 13 new themes, and now consists of a whopping 369 themes!

As always, tremendous props to the many theme authors for all their hard work in creating these themes AND for their generousity in sharing them with the wordpress community.  If you’re using someone’s theme, I’d bet they’d love to hear about it so shoot them an email and give them the thanks they deserve.

On a more frustrating note, I’ve discovered at least two people who have stolen my wordpress theme list and reprinted it on their websites without my permission, one of them even claiming it as his own work (with the audacity of reprinting word-for-word all of the accompanying verbiage that went with my post!)  Fortunately, I’ve resolved the issue in both instances, but this prompted me to remind everyone that my blog posts (and yours!) are protected under copyright laws and may not be reprinted without permission.

Much thanks to Tony at tonystreet.com for notifying me about the guy who stole my post in it’s entirety and helping me to get him to remove it (and also for all the wonderful wordpress themes he has created and shared with us!)

To my loyal blog readers – if you come across a site which has stolen my theme list, please let me know by emailing me at howtoblog @ gmail.com (remove the spaces – protecting myself from spammers).  I’ve spent well over 40 hours in the months since March 2005 on both creating and maintaining my comprehensive list of free wordpress themes.

Also, thanks to everyone for the kind words (and patience) while I’ve been ill.  Migraines are a real nightmare to deal with, and prevented me from being online for quite some time.  But I’ve been feeling better lately, and while I’ll need to attend to some work in order to be able to pay my mortgage, I look forward to getting back to work on How to Blog!!  I’ve missed you guys!

WordPress 1.5 Theme Cheat-Sheet-- PLUS WP Theme List updated to 330+ wordpress themes!

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Tech Wench has created a great cheat sheet with the bare minimum of what you need to know in order to create a new wordpress theme.  Thanks, tech wench.

Speaking of WordPress themes, I’ve been updating my comprehensive list of wordpress 1.5 themes and it now links to a whopping 330+ wordpress themes!!  Theme designers in the wp community have been busy – and we thank you for your efforts and generousity!

Need someone to create a custom template or plugin for your blog? Need help with SEO? Check out Rent A Coder!

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I just found the coolest resource!  It’s called Rent A Coder, and you can post any project that you need help with, whether it be as simple as installing WordPress / MovableType / etc for you on your server, or as complex as asking someone to write a custom blogging platform for you.  Want a custom template for TypePad or a special WordPress theme and don’t have the time or skills to do it yourself?  Just Rent A Coder to do it for you.  You can even find people to help you with Search Engine Optimization, people to write content for you, etc.

Once you post the specifics of the project you need help with, coders will then bid on your ‘job’ and you can decide who you want to hire based on their bid, the feedback they received from other users on other projects they’ve completed, etc.

From their website:

Need a coder to help you create the next 'killer app' or answer questions?  Just post your program or question here and coders from around the world will email you bids on doing the work.

    You can review each bidder's resume and reputation online, and when you're ready to make your decision, you can rent  your personal, expert, coder with just a few clicks! Its that simple!


     Posting a bid request is free, and you are under no obligation to accept any bids sent to you unless you choose to.   Once you accept a bid, you will place your payment into escrow. The money is not released to the coder, till they complete the work according to your original specification. There are no service charges or finders fees for buyers.

On the flip side, got skills?  Flaunt ‘em and earn cash!

Looking to earn extra income using your hard-won technical skills?  Rent a Coder lets you locate and bid on coding projects and questions from around the world!  By completing a free registration, you can publicize your skills on the online resume system and receive emails as new bid requests come in.

So those of you who are creating all those great free themes and plug-ins (which I hope you’ll continue to offer for the sake of the blogging community), you may wanna consider listing your talents at Rent A Coder and earning some extra $$ through freelancing. 

I just did.

Customizing existing wordpress themes continued

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Sorry for the delay in getting this out there, but Urban Giraffe has come through again and given us even more tools in the quest to modifying wordpress themes to better suit the desired look and feel of your site.

Check out part two of Dissection of a WordPress Theme:

"Part two of this WordPress dissection continues to try and explain the basic workings of the software, how this relates to the layout, and how anyone can personalise their blog.

The focus will be on finalising the basic layout from part one, and then finishing the header and footer sections. Both of these are important as they stylistically define a blog and act as visual focal points – do it well and people will want to read your blog, do it badly and they may not even bother."

And when you've digested that, be sure to finish with Dissection of a WP Theme Part 3:

"This part will focus on the sidebar, the navigational centre of a blog, and flesh out its raw contents to be more functional and attractive.

The sidebar is where a visitor first looks when they have finished reading a blog posting. It tells them what else your blog has to offer, how to find it, and where to go next. It can be a great aid in directing visitors, or it can confuse them entirely. A confused visitor is not likely to return and so we should persuade them to stay as long as possible."

How to customize an existing WordPress 1.5 theme just the way you want

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Well, a big THANK YOU is in order to UrbanGiraffe who has created a theme guide for modifying WordPress 1.5 themes to customize them for your site (in case none of the 369+ free wordpress themes currently available completely fit the bill for your site).  Part 1 of the Guide spans 8 (!) pages and is quite detailed.   Here's an excerpt that hilights what you can expect from Part 1:

"Despite the availability of hundreds of themes, and the general goodness of the default Kubrick theme, sometimes you just want to give your blog that personal touch, and the only way to do this is by going under the hood and having a look around. <snip>

With this in mind I decided to write a guide that would help not only myself, but might also help others who have been put off trying to experiment with WordPress.<snip>

In writing this I will assume a rudimentary knowledge of HTML and CSS. I will attempt to annotate all the important parts. The guide will begin slowly, but should speed up once a level of comfort has been reached.

Rather than starting a theme from scratch, and having to explain everything, I will instead focus on dissecting an existing theme and explaining parts as they are required. From a personal point of view, I find it easier to learn things by focussing on the small details, and ignoring everything else. In this instance I will be using the default WordPress 1.5 theme Kubrick."

Part 2, which has yet to be posted, will focus on customizing your sidebar content.

UPDATE: Customizing existing wordpress themes continued

 

Alex King announces winners of WordPress 1.5 Themes Competition

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For full details, head on over to Alex’s Theme Contest Winners Announced where he describes the prizes, judging criteria, etc.  Thanks again, Alex, for hosting such an amazing contest which has truly brought out the creative energy of some very talented authors.  And many thanks to all the theme authors – you’re a big part of why the WordPress community as special as it is!

For those of you who just want the down and dirty details, here are the winners for the various categories

The Poobahs!

1. Grand Poobah - Connections
2. Plain Ol’ Poobah - Rin
3. Mini Poobah - Red Train

• Honorable Mention - Wuhan
• Honorable Mention - Orange Sky
• Honorable Mention - Green Marinee

Most Creative Design

1. Head (in a very close race)

Random Draw Prize Winners

• Almodovar wins Web Standards Solutions
• Greenwood wins The Zen of CSS Design

Pixel Perfect Design Prize Winner

• rdc* Theme
• FastTrack

Most Versatile Design

• Zen Minimalist (Gregory Auld)
• Sharepoint Like (Kimmo)
• LetterHead (Kimmo)
• Man~ja (Kimmo)

Global Appeal Prize Winner

• Almost Spring

Most like a Paper Diary Prize Winner

• Jakart