Blogging 101: Picking A Theme
Blogging January 4th, 2007Although content should be your number one priority, a nicely designed blog is import to keep readers clicking and exploring through your archives. A good design, especially if you constructed it from scratch should generate a lot of buzz and conversation.
If you dont have any design or coding experience, no problem. There are thousands of free themes available for WordPress. Check out this directory for hundreds of free themes, or alternatively here’s a few independent sites offering themes.
5ThirtyOne
5ThirtyOne is the online home of designer Derek Punsalan. He has three themes released for public consumption, 5ThirtyOne V2, October Special, and Foliage. There are some of the best quality themes I have found to date, and at this current time I’m using V2 (with some customization) for my blog.
ThemePorter
ThemePorter is one of the most extensive WordPress theme sites I have come across. They have dozens of themes up for download sutiable for any type of blog.
Good luck with finding a theme for your blog, remember, content is key, but a good design will help improve the “stickiness” of your blog and make it more enjoyable for readers to navigate.
Next up in the series, picking out plug-ins which are essential to install before you launch your blog.
January 4th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Glenn, this has to be one of the best series’ I have seen in a while. When I started my blog, this seemed to be the hardest part (for me). I think I have finally chosen a theme I like. It’s very flexible. Anyway, keep up the good work. I am really enjoying this theme. Since I am fairly new to blogging, I have a feeling the next step will help me loads, as I just got past this step :-). Can’t wait!
January 4th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
When I started hosting my blog rather than having a free one, the 5ThirtyOne theme was the one I went with. Then I found your blog and thought it would seem like I was “copying” someone else, so I went with something a bit more.. me.
Just to plug my own blog for a second (sorry!), I just released one showing my desktop, which I’m sure you’d be proud of, Glenn! Hehe.
If you are incredibly bored, check it out at http://www.steffanwilliams.co.uk/blog/
Why do I always stay up gone 5am? -sigh- I was up until 10am before going to bed last night.. or this morning, depending how you look at it.
January 4th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
@ Taylor:
Nice, clean theme for your blog! Just a quick question.. how is the Nike + Sports Kit? I really want to buy one for myself but I’m holding back until I find out more about it.
Is it really of use? Or is it just having an iPod and a new pair of shoes? =P
And about what Taylor said.. this really is a good series, cheers Glenn!
January 4th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
I’ve been blogging (Well…) on and off for years, I’ve always insisted on using my own, or at least a modified version of someone elses theme. It really makes your blog seem more important if it uses something special. When someone sees that everyone and their pet dog is using a theme, a lot of the time they’ll see yours, go “meh”, and wander away. At least, that’s what I do. :P
January 4th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
By the way, I’m finding it kind of hard to determine where a post begins and ends with all these bold titles now. :P The only hint is the larger text. Also, what browser do you use? I mentioned a small Safari bug a while ago, not sure if you noticed. Here’s a screenshot:
http://www.alexsuraci.net/upload/files/screenshot.jpeg
It’s because the header and its background are different file formats, Safari seems to darken PNGs a bit. Once the header is converted to PNG goodness it should be just fine. Unless it’s meant to look llike that, then pardon. :P
January 4th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
@ Alex Suraci:
I’m with you on the whole “modify someone elses theme” idea! I still do that now. It’s easier and the template is already in place.
About the Safari issues, I use Safari and I don’t see anything anywhere near as bad as that! I used to on my own websites (even though the background of the images was the same hex value as the website background), so I now go with transparent GIF’s with mattes on them.
It could be an issue with your Safari as to why that’s so damn awful though? =P
January 4th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
@Steffan: I love your blog theme. It’s currently the one I like the most out of all the blogs I read. Seems like a K2 mod — it’s nice.
Glenn, Derek also made ‘Pink October’ which was version one of ‘October Special’ for the cancer awareness month.
January 4th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
@ zzap:
Hey! Cheers for that, much appreciated! I was actually thinking of re-designing the entire thing to make a fluid layout; sticking with the brown though! Hehe.
I’ve just looked at K; looks very sleek. Nicer than my theme, to be honest. However, your comments are very much appreciated, zzap!
January 4th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
I’ve never heard of Theme Porter before it looks like a great place for themes. I recently changed my theme to look more simpler and it’s really helped.
January 4th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
@ Josh:
I’d never heard of Theme Porter either, thanks for that Glenn, I agree with Josh on that one.
Your theme looks very clean, Josh. Very nice indeed.
January 4th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Steffan, I have the Nike+iPod sports kit and I recommend you purchase it too. You really need to use it to see what an amazing product is really is.
January 4th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Thanks Steffan. I’ve also got a Nike+iPod Sports Kit and I’m very pleased with it. Going to go out for my first proper run tonight I think.
January 5th, 2007 at 12:14 am
hmm nice series. I think it will be really awesome for people who want to start blogging.
@iPod thing: I like the sports kit idea. It’s one of the reasons why I would likely buy the Nano instead of the Video. Currently I have the 4GB Mini. It’s fine though.
January 5th, 2007 at 1:05 am
What about K2? Probably one of the best themes out there.
January 5th, 2007 at 2:47 am
@ Josh and Glenn:
Hmm, thanks for that. I’ll be picking one up when I buy my new computer (come Macworld), then!
It does look kinda cool.
January 5th, 2007 at 3:12 am
@ Steffen
Glenn said exactly what I would have said. :-) You should purchase one, I mean it is really worth it! The shoes were 100 USD but they are really nice too. I was at basketball practice last night and they were really nice for the run part.
January 5th, 2007 at 5:44 am
There are plenty of hacks out there which means you don’t have to use Nike trainers too, however I chose to purchase some anyways.
January 5th, 2007 at 5:47 am
@ Josh:
Yeah, I’ve seen some of them! I’ve got to admit, I’m not a huge fan of Nike trainers. I was thinking about just attaching them to my VANs or something.
May have to buy me some Nike trainers for the gym though - I do like buying things. Hehe.
January 5th, 2007 at 6:47 am
Henry: I agree, K2 is the best. Rolling Archives rock!
January 5th, 2007 at 7:03 am
I like K2 but it is being used by alot of bloggers and I see it more and more. I used the pool theme but I modified it for one of my blogs.
@ Taylot: nice theme, reminds me of digg a bit.
@Steffan: cool blog, just added to my feeds.
January 5th, 2007 at 7:11 am
@ Michael:
Hey, thanks for that! Much appreciated. Your link for ‘one of my blogs’ leads to DreamHost… was it meant to, or was it meant to lead to the blog? Just wondering, because I wanted to check out the modified theme!
January 5th, 2007 at 7:21 am
oops, the links is http://projectspurs.com/blog/
It’s not a huge change, just enough for it to fit for what I’m doing.
January 5th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Themes are great if you don’t have the time or expertise… but if you do I’d highly recommend having a crack at it yourself. There are even a few tutorials on the net on how to convert your normal XHTML into a WordPress theme.
January 5th, 2007 at 8:47 am
One of the great things about K2 is the fact that you can get other styles for it. It is the same amazing K2 under the hood. But it looks really nice.
January 5th, 2007 at 8:58 am
@ Michael:
Ahh, much better. It looks kinda funky! Nice and simple.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Is there any way to install wordpress easily? Such as without editing a bunch of text files etc. So basically what I want is a way to install it like most other mac apps.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:03 am
@ Micheal: Cool blog. What plugin is that you have under your posts for social bookmarking sites?
January 5th, 2007 at 9:05 am
@ Dustin: Yes. You can get a blog at wordpress.com, or you can get hosting with a host that has fantastico. Fantastico allows you to fill in your information and then makes the blog.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:07 am
I think he is referring to installing WordPress locally?
January 5th, 2007 at 9:13 am
Thats right Glenn. I already have a wordpress.com blog, but I don’t want to be online everytime I write a post.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Are you refering to software with which you post to your blog, or actually installing wordpress locally on your computer?
January 5th, 2007 at 9:19 am
@ Dustin
You don’t want to be online everytime you post? Does WordPress have some sort of syncing functionallity between offline and online blogs? Or would you just copy and paste it when you were next online?
If it’s the latter - why not just type it up in your favourite text editor and post next time you’re connected to the interweb?
January 5th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Henry: Either or.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Well, then it is much easier to use a program like ecto. You write a post in the application, then it will post it. If you do not have an internet connection, it will post it when you do.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:25 am
@ Shreedhan and Dustin:
I do what Shreedhan says - I use TextMate to type up my entries as I’m wandering around places or just can’t be bothered to sit online. Then I copy / paste it all into Wordpress and preview it before uploading.
If that’s what you meant, it’s a good suggestion. =P
January 5th, 2007 at 9:31 am
Thanks Henry, thats what I was looking for.
Another question: can I use the themes with my blog on wordpress.com? And if I can, how?
January 5th, 2007 at 9:37 am
I don’t think so. Wordpress.com doen’t have ftp access, so no. But these guys do http://weblogs.us/. And it’s free.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:41 am
@Henry
It’s actually not a plugin, I just got the code from each of the sites and then placed it in my Main Index Template under the entry or post section.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:45 am
@ Micheal
Well, I don’t know anything about wordpress.com. I assumed you wouldn’t be able to use themes because you usually have to upload them using the ftp address given to you by your webhost.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:23 am
@ Michael:
Thanks. (Name is Taylor by the way :-P)
@ Dustin:
Yeah, from before I got hosting and I used Free Wordpress, I think you can only use the ones available. Correct me if I am wrong.
January 5th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Hey Henry,
Do you have IM? Hey, go and email me on my contact page and tell me if you do or not. Just so we can talk on somewhere other than Glenn’s comments.
http://www.taylorsblog.com/index.php/contact
January 5th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
And that, Taylor, is exactly why Glenn should get some discussion forums on the go. Hehe.
I did read that was in the cards, right Glenn? Or did I just dream that up…
January 5th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
@ Steffan:
Yes, I do believe I saw that as well. Hopefully Glenn is whipping something up. We know he always is ;-). Anyways. Yeah, we should get like an iChat/AIM message going. Just send me a message on my site’s contact page (linked on lower comment).
@ Glenn:
My (late) Christmas wish: Glenn Wolsey Blog Forums :-P
January 5th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
I could have a forum up and running within a week for you guys, however I have a concern.
If I create a forum, I fear that comments on the blog will drop down to a dismal amount due to the posts in the forum. And for me what blogging is all about is engaging to the readers via comments. Thats the only thing holding me back from the forum.
January 6th, 2007 at 3:09 am
@ Glenn:
I see your point.
I don’t know about everybody else, but I promise to keep commenting on your posts.
January 6th, 2007 at 7:02 am
Glenn: Why don’t you integrate WordPress with the excelent forum software Vanilla? It links the comments directly to Vanilla.
Just my 2 cents.
http://lussumo.com/docs/doku.php?id=vanilla:integration:wordpress
January 6th, 2007 at 7:43 am
Glenn, do whatever your head tells you but I do agree with you. Sure we could have Apple topics in the forum, but the comments underneath a post are much more engaging and I’d rather comment here relating to a post rather than go into a forum.