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Wordpress

Gorgeous Premium Wordpress Themes: ElegantThemes, Thou Art Aptly Named

by joi on December 20, 2009

in Blogging

I, personally, am not on the lookout for a new premium wordpress theme on any of my blogs. But after seeing these gorgeous premium themes, I kind of wish I were.  I’ll be honest, I did a quick run-through in my mind of each of my blogs – more or less hoping one would scream “Re-do me!”

No such luck.

But I’m so in love with these themes – and with the deal – I may just have to think of a new blog!  The themes causing me all of this trouble are the ElegantThemes and it has been a while since I’ve seen something so appropriately named.  If you are currently looking for a theme for your blog, you have to look at these beautiful themes.  Also,  if you have a website that looks outdated and you want a new layout, consider a blog.  They’re golden with search engines, easier to update and maintain, and with themes such as these, they’ll look as professional, up-to-date, and gorgeous as any site online.

Here’s the Coolness of these Themes:

When you sign up, you get access to ALL of the ElegantThemes for just $19.95 a year.  I think there are currently nearly 30 themes.  The Elegant Themes are always compatible with the latest WordPress release, as well as with the most popular Internet browsers.  Also, each theme comes with a unique set of features. Click one of the links within this post to jump over to the ElegantThemes gallery.  Then, click “features” to view a list of each themes features and “preview” to see a live demo of the theme.

When you sign up, you get downloadable access to all of these professional and handsome themes, including those added after you signup!   All for $19.95 per year.  It’s kind of like having your own personal designer on retainer – for about $1.50 a month!

More:

  • If you cancel your membership, you still keep the themes that were released when you were a paying member.
  • All payments are handled through paypal.  You don’t even have to worry about remembering your payments, Paypal will automatically bill you for the next year – unless, of course, you cancel your membership.
  • A support forum is available – and everyone seems to be in a good mood… always a good sign! ;)

*** On the Bold Theme  (a personal favorite), check out how they’ve handled the social media icons – love it!

Bloggers and Would-Be-Bloggers: For Your Eyes Only

by joi on October 24, 2008

in Blogging

Wordpress.org

Bloggers

WordPress 2.6.3, of course, came out today. I say “of course” because fate’s funny like that. She likes to catch me with my hands full and throw me an apple right then. Does she wait for my hands to be empty? No, man, she just doesn’t roll like that. I think she peeks around corners waiting for me to get as busy as I can humanly be, then BAM! WOMAN YOU NOW HAVE 18 BLOGS TO UPGRADE.

Hate it when she channels Emeril.

Anyway, get thyself to wordpress.org and do the whole upgrade thang. However, if you don’t already have the Wordpress Automatic Upgrade Plugin, get it first. It’s the easiest plugin in the blogosphere to work with. Unlike many plugins, it’s never bitten me once. Good boy.

Buy the Thesis Wordpress Theme Today!

Another Upgrade: if you’re part of the Thesis Wordpress Theme Community, you may already know that Chris Pearson has made improvements to the amazing Thesis Theme. He has made everything so freaking easy and so highly manageable that it’s as though he’s sitting at your desk with you, showing you how to basically click a button to whip up the specifications you want.

What I, personally, love about the udgrades is that he has created a theme that is so highly customizable that you can make your blog just that – YOUR blog. I’ve noticed that lately I’ve found myself on a few great-looking blogs and wondered, “Is this Thesis?” – then I scroll to the bottom to check it’s ID bracelet. Some are and some aren’t, and that’s the point. With the newest customizations, each blog can really get its individual groove on.

The only ways you’ll really suspect that it’s Thesis is if the content is highly readable, the layout and overall look is brillaintly clean, and if the blogger seems to exude a high sense of “I take this very seriously…”

Speaking of originality, I have to say this about your’s truly – for better or worse, I don’t hesitate to dance to my own music. I crave individuality and had rather stand out than blend in any day. That’s why, when I first began blogging, I literally had a different theme for each blog! I wanted each to be 100 percent different from their brothers and sisters.

Only recently have I switched EVERY SINGLE BLOG I HAVE to the Thesis Theme. The reasons? First and foremost, it’s clean and easy to read and a cinch to navigate. For anyone with their visitors at the top of their priority list, Thesis is their obvious choice.

Secondly, I have over 16 blogs I desperately want to update, post on, and keep current. Of all the blog and website devolopers out there, I trust Chris Pearson the most. Hands down. My blogs and websites are my career – they’re all I (personally) have in the way of generating income. Can you imagine how important that makes them to me?!?! If they don’t do well, I don’t do well.

I know all the research Chris does with SEO and I know that he knows wordpress and blogging inside out and upside down. Because he’s a blogger, himself, and works so closely with bloggers, he knows that one of the things we need the most is for everything to be as convenient, fast, and easy as possible. We all have lives, after all!

It’s also great that I only have to be familiar with one theme – I no longer have to get into the html of a blog and wonder, “Now where is xxxxx located on this blog?” Not counting a few business blogs I do housekeeping for, Thesis is the only blog theme I work with.. so I know where everything is. Makes everything so much easier.

Easier’s good.

Yet another huge benefit of Thesis? Remember earlier I made reference to the Thesis Community? That’s honestly what it’s like. The guys and gals on the Thesis theme forum couldn’t be more helpful if you promised them a lifetime supply of chocolate, coffee, and neck rubs. They even give you the EXACT code for customizations most of the time, all you have to do is copy/paste. During those rare times when virtual Chris isn’t standing behind your chair helping you, his forum team gathers around and helps you out. After all, he can’t be everywhere all the time – if he were he’d be Tyra Banks. And, fierce as he may be, he hasn’t the cleavage to pull it off.

With the customization options and the many choices you now have, you can make your Thesis-themed blog as unique as you are.

Finally, below are a few Must Reads for bloggers. They’re amazing posts and I know you’ll get a lot from them.

How 3 Drag Queens in a Bus Lead to Better Blogging

How to Write With a Distinct Voice

Wordpress Upgrade Woes: Too Many Upgrades Too Often?

Manage Your Blog Comments with BackType

Being Sly as a (Fire)fox When Blogging

by joi on August 7, 2008

in Blogging

Firefox LogoI’ve never really taken a side in the Internet Explorer vs. Firefox battle simply because I think both offer great options.  Truth be told, people who get overly bent out of shape over this little rivalry give me a headache – they just have to have some better cause to champion.  Wouldn’t you think? 

While there’s nothing wrong with having a preference, saying things like, ”I know this doesn’t work in IE, but too bad…” or “My blog doesn’t look good in Firefox, but so what…” just show that you aren’t as concerned about others as much as you are yourself.

Decidedly uncool.

I actually use both browsers, so I can see how my blogs and sites look in each – in an effort to keep my visitors from seeing fugocity in whatever browser they find themselves in.  When Firefox first came bounding on the scene, he did crazy weird things to fonts and web pages.  He has evolved to the point that I think things look as good in FIrefox as anywhere.  The differences are actually really small now.

I HAVE found, in all honesty, that if you use Wordpress to publish your blog, you’ll be far, far, far better off doing so in the Firefox browser.  I had a few small issues with things not working exactly the way I wanted them to.  Knowing that a great number of technological masterminds (such as the ones who develop Wordpress) use Firefox religiously, I decided to write my posts in their browser of choice for the day.

Sure enough, the small issues I had were NON issues in Firefox.  As a bonus, there’s the amazing spell checker that lets you know instantly if the e got anxious and came before the h in the or if your brain checked out on you and you misspelled a word.

Using Firefox for blogging is a sly move and can save you a lot of time and effort.  If you’re battling a certain element in your blog publishing and wish it worked another way, launch Firefox and I’m pretty sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.