My Blog It » Free Themes

1 Step theme install – Not

David — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:01:14 +0000

Installing a new WordPress theme should be one click, well in a fantisy world maybe. I’m going to take you through the steps to getting your newly found theme ready for use.

Check your theme for the not so nice

After downloading your newly found WordPress theme unzip the files look for a file called functions.php with a text editor. Look for anything that looks like this:

What we have here is a cheap and easy encryption method. The bad news is we don’t know what the heck is in there. It could be anything from simple link back code to a algorithm allowing backend access to your WordPress dashboard.

If you find code even remotely like this don’t use the theme. Maybe another day I’ll show how to decode this.

Next look in the image directory; There should not be any text or php files in this directory. If you find one take a look for the same type code as above.

When I tear into a theme I open every file looking for any encription. I have seen themes with link backs in the 404 files too.

Title and Keywords

Many theme designers are very lazy when it comes to the title and keywords. Most will use a very simple title such as this:

<?php bloginfo(‘name’); ?>

So lets get started, open the header.php file.
I would suggest changing it to something like this:

<?php if (is_home()) { echo bloginfo(‘name’); echo “: “; echo bloginfo(‘description’); } elseif (is_404()) { echo ’404 Not Found’; } elseif (is_category()) { echo ‘Topics:’; wp_title(”); } elseif (is_search()) { echo ‘Search Results’; } elseif (is_day() || is_month() || is_year() ) { echo ‘Archives:’; wp_title(”); } else { echo wp_title(”); $subtitle = get_post_meta($post->ID, ‘Subtitle’, $single = true); if($subtitle !== ”) { echo ‘: ‘ . $subtitle; } } ?>

Keywords

Most theme designers will not offer any keywords or will often use their own in the keywords meta tags.

so find this:

and change theme to your keywords.

WordPress Version

This is meta tag that is really not needed. You really don’t want hackers to know what version of WordPress your using. So just remove this entire meta tag.

Footer

Now open the footer.php file and look for the that encrypted code as we talked about before. Most themers who make themes for sponsors will add encryption so that you don’t remove the sponsor’s link.

But then again, there could be more in the code than just some simple link code.

Tracking code

Now don’t forget to add your tracking code for google analytic, mybloglog….

Did I miss anything?

Interview with Sunny Nathan from Headsetoptions

David — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:50:19 +0000

Could you tell us a little about yourself
Thanks for asking. I am Sunny Nathan, a 32 year old husband, professional engineer and a part time web developer. I started learning HTML and CSS out of a desperate need to create database driven sites for a not for profit foundation I co-found with a school mate from Canada.

Where do you find your creative inspiration?
I am perpetually on the learning curve, since this is not my primary occupation I have not had an opportunity to obtain any formal academic training. With that said, I draw inspiration from many sources, magazines, television, the Internet, pretty much anything I encounter. I have lately taken to Blueprint CSS and I might use it in all future contractual work, maybe eventually use it to design free themes.

What tools do you use?
As of now, I am using Photoshop and notepad, I hand code the CSS and XHTML, so I seldom use any editors.

How much time do you spend on each theme?
Anywhere between 3 to 8 hours to design and validate, again some themes never see the light of day, so it totally depends on my mood.

Why do you do design themes for WordPress?
Mostly because people have come to expect of HeadsetOptions and MandarinMusing. We started off making themes to develop relationship with our user base and we feel it is a good way to give back to the wonderful WordPress community.

What is your favorite snack while hacking away at your themes?
I barely snack, but I do drink tons of coffee. I sometime work with the TV on, just to catch the news or a rerun of Seinfeld while coding.

Not including your own themes; What is some of your favorites?
I like most of the themes by Design Disease. Theron Parlin and Derek Punsalan make pretty nifty themes; Brian Gardner, Darren Hoyt (who I found out recently is geographically the closest well-known designer to me), Small Potato are some designers who are consistently good, I like hoards of other themes, too many to mention, but pretty much anything that gets of wpSnap is in my opinion pretty high up on my list.

What are some of your favorite hang outs on the web?
Frankly I do not get online as much as I would like to, I usually hit my Google Reader to catch on feeds, visit Seth Godin at least once a day ever since I moved from being a researcher to a marketer at my day job, and the rest are usually for emails and site updates. I visit your site every time I see you on my MyBlogLog friends list; I seldom log into MyBlogLog myself though.

When not at your desk, what do you do for fun?
My wife and I catch up on our respective experiences each day, we usually end up discussing politics, books or just about anything our mind wanders into. We watch a lot of classic thrillers; we both are Hitchcock fans and have only a handful of movies to go before we have seen em all!

Do you design for any other CMS?
TextPattern and Joomla, however WordPress is my favorite.

Where do you see WordPress heading in the future?
Undoubtedly towards becoming the most popular and the best free CMS in the world. It’s only a matter of time.

Be sure to check out some of Sunny’s themes.

Interview with ChiQ Montes

Free WordPress Theme Kitten in Pink

David — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:24:38 +0000

This theme is unlike any I have done in the past. Maybe because it’s pink. So .. yeah .. it’s a pink, 2 column, widget ready theme.

Preview Kitten in Pink | Download

Download includes psd.

Free WordPress Theme RoseWood

David — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:30:07 +0000

I just finished my latest WordPress theme RoseWood

Download | Preview

RoseWood is a 2 column widget ready WordPress Theme The download includes the psd files.

MyBlogit Updates

David — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:41:13 +0000

Just wanted to make a really fast post with a few tidbits of news.

Subscribers

MyBlogIt’s Subscribers has grown slow and steady from the very first post. But I have always felt unconfortable broadcasting the feed count. Well today that will change I’m putting the FeedBurner’s feed count widget on the site’s sidebar.

Comments

I have installed a few plugins to reward those commentors who post comments on MyBlogIt. Those plugins include: Top Commentators Widget and Commentluv So feel free to get involved with MyBlogit and comment.

WordPress Themes

I have been working, (or maybe I should say playing cause I enjoy it so much) on some new WordPress themes. I have created about 6 new themes. I’ll be fine tuning them and will be releasing them in the coming days.

Contest

I am working on a contest. It should be a lot of fun and will include a number of sponsors. More on this by Monday.

WPThemeHeap Site Launched

David — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:19:57 +0000

WPThemeHeap I just launched another WordPress theme site.
This one allows yout to list your free WordPress themes.

Feel free to stop by and list your theme. I might be offering this theme and plugin set for sale soon. But I will need to work out some of the bugs first.

I know just what the net needs another WordPress theme viewer.

Interview with ChiQ Montes

David — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:29:36 +0000

I got a chance to interview ChiQ Montes. It really is fun to make new friends within the WordPress themers community. What follows is some fun insight into ChiQ Montes.

ChiQ Montes, Please tell us a little about yourself.

I am ChiQ Montes. Female. Filipino. I have been building websites and blogs for 5 years already and have been designing WordPress Themes for more than a year now. I am a techie at heart and a very laid-back person as well.

Where do you find your creative inspiration?

I visit a lot of blogs everyday just so I’d get to see what kind of lay-out would best work for them and even cluttered ones would serve as an inspiration since I would then try to create a theme to help them improve their blogs. Also, I compliment this with visiting CSS Galleries for the creative part of the theme like colors and image/icon placement.

What tools do you use?

I use Photoshop for designing themes then the good ol’ trusty notepad for coding and editing.

How much time do you spend on each theme?

I do try to discipline myself by imposing a time limit in creating WordPress Themes so as to be productive as possible but then most of the time, it all boils down to how I creative I feel when working on a theme. Sometimes, it only takes an hour to execute my ideas but there are also themes that I end up doing for three days.

Why do you design themes for WordPress?

Ever since I learned about WordPress and have used them for my blogs, I simply fell in love with it. It made everything easier. But being a web designer myself, using other people’s theme was not enough for me. I have also seen a big demand in WordPress Themes therefore I decided to plunge in the market.

What is your favorite snack while hacking away at your themes?

Eating while working isn’t a good practice at all therefore I try not to do it if possible. But at times that I feel like breaking the rules, I usually go for Nacho chips!

Not including your own themes; What are some of your favorites?

I do like using illacrimo by designdisease

What are some of your favorite hang outs on the web?

I never fail to visit smashingmagazine, blogcatalog and entrecard.

When not hiding in your workplace, what else do you do for fun?

I watch movies a lot! I also read business books/magazines and even play computer games.

Do you design for any other CMS?

Currently, no.

Where do you see WordPress heading in the future?

Oh! I believe WordPress will soon dominate even the e-commerce platform. In fact, there are already Premium Themes and plugins available today for this specific purpose and I’d eventually want to WordPress themes for e-commerce sites.

ChiQ Montes Links

You can cacth her WordPress themes on her website WordPress Theme Designer, or you can follow her on Twitter, BlogCatalog and MyBlogLog. I think we can all learn a great deal from this budding designer.

Free WordPress Theme Loopy Rainbow

David — Sun, 18 May 2008 21:39:40 +0000

After many request I have taken my old WordPress theme Loopy Blue and have made 7 skins for it and have renamed it Loopy Rainbow. once installed you can go to the theme’s option page and choose your color set. You can pick: blue, black, red, purple, pink and rainbow. I have also made a few small changes to the core like the RSS Icon has been added to the sidebar.

Download Loopy Rainbow Preview it in black

I have also added the FireWorks png files so you can make your own skin as well. You can share them with me and I may bundle your skin with it in future updates.

I would love to hear what you think of Loopy Rainbow.

Free WordPress Theme:Political Politics

David — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:40:35 +0000

A Political WordPress theme for you guys! Its a 3 Column widget ready with 2 built-in Adsense spots. Valid XHTML!

Demo Political Politics | Download Political Politics

You can add your Adsense publisher numbers in the files adsanse_sidebar.php & adsanse_top.php. Open bio.php to edit your bio.

New WordPress Theme:Squeeze Page

David — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:25:24 +0000

I was helping a friend with the design of a squeeze page today and it inspired me.

It’s a single column, widget ready theme, with 3 column sidebar at the bottom and a page menu at the top.

Download Squeeze Page | Preview Squeeze Page

Please tell me what you think.

UPDATE

Yan from [Geeks Are Sexy] reported a bug in the header. It’s been fixed. Thanks Yan!