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View Full Version : How Do You Like My New Design ?



Harold Mansfield
08-15-2008, 09:16 PM
After 5 days of experiencing serious technical issues with the Wordpress 2.6 (Just in time for 2.6.1:mad:) upgrade, and getting a new design to work.

I went through hell the last few days trying to put my blog together...turns out, the tech problems were from mistakes that I made made last year when the blog was new and I was "experimenting" with code, new pages and such.

* Word of advice to new bloggers using Word Press...Stay out of the .php files until you are ready for frustration, and delete old pages that you are not going to use. Trust Me*

Anyway. Got it all together and I am interested in what you guys think.

124 Beats Per Minute (http://www.124bpms.com)

vangogh
08-16-2008, 12:02 AM
I can't say I remember the old site, but the new one looks good. The home page seems a little busy. It's hard to know where to look at first. I like the look of the single post pages better. One less column makes them look a lot cleaner.

How much did you edit your old WordPress? Was it just the theme files or did you hack the core?

Harold Mansfield
08-16-2008, 03:29 AM
Usually I just purchase a theme that I like and edit the theme files. I learned early on that my design skills are not ready for prime time. (It's a lot different when you do it for yourself).

I have made subtle changes to some core files in the past, nothing major, but my problems when upgrading came from things that I changed or added that didn't work, and then never changed or deleted..especially old pages with rogue code in them.

This is a purchased theme that I just customized. After months of "hacking" free themes, and templates and never getting the right outcome, buying from designers is just easier.

vangogh
08-16-2008, 11:15 AM
I like hearing you say that buying themes is easier, because I'm working on my own premium theme now. In time my goal is to make the theme easy to edit through an admin control panel so people don't need to edit the files to customize the theme.

billbenson
08-16-2008, 04:58 PM
I'm not sure about themes, but the add ons available for open source programs often modify tables in the standard program. For that reason, whenever I hack something that requires altering the db I add a new table.

I cut a site over to zen cart from oscommerce. Something that should take an hour or two. It took two days becasue of the add ons I had in oscommerce that modified table structure.

Harold Mansfield
08-16-2008, 07:41 PM
I like hearing you say that buying themes is easier, because I'm working on my own premium theme now. In time my goal is to make the theme easy to edit through an admin control panel so people don't need to edit the files to customize the theme.

That is one of the reasons that I like purchasing themes. In the long run, not only do you get something that you like, slight customizations take minutes, and support is usually good.

Trying to hack a free theme into something is too time consuming, and it never turns out right.

At least with a designer most of the time you can rest assured that the code is right, and (at least with the ones I buy from) the support is great to help with any problems .

I always say know your limitations....for me, my design skills suck, so better to hire someone or pay , and move on to the stuff that you can do.

Aaron Hats
08-16-2008, 08:52 PM
I like hearing you say that buying themes is easier, because I'm working on my own premium theme now. In time my goal is to make the theme easy to edit through an admin control panel so people don't need to edit the files to customize the theme.

How about a hat/fashion theme?

vangogh
08-16-2008, 09:10 PM
How about a hat/fashion theme?

Interesting. What I'm starting with is a simple 2-column theme with some options via the control panel. Over time I want to add more customization options through the control panel and more flexibility to let people customize the design themselves.

I'm thinking of how I can incorporate different looks into the same theme. I think a fashion look could certainly work.

@eborg - It just depends on how well you know WP and how themes are put together. I find it easy now to customize free themes, but I have had quite a bit of practice. It also depends on knowing what you want and finding themes that are close already.

DannySantos
08-19-2008, 04:41 AM
In regards to the original post, I think your website looks very good. I always find it hard making websites for things like that (basically anything thats not a business and involves actually captivating the user with cool animation and colour schemes :)) but you've done a pretty good job of it, well done

Harold Mansfield
08-27-2008, 08:54 PM
Thanks Danny,
Just found a nice "link, and a nod", from www.WP-Premiums.com (http://www.wp-premiums.com), a PR 5 showcase and review site.

So I must be doing something right :) (Finally)

billbenson
08-27-2008, 10:59 PM
Real interesting as well eborg. I don't see myself making any similar sites in the near future, but congrats. Site looks good, particularly for a weekend.

I tried to sell stuff on ebay years ago, but I had the wrong products for ebay. I really haven't looked at it since.