I’ve taken the MP6 plugin for a test drive and so far, my eyes love what they see. MP6 is an experimental plugin for testing out new ideas for the various UI elements that are within WordPress. My first reaction after activating the plugin was, WOW. The textual elements on the screen instantly became easier…
Brian Krogsgard of Poststat.us has raised an issue that I never considered concerning the demo content displayed within themes on the theme repository. While commercial theme demos do a great job showing off what a theme is capable of doing, for at least some themes on the repository, the demo content ruins the look of…
Not long ago, Themeforest announced that theme authors would be able to choose a 100% GPL theme license. However, as a customer, it’s difficult to find where those 100% GPL licensed themes are located on the site. Upon browsing the Themeforest Marketplace, I could not find a category, tag, or link that would show me…
To celebrate the unique date of 12/12/12, ColorlabsProjects is offering each single pack theme for just $12. When checking out, you’ll need to use the special coupon code to take advantage of the deal. Here are is the list of coupons. STNDLNE12, use this coupon code while purchasing any of the Standalone Themes: Arthemia, Allegro,…
WPHub.com is hosting a poll right now that asks, What Has Been The Most Important WP Theme Feature In 2012? Out of the choices listed, I voted for Responsive Design because of the prolific usage of Tablets and smartphones versus the traditional desktop computer. On that note, I think it was a very wise choice…
A few days ago, WebDevStudios announced that they acquired the Startbox theme framework. I’ve known WebDevStudios to primarily be a client development oriented business so I thought it was interesting that they have decided to move in the direction of a commercial theme shop. I managed to get Brad to answer a few questions I…
Adam Whitcroft has released a 300 icon kit for web and user interface design called Batch. Each icon is a single Photoshop layer making blend modes and scaling a breeze. According to the license, WordPress theme or plugin authors should be able to use these in their works: You are free to use Batch (the…
Over on the Automattic Theme team blog, Michelle Langston has published a great primer on distributing themes whether they be free or commercially based. Besides the tips offered for distribution, the tutorial also covers a number of things all theme authors should consider doing before releasing there theme into the wild such as making sure…
It looks like after three years since the discussion took place on the WPTavern forums regarding the standardization of theme hooks, Doug Stewart has decided to put together a Theme Hook Alliance project to get theme authors all on the same page. Child theme authors and plugin developers need a consistent set of entry points…
Ravael Angeline has a tutorial posted on WP.Tutsplus.com that covers the basics of a header.php file. This particular file is located in every WordPress theme and is essential to how a theme works. Also worthy of reading following the tutorial is a comment by Tom McFarlin.
While Twenty Twelve has been an anticipated feature of the upcoming WordPress 3.4 release, some will be disappointed to hear that the new default theme for this year will not ship with WordPress 3.4. Instead, it will likely come with WordPress 3.5. However, if you’re interested in playing around with the theme as is, you…
Theme.FM has reopened to the public with a brand new theme store. After browsing around the store for a little while, I like the overall design and how the theme information is laid out. Simple, excellent use of white space and I don’t feel overwhelmed when looking over a design. Nice job fellas.
Fresh from WordCamp Phoenix 2012, Lance Willett who works for Automattic and is part of the theme wrangler team gave a great presentation for beginners on how to navigate the vast landscape that is WordPress themes. He covers the gamut such as where to look for themes, commercial themes, things to consider before using the…
Once again, I want to tell you to not blindly trust theme authors when they say their theme is SEO friendly. “SEO friendly” is just a label they put on their theme and since most of their customers don’t know what to look for to see if it’s actually true, yet know that it’s important,…
Theme authors take note, Andrew Nacin is currently leading the charge on rewriting large swathes of get_themes(). Andrew has spent the better part of the last week working on the WP_Theme Class which will make theme authors lives a lot easier. If you’re a theme developer, I encourage you to thoroughly review ticket #20103 to…