- 10
- Apr
Archive for Wordpress
- 18
- Apr
Wordpress Theme Gray Bird
Gray theme, again. It has 2 columns, supports widgets….valid code. You can use it for more than just a blog. This theme could also be used for other kinds of websites. Try the live demo and download it if you like it.
- 16
- Apr
Speedlinking: Sponsored themes
http://www.wpdiva.com/themes/48/ethical-theme-sponsorship-links.html
http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2007/04/09/sponsored-themes/#comment-1157538
- 16
- Apr
Wordpress Green Delight
Download Wordpress Theme | Test run
Wordpress Green Delight is our newest theme for Wordpress. This theme is anticipating on the summer. It’s a very light theme with a light green design. Let us know what you think of it.
Ofcourse: Valid css and html + Widget support ;)
Have fun with this Wordpress theme!
- 15
- Apr
Wordpress Blue Wolf
Download Wordpress theme | Test run Wordpress theme
Valid code + widgets supports
Don’t forget to leave your feedback!
- 14
- Apr
Sinking Ship
The themeviewer has always been a great, if not the best, source for Wordpress themes. But that reputation is fading away with every day that passes. Thomas isn’t able to handle it on his own. And the new moderator isn’t adding some serious value to the themeviewer.
There are a couple of solutions. Thomas could sell the Themeviewer to a serious candidate that has the motivation, money and knowledge to take it over. But I guess that he won’t give away his baby that easily.And besides imagine how much money he is making from the themeviewer.
The best solution is to form a new team that will actually take care of the themeviewer. They should come up with some new ideas regarding the future. And what they eventually want to achieve with the themeviewer. The money that is currently being earned should be used for decent hosting and better code.
There are a lot of Wordpress enthusiasts who have the time and knowledge to help. It’s about time that they got the chance to save this sinking ship. Because that’s what the Themeviewer is right now - a sinking skip. Thomas better start fixing it or else others will fill the gap.
And we don’t want that, don’t forget that the themeviewer has the largest Wordpress themes repository online. It would be a shame if that would disappear.
- 14
- Apr
Wordpress xGreen
Wordpress xGreen is a new one column theme. It’s a minimalistic white/green theme that has valid css and xhtml code. Be sure to know that child categories don’t work in Firefox right now. We’re trying to fix the error. It does work in other browsers.
We haven’t added widget support to this theme because….well….the sidebar that we are using isn’t really suitable for widgets.
Help us to improve the theme and leave your feedback here. We’re always trying to improve our themes. Let us know what you think about it.
Big thanks goes out to Patrick Behrend!
- 13
- Apr
Stop the drama
Quotes: Matt Mullenweg
Source: http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2007/04/12/on-sponsored-themes/
I’ve seen some designers claim if we discourage bundled advertising with themes we’re taking away their livelihood and saying they should work for free. (Conveniently ignoring the fact that WordPress was built “for free.â€) However just because you can make money from something doesn’t mean you should. Things don’t have to be illegal for it to be wrong. There are more important things in life.
We have worked for free in the past. I don’t see the problem with getting some money in return. It’s true that Wordpress was built for free. But isn’t the Wordpress team cashing in (bigtime) on their efforts? Just take a look at the adsense ads on Wordpress.com.
At every conference I go to I meet dozens of people who make their living with WordPress and manage to do so in a way that doesn’t exploit users or cross ethical lines, so I find it hard to believe that the lack of sponsored themes will hurt the WordPress ecosystem.
You meet people who have made it a part of their business. Most of the theme designers are people who design in their free time. We don’t have the time and money to fully dedicate our lives to Wordpress. Sponsored themes are playing a big role in themeland. Hell even Wordpress.com is using sponsored themes.
Authors could also monetize their own sites with ads, instead of putting them on yours.
Been there, done that. It doesn’t work. And donations aren’t what they used to be, visitors are less eager to chip in a buck or two.
Finally, no one is forcing these people to make themes. In fact I would posit that it’s better not to release anything at all than to release a sponsored theme. Our design and theme community thrived before themes with embedded ads came along, and it will continue to thrive long after their gone.
It’s true that nobody is forcing us. But most of us were here before the whole sponsored themes thing. Once again: Why is Automattic using sponsored themes at wordpress.com if they suck? Ofcourse the community will keep on thriving. But don’t deny the fact that there are some are really good sponsored themes. Sponsored themes are filling in the gap between paid and free themes. The so-called gray area. Nothing wrong with the basics of the free market theory.
- 13
- Apr
My suggestions with regard to the sponsored themes
This is just a quick overview of what I think should happen in order to solve this sponsored themes problem.
Actions to be taken by theme designers:
- Don’t use the Creative Commons license in combination with a required link back (Creative Commons ShareALike Attribution)
Don’t force anyone to leave the links. Instead, you should trust on the goodwill of the users of your theme. If they like it: they will leave it.
- Use trustworthy sponsors
Don’t link to shady websites, only link to established websites
- Full disclosure about the sponsored links
Honesty is the best policy…
- Stop promoting theme sponsorships
You are doing it for the community. Not for the advertisers. Therefore stop advertising the themes as a way to get better search engine listings. Everyone who is doing that is giving theme designers a bad name.And besides: if your work is good an advertiser will find a way to get in touch with you.
What I’d like to see from the Wordpress crew:
- Don’t make GPL obligatory
From what I can see the main reason to make GPL obligatory is to stop the required links in themes. Creative Commons without the required links back is perfectly fine if you ask me. (Please note that I’m not an expert in this field but this is just my opinion)
- Stop accusing us of adding adware to themes
There is a big difference between adware and sponsored links.
- Replace the default links of the Blogroll with useful links, or leave it empty.
The added value of linking to some random blogs is zero. Instead remove all the links or link to sites.
You can btw go and vote for that here: http://wordpress.org/extend/ideas/topic.php?id=560
Ofcourse this overview isn’t perfect. I’d love to see some other suggestions.