Tag Archives | Appearance

Making Use of Gallery WordPress Themes1

By Randy R on October 11, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

Making Use of Gallery WordPress Themes

Are you sick and tired of looking for the best WordPress theme that is best suited for your blog? Well if you are then you don’t have to worry because you are not alone knowing that there are also a lot individuals that own a blog site which experience the same problem as yours. Now the solution for this problem is the Gallery WordPress theme.

Gallery WordPress themes is a thematic child theme, yes you heard me right, this is designed is made by Chris Wallace. This WordPress themes isn’t exactly a new concept, but this is what I swear, that by the time you will see this theme you will be surely amazed. Go on reading this article, and I will discuss to you one by one the features of this theme and how to set it up as well as how to add content on your blog.

By the time you get the Gallery WordPress Themes, the first thing that you should know is on how to install it. You should always remember that this is a child theme and because it is a child theme then the first and the most important thing that you should do first is to upload both the parent theme and the child theme, to do this you have to download Thematic theme and extract the folder and then after upload it to your /wp-content/themes/ directory. Then after doing that first step, next is to download the Gallery, extract the folder again and upload it again in your /wp-content/themes/ directory. After doing all of the uploading task, you have to log-in now to your WordPress admin panel, look for the Appearance and find Themes and them activate the “”Gallery”” theme that you have recently uploaded.

After all the set up is done and found out that all is working well and functional, then now is the time to add content. But prior to this you should know first details about Thumbnail Sizing. I make it a point that you should know about this because Gallery WordPress Theme really depends heavily on thumbnail images that sizes 125 x 125, to make sure on the size you can go to WordPress options and set to the amount to of the thumbnail size that you require. For more additional control of images, you might want to know on using the Max Image Size Control plugin. By knowing this plugin and as well using it you won’t constantly resize the images and would allow you to let WordPress do the hard work for you. If ever you are making use of screenshots of web pages on your gallery items then I would suggest to you the ScreenGrab, it is an add-on intented for FireFox, which will definitely help you in is saving full-page screenshots very easily.

Finally we are now about to add a content by using this WordPress theme, due to popular demand, there is a post setting panel added in version 1.1 on this Gallery WordPress Theme, by doing this way you won’t have to mess around various custom fields.

WordPress – Create a New WordPress Theme (1st in a Series)

By Randy R on September 19, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

WordPress – Create a New WordPress Theme (1st in a Series)

WordPress is a wonderfully flexible blogging framework.

If you use WordPress much, you will eventually want to make some changes in the appearance of your blog.

Often the best way to give your blog a facelift is to create a new WordPress theme. The developers of WordPress have made this easy to do. This article tells you how to create a new theme. Future articles will tell you how to make visual modifications in your theme.

Note that this article presumes that you are developing on a PC or Mac and uploading your work to your Web site.

Here is the procedure for creating a new WordPress theme, in a nutshell:

1. Start with an existing theme that you want to modify.2. Copy that theme folder to a new theme folder.3. Edit the “”style”” css file in the new theme folder.4. Upload the theme folder to your Web site.5. From the WordPress Admin console, activate the new theme.

That is all you have to do.

The following sections provide detailed descriptions for implementing the above steps.

Start with an Existing Theme

Pick a theme that is already installed in your blog. It does not need to be activated, just installed. Pick one you like.

Copy the Them to a New Theme Folder

Both the old theme (the one you start with) and the new theme (the one you are creating) should be located in the themes folder of the wp-content folder.

Here is the hierarchy: main WordPress folder / wp-content / themes

If for example, you are copying the “”WordPress Default”” them to the “”John Doe”” theme, you will copy the “”default”” folder to the “”john-doe”” folder.

Edit the “”style”” css file in the new theme folder

Now that you have copied the old theme to your new theme folder, you need to edit the “”style”” css file.

Every theme has a “”style”” css file. That file starts out with some information that WordPress uses to display information about the style in the admin console. You will need to change this information. A skeletal version of this information looks like the following:

Theme Name: Theme name hereDescription: Description of theme here

Version:
Version number

Author:
Your Name

Author URI:
Your Web Site (if you have one)

Licensing Information

A filled in version would look something like the following:

Theme Name:
John Doe

Description:
This is a theme that John Doe created to for his personal Web site.

Version:
1.00

Author:
John Doe

This theme is offered under the GPL License.

Upload the Theme Folder to Your Web site

Using FTP or whatever system is in your editor/Web design software, upload the new theme folder to your Web site.

Activate the New Theme

(i) Log into your WordPress management console.(ii) On the left side of the console, about 1/2 way down, click on the “”Appearance”” link.(iii) Your theme should show up under “”Available Themes””, in the lower right hand side of the page.(iv) Click on the “”Activate”” link for your theme.

WordPress should now be using your theme.

Check the New Theme

If you want to check that you are actually using the new theme, do “”view page source”” and search for wp-content/themes/xxxxxxx where xxxxxxx is your theme name.

Summary

Creating a new WordPress theme is easy. Future articles will tell you how to change the appearance of your new theme.

The Importance of Using a Unique WordPress Theme

By Randy R on September 17, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, Blog Business, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

The Importance of Using a Unique WordPress Theme

If you’ve used WordPress to blog already then you will know that you have the ability to choose a WordPress theme for your blog, and your options are either choosing a paid or free theme. The difference between the two themes is simple, the free WordPress themes will be available to anyone, but if you buy a WordPress theme then you can make sure it’s unique to your blog only. Now a unique theme isn’t very important for every blog you own, but for your main blog you should make sure you have a unique WordPress theme for numerous reasons. For adsense and niche blogs there isn’t much need to create that unique appeal to the visitors and you don’t need a unique theme for these blogs.

There are lots of reasons why you should use a unique theme on your main blog and we’re going to take a look at some of the reasons right now. The most obvious reason is too create a unique appearance and appeal to your readers. Most of your readers will read other blogs and with over a million blogs and not too many free themes there are a lot of people using the same theme. If you have a unique theme then you will stand out from all of the bloggers using a free theme. Most blog readers also state that they will typically stay longer on a blog that has an appealing and attractive theme.

The most important of your theme is that it functions correctly and is carefully coded so that everything is clean looking. If you don’t have these skills then you should make sure you hire a professional for the job so that it’s done right the first time. Once you have the theme coded you need to ensure you have a very attractive header. You’ll notice a lot of the new bloggers are using cartoons in their headers to create a sharp looking and appealing image for the readers. I think it’s a great idea and they look awesome so make sure you have a colourful and attractive header with some sort of a logo. It’s important that you have your own logo in your header so that you can use the header down the road when branding your blog. If it’s a catchy and attractive logo then you’ll typically draw in more visitors and you’ll also be remembered by people by the logo which is the point of a logo, so this is good.

Apart from the header you want to make sure that the sidebar or sidebars are constructed with the readers in mind. You should try blending in all the widgets you plan on using into the sidebars so that they look like there apart of theme. It may take some struggling trying to do this, but in the end you’ll have a very attractive blog that is sure to retain its visitors. Creating your theme to retain visitors is a very important feature that most free theme bloggers never can utilize, so if you use a unique theme you’re one step ahead of most people. Now all you need to do is send traffic to the blog and write great content.

How to Install a WordPress Theme

By Randy R on September 13, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

How to Install a WordPress Theme

One of the cool features of using a self-hosted WordPress website is the ability to very quickly and easily change the layout of your site. There are tens of thousands of free WordPress themes available to choose from. Many can be found on the WordPress website in the Theme Directory and many more can be found on various WordPress related sites as well. A quick Google for “”free WordPress themes”” will present you with all the themes you could possible want to choose from. In addition there are thousands of Premium (aka you pay for them) as well that offer even more advanced functionality and layouts for specific website types.

Installing a new theme is amazingly easy. From within your WordPress Administrative Dashboard, on the left hand side, click on “”Appearance”” and then on “”Themes.”” On this page you’ll see the current theme you have installed. If you are looking at a brand new WordPress install you’ll probably just see the standard default theme. At the top of this page you’ll see two tabs; one for “”Manage Themes”” and another for “”Install Themes.”” You guessed it – click on the “”Install Themes”” tab.

What you’ll see is a search page that lets you quickly search through all the free WordPress themes currently on the WordPress website. Choose a few parameters, such as color, width, number of columns or click on one of the quick tags like Featured or Newest. You’ll see the themes that match your search displayed for you with links for “”Install”” and “”Preview”” at the bottom of each thumbnail.

The Preview feature is pretty neat as it allows you to see how the new theme will look on your website. Keep in mind, however, that once in a while things will look a bit messed up. The new theme your are previewing many have different settings and parameters than you current theme so some things may look a bit out of place at first and require a bit of massaging.

Once you’ve found a theme you like simply click on the “”Install”” link and the theme will be installed into your site. You can then activate the theme to make it live online. Easy, right?

In the case you find a theme on a 3rd party website, not on the WordPress Theme Directory, you will simply need to download the file. Typically you’ll download the file in.zip format and need to extract it (right click, extract all). Once it’s extracted use a FTP program like Filezilla to upload the new theme files to your website. You’ll need to place the folder containing the new files into the wp-content/theme folder. Then visit your admin panel and activate the theme. Easy enough!

The Benefits of Ready Made WordPress Themes

By Randy R on September 3, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

The Benefits of Ready Made WordPress Themes

Since most of the important and necessary events take place in the internet, web developers then expanded the idea of making money by using the advantages of internet. Hundreds or even thousands of users all over the world are using the internet simultaneously. The idea of creating profit out of the internet was first developed in blogging. It was supposedly an online form of a diary of a person. Everyone became interested in writing and posting a blog since most of the sensible information posted in the internet can give them money.

However, making money through the use of internet is not that easy. You need to create an informative blog that will be often noticed by readers. It should also contain all the necessary data that will put your blog into fame. You must remember the common principle of search engine optimization. It is a basic trick that you must know if you want to be part of the blogging business.

Your articles must answer almost all the common questions of the people. You should also base your articles on issues that are timely. It will give you the best idea about what article you are going to create. It is also important to be involved in the latest issues of your place. It will give your article the chance to be read by people who are concern about the latest issue you have posted.

Writing an article is the easiest part of creating your own site. It would be great if you have an additional knowledge about WordPress design since it is one of the hardest tasks in building your own page. WordPress themes and templates are often available in the internet and are free to download. Its general task is to enhance the appearance of your page.

Your articles are not capable of standing on their own without the help of your WordPress themes. You should not only offer your readers a set of sensible information. You also need to impress their eyes. Your WordPress themes must be attractive as much as it could but not too much. The appearance of your page is one of the factors that you must consider upon building up your site.

If you are still new to this kind of field and unfortunately you lack the knowledge about designing your own site you better take my advice. There are several online sites where you can download free WordPress themes, such as the Joomla website. They are best known with their trendy themes and templates.

Joomla is one of the pioneering editors of WordPress themes. Beginners of WordPress design often use the creations of Joomla. Aside from their artistic designs, their WordPress themes and templates are easy to run. Unlike other WordPress themes it has an uninstall option which makes it more manageable. It is also capable of restoring its own configurations when sudden problems occur. The concept of having a secured WordPress theme is also one of the famous ideas of Joomla.

WordPress Plugins – 5 Great WP Plugins For Your New Blog Or Website

By Randy R on July 25, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

WordPress Plugins – 5 Great WP Plugins For Your New Blog Or Website

WordPress is an amazing Blogging platform which makes it really quick and easy for anyone to publish their own blog or website.

WordPress Plugins are clever little programs created by Plugin Developers which can be quickly installed to produce literally hundreds of different features, effects and benefits for your blog.

So if you want to add video to your blog or website – there are many plugins to choose from. If you want to add photo galleries to your blog – then again there are lots of options to choose from. There is probably a plugin for virtually anything you can think of.

For the first time blogger or newcomer to WordPress I would recommend the following 5 Plugins to give you an idea of the range and versatility of WP Plugins. There are lots more if you need them, but the following plugins will literally give you the potential to transform your blog saving you lots of time, stress and hassle.

Here is my recommended list to get you up and running, you can find them from the Plugins Menu in your WordPress Control Panel – Just choose the option to ‘Add New’ and then just search for the following plugins:

List of 5 Recommended WP Plugins for Newcomers to WordPress Self Hosted Blogs

1) Smart Youtube WP Plugin – Add Youtube Videos

2) Photodropper WP Plugin – Add Flickr Images

3) Contact Form 7 WP Plugin – Add a professional Contact Form

4) AddThis WP Plugin – Add a ‘Share’ button to each blog post

5) Twittercounter WP Plugin – Add a Twittercounter to your sidebar

1) Smart Youtube Plugin – Add Youtube Videos

This is a plugin which allows you to quickly and easily add virtually any Youtube video to your blog post or blog page. You can easily customize the appearance of the video player in terms of color and size to fit perfectly with your blog theme and design.

To use the plugin all you need to do is copy and paste the Youtube video url into your blog post and then make a tiny amendment to the url (add the letter ‘v’) and that is it. It’s really quick and simple – no other code is required.

2) Photodropper Plugin – Add Flickr Photos

This plugin allows you to search for images by keyword from within your WordPress Control Panel. So as you are writing a blog post, you can just search out an appropriate image and Photodropper will present you with a list of photos which you have permission to publish.

All you do is simply select the image you like and publish it to your post. Again, like the Smart Youtube plugin – it is really quick and easy.

3) Contact Form 7 Plugin – Create a Contact Form Page

This plugin is really useful, apart from making it really easy to create a contact page for your blog it can also be used to produce more forms – so you could use it to collect other feedback from your readers and followers.

If someone leaves a message on the contact or feedback form, it sends you a copy of the message almost instantly to your designated email address. So you will get the feedback very fast making it easy for you to react quickly.

4) Add This Plugin – Add a ‘Share’ Button

This is fast becoming one of the most popular ‘Share’ buttons around. It allows your readers to share your content really easily through the option of selecting one of many social bookmarking sites and social networks.

Once you have installed this plugin, it will automatically place a ‘Share’ Button under every post you submit maximizing the chance for your work to spread around the web.

5) Twittercounter Plugin – Let everyone know how many Twitter Followers you have

This plugin is probably more for fun than anything, but if you do have a lot of Twitter followers then this might just boost the credibility of your blog.

Once you have installed it you will have a choice of Twitter counters, so you can select the one you think is most appropriate for your Blog.

What are you waiting for?

So, what are you waiting for – go ahead and try installing these plugins and you will be amazed at the results! Once you have tried some out you will find it much easier finding more plugins and customizing your site so that it does exactly what you are looking for.

One word of warning – don’t go installing too many plugins as each one will slow down your site a little – so just stick to the ones you really need.

Anyone can be a publisher an editor a writer

By Randy Roedl on June 18, 2010 in Blog News, Blog Platform

online blogging makes it all possible. There are ample of blogging software in the cyberspace and they all offer the same service, which is a portal for us to express our ideas. Well, in a tough market, one would have to find his way to surpass his competitions. This is where plugins come in! Plugins are usually used to further enhance and extend the functionality of your blog. As one of the leading blog service, WordPress offers more than hundreds plugins, with some really brilliant function and some not-so-useful features. Eventually, it is still up to the blogger to decide which plugins are useful and which are not.

    Extra protection is always welcomed. Akismet is one of the popular plugins offered by WordPress, where it filters all the spam comments against the Akismet web service, ensuring that this is no junk in your blog. Very useful and effective against those dreadful bots!

    While with Get Recent Comment, you will see a sidebar featuring all your latest or tradeback comments. You will have complete access to the appearance, whether to show the comments by corresponding post or simply by date. The plugin also allows you to filter unwanted pingbacks, ignore unwanted comments and etc. Plus, it works as a widget too.

    Then, there is Google sitemaps which allows blogger to complaint XML-Sitemap of their WordPress blog with Google sitemaps. Google sitemaps supports all pages generated by WordPress, including the custom ones. All major search engines that carry sitemap protocol such as Google, YAHOO, MSN Search will be notified of every update you make to your WordPress blog. Doesn’t it sound really high-tech?

    Flexible Upload, a WordPress plugin that intend to enhance basic upload functionality. Blogger can resize their pictures to a specify the size and also affix a watermark signature in all the pictures. And then we have WP Super Cache, a plugin that will help in speeding up your WordPress blog efficiently. This plugin works by generating html files, which are served by Apache without having to go through relatively troublesome PHP scripts.

    Advertisement on blog is nothing but a common norm. Easy Adsenser intends to provide an effortless method to insert Goggle AdSense code into your WordPress blog. You will have a widget displaying all the ads in your sidebar, along with a Google Search box. Easy Adsenser is most definitely the first plugin that allows you complete control over everything related to Adsense.

    twitME, an absolutely convenient plugin that lets blogger automatically post their new posts on twitter website. Besides, WP-GravatarWOrdpress Popular Posts will show the most popular posts in your blog by listing it out on a sidebar. Blogger is free to customize the widget according to his liking.
    The lists go on and on. At the end of the day, it is still up to the blogger, whether to enhance their WordPress blog with Goggle Sitemap or WP Super Cache, or perhaps both. We all know how cool it is to have a blog that have more than just words.

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