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Picking a WP theme is giving me fits...

by MichaelG469
20 replies
I don't know what I need to be looking for, I think thats the problem. I want something that will actually look decent and capture the attention of my readers. I've just finished an ebook which I will give away for free in attempt to build a list. I've written my first article as well and ready to get my site up and running. I'm just not sure if I want to put out $70+ for a premium theme. I've also read that most free themes are actually sponsored and that google really frowns upon this. I also don't have any design experience, so i'd have to outsource to get my banner or logo created to be put in the header.

I'm starting an alternative energy blog, really focusing on the benefits of solar power. If anyone has any tips, please let me know! Thanks

Michael
#fits #giving #picking #theme #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author bnwebm
    Clean is always best, even with all the choices, perhaps a white background, black text and (not bright) green border? Free themes are sponsored? Not sure what you mean by that except maybe you're referring to the ads the creator tends to place on the theme? What about a WP squeeze page for your ebook?
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    • Profile picture of the author MichaelG469
      Originally Posted by bnwebm View Post

      Clean is always best, even with all the choices, perhaps a white background, black text and (not bright) green border? Free themes are sponsored? Not sure what you mean by that except maybe you're referring to the ads the creator tends to place on the theme? What about a WP squeeze page for your ebook?
      On Sponsored Themes « Weblog Tools Collection

      Thats what I meant by that.
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      • Profile picture of the author bnwebm
        Ah, ok, so part of it is the concern about advertising, which makes sense. It's debatable whether the advertising from the creator of a theme would, in fact, hurt your rankings. After all, your rankings should be based on the content you place on the site, which far outweighs a single ad pitching the theme. If you're really concerned, stick to the free themes orrrr, teach yourself Dreamweaver and make your own.

        Originally Posted by MichaelG469 View Post

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  • Profile picture of the author genietoast
    You may want to consider the Socrates theme. It's $77 for an unlimited license which is cheaper than most themes, but you have the ability to customize it the way you want.

    Plus, Socrates allows you to create salespages and squeeze pages.
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    • Profile picture of the author MichaelG469
      Originally Posted by genietoast View Post

      You may want to consider the Socrates theme. It's $77 for an unlimited license which is cheaper than most themes, but you have the ability to customize it the way you want.

      Plus, Socrates allows you to create salespages and squeeze pages.

      How does this compare to OptimizePress?
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    • Profile picture of the author katied772
      Socrates also comes with some really nice headers. It has a free trial so you can test it out and see the headers. Real easy to use too.
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  • Profile picture of the author James-
    From personal experience i would choose a free theme. There are so many decent ones that there really is no need to spend money on one.

    Simplicity is the most effective. Start really clean, and build your site up slowly.
    Not only that, little coding experience is required these days with the likes of firebug around and a lot of helpful plugins.
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    • Profile picture of the author MichaelG469
      I'm looking over free themes on wordpress right now. I'm also liking what I see from socrates. Can anyone compare Socrates vs. OptimizePress?
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    • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
      The Twenty Ten theme that comes with Wordpress should be fine for you. It's much easier to use than a lot of the themes out there and you can customise it or keep it simple. There are several alternative headers to use, but it doesn't cost much to get your own header designed. As you grow in experience you will find that it's easy enough to change themes, but keeping it simple is better for business

      I think the adverts or sponsored links being referred to are the links that you usually find in the footer of free themes. Most are ok and it's fair enough that you are giving something back for use of the theme, but sometimes they have links to porn or gambling sites that the search engines may consider bad neighborhoods.

      Good luck with your new project.
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      • Profile picture of the author MarQueteer
        Originally Posted by PatriciaJ View Post

        The Twenty Ten theme that comes with Wordpress should be fine for you. It's much easier to use than a lot of the themes out there and you can customise it or keep it simple.
        True, it's really clean and even with little PHP knowledge you can easily customize it to look the way you want. Sure, it doesn't come with all the features e.g. the Socrates Theme offers, but that may be a little overkill for your needs.

        Google has absolutely no problem with free themes in general, that's a myth. Most themes simly have an attribution link to the website of the theme creator, often very reputable sites/blogs. If you pick a sponsored theme (that's the minority of free themes) you just have to make sure it's not sponsored by some gambling, pharmacy or adult site.

        What I'd recommend is using a SEO plugin like the free "All in One SEO" to avoid duplicate content on category, tags, etc. pages.
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        • Profile picture of the author skyla
          I was frustrated with picking a theme too. Then I was advised by someone to use the Twenty Ten theme and just create headers with a free program. It is easy to use and you can easily change the background to suit your theme.

          I would say it depends on what you are using your site for, this is fine for testing and putting up a quick site. Then for a more permanent site or one that you want to grow you could then use a premium theme. I have heard good things about Studio Press but like any am sure there is a learning curve.

          Twenty Ten would be the simplest one to customize and can be done it minutes. Good luck whichever way you go.
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    • Profile picture of the author ksmusselman
      Originally Posted by James- View Post

      From personal experience i would choose a free theme. There are so many decent ones that there really is no need to spend money on one.

      Simplicity is the most effective. Start really clean, and build your site up slowly.
      Not only that, little coding experience is required these days with the likes of firebug around and a lot of helpful plugins.
      Exactly. I have a free theme that I think works perfectly with my site. People must like what I'm saying because they're clicking on the links back to my static website so that's a good thing.

      I really liked the color theme to my blog too so I actually changed the color theme of my static site so they complement each other.

      Free is great, and the small text ad at the bottom of the page is so non-intrusive that not only do I not mind it being there, I think it's important to give some kind of credit back to the designer for doing what I don't have the skills to do.

      Oh, and my blog Sponsors - those are links back to my static site.
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      • Profile picture of the author entry
        If Chosing a WP Theme is giving you the fits, you should consult a Doctor,

        and mabey IM is not for you :confused:
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        I Have to say a Massive...THANK YOU to every Warrior who has helped me, and thanks to every warrior who helps me in the future...
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        • Profile picture of the author MichaelG469
          Originally Posted by entry View Post

          If Chosing a WP Theme is giving you the fits, you should consult a Doctor,

          and mabey IM is not for you :confused:
          Thanks for the help...I really appreciate it. :rolleyes:

          But seriously, thanks for all the advice guys.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bradley J Anderson
    Sending you a PM.
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  • Profile picture of the author CheapTrafficDude
    Lately I been using OptimizePress and currently switching some of my older sites on it. If you can afford the price for OP then it's the way to go. Otherwise, in the past I've used pretty much any theme built by GhostPool, you can find them on ThemeForest. They're darker themes but work amazing for gaming related websites IMOE. Those themes go for around $35 and support is great. GhostPool themes are phenomenal but require some know-how and getting used to.
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    1. As I said a million times: the theme should be the last thing you should worry about. Except the spammy "free themes" that have idiotic links in their footer - any theme is fine.

    2. Find free themes ONLY at wordpress.org - they never have any malicious code in their footer or functions.php file.

    3. Use the new default TwentyTen - it is better coded, more SEO-friendly than the majority of the paid themes!

    4. People are over-obsessed with picking a theme. In most cases nobody really cares about your theme
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    I think the adverts or sponsored links being referred to are the links that you usually find in the footer of free themes. Most are ok and it's fair enough that you are giving something back for use of the theme,
    No, they are NOT OK... in a free theme.

    - most of the time it is NOT a link back to the theme author's website but those are paid links to completely unrelated websites
    - if you require a backlink, then say so and don't pretend to be "free"!
    - often times there is malicious code in those footers
    - many times the links are encrypted so that you cannot delete them - and no normal people should ever install anything encrypted on their own website!
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  • Profile picture of the author bnwebm
    It's actually fairly easy to remove encryption.
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