Patrick's New Media 206 Blog

One of aspects of this project I’ve spent the most time on would be customizing my theme. I’ve learned a little about the theme editor in WordPress. Before, I thought the only options I had to change the appearance of my blog would be through the theme options, which is sometimes limited.

When I first applied the Vinica theme, there were many things I wanted to change. First of all, there was too much going on in the sidebar. For instance, it listed thumbnails for about 5 different social networks I really didn’t need. There was also a searchbar and an about me I didn’t want. All of this stuff was distracting, so I researched how to pinpoint them in the code and remove them (safely, without breaking my blog). Browsing WP help forums helped me to understand how this works.

Before:

After:

In the end, the only things I kept on the sidebar were the “Popular Posts,” a link to the Twitter and Facebook pages, and an archive. I think it’s more streamlined.

I also used the theme editor to add a little blurb in the footer.

As my professor suggested, I kept a backup of my code by copying and pasting it into a word document. This was useful, because at one point I made a mistake, and was too confused on how to fix it. I had been trying to remove the small “Posted by X, Filed under X, etc” text that accompanies a post, when I realized I would need to keep the “Posted by X” so photographer names can be displayed in a submission. When I re-inserted the original, unmodified code, I chose to keep everything in order to not make the same mistake. I actually experimented with adding/subtracting small details throughout my blog that I decided not to keep in the end.

The most important tweak I made with the editor was an essential change to the way the Vinica theme displays content on the frontpage. By default, Vinica only displays a tiny thumbnail of an image until you click on that post. There is no way to change this using the Vinica theme options, so I had to find a way to do it inside the editor. Luckily I found some good resources online, and learned that I needed to pinpoint a certain tag and replace it with something else.

“<?php the_excerpt();?>” needed to be replaced with “<?php the_content();?>” in the template files. After that, it worked the way I wanted it to, and I was happy.

I like the User Submitted Posts, but when I test it out, I get the error:

This is incredibly frustrating because I haven’t tampered with the Plug in code in the editor at all. I even re-installed my theme and haven’t modified it at all to see if that was the problem.

I’ve done some research and found a “User Submitted Post” plugin for WordPress. I could use this for handling user submissions without requiring a login. To use this plugin, you simply use the shortcode provided. The nice thing about this plugin is that it is very customizable. I’m editing it right now to include the following things:

• users must included their name, a photo title, a caption, and an image

• if they do not include the above items, they get an error message telling them to do so

• after submission, they are redirected to the front page

• an instructional message to appear next to the upload field

• my administrator moderation is required for the post to be displayed, until then, it is a draft

To test out this plugin, I’m going to paste it directly into this post. If it looks good, then I have the option of putting it directly on a page in my blog.

Great post listing some nice photo-oriented Tumblr themes. Even lists the advantages and disadvantages of each theme. Also lists some Tumblr “add-ons” that look extremely useful.

One of the most important aspects of my project is finding the correct theme. I scoured the internet and download all the ones that caught my eye, then FTP’d them into my WordPress. I previewed each of them, took screenshots, and made notes of what I did and didn’t like in each theme.

I made an Imgur album with each of my screenshots, which can be found here.

To organize my thoughts, I am going to write some of my thoughts on each theme, in the same order as they appear in my Imgur album (other than that, they’re in no particular order).

1. F8 Lite

My favorite aspect of F8 is the featured image. I think this may be essential for my blog. I also like how clean and simple it is. The type is nice, the menus are unobtrusive, and there seems to be plenty of options for this theme. This one is definitely at the top of my list and contains many of the things I want in my blog.

2. Grain

I also like this one for the featured image. I also like it for the dark black and gray design. I don’t like the textured background as much, or the chunky headline text, but perhaps that is editable with a little work.

3. iq2

This theme looked great in the preview; the background is dark and it’s simple. However, when I activated this theme I found it very hard and confusing to navigate.

4. Linquist

Probably my least favorite. It’s simple enough, but there’s no featured image, and I dislike the background color and helvetica headline and reflection. There is nothing especially nice or appealing in this theme.

5. Sharpfolio

This theme seems to be similar to grain, but lacking the featured image.

6. Viewport

I really like how the caption and photo name are highlighted by being blocked off, but it’s unfortunate that they cover the photo — in my opinion that’s unacceptable for a photo blog.

7. Vinica

The design of this one really appeals to me. It’s simple, displays the photos nicely, and has an awesome sidebar, including links to Twitter/Facebook/etc. That’s important to me because I’d like to follow Derek O’Brien’s (Appicture) example and make corresponding Twitter/Facebook/etc pages for my blog.

What I’ve learned

In my blog, I’d most like the option of featured image (as seen in F8 Lite), but the option of a header image is OK as well. I’ve also learned that I prefer a more “minimalist” type of design that still contains the essentials, like the great sidebar in Vinica. I’ve also come across some beautiful paid themes, but I’m not sure if paying upwards of $90 for a theme is an option for me.