WP Theme Frustration

  • jtdevin

    (@jtdevin)


    18 years, 12 months ago

    Are there really any elegant wordpress themes that are really ready to go from upload? I have tried on at least 40 themes, and every single one of them had an issue — some small, some big. I am not a CSS expert, but it looks like you have to be to get a WP blog that really functions.

    This week alone, I tried four new themes. One has a dead img link where blog title and tagline should go. Another shows the blogtitle, but not the tagline. In another, the blogroll bleeds into the border. In another, comments and comment numbers run together, and comments aren’t allowed on pages. I sought support from the designers. Three didn’t answer, and one had a three word reply (change the header). LOL. If I knew how to do that, I wouldn’t be seeking support!

    So two questions for the WP experts. Can you suggest a theme that’s truly trouble free, and has an artistic flair, and that isn’t dark? So far, I’ve tried Ella, ygomahi, melissa, purple sky, promusings, dreamy night, digital theme, abstract green, curiosity, cleaker, new order, squawker, spookyblue, retro flowers, sherx release,
    silkstream, victoria…..and a few others.

    Secondly, are there any resources like a professional WP “fixer” when the designers don’t seem willing?

    My email is jtdevin @ gmail . com — and I’ll also check back here to see if anybody had any words of wisdom.

    Thanks!

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • moshu

    (@moshu)

    18 years, 12 months ago

    Every theme maker has a different idea of what should be in the template files. Not all of them use all the possible template tags – and I don’t think they should.
    And some of them are more gifted than others… or just have better coding skills. So, yes, the quality of the themes may differ, however the WP community is greatful for every free theme offered to the public.

    Obviously, your idea of what should be in a theme is different than… let’s say, mine. I hate if comments are possible in Pages, I don’t want anybody to put comments at the bottom of my About page or Comment page. As you can see: it’s all about personal taste.

    You can learn how to design/code your own theme (many of us went through this) – or you can ask a pro to do it for you.
    Try the wp-pro list:
    http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-pro

    Root

    (@root)

    18 years, 12 months ago

    One of the downsides of unlimited themes being supplied free by all and sundry is that there are huge variations in the themes in terms of functionality, cross browser performance and quality generally. IMHO – developing a theme properly for WordPress is not the walk in the park that many people think it is. Furthermore it is virtually impossible to find out from anywhere neutral what the best themes might be. But of course the best theme from the technical standpoint might not please you aesthetically. So it is a conundrum. One of the side effects to the lack of differentiation is that some of the better theme developers now do not release anything at all. Moshu is too modest to say so but he is a very hot theme dev himself and he knows all the ins and outs. Sadly his advice is right on the money. Learn CSS or get in a pro 🙂

    Thread Starter jtdevin

    (@jtdevin)

    18 years, 12 months ago

    Moshu, thank you for the link. Root, thank you for the advice.

    I’ve played around with the CSS several times. What I learned is that, if I wanted to, I could spend an extraordinary amount of time learning programming skills –which would take me away from writing, which is my primary goal. So, yes, I’d much rather hire someone who could do in ten minutes what it would take me weeks to figure out. So I’ll check the link out.

    Moshu, I looked at your site as well, and learned that there are many things you have that I want, LOL. I loved your social bookmarking link and have no idea how to get that. So when I check out the pro resources, maybe I’ll see if there’s someone who can help with that, too.

    Thank you both!

    grampamorts

    (@grampamorts)

    18 years, 12 months ago

    I have not touched CSS or HTML code ever and i think the theme i used has what you are after. its called mistylook by sadish. go to http://www.whitehallpost.co.uk to see it in action.

    its got an inbuilt widget plugin, so you can put any categorires/lists or plugins on the right.

    Thread Starter jtdevin

    (@jtdevin)

    18 years, 12 months ago

    Thank you grampamorts. I installed the theme and was able to make color and header changes easily. Now, I only need to figure out how to change the font color in the footer and increase the spacing between the paragraphs. Otherwise, perfection!

    THANKS!

    Root

    (@root)

    18 years, 11 months ago

    For the paragraphs you need p {margin-top: 1.5em (whatever)}

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

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