Comments on: Keep Your Blog Software Current

By: Wordpress has upgraded - have you? at Burst Blog

Wordpress has upgraded - have you? at Burst Blog — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:01:46 +0000

[…] If you’re curious as to the benefits of upgrading (or the pitfalls of not upgrading) you can find that at the Blogger Resource Center. […]

By: Idetrorce

Idetrorce — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 11:24:03 +0000

very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:23:46 +0000

Has anyone looked into trading their writing, marketing, photography or other skills for site design? You may be able to find someone in your area with solid design and implementation skills who could use your skills to improve the content of their site or other aspects of their company. It could prove a beneficial trade for all involved.

By: cory photographique

cory photographique — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:54:46 +0000

I completely agree with the desire to find just that *right* look, design, style, and feel for a website/blog. Is *so* frustrating!!! For my blog I started with a Blogger template, then heavily modified it (css, javascript, layout, etc). I have spent hundreds of hours on my entire website: search engine optimization, layout, navigation, design, feeds, etc.
For the time being it will suffice (there are still a few buggy things I’m working on it works but…… I am still looking for that look, style that will just have that extra pizzazz One of the tricks to good design is to attract people, and also keep them on your site as long as possible. Design is part of it, but so is content. Don’t get too flashy with your site, but you need just enough (but then people are funny when it comes to design: explain the huge popularity of craig’s list; the most plain, vanilla looking site which could ever be found!)

–
cory photographique
http://www.coryjohnson.net

By: Andrea

Andrea — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:05:49 +0000

I’m in the same boat as you, Dave. I’m at a crossroads with my blog, and I need to really focus on creating a brand with a unique design, logo, business cards, etc. I’ve spent the last six months researching my options, and anything I want to do is outside my budget. Custom design for WordPress themes (good clean code, compliant, professional looking, etc) starts at US$1500, and that’s a chunk of change for anyone. I think Matt’s idea about a WordPress.com Marketplace is a good start, but I think there is plenty of room to grow for us semi-pro and pro bloggers. The Sandbox competition was a good way to get the ball rolling on that, and hopefully there’s more where that came from.

By: Dave Zatz

Dave Zatz — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 15:35:21 +0000

A professional look at an amateur price. Seriously, I’d prefer to maintain my general colors and layout, but make it look more professional. I also want it to fully support WordPress functionality (like sidebar widgets) and be compliant with web standards. I also have some specific design ideas for improving content and ad presentation.

The theme marketplace is a good idea, but even the officially supported theme seem to have quirks. I really like the idea of the Sandbox and creating a theme purely via CSS. I think that’s where WordPress needs to go. It would also open the door to a larger community of designers.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:32:13 +0000

You make some great points Dave, and you the timing is very good, as Matt, the creator of WordPress recently announced plans for a WordPress Theme Marketplace, which will allow users of the WordPress.com hosted service the ability to purchase approved, high quality themes, while making those themes freely available to users who host their own blog. My hope is that this will lead to the creation and distribution of more high quality themes, and the creation of the community marketplace that you write about.

The role of a semi-pro blogger is interesting and in many ways unique. It is odd that there aren’t many design and development services addressing the needs of the market.

Out of curiosity, as a semi-pro blogger, what do you look for in a theme design?

By: Dave Zatz

Dave Zatz — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:43:33 +0000

Alex, Quality of free themes is all over the map and most of them have technical issues. Possibly because they’re coded by amateurs and/or during free time. I did pay a few hundred for a custom theme which was worse than anything I could produce so I didn’t use it and lost the money. Professional designers seem to be charging $3k and up as there’s a business need now (businesses have deeper pockets). That seems to leave semi-pro bloggers in a lurch - we can’t justify the expense of a “professional” design, yet our standards are higher than some of the free stuff. What we need is a community marketplace of designers for this segment.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:17:11 +0000

There are a lot of options for design, depending on a few factors, namely what you want design-wise, if you plan to extend the design elements beyond the Web (business cards, t-shirts etc.) and if you are interested in advanced functionality like Flash or a truly complex layout.

If you want a visual overhaul of your site, but are not worried about branding it uniquely, take a look at the themes available for your blogging platform. WordPress for example has some great options which you can view at WordPress Theme Viewer.

If you seek a design that is truly your own, then you could search for companies that create custom themes. I don’t know what that would run you, but I assume the rates and quality would vary. There are services that can produce it for you with the transaction happening over the Net, but if possible you may want to look locally first as face-to-face communication is really important when you are asking someone to design an interface that represents you.

I hope that helps!

By: Dave Zatz

Dave Zatz — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:01:36 +0000

What I really need is a visual overhaul. I can handle the techie stuff, but not the CSS and graphical design. Where can the amateurs find decent design services for under $3k?