Kubrick: Wordpress Default Theme is all I Need
A few people have asked me about my recent theme changes so I wanted to address it here in one place rather than in several emails and comments. It’s been a very good thing.
Most people who read my blog know that I have been a theme changer since the beginning. Shelly Tucker even addressed it when she interviewed me. I have to experiment, it’s part of my nature. Ironically however, I have come full circle after literally hundreds of themes and am quite content with the best theme (for me) I could find: The Wordpress Default: Kubrick. Let me give you the top five reasons I have chosen to use this theme:
- It is always updated state-of-the-art: When WordPress updates, they update 2 themes with the software: Default and classic (which you may see me use from time to time as well now for this reason). Many other themes break and lose their look when you upgrade Wordpress.
- It’s simple and clean. Because I have tried so many themes and gotten carried away at times with graphics and layout, it is refreshing to return to my primary priority: content. I want to write a daily column that works on all browsers and computers. Default does that. Writing was my motive to start doing this in December of 2006 and I think the scattered themes got in the way of that energy. I may tweak here and there, but I have decided that clean is better and energy into the writing is best.
- It has a big header for my wife to help me make Photoshop png’s on. Do you like the one we made last weekend? It is very special to me being my home town of Victorville (retro) and a postcard I used to have on my tumblelog. Thanks to Sarah for the work she did. I styled it somewhat after the “My Diary” theme I found a while back by Gecko and Fly. It’s one worth checking out if for nothing else, graphic ideas.
- Last, It’s familiar and what I started with. Before I even knew how to change or upload a theme, I was writing ecolumns (as I affectionately call them) on Kubrick with the blue header. To me, it feels like coming home. I feel like I have so much going on now with this blog … I am right where I want to be. I don’t want to get confused with flashy themes anymore. I will limit my creative innovation to Photoshopped headers, sidebar features and links, and the artistry of writing these ecolumns, or articles, or posts … what have you.
My hope is that it will free my energies up to write even funnier, more creative and innovative stuff while presenting it to you in a dependable and accessible format. In short: It’s a focus issue. I hope you guys like it and keep coming back often! You won’t see much more messing with themes here, and if you do, my 12-step sponsor at Themeaholics Anonymous says I have to write a really long post to you explaining why every time ;) What do you look for in a theme?
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Kubrick huh? I didn’t think it until you mentioned it actually. It is a pretty simplistic design. I used the kubrick default template to learn how to create my own template.
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I like it, but then again, I’ve liked most of the ones you’ve come up with. You remind me that I am far too attached to my “Rock Chick” template…it’s the only thing keeping me with blogger and that’s probably not good. I should take an afternoon to sit down with my Photoshop and see if I can’t convert a Wordpress one to look similar.
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I always thought about themes in terms of what I liked. Now I see that as not too important. There are many good looking blogs out there doing nothing. It’s the content. Once you remind yourself of that, you have to figure out the best way to get yours to your audience. I can tell you your commenters will thank you (the non blogger ones anyway) if you go to Wordpress. I have to click “add a comment” then choose “name/url” then type manually my dame and url (not auto complete). When you’re hitting a lot of blogs I can tell you it gets aggravating. Of course I have no problem doing it for you, but i seem to be reading more blogger blogs these days and I end up not commenting as much as I’d like.
I have a list of solid WP themes I can send you to try. Remind me if I forget.
-d
I love this theme (: And the banner is great, I’m totally enthralled with old pictures, not matter if I know the people in them or not.
I’ve been wanting to change my layout…but it seems complicated! I tried a few weeks ago and it told me I needed to save my widgets, I’m not sure if this means all the links to my fave bloggers as well, or just the codes for my icons. I’ve tried to look into it, but haven’t had much luck. I think I need to buy Bloggers for Dummies if there even is one.
You make changing your theme look so easy! Maybe I’m just missing something or maybe Blogger is harder to do this with…
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Well, the information I have for you is like the poison apple. Once you eat it you will never be innocent again ;)
Blogger is cool if you are mostly blogging within other blogger blogs. As I explained to my good friend Rock Chick above, it sucks to comment on blogger blogs because of all the clicks to get a comment in. Anyway, if the blogger blog is good enough I do it.
You might want to explore wordpress.com It is a free service like Blogger that has templates where you can just upload your custom image easy as pie. Of course, the poison apple is Wordpress.org (note, very different from .com) Once you start playing there you’ll forget life as we know it with Blogger. In case you didn’t guess, that’s the platform I use. It will cost you monthly for the space (mine is $6.95) but you have so much more freedom and many more options.
I don’t know Blogger theme stuff much, but if I can possibly help, drop me a line.
Thanks for the advice (: I’ve signed up with wordpress.com just to see what it’s like (: There’s a link on my blog if you’d like to check it out. Nothing special right now, just tryin’ things out. But maybe one day it will be my main page.
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Having experimented but a fraction as much as you have with templates, I can still vouch for how much time it takes away from blogging, but it is so much fun and such a thrill when it works. But also, I found that many times things do not work the same on one template over another. I would be in archives and find something that was centered or formatted correctly in the old template, completely askew in the new one.
I like this template though and love the header! Sarah did a great job with it.
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Thank you Marcia! It is good to fiddle with themes. I think I’m done though.
THis is part of the reason I kept the guru Design so simple and plain. freelancecynic.blogspot.com, even though still a simple design, just seemed to be too much.
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FG: That is a cool theme you have there, a lot like this one. Great minds think alike I guess ;) One question: Why not Wordpress?
I must compliment you on your fancy, new virtual trousers, sir.
This place looks tip-top indeed.
Good show!
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Nice to look at, yet incredibly simple - just like my last wife, now I think about it.
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Simple is good my good man … especially if it means less clothes on the woman.
Apr 14th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
May 5th, 2008 at 2:01 pm