WordPress Theme Question/Survey

[wade_watson]

I've only used free themes so far, and seem to have no problem finding them that work for my needs. I like the Magazine Basic, which has a very adjustable newspaper-style main page. Simple Balance 2.2 is another very adjustable one I like, though it has some design issues I've had to tweak, like a mandatory sidebar graphic. I love ComicPress, which is designed for online comics, but I think has other creative-- and marketing-- possibilities. I suggest doing what I do and set up a subdomain for trying out WordPress themes and plugins before going live on you main sites.

[FrankDickinson]

That's a great idea Wade - I hadn't thought of it.

Thanks - appreciated!

[Eleanore Duyndam]

Thesis is wonderful...and the hooks are awesome and very easy to use. Lots of support and info on Thesis forum.

I also use and like iThemes - premium theme - Flexx

and a free theme Amazing Grace,

[Clay Franklin]

I like the Studio Press Theme's especially Lifestyle. I have the developer package and have thought about getting Thesis. Cutline is good for SEO because it is clean code.

IMO To check the SEO for any theme, go to W3C.org and run a html and CSS validation. If you only get warnings you are good to go. If you get errors it's not that good. Amazon has lots of errors in the code and make up for it with backlinks.

[AlexNewell]

Well Frank

Here's a few to glance at

http://expertlistbuilding.com/listbuilding/ => Cutline

http://www.newbie-on-the-net.com/blog/ => 3 col Cutline

http://www.naturalpsoriasisremedies.com/ => LA-School blue 1.1

http://solarpanelsforourfuture.com/ => Amazing Grace

All free themes

[Steve S.]

Cutline was an earlier effort by Chris Pearson, the developer of Thesis. Pretty talented guy!

[Debra Conrad]

I used the ultimatebloggingtheme for debraconrad.com and I do like the clean theme.

I purchased Thesis and LOVE it. I'm switching all of my non-IM blogs to Thesis. I've used free themes for years and without updates and support they can stop working when WP does an update.

Plus... one thing I really dislike about most free themes is the linking out at the bottom. I don't mind links out to the theme builder... but all the spammy links are just plain annoying. If you try to delete them - it breaks the theme.

I have used a magazine style theme, which is fine for marketing type blogs... but doesn't play well in other niches.

As far as hooks go for the Thesis theme. Once you have used them - you will wonder why all themes don't have them.

[Isha]

I had problems finding a free theme with a clean white background, until I found Winter Styled, which is a 2 column widget ready theme.

Had to tweak it to get the fonts and colors the way I wanted them (and it was the first time for me - trial and error). But I'm really pleased with the result.

You can see it at the sites in my signature.

Isha