Opinion

If you are a newcomer to setting up your own website, choosing a company to host your site can be somewhat intimidating. There are so many aspects to consider and deciding which one is best for you may be rather overwhelming at first. Where do you start? Some web hosting sites may seem full of technical details, which can be offputting for a novice. Perhaps you don’t know if you will require certain features, or even what they mean. Doing a search for web hosting companies will bring up hundreds if not thousands of results – how on earth do you decide who is best? Visiting a hosting directory may not be much help either. Generally, they are filled with marketing ploys and flashy advertisements. You could easily end up even more confused than ever.

The Basics

The best place to start is by finding out exactly how the internet works and the role of a web host. Spend some time reading up on this subject and what you need to look for in a web hosting company. Look into the pitfalls to avoid being caught out by unscrupulous providers.

Once you have some knowledge of exactly what is involved, choosing a web hosting provider will be a somewhat simpler task. Follow the five steps listed below to help you with making a final decision.

· Select the hosting plans that meet all your requirements

If your plans for owning a website involve simply having a small personal site for showing off photographs, for following a hobby or for running a simple informational page or two, then almost any web hosting plan will be sufficient for your requirements.

If you have a medium sized website or if you intend to sell products or services, have a think about what your site will look like. Choosing a hosting provider for this type of site may require a little more thought.

· Assess each plan in detail

No doubt there are hundreds, if not thousands, of hosting plans out there that will be sufficient for your requirements. However, all you really need is just one that suits your budget and your needs. There’s no point spending weeks comparing each and every one you find – most of them will be similar anyhow. Our search results will potentially list several hundred hosting plans that meet your requirements but as they are returned with the cheapest price first, you can begin here and work your way through.

· Requesting a quote

Our website allows users to request up to ten free quotes from providers who match their web hosting needs. We think this is an excellent feature as it means you can receive a better deal, have more options, and it gives you the chance to communicate effectively what your website is about. Once you receive your quotes, you will have more information with which to assess the hosting providers, making it much easier to make a final choice. These quotes come with no obligation, even if you continue communication with the web hosts.

· How should I assess hosting plans?

Use the table below to help with evaluating the different hosting plans. The points listed are the main factors to take into consideration. Of course, don’t forget to include your own particular needs.

How to Choose a Web HostRead More

As I browsed the WordPress themes released for February 25th 2008, on WeblogToolsCollection.com, I came across a theme that had everybody raving. It was called Options and was created by Justin Tadlock, the same theme author who created Structure. As I browsed the theme, I couldn’t help but notice the similarities in terms of the icons that were being used, the navigational text/layout, the way the content was displayed, ect. It looked eerily similar to Brian Gardner’s Revolution Pro Media theme. Not only did I call Justin out on his release page, but I also sent an email to Brian asking him if he knew what was going on.

As it turns out, Options is a theme that was INSPIRED by many of the design elements found within the Revolution theme. It wasn’t a blatant copy, but it was close enough to stir up trouble. According to Brian Gardner, he contacted Justin off the record and asked him to make some changes to his theme and Justin has apparently gone ahead with the changes. Brian explains what happened:

I just want to briefly address this situation – when Options was originally released, the layout was MUCH different than it is now. It was quite obvious that at the time, the similarities were too obvious, which is why people notified me, and why I pursued conversation with Justin. He did have an “inspired” by note on his page, but at the time, I believe it was more than “inspired” by, which is why I got in touch with him. Since then, he has gracefully changed the design of his theme, which is why some of you think it’s not a replica of my site, as it originally “appeared” to be. I do appreciate all of those who contacted me regarding this and understand that it’s easy to find inspiration in design elements.

Furthermore, I just want to point out that although the internet world is massive, it doesn’t take long for me (or other theme designers) to find out questionable things that other people do with our themes. I’m all for competition, themes “inspired by”, and so on, but there really wasn’t an issue on my side with Justin’s theme, since he took ownership of the situation and reacted by changing his look.

The bottom line is that whether people use free or premium themes on their site, WordPress is ultimately promoted. I know there have been a lot of “hot topics” related to premium themes, but we are all in the same community, and shouldn’t be throwing stones at each other. The only time I am bothered by what happens is when people blatantly or maliciously affect me and my business – something that Justin did not do.

The situation between the two appears to be resolved. But this Options theme raises a couple points that I would like to address.

Right now, the magazine style of WordPress themes is still in full swing. However, Small Potato made some excellent points within the conversation that took place on WLTC. The first point is:

• Options = Revolution = Premium News = Options = Revolution…

This clearly indicates the magazine style trend in one sentence. I believe it has gotten to the point where one magazine/newspaper theme looks like another with some minor differences. I realize that these types of themes appear to be what people want, but theme designers, try to think outside of the box instead of rehashing ideas.

Another point that Small Potato makes:

• As for adding more features to these magazine themes, there’s only so much you can add until you’re the only one who knows how to fully use it.

There is a whole lot of truth within that statement. In my travels across the internet, looking for a new WordPress theme, I noticed plenty of them that utilized things such as custom fields. I also noticed many themes that utilized custom coded plugins and some themes even came with a manual that explained how to use them. Why is it like this? Why are theme authors releasing themes that require a Masters Degree to use? Let’s get back to making things simple. Sure, most of those fancy features require more skill and more advanced coding, but after checking out themes such as Shifter, I believe these challenges can be overcome.

If you are a theme designer, please do me a favor. Do your research, then take a top-down look at the current state of WordPress themes. Then, do us all a favor and create something that has yet to be done before. I know that most ideas are rehashed, most ideas have already been worn out, but try to do something that doesn’t make us think about something else that has already accomplished the effect. For example, please end this stupid trend of having two dynamic sidebars smashed together on one side of the blog. Why not place widgetized areas in more places within the theme, giving the end user more freedom and flexibility without the need of having to touch the code. Another example is to build flexibility into the theme that can be accessed via the admin panel. Instead of giving the user instructions in the read me file that tells them how to change the number of pixels in the CSS file to change the overall width of the blog, make it a user configurable option in the themes admin panel. Do you see where I’m going with this?

Now here is where I ask you questions that I have no answers for. For instance, at what point does inspiration turn into ripping? If there is a theme that closely resembles a paid theme, at what point does that become unacceptable? The reason I raised hell about the Options theme is that, it closely resembled Brian Gardner’s theme so much that I thought it would end up taking money out of his pocket. Because we all know, if there is a free version of a theme that requires money, we are going to go for the free version first.

What do you think will be the next WordPress theme trend? Personally, I believe the next trend will focus around Widgets. I think the poster child for the future of WordPress themes revolves around the Shifter Theme system. Widgets give power back to the end user. As a theme author, you no longer have to provide detailed instructions on how to hard code a plugin or widget into the theme. Just make it a widget area, and the user can drag and drop the content element into an area that seems appropriate. I also believe there will be a trend towards themes offering an admin page which contains settings that control various aspects of the theme. This is a welcomed change if you ask me, since this doesn’t require editing the CSS file or any of the core theme files to make the changes.

Finally, what are your thoughts as to everything I’ve just stated? Does it have any merit, or is this just a bunch of hodge podge?

Inspiration or Lack of CreativityRead More

Keep in mind that the information below is a personal list. I didn’t put it together to say what everyone else should do.

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Recently, I’ve been reading quite a few articles about what makes a premium theme… premium.

First, let me say that the word “premium” bothers me. Mainly, it’s misleading because other theme authors use it liberally to label non-free themes. Like someone said in one of the discussions that I read, premium at this point is simply a marketing term. There’s no higher level of quality to back it up across the board for all themes and all theme authors.

Second, from now on for every paid theme, I’ll aim for the following features:

(For the beginners, the following will look like mumbo-jumbo. If you’re a theme developer, you’re welcome to improve this list through the comments.)

Multiple Custom Templates

• Default Templates: index, archive, category, page, 404, stickied w/ excerpts and asides index, tag, author
• Magazine/Portal: Allows room for growth or in case you want to turn your start-up blog into a multi-author or user-generated magazine.
• Gallery Template: For all the photos and portfolios.
• Custom Archives: Crucial for old blogs with tons of archive links.
• Custom Links Page: For the promiscuous linkers 🙂
• About Template: Very important, but often neglected
• Advertising Template: Should include a table for advertising options and pricing
• Multimedia Template: This is top secret.
• Contact Template: Contact page with integrated contact plugins and other options.
• Subscription Template: Just in case you want to guide new readers through subscribing and using RSS or email subscription.

Multiple Skins – Simply multiple color schemes and styles.

Unique Design – I’m still learning and trying to stay away from using too many gradients. It’s too bad top designers have better things to do. Really top notch designs are what the WordPress themes market is missing. Here’s my new list of elements to keep in mind while laying out a new theme…

• Header: logo/title, search form, horizontal navigation, subscription link
• Post: date button, post title, categories, comments link, author link
• Entry-content: paragraphs, headings (h2, h3, h4…etc.), custom text styles, blockquote, blockquote within blockquote, code, image aligned left, image aligned right, image aligned center, unordered lists, custom variations of unordered lists
• Next and Previous links
• Stickied posts
• Asides
• Sidebar: regular and widgets
• Plugin styles for integrated plugins
• Alternating post backgrounds
• Alternating comment backgrounds

Efficient Codes – Of course, it’s not all about design. I always try to code everything with the least amount of codes, not because I’m trying to become a good coder and programmer, but because I’m lazy hehehe.

Thorough Documentation – This is another very important area I think we should focus on. A good readme file can go a long way. Not only does it reduce stress for the users, it also helps reduce theme support time 🙂 .

Flexibility – It’s a little bit harder to design for potentially… everyone. I try to keep the designs and codes as flexible as possible because I never know what you’ll use it for.

Plugin Integrations – This area should be easy if you have the last step down to a science. Flexibility and plugin integrations go hand in hand. For myself, I’m trying to take it a step further and pre-style the plugins. In my own themes, you’ll typically find the following integrated plugins:

• WP-Sticky
• WP-PostRatings
• WP-PageNavi
• Comment License (more important people realize)
• FlicKrRss
• Share This
• Author Highlight
• Contact Form

Other Features

• Cross-browser compatibility
• Banner switcher and other theme options
• Print Stylesheet
• Dynamic Tabs
• Social Bookmark Integration
• Slideshow
• Multimedia Integration
• Translatable

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To all loyal small potatoes: Sorry for the recent silence on this blog. I’m working hard on the themes club so I can take a break and make it in time for the Thailand water festival in April. Then, hopefully, I’d be able to hop from Thailand to Korea by May.

That’s it. I’ll be back with some new stuff for the themes club next time. Peace out small potatoes!

Raising Personal Standard for Paid WordPress ThemesRead More

Out of the all the two cents already published about WordPress.com upcoming premium themes marketplace, my own thoughts are best described by the following:

You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on. – George W. Bush

What I think of WordPress.com marketplace:

It’s a brilliant idea and I can’t wait to work twice as hard for half of the money (50/50 split with WordPress.com) selling CSS only GPL licensed premium themes to uninformed WordPress.com users and give those themes to everyone else for free because I still wouldn’t be working hard enough to justify my above minimum wage income supported by the generous WordPress blog platform.

Coming up with a high-quality premium theme without breaking any law isn’t already hard enough. To all you lazy theme designers spending only a week on each theme, step your game up. If you get on WordPress.com’s good side, you’ll get the chance to sell GPL licensed CSS only themes to more than 1.7 million WordPress.com users. And that’s important because those uninformed WordPress.com users, making you work twice as hard to provide support, is definitely the crowd to cater.

And don’t worry about thieves stealing your theme by simply copy and pasting your GPL licensed CSS. WordPress.com will be there to protect you even when it can’t.

What you should know:

• This is not about you. It’s about WordPress.com making money off of you. Don’t get it twisted.
• You’ll work for exposure to the wrong crowd – people that need more support than you’re willing to give.
• Even if you’re willing to sell your soul for cheap, you won’t get the exposure you’re dreaming of because you’re not allowed to credit yourself for the work by linking back to your site.
• After a grueling week of design and development, you can look forward to splitting 50/50 with WordPress.com. Even if you net $2000 per theme, it isn’t worth it to split 50/50. On your own, you can EASILY make more than $2000 per theme. Just ask me or Brian Gardner. (Splitting 50/50 to sell text link ads might be the right thing to do because you don’t have to directly work for that money. But creating WordPress themes is no joke so don’t get wamboozled into splitting your hard-earned money.)

What you should do:

• Stop dreaming of a central marketplace giving all designers (you) a fair chance to compete. You don’t need one.
• Stop being lazy and build your own buzz. Release free WordPress themes, then advertise your services/products.
• Stop thinking about working with WordPress.com and start thinking about working against WordPress.com. Start a similar service. Get designers on your side. Charge a flat fee instead of 50%. Don’t wait to see what happens with WordPress.com themes marketplace. While the WordPress.com team is working on their own system, you should be working on yours. Launch before them.
• Stop jumping onto the bandwagon. Remember the last time you got wamboozled?

WordPress Guide to Livelihood Without Central Marketplace DependencyRead More