Over the weekend, I took a break from blogging but didn’t stop updating WPDesigner to attempt to build a community around WPD and allow it to be more than just a blog. The changes you’ve seen for the past two days are just the beginning.
New Plugins
Top Commenters was installed to encourage more user comments by rewarding you for getting involved in discussions. If you make it to the Top Commenters list (in the right sidebar), WPDesigner will send traffic to your site. Also, the link to your site under the Top Commenters list doesn’t have “nofollow” attached to it. This list will reset weekly.
I also installed a translator plugin to make news and tutorial lessons available to non-English users. You can find it at the bottom of the the right sidebar.
Design-wise
I removed the WPDesigner title image and moved the top menu tabs to the right hand side for easier browsing through different areas of this blog.
WordPress Themes Listing
The small thumbnail screenshots were replaced by bigger thumbnail screenshots. Now, the download link comes first; second is the screenshot; third is the description. I don’t know if it makes a difference in browsing through WordPress themes, but I definitely like the bigger screenshots. Does it make a difference for you?
Advertisement
I’m beginning to monetize WPDesigner’s traffic because I’m dedicating more and more of my time to this blog and really can’t afford to blog and create themes and tutorials for free anymore. In the past, I’ve turned down donations and Amazon Wish List offers because I did not start WPDesigner.com for money.
For the past two months, I did sell a few text links on WPDesigner, but only to pay for hosting. Right now, I’m looking to sell more text links and hopefully banner advertisements too.