Blog Design

I get a lot of folks who want to add a header graphic to my Simplicity WordPress theme, so I figured it was time to just write a tutorial on it. It’s really pretty simple to do.

Step 1: Understand the Dimensions

The header of Simplicity is the wide, blue area at the top where you see the blog name and description. The width of the header is 940px wide. That means any header image you place there needs to be no wider than that. As for the height, well that doesn’t really matter. The header height will expand to fit.

Read More

In part 1 of this series, we talked a little bit about database driven publishing platforms, such as WordPress. The key point of that discussion was that your blog data is separate from your blog design (the look and layout of your site). The data - such as blog posts, blog comments, blog categories, etc. - reside in a database on your web server/web host (you establish your database during the WordPress install process).

The template files (theme) tell WordPress and the various web browsers how to organize and present your blog data to your website/blog visitor. You may hear people refer to the blog theme as a “blog skin” because it determines the look and feel - or design - of your blog. At a basic level, that’s true, but a WordPress theme can - and usually does - do more than just determine the design style of your blog. Read More

There are probably over 1000 free WordPress blog themes/templates out there. Yet, I still get people who write and ask me to help them design their own. And that’s cool. After all, it’s a great way to express one’s creativity. This post marks the first in a series to help you do just that: create your own WordPress blog theme. Before we get into WordPress blog/theme design, however, we need to talk a little bit about WordPress itself.

Database-Driven Websites (AKA Push-Button Publishing)

WordPress, like most blogging platforms, is a “database-driven” web publishing platform. In other words, all of your blog’s content is stored in a database in the form of, well, data. The database merely acts as a repository for all the information you add to your WordPress site. That includes blog posts, blog comments, blog categories, the title of your blog and a whole slew of other information. Most people, me included, would say that database driven websites are a key characteristic of Web 2.0 websites. Read More

It’s time to start thinking differently about websites, blogs, podcasts, etc. In fact, it’s time to STOP thinking in terms of “blog” and “website” altogether. I’m not saying we should stop using terms like “blog” or “podcast.” Nor am I saying blogs are dead or anything like that. Afterall, the majority of the population hasn’t even caught up with the whole blogging phenomenon yet, and there’s probably no need to confuse them with new terms now.

But it’s time that we - as small business people, web publishers and developers - take our thinking to the next level. It’s time to start thinking in terms of an integrated “web publishing platform” instead of merely a blog, a website, a podcast or a video blog. Read More

In this lesson, I show you how to install a plugin that’ll help create an email feedback page for your site. In the process, you’ll also learn how to create new pages for your WordPress site.

The video fo this lesson is about 16 minutes long, and you can download it here.

In this lesson, we move the sidebar a little more, widen the main content area, and add the sidebar to all the other pages on your site.

The video for this lesson runs about 8 minutes, and you can download here.

In this lesson, we continue to manipulate the internal page structure. I show you how to change the sidebar content and background, as well as move it from one side of the page to the other.

The video for this lesson runs about 12 minutes, and you can download it here.

In this lesson, I show you how to change change the size of the header and sidebar, as well as expand the overall page width. You’ll also learn a little more about the page layout of a WordPress page.

The video for this lesson runs about 12 minutes, and you can download it by clicking here.

Site statistics are an important part of managing your WordPress site. At the very least, you’ll want to know how many people are visiting your site and where those people are coming from, whether it be from a search engine or referral from another site.

There are many different site statistics programs out there, but one of the simplest to install and use is Site Meter. In this brief lesson, I show you how to set up your Site Meter account and install it on your WordPress site.

The video for this lesson runs about 7 minutes, and you can download it by clicking here.

In this lesson, I show you how to remove the header graphic altogether, change the page’s background color, change the border color and change the page width.

The video for this lesson runs about 18 minutes, and you can download it here (right-click and “save target as”).

If you’ve used WordPress for any length of time, you probably know it’s so much more than just a “blogging platform.” With all the amazing WP developers out there, you can find a plugin to do just about anything you’d want your WordPress site to do. Read More

One of the simplest things to change on the Kubrick theme is the Header. The Header is the blue background area at the top of the page. In this lesson, I show you how to change the color of the header background.

Also, I show you how to remove the background image and set the stage to install your own header graphic, which we’ll do in a future lesson. Further, you’ll start to learn about the WordPress theme files and how to work with CSS (cascading style sheets).

The video for this lesson runs about 9 minutes, and you can download it here (right-click and “save target as”).