When you first start a blog, one of the first decisions you will have to make is choosing a theme. This can be overwhelming, as there are literally thousands of free themes to choose from. When I first started this blog, I was using the Moneymaker theme from Unique Blog Designs. This is a great theme and it makes it really easy to add adsense to your blog posts. However, I got sick and tired of seeing that same theme on dozens of blogs that I visited. I was looking for a premium theme but I did not want to pay a lot of money for it. That is when I discovered Elegant Themes . Elegant Themes is a premium WordPress theme club that costs less than $20 a month. They currently have 23 different themes in the collection. If you do the math, that is less than a buck per theme. If you have multiple blogs this option will be a no brainer. I have four different themes running on four different blogs so far.
We all know that content is king and the quality of your content will determine if you sink or swim as a blogger. However, I do think that the design and look and feel of your blog is important as well. First impressions matter and if you have a cool or unique blog design you will increase the likelihood of that visitor actually reading your stuff.
I am using the PureType theme, with a customized header. Here are some of the features that are included with my theme:
Opera compatible
Netscape compatible
Safari compatible
WordPress 2.7 compatible
Three Color Schemes
Threaded Comments
Optional Blog-style Layout
Gravatar ready
Firefox compatible
IE7 + IE6 compatible
Advertisement Ready
Widget ready sidebars
Theme Option Pages
Custom thumbnail images
PSD files
Valid XHTML + CSS
Smooth tabless design
So what do you think, does having a premium theme matter or are free themes good enough?
It's good to have a nice theme with wordpress.
If it means buying a theme, i will do that to have the best blog. since premium WordPress theme gives excellent work,then i may purchase it to avoid reputation of work.
Maybe it’s time to look at just biting the bullet, and paying for a good theme. If time = money, then I should have been doing that all along.
I’m always really reluctant to pay for any sort of theme. They look so much better, but I neve know if I’ll get along with a theme until I’ve tried it out, you know, see if it fits what I’m wanting for my layout. I agree that the best idea would probably be to learn WordPress, but it seems so daunting.
I personally love how unique premium themes are.
I would check out wpthemedesigner.com (not my site), as the owner is a very talented designer, and the premium themes are especially tasty.
I’ve been taking free themes and modifying them, but it takes me forever to do that (not very good at design).
Maybe it’s time to look at just biting the bullet, and paying for a good theme. If time = money, then I should have been doing that all along.
I’ll take a look at Elegant Themes and see if it fits my needs.
FYI – I love the “Spammers will be shot.” line.
I use the Arthemia Premium theme for WordPress. It is very clean in the code and SEO friendly. I am seeing the theme more and more though so hopefully it remains a secret!
I think it’s best in the long run to learn how to make WordPress themes, otherwise they will end up being over used one way or another.
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I’d actually knew about Elegant Themes weeks ago but I just think that premium themes from the internet are usually used by several buyer. Or once you buy it, the premium themes will be taken down?
I’ve a customize theme from my friend, it doesn’t look perfect but I’ll be still using it. I’m still customizing the themes myself, it will be live some days later.
Regards,
Lee
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I give ET a thumbs up as well. Even though I don’t use any of their themes myself yet (I have a designer), I do highly recommend them; especially for the price.
I won a one year membership and if I didn’t already have a designer by then, I would certainly be using them now.
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