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Please Help--Switching to WordPress

Posted by melindaville • 4/05/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: switching platforms, themes, wordpress

Hi Everyone,

This is for those of you who are familiar with WordPress.

When I started my blog, I used a really easy blogging platform called Quick Blogcast (what I am currently using).

GoDaddy is now offering WordPress and I installed this on my hosting account.

I need to download a theme for my blog and I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions about what theme might be best for my blog. I want one that is pretty easy to use because I am not that good with coding, etc. I am pretty much learning as I go.

One of the things I do not like about my current setup is that my homepage www.melindaville.com and my blog, blog.melindaville.com are two different entities. I believe if I switch to WordPress, I will be able to combine everything.

When I went to WordPress to check out the themes, I am overwhelmed by how many they have! What would any of you recommend? If you want to look at my current blog (blog.melindaville.com).

I may decide to hire someone to help me set this up if it is too complicated but I thought I would ask all my WordPress friends first.

TIA

User Comments

4/05/09

JamCan

Melinda the good part about having Wordpress is you don't need to know coding. You do all your posting through the Wordpress template so once your theme is installed, Wordpress does the rest for you.

[reply]
1. 4/05/09
  
  melindaville
  
  That's great--that's what I need.
4/05/09

dosox

Try this wordpress.org/extend/themes/magazine-basic
or this www.woothemes.com/2008/10/open-air/

[reply]
1. 4/05/09
  
  melindaville
  
  Thank you so much for the links, dosox--I appreciate it.
4/05/09

gosmelltheflowers

Hi Melinda,

At GSTF we've the profiles and the question section waiting to be completed....get cracking and tech guy Deep will help as he converted us from blogger to wordpress....

Hope this helps, perks of foundership xo

[reply]
1. 4/05/09
  
  melindaville
  
  Thanks so much, Jim--I will definitely check it out.
4/05/09

weblogian

Good to know that you are switching to Wordpress, Yes you can now combine both the blog and the homepage by just creating a Template based on your blog theme.

See your Pagerank to www.melindaville.com is 2
whereas blog.melindaville.com is 3, Hope you are getting what I meant to say.

I am here if you ever need my help.

[reply]
1. 4/05/09
  
  melindaville
  
  Thanks, Weblogian--and yes, I know the two are different PR, which is part of the reason I want to combine them.
2. 4/05/09
  
  melindaville
  
  I may actually want to hire you to help me set it up, Weblogian--all this is making my head hurt.
3. 4/05/09
  
  weblogian
  
  ok email all about what you want.
4. 4/05/09
  
  melindaville
  
  I just sent you an email. I don't know if I gave you enough info--but I don't even know exactly what I want yet. I think I need someone to help me figure out what might be the best design.
4/05/09

timethief

I can't help you with this other than to give you links to free videos that are tutorials for making the change.
www.becomeablogger.com/video-1.html
Video 1 - Why You Should Use WordPress
Video 2 - How To Get Your Own Domain Name
Video 3 - How To Get A Web Host
Video 4 - How To Install WordPress
Video 5 - How To Upload Files To Your Webhost Using FTP
Video 6 - Choosing A WordPress Theme For Your New Blog
Video 7 - How To Install And Use WordPress Plugins
Video 8 - How To Create Your First Blog Post And Blog Page
Video 9 - What RSS Is And Why You Need It
Video 10 - How To Use Feedburner For Supercharging Your RSS Capabilities

[reply]
1. 4/05/09
  
  melindaville
  
  Excellent--this is a huge help and I will be looking at all these videos.
  
  Thanks, TT!
4/05/09

cooper

There are literally thousands of themes, just be careful not to get the free theme with hidden ads in them, the wordpress.org
(wordpress.org/extend/themes/
) sites themes are sure not to have them. There are also a variety of themes offered all over the place, just search under free wordpress themes and I usually put 2.7 in the search as well.
Smashing magazine offers free themes every so often, in your wordpress dashboard you will see a link automatically to other wordpress news and the weblog tools collection post links to new themes often several times a week.
weblogtoolscollection.com/

[reply]
1. 4/05/09
  
  melindaville
  
  Thanks Cooper--this is good information too.
4/05/09

Ysabetwordsmith

"Gaiatribe" uses the same (paid) theme, Thesis, as the other Geek Universalis blogs. It's a simple, professional, three-column (large, small, small) layout that really works well for a magazine style blog. It has a custom image in a square near the top.

"Hypatia's Hoard of Reviews" uses OceanWide, a free theme. This one is three columns (small, large, small) with a custom header across the top. This design is a little more decorative, but still fairly simple and easy to read.

I put legibility first in a blog design. Then visual appeal: colors or images should point viewers towards important content, not distract them.

[reply]
1. 4/05/09
  
  melindaville
  
  Thanks very much for your advice. All this gives me a lot to think about--and I am looking at the videos now that TT gave me a link to.
  
  I appreciate it.
4/05/09

cooper

This lady offers a lot of cutesy type themes for free.
www.ezwpthemes.com/

[reply]
1. 4/05/09
  
  melindaville
  
  Not sure if I want cutesy--but thank you! I have actually decided to hire someone to help me get it set up. I think it will be worth it.
4/05/09

JamCan

This is a great thread now!! Lots of tips even intermediate bloggers can use! Thanks everyone!

[reply]
4/05/09

libdrone

Melinda,

Getting the blog set up and the theme right may take some configuring, but there are a lot of techie people who will be happy to give you all the help you need. And once it is set up, publishing in Word Press is VERY easy, you honestly Don't need to know how to code (at all) and there are almost infinite and easily customized options to make your site Exactly what YOU want it to be. I made the switch more than a year ago and have been thrilled with privately hosted WordPress.

[reply]
4/06/09

webizen

I'm no expert on wordpress but I've used it for a couple of years and have a lot of experience with html and css. If you need help tweaking stuff like fonts, layout, positioning of elements, etc., I'd be happy to help. I use the classic theme on two blogs. thewildeast.net/applications/wordpress/ and radiobanciao.com

[reply]
4/28/09

abhinavsood

You'd be glad that you moved to WordPress - for the ultimate control that it gives you over everything.

And for the theme, I'd recommend that you use IMAGINATION by CSSjockey - It is a highly customizable, feature rich, fast and absolutely FREE WordPress theme!

There are 9 unique visual-styles to choose from, in-built into the theme! You can choose what pleases you the most with just a click - or you can customize the hell out of your theme from your Wordpress dashboard without ever touching a file.

If you use Twitter, Entrecard, Flickr or Feedburner - then you must definitely go for this theme because all these services are already integrated into the theme itself. So that is good for blog and social promotion.

You can see an expanded preview of custom theme options at : www.cssjockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/backend-options-preview.jpg

You can download the theme from : www.cssjockey.com/imagination

The theme is fully documented, so you won't run into any troubles using or modifying it at all.

[reply]