UPDATE #2: I’ve fixed this already and everything seems to be okay when I checked with Opera. Please let me know if you see some errors or bugs with in this theme. Thank you!
UPDATE #1: Less than an hour from being launched, there’s already a bug. If you’re using Opera, the featured article section is not aligned well. I’ll be trying to figure out the problem and fix it as soon as I can. Thanks Kuya Rhoen!
This one has been long overdue. I’ve been planning and wanting to change my blog theme for several months now but I’ve never had the time to finish it. There are three reason why it took me a long time to finally change the theme. First, I was busy. Secondly, it’s hard to look for a nice WordPress theme. Last but not least, after you find a theme that you like, most of your time is spent in tweaking and customizing it.
Initially, I wanted a custom theme but since custom made WordPress themes cost a fortune, I opted to purchase an affordable ready-made premium theme. I chose the Magazine News theme by Art Culture and designed by Brad Mahaffey. If you’re wondering how much this theme costs, it’s $49 for a single use license and $129 for a multiple use license.
Why did I choose this theme? The moment I saw it I just knew that it was the one. For those of you who have WordPress blogs and spend time looking for the “right” theme for your blog, you know what I mean. Right? Anyways, I liked the design and the overall look and feel of the theme. The only issues I had with the default layout was that the featured article occupied too much space and there was no space provided for 125×125 ad banners. Before I purchased the theme, I already planned what I would do with it and visualized the changes that I would make. Even though I wasn’t sure, I knew it was possible.
If you’ve visited this blog the past few days and noticed that it was often under Maintenance Mode, now you know the reason why. I’ve been busy customizing and tweaking this theme for the last week or so. I’m a bit of a perfectionist and from my previous themes you know that I like my theme to be neat. Although I did most of the tweaking and customization, I wouldn’t have been able to finish this theme without some help. My CSS and PHP knowledge are limited so I had to seek the help of my friends, WordPress theme designer Joni and PHP guru MM. Thank you so much guys for sparing your precious time in helping out a friend!
Aside from the theme, I’ve also made some changes on how the blog works. I’ve added a WordPress plugin called Who Sees Ads? by Ozh. With this plugin, I can configure the ads to display on certain rules. From now on, regular readers won’t see ads unless the post is 10 days old. So who sees the ads? Only those visitors referred by search engines. Other changes include moving the Categories below the content area and the putting the MyBlogLog visitors section down to the footer. Expect to see some minor changes in the next few days as I will be doing some more tweaking and optimizing. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I’ve changed the blog name back to JaypeeOnline. Why? Because I think that it looks and sounds better that way, don’t you think? Hehe
Although I’ve already tested this theme, there might be some things that I overlooked and you could come across some errors. If you do, please let me know so I can fix it ASAP. You can leave a comment or send a message via the Contact page. Feel free to leave your comments, feedback or suggestions regarding the new theme. I’d love to hear them.
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January 26th, 2008 at 9:15 AM
@K – Yeah, I was made aware of that by one of my friends and he was using Opera. Anyways, I think it’s okay now after I did some tweaking on the theme’s stylesheet. Pls let me know if the problem still exists or if you find any other bug in this theme. Thanks! :)
January 26th, 2008 at 9:12 AM
Posted this comment via Safari on Windows. Everything looks great. :mrgreen:
jhay’s last blog post..The FEJ Theme Reboot
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:54 PM
I was referring to the excerpts on your featured blog in IE6 (I know IE6 sucks), a few text was hidden underneath and the logo “featured article” isn’t showing up. But you’re right, content is the King (you’re always good at that).
Still, a SUPREME! :evil:
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:50 PM
@Ade – I’m loving it too! Hehe thanks dude! :D
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:46 PM
Loving it!
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:55 PM
@Allen – Thank you! Anyways, what’s wrong with the colors? You don’t like ‘em? Hehe just kidding. :D
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:54 PM
Wow this looks good Jaypee. :)
Although I still need to adjust to the new color.
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:30 PM
@mr nice ash – I made sure it works with Firefox and IE coz those are the two most popular browsers used by my visitors based on my blog stats. Thanks man, glad you like it! :D
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:29 PM
Nice. No problem with Firefox. What else can I say? Nice.
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:30 AM
@Brad – Thanks, just doing my best to modify your work of art. Thanks for dropping by! :D
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:27 AM
The theme looks great JP. Congrats!
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:05 AM
@derek – Thank you! :D
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:01 AM
I like your theme jaypee! ganda
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:05 AM
@K – Thank you my friend! I’m glad it works coz the majority of this blogs visitors are using IE. Oh common, you’re exaggerating! Besides, it’s not the look that’s important, it’s the content, right?
Btw, which texts are you referring too? :???:
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:03 AM
Looking good Jaypee, it blends well with the IE6 I am using at my office desk. Now your blog is supreme, better than the rest of us, hahaha. I’m ok with my current theme, just low-profile. Just a bit “intimidated” with the square-ads up on the sidebar, neato.
PS. except for the featured blog on the top, the last few texts didn’t show up correctly.
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:55 AM
@sylv3rblade – Yeah that’s what I do most of the time but this particular theme took the longest to tweak and customize. :)
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:50 AM
lol. pareho po pala tayo. I edit my themes only (again) after installation.
January 21st, 2008 at 10:25 PM
@Tina – Thank you! I knew I forgot to mention something in the post. I was gonna say that I thought of removing that featured article section so I can have more space but then I realized it added some “flavor” to the theme. :D
January 21st, 2008 at 10:23 PM
Looks great, Jaypee! :) I love the featured article section on top.
January 21st, 2008 at 10:20 PM
@sylv3rblade – There must be a blog-redesign virus spreading around. Hehe but seriously, I’ve already planned this several months back but was just too busy to do it. I’m glad I waited though coz I was able to find this cool theme.
Bout the local install thing, I could do it if I wanted to but if you know me you’d understand. You see I’m a bit of a perfectionist with a bit of OC (obssessive compulsive). If you want to make sure everything works fine, the best way to do it is online. :D
January 21st, 2008 at 10:18 PM
Wow.. Nice redesign (must be in the season, this is the 3rd site to have a redesign on my RSS reader) it’s so much cleaner now.
Uhmm Kuya Jaypee, why not install a “dummy” wordpress installation on your server or locally when tweaking a theme? That way the main site doesn’t go down and you can integrate it (hopefully) seamlessly.
January 21st, 2008 at 10:17 PM
@deuts – Yeah, my blog really needed it.Your current theme looks good and suits your blogging style so you made a good choice yourself. Thanks man, likewise! :)
January 21st, 2008 at 10:16 PM
wow! a fresh new look!
I’m afraid though that this kind of theme might not work for me. Once in a while I might just want to do short posts (i like the way Matt does it), and with this kind of theme, surely the main content column will simply hang as against the sidebar.
Anyway, happy blogging! :D
January 21st, 2008 at 9:40 PM
@AJ – Thank you! I wouldn’t call it perfect but just what I need right now. Hehe
Thanks for the heads up about the “jaypee blog” keyword. I wasn’t even aware of that until you mentioned it. :D
January 21st, 2008 at 9:36 PM
Perfect theme for you Japee! :)
To all, his blog can also be found via Google Search “Jaypee Blog”. Just in case you forget the link (I hope you don’t).
Cheers!
January 21st, 2008 at 9:35 PM
@Joni – I know! Finally uploaded after several days of tweaking and customizing. Thanks again! Couldn’t have done it without your help. ;)
January 21st, 2008 at 9:32 PM
Yay, finally! Your theme looks great! And thanks for the “special mention”, hehe. Congrats! :grin:
January 21st, 2008 at 9:30 PM
@jhay – Thanks dude! Really? Good thing I found it first. Just kidding. :D
January 21st, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Congrats on the new theme! It’s awesome dude! Had I found out about this theme earlier, I might have bought one too. :mrgreen:
January 21st, 2008 at 9:10 PM
@trench – Thanks man! Yeah, those 125×125 banner is like the most popular ad banner size these days. Hehe :D
January 21st, 2008 at 9:08 PM
looks good jaypee. I like the google ad integration. I think the 125×125 ads are getting overused, but it looks clean. Great job!!!!