WordPress.com announced the availability of premium themes for their users last month. The initial release only featured two premium themes – the Headlines theme by WooThemes and the Shelf theme from Theme Foundry. Last week, WordPress.com added more choices by adding three more premium themes – the Pretty Young Thing theme by StudioPress, Crisp theme by WooThemes and Traction theme by the Theme Foundry.

Pretty Young Thing Theme ($75)

A 2 or 3 column, widget-ready, youthful and delicate looking theme with a light, pastel color palette. It’s powered by the Genesis framework that allows you to easily configure/customize widgets, custom header, color scheme and custom background.

Features:

• One Column
• Two Columns
• Three Columns
• Left Sidebar
• Right Sidebar
• Fixed Width
• Custom Background
• Custom Header
• Custom Menu
• Featured Images
• Full Width Template
• Sticky Post
• Theme Options

Crisp Theme ($45)

The Crisp theme is for users who want to have tumblog (tumblr) functionality and be able to easily and quickly publish posts. Crisp features eight different Post Formats – Standard, Image, Link, Quote, Video, Audio, Aside, Gallery, and Status. To use the Audio Post Format, WP.com users will need the Space Upgrade to upload audio or music files.

Features:

• Two Columns
• Right Sidebar
• Fixed Width
• Custom Background
• Custom Colors
• Custom Menu
• Custom Header
• Featured Images
• Full Width Template
• Theme Options

Traction Theme ($68)

Traction is a super clean premium magazine theme featuring built in WordPress 3.0+ menu support, built-in post thumbnail support, an easy to use featured post slider, and a robust theme options menu. Other features include 2-column, dynamic header tags, widget-ready, gravatar support and threaded comments support.

Features:

• Fixed Width
• Two Columns
• Right Sidebar
• Threaded Comments
• Theme Options
• Custom Menu
• Featured Images
• Full Width Template
• Sticky Post

To WordPress.com users who would like to purchase any of these themes, all you need to do is login to your dashboard and click on Appearance > Themes. Once there, look for the “Premium” link which is next to “Recently Added“. Users who purchase these premium themes will receive direct custom support from the theme providers themselves.

Any WordPress.com user here who’ve purchased and are using premium themes on their blog? Any particular premium WordPress theme/s that you would like to see added to WordPress.com?

In this Where’s Wally? inspired version of WooVille, we thought a quirky, tongue-in-cheek representation of the WordPress theming community was in order. You’ll find all your favourite theme providers in the colorful WooVille eco-system, but your challenge is to find the WooNinja hiding somewhere…

WooVille#5 Where’s Woo?

[click here to view large version]

It took me about a few minutes before I saw the WooNinja hiding in the picture. Have you seen it yet? Anyways, I think there are more WordPress community members that could’ve been added to the picture like WP Tavern, Theme Lab, WP Recipes, etc. but maybe WooThemes didn’t have enough space for everybody. Maybe we’ll see a second version of this comic that features the other left out WordPress community members? Btw, the design on the DIYthemes building has gathered some mixed reactions. Some look at the building’s design as a cheapshot on DIYthemes, depicting a crumbling building while others see it as a building made up of puzzles or a building that’s under construction which is done in reference with their name DIY (Do-It-Yourself).

If you like this WooVille web comic and would want to buy it as a poster, head on here. WooThemes is planning on selling it in poster form (dimensions: 23.39 × 33.11 inches) for around $20-30 excluding shipping.

How do you like the Where’s Woo? WooVille web comic? Any other WordPress community member you think should be added to the picture? What do you think of the DIYthemes building design? Do you see it as a cheapshot on a competitor or a design that represents the Do-It-Yourself theme? Please share your thoughts.

**CONTEST OFFICIALLY CLOSED AS OF 12/30/10**

UPDATE: Added more cash prizes and a new sponsor.

Today is the first day of December and that “officially” marks the start of the Christmas season. Since Christmas is the season of giving and sharing, what could be a better way to thank my readers and share my blessings with others than to have another Christmas Giveaway, right?

I’ve had two previous big giveaways here on JaypeeOnline – the $1,000+ Christmas Giveaway in 2008 and the $1,500 Thanksgiving Giveaway last year. For this year’s Christmas Giveaway, I’ll be giving away $3,500+ worth of prizes – premium WordPress themes, premium WordPress plugin, web hosting, domains, cash and many more. Of course, all of this won’t be possible without the support and generosity of my sponsors.

PRIZES AT STAKE:
1st Prize
1-year Publisher Plan from Scribe SEO ($324)
1 Pro-Plus package from StudioPress ($249.95)
1 Developer Theme Package from WooThemes ($150)
1 Premium Theme from WPZOOM ($69)
1-year Freedom-CDN Plan from WP Webhost ($120)
1-year Pro Account from Wibiya Web Toolbar ($118.80)
1-year Starter Plan from Reinvigorate ($100)
1-year subscription to Website Monitoring from website-monitoring.com ($59)
1-year subscription to Privacy Pro from Privacy Pro ($35.95)
1-year domain (.com/.net/.org/.info) courtesy of Jehzeel Laurente ($11.99)
$20 cash via PayPal courtesy of DiTesco

2nd Prize
1-Year Publisher Plan from Scribe SEO ($324)
1 Genesis/Child theme package from StudioPress ($79.95)
1 Premium Theme from WPZOOM ($69)
1 Club Membership from Elegant Themes ($39)
1-year Advanced Hosting Plan from Hostentic ($116)
1-year Pro Account from Wibiya Web Toolbar ($118.80)
1-year Starter Plan from Reinvigorate ($100)
1-year subscription to Privacy Pro from Privacy Pro ($35.95)
1-year domain (.com/.net/.org/.info) courtesy of Jehzeel Laurente ($11.99)
$10 cash via PayPal courtesy of MukhangPera.com

3rd Prize
1-Year Publisher Plan from Scribe SEO ($324)
1 Genesis/Child theme package from StudioPress ($79.95)
1 Premium Theme from WPZOOM ($69)
1 Annual Access Membership from Flexi Themes ($49.95)
1-year Freedom Plan from WP Webhost ($80)
1-year Pro Account from Wibiya Web Toolbar ($118.80)
1-year Starter Plan from Reinvigorate ($100)
1-year subscription to Privacy Pro from Privacy Pro ($35.95)
1-year domain (.com/.net/.org/.info) courtesy of Jehzeel Laurente ($11.99)
$10 cash via PayPal courtesy of MukhangPera.com

4th Prize
1 Genesis/Child theme package from StudioPress ($79.95)
1 Premium Theme from WPZOOM ($69)
1 Basic Theme Package from WP Now ($49)
1-year Freedom Plan from WP Webhost ($80)
1-year subscription to Privacy Pro from Privacy Pro ($35.95)
1-year domains (.com/.net/.org/.info) courtesy of Jehzeel Laurente ($11.99)
$10 cash via PayPal courtesy of MukhangPera.com

Consolation Prizes
1 Premium Theme from WPZOOM ($69)
1-year subscription to Privacy Pro from Privacy Pro ($35.95)
6 – 1-year domains (.com/.net/.org/.info) courtesy of Jehzeel Laurente ($11.99)

I’m also giving away 5 Globe Tattoo USB dongles courtesy of Abe Olandres of YugaTech ($20/each) to all contestants from the Philippines.

As a BONUS, I’ll be giving away a 15% rebate for website-monitoring.com to all contestants and 2 Golden Tickets to VaultPress. Please let me know via the comment section if you’re interested.

CONTEST MECHANICS:
1. Subscribe to JaypeeOnline’s RSS feed via email. (required)

Don’t forget to validate your email subscription (After submitting your email address, FeedBurner will send you an email with a link on it to verify your subscription). If you’re already an email subscriber, please proceed to step #2.

2. Blog about this contest. (required)

Make a blog post about this contest in not less than 100 words. (Please don’t copy & paste this post). Don’t forget to include a link/trackback to this contest, prizes at stake and the list of sponsors (just the text links, no need to include the banners). If you want, you can use the Christmas Giveaway graphic in your blog post, do that by saving the image and uploading it to your own web server. (No hotlinking please)

3. Leave a comment. (required)

After you have subscribed to the RSS feed via email and published your blog post, please leave a comment on this post using the same email address you used to subscribe and include the URL to your blog post. In case you decide to avail of the bonus points, make sure to include your Twitter username and/or Facebook account name.

*I require this step so it would be easier for me to validate and keep track of each contestant’s entries.

Total = 7 pts

BONUS POINTS:
You can avail of these bonus points to get more chances of winning.

1. Follow me on Twitter and Retweet this post – 2 pts (If you’re already following me, all you need to do is retweet this post)
2. Share this post on Facebook – 1 pt
3. Join JaypeeOnline’s Facebook Fan Page – 1 pt
4. Follow JaypeeOnline on NetworkedBlogs (via Facebook) – 1 pt

Total = 5 pts

Total maximum entry points = 12 pts

CONTEST RULES:
1. Contestants are required to do all three steps under CONTEST MECHANICS.
2. No multiple entries. 1 person = 1 entry (1 person can get as much as 12 points)
3. Prizes not claimed within 30 days will be forfeited and be given to a new winner.
4. Prizes can not be converted to cash.

OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS:
Scribe SEO

StudioPress

WooThemes

WP Zoom

Elegant Themes

FlexiThemes

WP Now

WP WebHost

Hostentic Web Hosting

Wibiya Web Toolbar

Reinvigorate

Privacy Pro

Website Monitoring

Jehzeel Laurente

Abe Olandres

DiTesco

Mukhang Pera

VaultPress

Contest starts as soon as this post is published and ends on December 30, 2010. All entries should be in by midnight (US Eastern Time). Each point is equivalent to one entry that will be put into the list of entries (more points, more entries). Winners will be chosen using Random.org’s List Randomizer and will be announced the following day, December 31st.

Please make sure to check back on this post every now and then for any changes or updates.

What are you waiting for? Join now! You could be the winner of any one of these awesome prizes. Remember, the more points you have, the more your chances of winning! If you have any questions regarding the contest, feel free to contact me.

If you or your company would like to be sponsor and provide some prizes for this Christmas Giveaway, please send me a message via the Contact page.

Black Friday is just around the corner and I’m sure many of you have been looking forward to it to take advantage of the outrageous deals on electronics and gadgets. However, if you’re planning to redesign your blog or plan on starting one, then you might want to take advantage of this awesome deal from StudioPress, makers of the popular Genesis Framework and Genesis Framework Child Themes and other awesome premium WordPress Themes.

As part of their Black Friday sale, StudioPress is offering 25% OFF on all of their products starting today November 24th until Tuesday – November 30th. Just use the discount code “BLACK” to avail of this offer. This is a great opportunity to purchase the Genesis Framework and all Genesis Child Themes like the Prose Theme, Bee Crafty Theme, Family Tree Theme, Church Theme, Outreach Theme, Agency Theme, Serenity Theme, Lexicon Theme, Going Green Theme and many more.

Below are the two most recent themes released by StudioPress:

Manhattan Theme

Venture Theme

Don’t let this awesome deal getaway because as soon as this offer ends, StudioPress will no longer offer any discounts on their themes. This will be their last sale event.

StudioPress doesn’t only offer well designed and flexible premium WordPress themes but also provide very good customer support. If you’re still not convinced, you might like to know that StudioPress clients include big time bloggers like Chris Brogan and Mr. Problogger himself – Darren Rowse.

What are you waiting for? Grab a StudioPress theme now!

DISCLOSURE: JaypeeOnline is an affiliate of StudioPress.

Found out late last week that StudioPress along with several other companies merged together to form Copyblogger Media LLC, which is a new consolidated company led by Copyblogger founder, Brian Clark. Asides from themes and plugins, this new company will offer online education and a suite of software tools for WordPress.

Here’s a few excerpts from the official announcement posted on the StudioPress blog:

We’re excited to announce that StudioPress and several other companies are coming together to form Copyblogger Media LLC. This is a new consolidated company led by Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger.

I am one of the owners of this new company, while Nathan will remain as the lead developer of Genesis. We’re very excited about the development community which has surrounded Genesis, and there is so much to look forward to. Craig will continue to handle the business-side of StudioPress, while I will still remain an integral part of the entire project.

About Copyblogger Media, LLC

Joining Brian Clark and myself in this new venture as partners are Sean Jackson (creator of Scribe SEO), Tony Clark (co-creator of Teaching Sells, Third Tribe, and a new WordPress product called Premise), and Sonia Simone, Senior Editor of Copyblogger and co-founder of Third Tribe with Brian, Chris Brogan, and Darren Rowse.

As a full-fledged new media company, Copyblogger Media, LLC will have multiple lines of business, including online education and live events. But the thing that caught my attention was Brian’s vision for a suite of software tools, specifically for the WordPress space.

Read more about the Copyblogger Media LLC merger here.

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this when I first found out about it but as I continued reading the post, I realized that this move would not only be beneficial for the groups involved but also for the WordPress community. Why? Because the people involved in this merger are not only good at what they do, but they also offer good quality products and services that comply to WordPress standards. So I really believe that this development is a win-win situation for both the company and the WordPress community. I’m looking forward to the products and services that this company will be coming up with and offering us in the near future.

If you’re currently a client of StudioPress, you have nothing to worry about this recent development. Brian Gardner said that it’s business as usual, he and his original team aren’t going away and that this merger would only bring better products, services, updates and support to current StudioPress clients.

Btw, for StudioPress affiliates like me, please take note that the StudioPress Affiliate Program is no longer with E-junkie and has switched over to ShareASale. You have until Sept 30th to switch to the new program. Old affiliate links not updated after that date will not receive credit for affiliate sales. Please refer to this post for further information.

What do you guys think of this merger? What products or services would you like to see Copyblogger Media LLC come up with and offer to the WordPress community? Please share your thoughts.