Pinoy Blogosphere

• Wanna see how a Google Doodle is created? Here’s a time lapse video of Chief Google Doodler Dennis Hwang creating a lunar year doodle.
• A couple of local online advertising agencies have recently emerged in the Philippines and another one is rumored to be coming. Pinoy Problogger asks this question: Is the online ad agency market getting crowded?
• Customize your Windows Quick Launch bar with True Launch Bar. It lets you group quick launch shortcuts and display them in a pop-up menu. Very useful if you use a lot of programs and want an quick and easy way of accessing them.
• Check out Jehzeel Laurente’s tip on how to increase your blog’s traffic even if you don’t update frequently.
• Prudence shares her experience on comment moderation and her recent decision to turn on comment moderation on her blog. I’ve always moderated comments here in JaypeeOnline. Not only to prevent libelous comments but also to keep spam comments. Besides, I don’t want to waste time deleting all those spam comments.
• Wonder why your blog ads are getting fewer clicks than before? Recent studies show that Internet users are getting immune to advertisements.

Around the Web

• SP of WPDesigner, talks about careless premium WordPress theme authors and why you should be careful next time you purchase one.
• Do you love joining and participating in blog contests? Daily Blog Tips shares 7 easy ways to win a blog contest.
• Want a copy of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 for FREE! Microsoft recently launched a software giveaway program called Microsoft DreamSpark Student Program that will provide college and high school students worldwide with access to the latest Microsoft developer and designer tools for free. I wish they had this when I was still in college.
• PowerDropping.com is a site that lists 300 fast loading sites that have Entrecard widgets on top of the fold. A good resource for Entrecard users who want to drop more cards faster. Via Blogging Gal

In case you haven’t noticed it yet, I’ve recently added a Poll section in the sidebar. From time to time, I’ll be posting poll questions on different topics. I’ve been wanting to do this earlier but the poll didn’t work right in my previous theme. Why add a poll? The poll is one way of getting to know who my readers are and what they’re interested in. This way I can post more about stuff that you guys are interested in. I’d appreciate it if you guys can participate and share your opinions by casting your vote in the polls.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or want your article to be featured in the next Weekend Roundup, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message via the contact page.

The $5 Themes Club will offer WordPress themes for $5 per year. No folks, that is not a typo nor is it your eyes playing tricks on you. I’ll use SP’s own words to explain what the $5 Themes Club is about and how it works:

What is this club?

This is a WordPress themes club. You pay $5 per year for unlimited access / downloads. Each year, you’re guaranteed at least 12 themes.

What are you allowed to do with the club themes?

You do not need a developer license to use the club themes for your clients. And, you may use your club themes on as many domain names as you wish; make sure you own those domains. Basically, just don’t resell, give them away for free, and / or claim that you’ve created them. Here’s the terms and conditions page.

No Add-ons and Hidden Fees

There’s no copyright or credit removal to purchase or add on to the $5. You pay $5 for the whole year. That’s it. The club themes come without copyright labels or links. In fact, the only trace of Wpdesigner and yours truly is on two short lines in the style.css file.

Themes Support

There are two ways to get help. The first one is through the ticket system from your themes club account. The second one is through the forums, where you’d usually get a faster response because multiple people would be viewing your question at the same time.

Just to let you know, I already signed up for it. I know I just bought a new theme so what do I need it for? It doesn’t require a rocket scientist to figure out that 12 good quality WordPress themes for only $5/year is a real bargain. Plus with that price, you get support from the club forum which is not available with most free WordPress themes. This is ideal for WordPress users who can’t afford custom or premium themes but would like to have a unique, customized theme for their blogs. If you sign up and join the club, you can basically do anything you want with the themes except reselling and redistributing it.

Btw, here’s a preview of some themes that will be available in the $5 Themes Club:

Personal Theme

Music Theme

If you like the idea of spending only $5 on WordPress themes for a whole year, head on over to WPDesigner and join the club! Click here to immediately sign up.