Derek Punsalan the man behind 5thirtyone is a freelancer by trade and more popularly known in the WordPress community for contributing themes like the 5thirtyone V2, Foliage, Pink October and the Grid Focus. His latest release is the Unstandard WordPress Theme, which was originally developed for his personal blog.
The Unstandard WordPress theme is released / shared with the intent of breaking the typical blog mold. Farewell to the blase reverse chronological text heavy front pages, and hello to visuals & imagery to lure visitors deeper into your website / blog. A WordPress theme comprised of a – grid aligned – images for forward facing pages, and clean textual presentation on the inner pages. Originally developed for personal use, and modified for release, I felt that an update to the WordPress themes made available on 5thirtyone.com was due.
Basic Features:
- 2 columns
- Right sidebar
- Footer
- WP 2.3 – 2.5 compatible
- Works on Firefox, IE & Opera
- XHTML compliant
Screenshot:
NOTE: The Unstandard theme requires the use of WordPress custom fields for it to display the lead and secondary images displayed on the home page, index, and search results. Derek provides a detailed instruction and a screenshot in the theme page.
My Take:
I’ve always been a fan of Derek, 5thirtyone and his WordPress themes. The Unstandard theme is no exception. I love this theme! If I still had a personal blog, I’d install this theme right away.
The Unstandard theme, like it’s name is unique and a bit “unorthodox” WordPress theme. Instead of the normal index page filled with lots of text, this theme uses images as its “post excerpt”.
There are three things IMO that makes the Unstandard theme less “marketable” or appealing to WordPress users. The first being that it’s not a widget-ready theme meaning that WordPress users who rely heavily on widgets would have to pass or wait until it gets widgetized. Second would be the required use of custom fields and I know for a fact that most WordPress users aren’t familiar with this WordPress feature. Last but not least, the need to create two separate graphics for each post. Not all users have the time or resources to do this and for any blogger, this process can be time consuming.
As mentioned earlier, this theme was originally developed for Derek’s personal use, meaning this theme wasn’t created for the public or to cater to most WordPress users. I know there are still a lot of folks who are more than happy to see this theme released. I’m sure that in a matter of time, we’ll see several customized versions of this theme out in the wild.
Overall, I still think that the Unstandard WordPress Theme is one awesome theme. Kudos to Derek for creating another inspirational theme and for sharing it to the public. I give the Unstandard a 4.5 out of 5.
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May 28th, 2008 at 4:15 AM
@Hussein – I also like the orange-black combo. Aside from the nice color scheme/combination this theme was also well designed that’s why it’s a great theme. Thanks for dropping by! :)
May 28th, 2008 at 4:14 AM
Yeah. I Like the combination of orange and black. Great theme.
Hussein’s last blog post..Amit Bhawani Tech Updates
May 15th, 2008 at 7:45 PM
@David – Yep, the color scheme is nice. Regarding the images, I guess it’s a matter of preference because this theme was designed to use imagery instead of the usual text-based homepage.
Anyways, thanks for dropping by and for sharing your thoughts. :)
May 15th, 2008 at 7:40 PM
Nice blend of orange and black, but the images make it blocky.
David’s last blog post..WordPress Plugin: Twitter Blaster
April 14th, 2008 at 6:15 AM
@ChiQ – Yeah, the search box does seem odd and doesn’t go well with the design but you can modify that if you have some CSS/HTML skills right?
Btw, thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment! :)
April 14th, 2008 at 6:12 AM
I actually like it.. except for the search box.
April 4th, 2008 at 10:55 PM
@K – Yes, Derek’s themes are all neat and organized. I guess it’s also because several of his released themes used to be his personal theme. If someone has the time and skill, it’s easy. Just use implement the TimThumb script into this theme and it’s good to go!
April 4th, 2008 at 10:51 PM
Really neat-looking theme. I agree, the thumbnails should automatically resized, para wala ng hassles.
K’s last blog post..Raising my eyebrows
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:55 PM
@Richard – Thanks for the compliments! I’ve just visited your blog and you got good articles and contest going on yourself. I’ll definitely consider donating or becoming a sponsor for one of your contests.
You’re welcome and thanks for dropping by! :)
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Heys, this looks like a really fantastic website. Your articles are actually pretty interesting.
If you get a chance, feel free to drop by my blog http://www.hedgeagainstspeculation.com
I also have monthly contests going on, so I would really appreciate it if you entered or donated to them, thanks in advance!
Richard’s last blog post..Hedge Against Speculation teams up with PKR
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:45 PM
@jhay – Yup, it’s always good to see new trends and styles especially for WordPress themes. I agree. This theme would really benefit from that automatic thumbnail resize script which btw, is already released and is called the TimThumb PHP Script.
Back to the theme, yes there’s always a chance of having an improved version. :)
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:40 PM
A nice attempt at really setting a new trend. But the theme could’ve used the automatic thumbnail resize feature or something similar.
This would really help in marketing the theme. But hey, there’s always the next version right? :lol:
jhay’s last blog post..Kidneys, kidnappers and organ donations