WP Theme Review: Magazeen

WP Theme Magazeen

Smashing Magazine definitely loves their readers, especially those who have WordPress blogs. Why? Because they’ve recently released another free premium quality WordPress theme called Magazeen, a 2 column, magazine type theme created by the WeFunction Design Agency.

Here’s a little introduction from the guys over at WeFunction:

“We’ve created the Magazeen theme to try and pump as much style and functionality into a WordPress theme to give people something they might not expect from their standard WordPress theme. There really is very few limits to what WordPress handle, so we’ve built in a lot of custom features and options to give people a little taste of what is possible, and how some small functionality tweaks can make a huge difference to the overall experience of browsing a blog. On top of that we’ve wrapped all that functionality up in a really cool and modern theme, with nice big title fonts, and a stylish colour scheme.

Features:

  • 2 column
  • Widget-ready
  • jQuery Latest Image Showcase
  • Related Posts Drop Down
  • Latest Posts & Featured Posts
  • Bottom bar
  • Works with IE 7, Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Safari
  • XHTML and CSS compliant

Screenshot:
WP Theme Magazeen

My Take:
The Magazeen WordPress theme was designed with typography, grids and magazine layout as the main focus and I believe that the authors/designers achieved that. Magazeen is not your standard WordPress theme or typical magazine theme. The authors added a lot of style and functionality to it. For me, the features that stand out and make the Magazeen theme unique are the jQuery Latest Image Showcase and the Related Posts Dropdown.

jQuery Latest Image Showcase
WP Theme Magazeen jQuery Latest Image Showcase

The latest posts are displayed and presented graphically by thumbnails that are automatically created using the Tim Thumb script, same script thats used in my blog’s theme. Post title appear when the mouse is hovered over the thumbnails. Its a good way to promote and encourage visitors to check out other blog posts.

Related Posts Dropdown
WP Theme Magazeen Related Posts Dropdown

This is another tool to encourage visitors to explore the blog and check out related posts. These are found at the bottom of each featured post or most recent published displayed in the homepage and is displayed by clicking on the category name.

The Magazeen theme is widget-ready and come with custom widgets that you can use on the sidebar, like the Latest Posts and Featured Posts which can be activated and managed via the theme’s admin panel inside the WP dashboard. It also has a bottom bar or section in the footer where you can display categories or other content and information about your blog (which can be managed via the theme’s option page within the WP dashboard).

Regarding the color scheme, I know some of you might not like it but I think its a stylish color scheme. Anyways, if you really don’t like it, especially the color pink, you can easily change that by editing the theme’s stylesheet (style.css file). Same goes with the fonts which I know some of you might find too big, especially the post title font. Other than that, there’s nothing bad you can say about this theme. Great design, great layout, typography and functionality.

Overall, I can say that the Magazeen WordPress theme is one cool magazine theme that’s full of style and feature-rich. I’m sure many WordPress users would love to use this theme on their blogs. Kudos to the WeFunction Design Agency and of course to Smashing Magazine for releasing this beautiful WordPress theme!

Preview or Download the Magazeen WordPress theme.

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12 Comments

  1. @elmot – I believe jan will be moving/switching to WP very soon, just wait and see. :)

    Like you, I’m a visual person and I also like the latest image showcase that this theme has. It looks very attractive to readers.

  2. hahha! jan is really on the slow but forced motion to move to wp. i like this theme jayps. especially those pictures on top about the recent articles. somewhat like at the huffingtonpost. it is now obvious that i am a visual person.

  3. @jan – You’re welcome! Oh really? I’m glad to know that I’ve played a part in converting you to WordPress. Yes, this theme would look nice on your WordPress blog. :D

  4. Thanks, Jaypee. I think so too. My entry into blogging I credit to Jhez. The final move to WP I will have to say when it comes to that is yours. You’ve been pushing me ever so gently that all I need to do is jump. :)

    I can quite see myself in this theme. Love it.

  5. @jong – True. The quality of the theme plus it being free is what makes it awesome. It certainly looks like a premium theme and the first time I saw it, it looked like a theme created by WooThemes based on the style.

    Btw, I’m still doing a lot of catching up to do with the posts and replying to comments but I’ll do that meme you tagged me with as soon as I’m done. ;)

  6. The thumbnails feature in lieu of a list of posts is outstanding. That too me is a standout. Can’t be snooty with this theme. It’s brilliant.

  7. Saw this theme just the other day. Truly an amazing theme, perhaps it will be suited to a new project I have in the drawing boards. :D

  8. wow.. This theme is awesome and its free. I think I’m going to try this in one of my blogs. I’ve seen a lot of free themes but this one is the best yet… you wouldn’t know that it’s free…

    Kudos to Smashing Magazine team…

  9. @loy – You really like this theme huh? I can’t blame you, it is a very nice theme.

    Oh, so you’re gonna purchase a theme this time not make one? That’s cool. When you decide to purchase the theme, don’t forget to use my Theme Forest affiliate link okay? Hehe

  10. Holy cow! Another fantastic-looking WordPress theme! Expensive premium themes are on the wane! Haha..not really, but this creation is one of a kind. Why didn’t I think about this when I’m planning to create my own theme?

    But then, I’m planning to buy a WordPress theme for $20 over at Theme Forest. This theme deserves to be called a premium design regardless of the price tag, but I think this doesn’t suit my needs as of the moment. :-)

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