Almost a year ago i asked this same question, but since that time i have released a couple more themes and have seen some tremendous changes in the WordPress Themes scene, of course i’m refering to the rise of Premium Themes and good looking design all around.
When i released the Forte theme i expected a good response because i thought it would resonate with fellow bloggers as it’s simple enough to use, easily customizable and powerful enough to be used on Magazine/News style type of sites.
To actually designed and release such a quality theme again is not really that easy to do, plus there’s tons and tons of great themes out there, i’m especially impressed by the recent themes released by my friend Adii, the The Gazette Edition & Flash News, both look pretty slick if you ask me!.
I will be releasing two new themes soon but i’m now interested in gathering feedback and comments from you in order to start designing my next theme.
What Do You Look For in A WordPress Theme?
So, what do you actually look for in a theme? is it purely based on the design & colors, or is it based on functionality or are you looking for a balance of both?
I need your help, in my mind i envision on creating my next theme to look similar to this site but than again i had a friend of mind that said a design like that would look “too busy” and too many parts/columns.
So please help me out, give me some hint or even point me to some URL of sites that attracts you, let me know your prefrences such as:
- 2,3 or 4 columns?
- Dark or Light colors?
- Header or no Header?
- CMS options or just normal blog layout?
- Ads ready?
- Big or small footer?
-etc…
I know some people were particularly displeased with the large footer that the Forte theme has but i did make sure you could edit it so that you could have a simple footer if you so wanted.
Comment away and hopefully i can/will intergrate your ideas and views into my themes.
Cheers.
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February 14th, 2008 at 4:05 am
2 columns
Dark, but post area white
header max 150px height
normal blog layout
also ads ready of course you can make it ready if it isnt.
footer must be but not very big
maybe if user not professional it must be widget ready.
Also I highy modified a free them and added javascript menu and adsense areas modified search options with google search, video and photo higlidht frames etc. etc.. so the result was satisfied me. there is a little lack.
February 14th, 2008 at 4:41 am
2 columns
light
flexible width
clean uncluttered appearance
widget ready
small or no footer
February 14th, 2008 at 5:13 am
I won’t tell you what I want in a theme…
But I will thank you for featuring the themes, as well as the kind words that came with them! 
I see you’re signed up to the Revolution affiliate program…!? Why not sign up for Premium News?
February 14th, 2008 at 6:13 am
@Adii - You definitely dont have to tell me what you want in a theme..you can cook it up yourself! LOL. I’ll definitely sign up for the Premium News affiliate, just a matter of time before i place the ad
February 14th, 2008 at 6:38 am
moses your footer is like a another webpage
February 19th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Hi Moses. I just wanted to tell you that your themes are GORGEOUS. I’ve researched wordpress themes (trying to find the best ones - whether they were commercial or free) and it took a while but I finally found your website.
Honestly, I like the style of Brian Gardner’s themes, but they are not free and they are a little bland. I like how much information he allows to be packed into the homepage (ie: his Media Pro theme) but I really love how YOU have integrated those tabs and functions or features which remind me of Joomla (on your themes). I love the brown color themes you have and your style. You are very talented. About possible changes, what I think would be amazing is to have more interactivity features. For example, when I wanted to comment on your post here - I didn’t know how to register or couldn’t find a place to. Automatically I went to: < URL snipped by Moses> because I’m familiar with wordpress, but someone else may not know. I wish wordpress based sites were much more interactive and the admin area is also horrible. I redesigned the admin area and if you want the css file you may want to check it out. I think it makes a big difference especially for newbies. Thank you for all the free themes - they really are beautiful.
February 19th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Hi Holly, thanks for dropping by.I too love the themes by Brian Gardner.
I’ll take your ideas into consideration, and i would definitely be interested in the admin CSS file.
Thanks
February 28th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
I would like to see a wordpress theme look like this template :-
http://www.joomlart.com/templates_demo.php?template=ja_corona
April 7th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Hello !! ^_^
My name is Piter Kokoniz. oOnly want to tell, that your posts are really interesting
And want to ask you: will you continue to post in this blog in future?
Sorry for my bad english:)
Tnx!
Your Piter Kokoniz, from Latvia