WordPress is an excellent blogging asset. It is both easy to use and extensible. You can leverage the power 
of PHP easily from the comfort of your easy chair. (PHP is one of the major web server languages. Small little sites like this one all the way to Facebook make use of PHP).
There are literally thousands of different themes available for WordPress. New ones appear daily. If you don’t like them, and if you have the skills, you can create your own theme (or you can hire someone on ODesk* for little money to do the work for you).
My personal preference for a theme is one that gives me the ability to add functionality beyond the core of WordPress, without requiring a plethora of plugins (which slows down your blog’s performance).
I think you should have a look at Thesis Theme too. Here’s why.
Just about every blogger who posts at least once a week has thought about what it will take to take their blog to the next level.
Part of that involves maximizing their blog. To maximize your blog you first, without doubt, have to write great content, and you have to post 3 to 5 times a week.
Many of us are not skilled at writing code (I’m not). Most bloggers need to focus on writing well, and leave the development of the look of their blog to professionals.
But what happens when you don’t have the money needed to take your blog to the next level? What if you can only focus on the one thing others can’t really help you do, namely write?
When that happens you need a blog theme that looks good and is extensible. That’s why I like Thesis Theme from DIYThemes.
The Good Stuff
1. Thesis is clean. Out of the box, Thesis Theme looks good. You don’t have to make major changes to get it looking good.
2. Well Supported. The users guide is very detailed and not cumbersome to read.
3. Exceptionally Customizable by Non-Coders. I am not a coder. I understand what I see and what I want (in terms of php, javascript, etc.). Thesis Theme makes that very easy to do by virtue of baked in Custom editing for CSS (cascading style sheets) and PHP functions. This is well documented and lets you add major new functions to your blog by adding code snippets.
4. Amazingly Helpful Community. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of articles across the web about customizing Thesis Theme. I have found every major new function I wanted to add via my friend Google (HT Scott Smith). As I said, I am not a coder, but I can mod code I find to do what I want it to do, and with Thesis Theme’s baked in custom editing, I have done some significant modifications to my blog from a user experience perspective. I am planning on writing more about this in coming weeks, so I will leave it at this.
5. Powerful. The key part about this theme is the ability to change the look and feel of an entire site by changing settings on a single screen, again, not something that requires extensive coding or development skills. Many of these allow you to limit the use of plugins which can slow your site if overused.
Yes, there are other things that make this a powerful tool, and yes I am only scratching the surface in this brief review. My plan is to introduce some of the more advanced features still within the grasp of advanced but not expert users in the coming weeks.
What about you? Have you used Thesis Theme? What are your thoughts?
* Affiliate link.
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Hahahahhahaa! It makes me laugh becuase after so much thought I decided to go wtih Weaver II (I was very convinced by Andrea over at Curiosity Killed the Blog). I’m quite happy with it, my site definitley needed some help. Maybe next revamp I’ll look into Thesis
TB at BlueCollarWorkman recently posted..The Grass is Always Greener on the Job Security Side of the Fence
There are tons of themes. I really like Thesis for all the reasons I wrote about. If you ever look for a new theme, give it a shot.
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