Antbag.com

After receiving many emails on the subject, it’s been brought to my attention that my NetWorker theme for Wordpress has been used by the government of the UK, and it seems they’ve not honored the copyright agreement. The theme was released under the Creative Commons 3.0 license, which requires attribution to me whether the theme is modified or not. The link that I place in the footer of each theme I have available, which points to this website, is the attribution that I expect from each website that uses that theme.

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Tags: Business, Wordpress by Anthony ∗ 49 Comments »

With all the changes that are happening at the Wordpress Theme Viewer, I’ve decided to offer my Wordpress themes for download here on this site. Since Wordpress made the decision to no longer include sponsored themes, they’ve been going through the whole database of themes they have and weeding out the sponsored ones. During this process, they’ve closed the site to ALL designers who would like to upload new themes or update the ones they presently have featured on the site.

The situation has made me realize that no matter how great a tool the Theme Viewer is, to use it exclusively for offering themes is putting the availability of my themes completely in someone else’s hands. I have several new themes that will be available soon, and I’ve been waiting several weeks for the Wordpress Theme Viewer to open back up for designs. I hope to continue using the site in the future, however, they will still be available here.

I’ve set up a demo site which will feature the previews of each theme. When you go to my “Themes” page, for each theme is a screenshot, a preview link, and a download link. Hopefully, this will also make the process easier for those interested in downloading…..one less click.

If any technical issues pop up with this new set up, please let me know.

Tags: Design, Wordpress by Anthony ∗ 10 Comments »

This past week, I introduced you to a new design I created for my wife’s embroidery business. I had built the site with XHTML and CSS on static HTML pages. I asked for constructive criticism, and I got what I asked for pretty quickly. Based on the feedback I received plus several ideas of my own, I’ve made several major revisions. Here are the changes:

• site is now built on Wordpress 2.2
• changed the domain from .info to .org – (.info address is forwarded to .org)
• new item pictures that are more consistent with each other
• did away with the sidebar – same links are in the horizontal nav bar
• h1, h2, etc. are being used more appropriately
• front page photos now click-thru to the appropriate pages
• added dialogue to the contact form

At some point, I may still change the site over to a shopping cart system such as OSCommerce. Presently, I believe this set-up will serve the purpose of the site. I also think using Wordpress opens up some new possibilities, all of which I’ve yet to grasp. Wordpress is such an awesome system, the possibilities are endless.

Embroidery and More

Tags: Design, Web, Wordpress by Anthony ∗ 5 Comments »

The Wordpress Theme Viewer went under an administration change last month around the time they made the decision to stop supporting sponsored themes. Since then, I’ve been unable to upload new themes, or even update the ones I currently have on the site. I’m under the impression that the site is still not accepting new themes until they get all the changes they’re making worked out. (whenever that will be)

If a reader is interested in a theme, they can check it out right here rather than going to a different website.

Since I haven’t had access to that site, I’m looking into what type of set-up I’ll need here on Antbag.com to offer my themes for download and preview. I have a little collection of completed themes that are now ready, but I haven’t offered them due to my reliance on the Theme Viewer. I think this will be a positive change. If a reader is interested in a theme, they can check it out right here rather than going to a different website. Hopefully, the Theme Viewer will be back up to full functionality before long. I would like to offer themes both here and there. The Theme Viewer is great exposure.

On another note, I believe I read that they were having trouble with the “10 most downloaded themes” section. Whether they’re having issues or not, my NetWorker theme is one of the themes listed in the top 10……….so I consider that to be good exposure!

Tags: Web, Wordpress by Anthony ∗ 6 Comments »

With blogging’s rise in popularity, the sidebar has become a place for much more.

The far majority of websites and blogs have at least one sidebar. The primary purpose being to provide deeper navigation into the website. With blogging’s rise in popularity, the sidebar has become a place for much more. The sidebar is a great place to put information and links that will benefit readers by providing them quick access to useful info. I got the idea from a post on bill2me.com to make a list of what I think are the essentials.

First, I want to list a few things that are found in many sidebars, but are wasted space in my opinion.

• Calendar
• Archives(by date)
• meta(site admin links)

Having said that, yes, I do include those things in the default sidebars in my themes. Why? I guess because that’s the normal thing to do, and that is what people expect to find in a theme. I haven’t really considered doing any different, since most Wordpress users use sidebar widgets anyway. All three of these elements can be useful in certain types of sites, but in general they don’t really add value.

So, what are the more important things to include? Well this really comes down to opinion and personal preference. What I find to be crucial, you may think otherwise. Here, I’ve made a list of what I think are the 5 most essential items to include in a sidebar, and why.

1. Pages / Navigation – Some sites, such as this one, have a horizontal navigation menu right under the header. All sites don’t. It’s frustrating for me to visit a site, and the only means of navigation is either going to the bottom of the page and following the “previous entries” link, or by searching the Archives(by date). The truth is, I probably won’t take the time to do either. So I think providing easy navigation is the most essential. Preferably with a nice sitemap.
2. Recent Posts – I like to display recent posts, because this is obviously the first place a visitor will look when visiting a site for the first time, to try getting an overall feel for the content.
3. Recent Comments – This is important, in my opinion, because it makes it easy for the reader to follow any conversations that are happening on the site. And hey, isn’t conversation what blogging is all about?
4. Categories – This one goes right along with navigation. If a reader is looking for specific information, this makes it easy for them to see if you have anything to offer about that subject.
5. Subscription Options – If you want to build a community of regular readers, it’s much more likely to happen by RSS.

That’s my list. What would you consider the most important elements of a sidebar? What am I leaving out?

Tags: Blogging, Design, Wordpress by Anthony ∗ 11 Comments »

Have you tried AJAX lately?

AJAX?….as in that cleaning product?

Of course not. I’m talking AJAX….as in….web application language. Or Asynchronous JavaScript and XML to be more specific. Mike Smullin has created this super cool plug-in that, through the use of AJAX, your page doesn’t have to re-load when someone leaves a comment. There are two options:

1. You can download the plug-in here, and upload to your Wordpress plug-ins directory, or
2. follow Mike’s instructions on manually integrating the code in your comments.php file

It’s really smooth. If you want to see how it works, just……leave a comment on this post.

Now that’s low huh? Will I do anything to get comments?

Tags: Blogging, Web, Wordpress by Anthony ∗ 16 Comments »