WordPress Themes
Thesis Theme debate rages on.
This one is personal and painful. I stumbled into WordPress as a content managment system some years back. My route to here has been long and circuitous but there were reasons I worked the way I did.
I want all my “systems” to be able to scale. Sustainable and scalable. Simple goals.
As I’ve watched, updated, and grown with WordPress as the backend, my first choice for a framework theme was an expensive option at the time, at a point where I could hardly afford it, but then I could hardly not afford to do it right, correctly, the first time.
When I purchased the “Developer’s Option,” it was, at the time, about the only way to get exactly what I wanted, a website that didn’t advertise for anyone else but me. Or affiliates I chose.
When I first saw the post, it’s a long read, I was disappointed.
My first gut instinct was to can WordPress and start looking for an alternative. I know of at least one that offers similar functions, and I also know, from previous experience, that the motor runs very similar. But does a Ford Guy want to switch to a Chevy?
That kneejerk response is what made me pause and examine where I’m in bed, and with whom. The WordPress community hasn’t done me any favors, but then, they’ve not been unwelcome. I manage a dozen sites or more, about half of those are on my own shell account, and of that half-dozen, three or four are my main source of traffic. My main outlet, whether that’s experimental kramerwetzel.com, or mere creative alternative BexarCountyLine.com, or just the pro site? All on WordPress motors – as of now.
I, personally, recommend the Thesis Theme, and I can only endorse getting the “Developer’s Lisence,” or whatever that’s called. Runs a little less than $200 – and it’s well worth it.
In the ensuing years, I’ve availed myself of the tech support for code questions with the various layouts I tend to employ. With one situation, I made a stupid error, and the tech support was quite kind, staying away from the, “You stupid fool” comments. Then again, underdogs tend to be lean, hungry, and eager to please.
Two factors play a part in my decision process. While I was still testing the original design and layout, before it was “live,” I started picking up new readers, new subscribers. Proof of concept, if there ever was. The other factor, and why I’m so indebted to the “Thesis Theme” itself? It was the first theme that offered the creative freedom I needed to make a website look like a website, not look like a WordPress site, and the theme (it’s really a theme framework) offered a legal way to remove any advertising I didn’t want.
It’s a really just a sidebar item, but most WordPress themes have a link, or two, in the footer, in the headers as a widget, that promotes either the author, the designer, or some other money-making venture. Which creates a problem. Technically, legally, I can remove that notice, but ethically? Not so much. So every page view includes an ad for someone else. On more than one occasion, those ads have contained affiliate links, so the click earns someone else money.
Sidebar to the sidebar? Before I was Google-Slapped, the google ads on my sites used to advertise for other astrologers. At first I was worried, then I realized, “Give them a try. You’ll be back.” Snicker.
With the Thesis Theme, I don’t have to advertise for it, but I do — by choice. It’s a product that I sincerely believe in; although, from following the boss’s twitter feed, I might not agree with his politics, but his product is solid.
(WP Theme endorsement)
