wcs.ofimdavarzea.com

How to Set Up a Magazine Style WordPress Theme

July 27, 2008 in Wordpress Themes Tags: Tips

WordPress

Magazine style WordPress themes may be a good way to organize a blog with lots of content and categories.

This kind of theme usually comes with many built in options and, if you don’t use them wisely, everything may turn into a mess.

The Browser Issue

Before activating one of these themes, you must test it through at least 3 different browsers: Firefox, Internet Explorer 7 and 6.

Make sure everything works and displays properly, even when you minimize and maximize the page (believe me, I’ve seen menus and categories lists that simply stop showing after this process).

Some functions, mainly the ones that rely heavily on javascript may show erratic behaviors, especially on IE 6.

So Many Content, So Little Time

People don’t have the time, or the will, to click every link on you homepage. They scan

You don’t have to use all 34 options available on your theme. Don’t overwhelm your reader to the point he has to guess where you’re latest post is.

Regular visitors want to read what’s new, don’t make them look for it through a fancy gallery that displays everything but the kitchen sink.

A Short Guide to Set Up a Magazine Style WordPress Theme

Your latest post must go on the top of the page, with a good excerpt to “catch” your reader.
Latest posts on a “per category” basis should come right below the latest post. Don’t forget the excerpt, new readers don’t know what you’ve been writing about and will probably ignore “title only” links.
Display a category list on the top of your sidebar, it gives new readers an idea of what your blog is about.
Youtube has a 480px width player. Why on Earth will people want to watch a 200 and so one? Keep your videos on the body of your posts, or use a bigger player on your home page.
Javascript increases the loading time of any site. Think about what’s best, a fancy page no one will see or a cleaner site that doesn’t annoy the reader, taking forever to load?
Lots of options mean lots of server load. No matter how good your cache plugin is, one day your site will go down. And it doesn’t take a digg effect for it to happen, about 20,000 uniques will do the trick.