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Madeleine

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What's your favorite 'theme' for a website? I have a few I'm looking at (thanks EmptyNest) and was wondering what everyone likes?
 
There are a gazillon themes out there. I have not found one I can use "as is". They all need some sort of customization to suit your / client's needs. It will be a learning curve for sure. Get yourself FIREBUG and learn to read the style codes so that you can customize to what you want for your own Custom.css.
I also find the absolutely most critical thing is Customer Support. I have learned so much from them and I try and help out others on their forums as I can. The ones that have the best support for me so far have been these:
https://support.truethemes.net/
http://www.kriesi.at/support/forum/
http://kaptinlin.com/support/categories/striking-general
 
Just make sure it's a "responsive" theme that automatically resizes photos and columns and all as screen size/shape changes, so the same page works for desktop, tablet, and phone. Definitely the way to go!
 
Just make sure it's a "responsive" theme that automatically resizes photos and columns and all as screen size/shape changes, so the same page works for desktop, tablet, and phone. Definitely the way to go!.
Ah yes, I second that for sure.
 
There are a gazillon themes out there. I have not found one I can use "as is". They all need some sort of customization to suit your / client's needs. It will be a learning curve for sure. Get yourself FIREBUG and learn to read the style codes so that you can customize to what you want for your own Custom.css.
I also find the absolutely most critical thing is Customer Support. I have learned so much from them and I try and help out others on their forums as I can. The ones that have the best support for me so far have been these:
https://support.truethemes.net/
http://www.kriesi.at/support/forum/
http://kaptinlin.com/support/categories/striking-general.
Is the recommendation to go to a WP theme vs an HTML theme? Pros? Cons?
 
There are a gazillon themes out there. I have not found one I can use "as is". They all need some sort of customization to suit your / client's needs. It will be a learning curve for sure. Get yourself FIREBUG and learn to read the style codes so that you can customize to what you want for your own Custom.css.
I also find the absolutely most critical thing is Customer Support. I have learned so much from them and I try and help out others on their forums as I can. The ones that have the best support for me so far have been these:
https://support.truethemes.net/
http://www.kriesi.at/support/forum/
http://kaptinlin.com/support/categories/striking-general.
Is the recommendation to go to a WP theme vs an HTML theme? Pros? Cons?
.
ABSOLUTELY. Why mess with html. You will actually have to probably edit the css styles but it is a heck of alot easier in a wordpress theme. Don't even go to html. Get a responsive wordpress theme as I told you before and don't look back!
 
I like a lot about using WP vs. HTML, but have been surprised that the feature I use most is that, being totally web-based, I can log in to my site and make changes from anywhere, any time a new idea pops into my head, rather than having to be at my regular computer with the HTML software loaded, as had been the case in the past.
Of course, if you don't get away from the inn much, this would probably not make much difference!
 
Catlady suggested the Karma template (themeforest) to me. And in fact, it is exactly what I used. We hired someone (elance) to do the basic setup and put up our content in that new template and then move it into place. We also put in a WP plugin for multiple languages, so you can see the website in two different languages.
Only thing that I'm thinking about now is setting up a new set of templates for mobile access.
 
There are a gazillon themes out there. I have not found one I can use "as is". They all need some sort of customization to suit your / client's needs. It will be a learning curve for sure. Get yourself FIREBUG and learn to read the style codes so that you can customize to what you want for your own Custom.css.
I also find the absolutely most critical thing is Customer Support. I have learned so much from them and I try and help out others on their forums as I can. The ones that have the best support for me so far have been these:
https://support.truethemes.net/
http://www.kriesi.at/support/forum/
http://kaptinlin.com/support/categories/striking-general.
Is the recommendation to go to a WP theme vs an HTML theme? Pros? Cons?
.
ABSOLUTELY. Why mess with html. You will actually have to probably edit the css styles but it is a heck of alot easier in a wordpress theme. Don't even go to html. Get a responsive wordpress theme as I told you before and don't look back!
.
EmptyNest said:
ABSOLUTELY. Why mess with html. You will actually have to probably edit the css styles but it is a heck of alot easier in a wordpress theme. Don't even go to html. Get a responsive wordpress theme as I told you before and don't look back!
I'm looking over different themes and because they seem to come in both flavors I thought I would ask.
 
Catlady suggested the Karma template (themeforest) to me. And in fact, it is exactly what I used. We hired someone (elance) to do the basic setup and put up our content in that new template and then move it into place. We also put in a WP plugin for multiple languages, so you can see the website in two different languages.
Only thing that I'm thinking about now is setting up a new set of templates for mobile access..
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages, that's great. Do you know if you could change the colors on that template? I'd like to stick with the same colors we have rather than changing them to something else.
 
Catlady suggested the Karma template (themeforest) to me. And in fact, it is exactly what I used. We hired someone (elance) to do the basic setup and put up our content in that new template and then move it into place. We also put in a WP plugin for multiple languages, so you can see the website in two different languages.
Only thing that I'm thinking about now is setting up a new set of templates for mobile access..
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages, that's great. Do you know if you could change the colors on that template? I'd like to stick with the same colors we have rather than changing them to something else.
.
Madeleine said:
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages...
Yes, great, classy look. I hadn't visited the website since you made the change.
I'm interested in the language option. Just a couple of questions.
  • Did it default to the English page when I went there because it sensed my browser settings, or did you specify that going to the dot com would always start with English?
  • Do you provide all the translations yourself, or is it a computerized translation? Of course, providing your own would give the best result, but I guess it could get tiresome to have to change both versions every time you want to change some wording on your site.
 
Catlady suggested the Karma template (themeforest) to me. And in fact, it is exactly what I used. We hired someone (elance) to do the basic setup and put up our content in that new template and then move it into place. We also put in a WP plugin for multiple languages, so you can see the website in two different languages.
Only thing that I'm thinking about now is setting up a new set of templates for mobile access..
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages, that's great. Do you know if you could change the colors on that template? I'd like to stick with the same colors we have rather than changing them to something else.
.
There are 20 different colour variations. And I'm sure if you needed it, someone could change the template for you for your colours specifically.
 
Catlady suggested the Karma template (themeforest) to me. And in fact, it is exactly what I used. We hired someone (elance) to do the basic setup and put up our content in that new template and then move it into place. We also put in a WP plugin for multiple languages, so you can see the website in two different languages.
Only thing that I'm thinking about now is setting up a new set of templates for mobile access..
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages, that's great. Do you know if you could change the colors on that template? I'd like to stick with the same colors we have rather than changing them to something else.
.
Madeleine said:
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages...
Yes, great, classy look. I hadn't visited the website since you made the change.
I'm interested in the language option. Just a couple of questions.
  • Did it default to the English page when I went there because it sensed my browser settings, or did you specify that going to the dot com would always start with English?
  • Do you provide all the translations yourself, or is it a computerized translation? Of course, providing your own would give the best result, but I guess it could get tiresome to have to change both versions every time you want to change some wording on your site.
.
The plug-in has a few options. Basically I set it up so that if you have French as your default language, the website comes up automatically in French, if you have any other language, you get English. I had a friend who is set up as French first test it and he did report that it came up in French, but he can switch if he wants.
We do our translations in house, but there is an option to outsource with an estimate of what it would cost. I might consider doing it, in the future, to have the information available in other languages. (Likely the next language would be German, as that is the third most popular language.)
I just checked, about 70% of my traffic is English, 22% is French. German is just 2% and 1% for Spanish. I think the next language is Italian. Then Japanese and then Chinese. I don't know if my traffic would pick up significantly if I provided the website in German, so I guess I just don't know if it is viable. I have a friend who speaks German, so I might ask him to do it and see if it significantly affects traffic to the website.
 
Catlady suggested the Karma template (themeforest) to me. And in fact, it is exactly what I used. We hired someone (elance) to do the basic setup and put up our content in that new template and then move it into place. We also put in a WP plugin for multiple languages, so you can see the website in two different languages.
Only thing that I'm thinking about now is setting up a new set of templates for mobile access..
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages, that's great. Do you know if you could change the colors on that template? I'd like to stick with the same colors we have rather than changing them to something else.
.
There are 20 different colour variations. And I'm sure if you needed it, someone could change the template for you for your colours specifically.
.
I hadn't seen yours redone yet. Sorry I forgot your link. Just went to see the site... I agree A great improvement over the old one.
 
Catlady suggested the Karma template (themeforest) to me. And in fact, it is exactly what I used. We hired someone (elance) to do the basic setup and put up our content in that new template and then move it into place. We also put in a WP plugin for multiple languages, so you can see the website in two different languages.
Only thing that I'm thinking about now is setting up a new set of templates for mobile access..
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages, that's great. Do you know if you could change the colors on that template? I'd like to stick with the same colors we have rather than changing them to something else.
.
Karma is an OLD theme now :-( It is not responsive. Maddie, I would go with the one I suggested to you earlier. it is responsive. You can ADJUST anything on it. Colors are changeable in just about ANY theme. As I said earlier, you will need to do some custom css but it is not hard. Check out Coherence again. there is a new STRIKING responsive theme coming out very soon. This one is so totally adjustable it can be overwhelming.
 
Catlady suggested the Karma template (themeforest) to me. And in fact, it is exactly what I used. We hired someone (elance) to do the basic setup and put up our content in that new template and then move it into place. We also put in a WP plugin for multiple languages, so you can see the website in two different languages.
Only thing that I'm thinking about now is setting up a new set of templates for mobile access..
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages, that's great. Do you know if you could change the colors on that template? I'd like to stick with the same colors we have rather than changing them to something else.
.
Karma is an OLD theme now :-( It is not responsive. Maddie, I would go with the one I suggested to you earlier. it is responsive. You can ADJUST anything on it. Colors are changeable in just about ANY theme. As I said earlier, you will need to do some custom css but it is not hard. Check out Coherence again. there is a new STRIKING responsive theme coming out very soon. This one is so totally adjustable it can be overwhelming.
.
EmptyNest said:
There is a new STRIKING responsive theme coming out very soon. This one is so totally adjustable it can be overwhelming.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. ;-)
 
Catlady suggested the Karma template (themeforest) to me. And in fact, it is exactly what I used. We hired someone (elance) to do the basic setup and put up our content in that new template and then move it into place. We also put in a WP plugin for multiple languages, so you can see the website in two different languages.
Only thing that I'm thinking about now is setting up a new set of templates for mobile access..
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages, that's great. Do you know if you could change the colors on that template? I'd like to stick with the same colors we have rather than changing them to something else.
.
Karma is an OLD theme now :-( It is not responsive. Maddie, I would go with the one I suggested to you earlier. it is responsive. You can ADJUST anything on it. Colors are changeable in just about ANY theme. As I said earlier, you will need to do some custom css but it is not hard. Check out Coherence again. there is a new STRIKING responsive theme coming out very soon. This one is so totally adjustable it can be overwhelming.
.
EmptyNest said:
There is a new STRIKING responsive theme coming out very soon. This one is so totally adjustable it can be overwhelming.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. ;-)
.
I just bought CANVAS from Woo Themes. It is totally customizable and it has thrown me for a loop! So many things you can adjust...just about every aspect of a site. It truly is overwhelming that even I have given up for the time being.
 
I would say that access to an HTML version of WP themes is just offered to get some more business from folks who know HTML so well they will not abandon it. Unless you're an HTML maven, go with WP.
Remember that you can still use a lot of custom HTML code on the WP theme pages, like to add links to bookmarks that move you around the current page or website, showing calendars from other websites within a page on your site, etc.
You know, I've already made a dozen tweaks to my own site in the last 24 yours, just because this thread caused me to look at some stuff. No matter how "finished" I think I have my website, any time I look at it I can see things that need to be added or changed. Websites are never finished.
 
Catlady suggested the Karma template (themeforest) to me. And in fact, it is exactly what I used. We hired someone (elance) to do the basic setup and put up our content in that new template and then move it into place. We also put in a WP plugin for multiple languages, so you can see the website in two different languages.
Only thing that I'm thinking about now is setting up a new set of templates for mobile access..
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages, that's great. Do you know if you could change the colors on that template? I'd like to stick with the same colors we have rather than changing them to something else.
.
Madeleine said:
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages...
Yes, great, classy look. I hadn't visited the website since you made the change.
I'm interested in the language option. Just a couple of questions.
  • Did it default to the English page when I went there because it sensed my browser settings, or did you specify that going to the dot com would always start with English?
  • Do you provide all the translations yourself, or is it a computerized translation? Of course, providing your own would give the best result, but I guess it could get tiresome to have to change both versions every time you want to change some wording on your site.
.
The plug-in has a few options. Basically I set it up so that if you have French as your default language, the website comes up automatically in French, if you have any other language, you get English. I had a friend who is set up as French first test it and he did report that it came up in French, but he can switch if he wants.
We do our translations in house, but there is an option to outsource with an estimate of what it would cost. I might consider doing it, in the future, to have the information available in other languages. (Likely the next language would be German, as that is the third most popular language.)
I just checked, about 70% of my traffic is English, 22% is French. German is just 2% and 1% for Spanish. I think the next language is Italian. Then Japanese and then Chinese. I don't know if my traffic would pick up significantly if I provided the website in German, so I guess I just don't know if it is viable. I have a friend who speaks German, so I might ask him to do it and see if it significantly affects traffic to the website.
.
I would love to have the website available in different languages but then I would worry that guests thought we fluently spoke those languages! Good for you (required for you) to have French & English! If I were to do multiple languages I would definitely have Italian. After Canada, Italy is our next biggest draw.
 
Catlady suggested the Karma template (themeforest) to me. And in fact, it is exactly what I used. We hired someone (elance) to do the basic setup and put up our content in that new template and then move it into place. We also put in a WP plugin for multiple languages, so you can see the website in two different languages.
Only thing that I'm thinking about now is setting up a new set of templates for mobile access..
Eric, that looks so much better! I noticed the option for languages, that's great. Do you know if you could change the colors on that template? I'd like to stick with the same colors we have rather than changing them to something else.
.
Karma is an OLD theme now :-( It is not responsive. Maddie, I would go with the one I suggested to you earlier. it is responsive. You can ADJUST anything on it. Colors are changeable in just about ANY theme. As I said earlier, you will need to do some custom css but it is not hard. Check out Coherence again. there is a new STRIKING responsive theme coming out very soon. This one is so totally adjustable it can be overwhelming.
.
That's the one I had in mind. Coherence. Looked at it last night and liked it.
 
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