Written on December 17th, 2007 at 02:12 pm by Darren Rowse
Who Designed Your Blog?
Time for a new Poll.
Who designed your blog?
I’m sure there will be other options to those that I included. If you don’t feel your situation is covered feel free to leave a comment below and tell us your answer.
Who Designed Your Blog?
I’d also be interested to hear about your decision to design your blog the way you did. Why did you choose the option and template that you did?
133 Responses to “Who Designed Your Blog?”
Bloggrrl
December 17th, 2007 3:02 pm
I got an offer I couldn’t refuse from Ant over at Turk Hit Box. I think he did a fabulous job with my blog. He’s giving away a few redesigns right now, actually.
If it hadn’t been for him, I would have kept on with the status quo, because I know squat about coding. I definitely wanted something unique though. I lucked out!
J.F.H.
December 17th, 2007 3:02 pm
So far I’ve just tweaked a free Template.
Anybody know of any good/artistic blog designers?
Mark
December 17th, 2007 3:04 pm
I currently use a free template which I have done virtually nothing with. It seems to work for now. My focus is on getting in the habit of creating good content first hoping the traffic will follow. I would like to upgrade the look of my blog eventually and hope to do that within the next few months. I don’t know if I will be able to do it myself or not but I will try. Maybe my new Dummies book will help!
I’d be interested in hearing how much those that have a “custom” blog design have paid for it and whether the think it was worth the investment.
Trollhattan Saab
December 17th, 2007 3:05 pm
My main blog is a customisation of Chris Pearson’s Cutline. I’ve just changed from a 3-column layout to the old two column version and it looks so much cleaner.
I’ve just started a second site using Wordpress, but the template is a magazine template by a guy called Upstart Blogger, and I absolutely love it. It’s put blogging in a whole new light for me.
The new theme’s at http://www.spiritofsaab.com and if you like the look then Upstart’s link is in the footer (not sure how many links I can post in this comment.
I’d love to go fully customised, but the money’s not quite there yet.
Mike Goad
December 17th, 2007 3:05 pm
I’m using the free version of Semiologic. It lets me adjust the blog fairly easily using widgets. If I get enough income in 2008, I’ll CONSIDER paying the price for the “pro” version to get all of the bells and whistles.
Shaun Carter
December 17th, 2007 3:09 pm
I think for a blog with minimal traffic and revenue a free template is best, but once things take off a premium custom designed theme is definitely a must.
Sotek
December 17th, 2007 3:10 pm
I like to design things myself. It’s better and completely unique.
Sportaphile
December 17th, 2007 3:15 pm
I took a free template and changed it considerably to fit my needs. I know I needed something very eyecatching, yet simple so it was an absolute must to design my own banner.
Mike
December 17th, 2007 3:17 pm
I came up with the color schemes and logos but the content management system is by netlobo.com
Cathy
December 17th, 2007 3:19 pm
I’m currently using a free template - Clean Copy by Cory Miller. Although the bones are recognizable if you compare mine to the original, I have changed colors, sizes, and layout of content elements (date, category, etc.)
I personally have just began blogging, so I don’t have the funds to hire someone to do a custom design for me. I look forward to the day when I can, though.
As for why that particular template? As Trollhattan Saab mentioned above, I prefer a clean design and spent some time finding one that I felt best showcased the content.
Shawn
December 17th, 2007 3:22 pm
I have tinkered with about 127 themes for WordPress. After all that tinkering I found DK Ret which provides just about every thing a soul could want and then some. if not DK, then I often use Tarski.
Truth be told, I had a list of things the template MUST do. I would find a theme I liked and modify it to make it do what I wanted… It had to have pages and sub-pages support, it had to have the RSS icon at the top of the page and easily accessible and recognizable, it had to have a header I could modify (DK has a script built in to rotate header files), it had to make a WordPress site look and behave like a complete website… not just a blog.
I am a geek so I go out and look almost every week for other themes, and I test ‘em and I play with ‘em, but there’s no beating DK.
I might even have scraped up the cash to get a ‘pro’ designed theme, but it seems unnecessary with the features built into DK.
No affiliation, BTW… just a huge fan!
Warren
December 17th, 2007 3:25 pm
Normally I design the templates for blogs I am involved in from scratch or have someone in my company do it but for my latest blog (link by name) I was on a time crunch so I found one I really liked and modified it greatly to be a perfect fit for my needs.
Stephanie
December 17th, 2007 3:26 pm
I designed my own blog. I thought I was going to go crazy doing it because I haven’t used CSS or HTML in so long, so I basically had to reteach myself everything. I’m not too crazy about the design I have going on now, but hopefully I’ll be able to learn more and make a new template down the line :)
To be honest, I don’t see the point in paying for a template when basically everyone is capable of learning how to do it themselves since there are so many resources available online.
jen
December 17th, 2007 3:26 pm
I used a free template that I tweaked heaps. It probably would have been quicker for me to start from scratch as I had very definite ideas about what I wanted, eg having the content on the left column so if the right columns take a while to load then at least the content is still showing and can be read.
Mark
December 17th, 2007 3:29 pm
Customised version of Cutline 1.1 for me. Minimal hacks to the code, but lots of css changes.
John
December 17th, 2007 3:32 pm
I picked the free template I used as a base because it had three columns and clean coding. (It’s an adaptation of Blogger’s Minima template.) After that I tweaked it to give my blog a unique look that would reflect its content to some degree.
Riscario Insider
December 17th, 2007 3:41 pm
I started with a free Blogger template and would like to change it but don’t know how :(
Some of us focus on the content and are stuck with the designs that others have kindly created. If there are easy to use editors, I sure don’t know about them.
Maria @ Online Business Resources
December 17th, 2007 3:48 pm
I’ve used free templates for my blog that I’ve tweaked and added my own headers. 98% of them are 3-column so the info is more organized (although I realize now that I seem to have cluttered them up with misc stuff), but I’m thinking of simplifying and changing them to two-column.
Millionaire Money Habits
December 17th, 2007 3:51 pm
I use a tweaked version of Greed by Small Potatoes, but expect to eventually hire a designer to make my site a bit more asthetically pleasing.
Aaron Stroud
December 17th, 2007 3:52 pm
I created several unique designs before settling on one to launch with. I’m very happy with the design. It’s unique, functional, and gives me some room to grow.
But I probably would have been better off if I started writing months ago and launched with a free template.
Wag the Dog
December 17th, 2007 3:52 pm
Most blogs are too busy for me. Too many things to look at. I like it simple and plain. “Why can’t my cellphone be that way?” That is why I picked my template.
Abhijit
December 17th, 2007 4:04 pm
I wanted a seriously fast blog…wordpress can sometimes be a pain. The fastest loading template I found was 281, which was a little coarse.
I’m a big advocate of simplicity in design, which meant I had to make a bunch of modifications to make the blog look clean while preserving the speed optimization.
The result is a site that looks quite like http://codinghorror.com, but is seriously fast.
Personal Development for the Book Smart
December 17th, 2007 4:05 pm
Looks like I’m one with the majority… =P
I won a gold bloggyaward recently and it feels great!
Would appreciate some feedback though.. I just did major revamp on my design yesterday:
Personal Development For The Book Smart
Feel free to offer some constructive criticism =)
William Cox
December 17th, 2007 4:09 pm
Back in the day when I had more free time, I designed the template for my site. My CMS at the time was Mambo, and the template I created used a lot of tables for the layout.
Now, I’m wanting to make changes, but I feel that I should move the layout to something completely CSS based. Unfortunately, my limited knowledge and time are preventing me.
It’s a catch-22. Any designers out there want to make me an offer on a redesign?
Mamacita
December 17th, 2007 4:10 pm
I won a custom template from Emily at Swank Web Style. I told her what I wanted, supplied some pictures, and she designed the perfect blog for me.
Jodie
December 17th, 2007 4:11 pm
I did it myself
Mathew Packer dot com
December 17th, 2007 4:15 pm
I just tweaked a free template that I found on the WP-Themes website. It works well for me and keeps my blog looking pretty simple and clean.
Not sure what I’ll do when I’m up for a redesign, have seen a few really nice commercial templates recently that could fit the bill..
Starfeeder
December 17th, 2007 4:20 pm
I started our original design, but Matt I met on Virb and we both had a passion for StarCraft II and hes working on the site for free now, so hes now a co-founder
Brad Hart
December 17th, 2007 4:21 pm
My first sites years ago were all coded in notepad transcribed from the legal pads I wrote them on in during the van pool ride to and from work. After years of being away from online publishing I think freebies are great, because I could never duplicate my old model without six hands four of which holding coffee and two or three dozen notepads with more desk space than even the office depot show room has. So in my book freebies are a great thing for most users, but when you want to be original you are going to have to tweak it far beyond recognition or buck up the money for someone who knows what they are doing. Tweaking has been an eye opening learning experience and will probably put up several freebies of my own soon.
Patrick Burt
December 17th, 2007 4:37 pm
I did my own. I started off slowly evolving the default template, and when I grew familiar with the whole WordPress system, I was able to do my own.
Dr.Mani
December 17th, 2007 4:37 pm
I tweaked a free template myself, have done it for the dozens of blogs I manage. Partly because I love the sense of creativity it brings, partly because I’m a relentless ‘tester’ and try tweaking things to check response.
All success
Dr.Mani
Ross at Hatchthat
December 17th, 2007 4:45 pm
I designed it myself, because I can. That said, I did it very quickly and it is a very simple theme right now - next year I’ll spend more time on a redesign and it should be much bigger and better - at the time I just needed something that worked.
LintCollector
December 17th, 2007 4:48 pm
My situation is different - I’ve had a static-page website for many years, and wanted to keep it that way, The blog was an add-on which had to be seamlessly integrated within the existing site.
I began with a very simple free Wordpress theme, and used it to learn how the blog pages work. I then tweaked the theme to the point where it bears hardly any resemblance to what I started with. My theme folder now has only 5 files in it, and the blog shares the style sheets the website was already using.
It cost nothing except a lot of time and effort, and I learned heaps about CSS and page design which will come in very handy.
Rinaldo
December 17th, 2007 5:05 pm
So far I’m using a free template tweaked out a bit and then translated it completely to spanish. I’m working in my own original design at this moment but wanted to test other things related to the blog while I’m designing my own theme.
Mike Smith
December 17th, 2007 5:22 pm
I designed my own and will be featuring it on my portfolio soon http://www.blogthememachine.com
rara
December 17th, 2007 5:24 pm
i downloaded from the net, then i edited it-removing the color, borders, etc.
Bradly Fletchall
December 17th, 2007 5:28 pm
I choose to use a free theme and then change a lot of it to my liking because I didn’t have the cash to pay someone to change it or create a custom theme for me. I don’t have the time or the know how to create an entire theme on my own. I am learning and will probably make my own theme eventually or hopefully my site will be making enough that I can afford to hire someone to make a custom theme.
Armen
December 17th, 2007 5:29 pm
I’m using my own design, which I created for a competition, but didn’t enter.
It’s now available to anyone who wants it for a small $20 fee, which all goes to charity.
It’s clean and simple, yet packed with useful built-in features (shameless plug).
Paul
December 17th, 2007 5:31 pm
Took a template and modified it, for mine. IIRC, I altered the colours and since then, have messed around with its code to be able to display ads in positions it wasn’t able to previously. But as for the design … I’m just a complete clod when it comes to making things look nice, so there’s not too much chance of me doing it myself ;)
netvalar
December 17th, 2007 5:35 pm
I moved my blog from myspace so that a few readers who didn’t have myspace accounts to leave comments. I have as of yet a year later recieved these comments but I was only blogging about the music industry in order to help others so I merely threw up a premade template. After using it for several months I started adding small tweaks here and there. I would say for most extents and purposes it is mainly the same template.
This same template though will change as time goes by due to the creative impulses of my readers. For instance I just finsihed looking over graphics that have been designed for me specifically by a graphics designer, while I agreed to look and use if I liked them he went another step and designed a business card too. Only one example of how the template changes thanx to the interactive participation of my readers.
It is my readers that push me into more blogging and therefore forcing me to look into monetization of my blog. Much of this improvement and my written lists of improvements is thanx to Darren and ProBlogger.
Hisham Abboud
December 17th, 2007 6:15 pm
I find it weird that there are 38 comments so far but only 2 votes, including mine.
Hisham Abboud
December 17th, 2007 6:17 pm
Whoops, never mind. It must be a bug in the blog software or something. After I voted, it showed the result bars and 2 people voting. But when I clicked on the View Results link, then it showed 103 people who voted.
GradeMoney.com
December 17th, 2007 6:18 pm
honestly, i prefer designing the template of my blog myself… :-p
kanak
December 17th, 2007 6:31 pm
I was on a free template but, I recently designed my own theme as it gives a brand to the blog. Check it out at http://www.tecfre.com . Stand a chance to win free ad space. Cheers
The Investor's Journal
December 17th, 2007 6:54 pm
I considerably tweaked the Prosense theme for my site. It doesn’t look that amazing though, but I’m consistently improving the look.
stagueve
December 17th, 2007 7:08 pm
I’m using the great “Revolution Theme Magazine” by Brian Gardner, really satisfy about it ! :)
Rhys
December 17th, 2007 7:29 pm
Mine was a bit between paid and designed myself. I got the logo designed for me then used that to inspire me to design the rest :)
Dan
December 17th, 2007 7:35 pm
I actually hired 2 designers to create my unique website and blog design! A friend of mine has designed the new look http://www.musoswire.com (new design not live yet), and then I paid Daniel over at DailyBlogTips.com to translate the concept into a Wordpress theme for blog.musoswire.com. It’s just gone live, and I’m *really* happy with it - can’t wait for the full site to get the makeover! :o)
Moses Francis
December 17th, 2007 7:49 pm
Designed it myself and actually contributed some themes for the WordPress community.
Albert | UrbanMonk.Net
December 17th, 2007 8:31 pm
I tweaked a free template, but then again I work as a web designer ;)
Pat
December 17th, 2007 9:03 pm
I tweaked a free template because I’m still new at all of this and can’t afford anything fancy.
Serge
December 17th, 2007 9:11 pm
“I use a Free Default Template”
But I’m thinking of modifying this free template because I want to show my pictures in a larger size and therefor I need to alter some code. That’s something I’m going to check and test later this week (off line of course before it goes online).
DefogMyBlog
December 17th, 2007 9:43 pm
Tweaking was how I learned all about Typepad and Wordpress and I already knew HTML.
Amanda
December 17th, 2007 9:58 pm
I have several blogs, so use a combination of these options. My Blogger blogs I designed myself completely, yet for my Wordpress blogs I heavily customized free (non-standard) templates so they barely resemble the original themes.
I also design custom Blogger templates for free download, and though I have designed a few unique premium templates for other people, I now refrain from doing so due to the vast work and time involved in doing this.
It’s interesting to see just how many people would pay for a custom design, as well as those who have created their own themes. Honestly I thought these results would be much lower!
Zach
December 17th, 2007 10:31 pm
Right now I’m using a highly modified version of a free theme, but I’m in the process of designing my own. I’m almost done with it.
Lane Lester
December 17th, 2007 10:49 pm
I’m using a customized theme that came with the Static Blogging course (click my name above for the link). I’ve built several sites with this approach, and it has made WP my choice for a variety of kinds of sites, not just blogs. The course has an excellent manual and comes with a number of themes and a number of good widgets to provide the tools for very good combinations.
Judi Sohn
December 17th, 2007 10:51 pm
I’m using a tweaked free template. Just changed the theme yesterday, as a matter of fact. Once I decided it needed to be done, it took me a grand total of about 3 hours to find the theme, implement it and make a smattering of changes I needed. It’s a work in progress.
For my work site, we’ve hired a designer to create us a theme from scratch.
Mike Maddaloni - The Hot Iron
December 17th, 2007 11:03 pm
Hi Darren _ I did a hybrid for my blog. I tookthe design of my Web site for my business and adapted it to the blog. It worked for now, but down the road I will be redesigning the blog from scratch.
mp/m
James Chartrand - JCM Ent.
December 17th, 2007 11:08 pm
We’ve used a few free templates. It’s time to move into the big leagues, so we’ve hired Brian Gardner to work on our new design.
Guru
December 17th, 2007 11:42 pm
I’m still with my first blogger blog, a professional blog design for me is not happening anytime soon, i think the free templates are enough for a newbie blogger like me. So more than the fact that i cannot afford a paid blog template or a pro blog design, i just feel i don’t need it right now.
And with free templates and a new blog i can always afford to keep changing my design every now and then, that i think is better than being stuck with a single blog design just because you paid for it..
John Cow
December 17th, 2007 11:55 pm
Our blog design ws don by Weborithm.com, great company to work with!
Snownation
December 18th, 2007 12:03 am
I completely designed it myself. I think this is the way to go because you know all the in’s and out’s of your design.
Anthony Lawrence
December 18th, 2007 12:03 am
If “designed” is even the word for mine, yes, I “designed” it.
Or more accurately my first concern was getting content on the Net and any consideration of looks came long, long after that.
My site just grew - I hacked at it now and then, but basically it just happened..
Alex
December 18th, 2007 12:14 am
The danger with coding your own template is by the time it’s ready, you might be too drained to actually post anything.
Having said that, the DeckConstruct website was coded from scratch. I was in charge of getting the site ready, and there wasn’t an existing template that satisfied me. So, rather than trudge through template sites, I thought sod it, I’ll roll my own.
Alex
December 18th, 2007 12:17 am
Whoops, that should be “the DeckConstruct template was coded from scratch”. The website runs on Wordpress, and I certainly didn’t code that!
(Note: Time-delayed edit buttons are very useful).
Power Designer Blog
December 18th, 2007 12:23 am
Due to Christmas season (a lot of work), I have used free template and tweaked it a little a bit.
But it is a temporary solution, after I finish work I have planned for my clients, I am going to Photoshop the hell out of it :D
Ryan
December 18th, 2007 12:33 am
I checked “did it all myself”, but I have several blogs that all are a little different. A couple use a slightly modified theme from plaintxt.org and a couple use themes that I totally wrote from scratch.
I’m OCD enough that even if I start with a stock theme I’m going to have to tweak it just a little to make it fit me.
Rebellious Arab Girl
December 18th, 2007 12:34 am
I did it all by my self!! :D
Sarah @ Real Life
December 18th, 2007 1:04 am
My main concern was my header, and I’m really proud of what I came up with .(It’s Christmas themed right now) I actually hired a designer who was supposed to be working on it, but I think she dropped me, because she won’t return my emails. Isn’t that weird? (Don’t worry, I didn’t pay her yet)
Oh, well, I can do a decent job myself, but there are definitely changes I want to make, and don’t know how.
Young
December 18th, 2007 1:21 am
My choice is NO.1, because no free theme fits me, and I have no money to buy a theme–joking, I think the default one is good.^-^
Young
December 18th, 2007 1:24 am
By the way, I find out that there are some bugs on your theme, which can be seen on Blog Design(http://www.problogger.net/archives/category/blog-design/).
Chris Jacobson
December 18th, 2007 1:36 am
I tweaked the Cutline theme considerably.
Mariana
December 18th, 2007 1:38 am
I hired a company to build a completely custom blog, but I designed it myself. RSSPieces.com
Tyler Ingram
December 18th, 2007 1:48 am
I not only designed my site I also coded it from scratch! nor many people can say that can they? I like being able to tweak certain aspects of it while also using my site as a learning tool.
Allyn Paul
December 18th, 2007 2:18 am
I grabbed my 3-col template from Courtney Tuttle because I trusted she would place the H-tags in the proper order and place. From there, I tweaked the spacing and line sizes, as well as added my own background photos, etc.
I liked the template because it was extremely clean and gave me adequate adspace that did not intrude on the content or navigation sidebar. I believe it is pleasing to the eye upon first visit.
AL
Shane
December 18th, 2007 2:36 am
I based my template off of the minimalistic Pop Blue wordpress theme.
http://themes.wordpress.net/columns/2-columns/4387/pop-blue/
Terry Bolo
December 18th, 2007 2:42 am
I use a free template, but i would like to learn how to create my own templates so i don’t have to paid anyone to make design for me.
agung
December 18th, 2007 3:02 am
free template is good ..for newb ..me too……i like that
Toni
December 18th, 2007 3:04 am
I designed and developed it myself, although I plan to launch 2 more blogs in the next few weeks, both of which will use WordPress with purchased templates.
Toni x
m07
December 18th, 2007 4:46 am
i used default template as i don’t know programming or installing.by the way happy new year and merry christmas.by the way i am giving out free domains at my blog for the ocassion.interested anyone.
Thomas Arie
December 18th, 2007 6:05 am
I design it myself. For me, the main reason is that I can make changes/improvement when needed easily. Reading/understanding someone’s else work (sometime) takes more time…
Other reason, because I want to make design that really suits my need (and my taste)… :)
Sue
December 18th, 2007 6:46 am
I’m one who takes free themes and changes them to suit. Right now, my main site is using a paid theme, which I had downloaded long before it went paid, so I guess it’s a free one (was at the time). I changed it color wise and slightly style wise. Plus added little tweaks here and there.
The one I did the most to was for a different site, however. The server I had was using WP 1.5 (!?! - php and MySql was out of date, couldn’t upgrade) and I found a theme that fit the look of the main site. I changed it considerably, making it look identical to my main site, fixing little bugs, and eventually widgetizing the sidebar when I changed to a different server. It still works great, but I have now changed it for the moment.
I have local copies of WordPress installed, and believe me, it’s the best way to learn WP. Or how to tweak your blog theme without destroying your site. I highly recommend doing that to anyone that wants to learn how to change things in your theme.
vhxn.com
December 18th, 2007 6:53 am
I am using Typoxp theme but i done some modifications on that http://www.vhxn.com
Mike
December 18th, 2007 7:00 am
I’ve only paid for one theme so far which is in use on my main blog. I have a few other niche blogs though that use free themes that I tweak to look a bit different and/or fit the niche better. I have nothing against purchasing themes per se but typically the authors want more for the theme than I can afford honestly.
IndependentKitten
December 18th, 2007 7:16 am
I use a free one, but I will either purchase one soon or learn how to make my own. Or I was thinking of buying one and still learning coding, just so I can be more independent. No pun intended.
Moviecat
December 18th, 2007 7:24 am
I used a free one that I heavily Tweeked. I wanted to learn how to create my own so I found one I Liked and dissected it. I have leaned a lot about it and may use it a base for my own template.
trmanco
December 18th, 2007 7:24 am
Free Wordpress templates with a little tweaking of my own is what I do…
Jeremy Steele
December 18th, 2007 7:33 am
designed my theme myself - and it usually gets regular updates once every one or two months.
Heelcandy
December 18th, 2007 7:52 am
I basically just use a basic theme and then flip it upside down with tweaks.
Mike
December 18th, 2007 8:08 am
I took an already tweaked (H20) version of the at-the-time visionary Hemingway theme and modded it within an inch of its life. I’ve made so many changes that I’m afraid to even look at a new theme!
Andrew
December 18th, 2007 8:17 am
I found a free wordpress theme and converted it from 4 collumn to 3 collumn. I am very happy with its layout.
David Dunn
December 18th, 2007 8:47 am
At the moment I am currently using a free template for my blog. I’ve got it like it is because I like the way it looks and I think it works well. Willing to take any comments on improvements though :D
Justin(pusha)
December 18th, 2007 8:47 am
I prefer to tweak out free themes while I learn more about wordpress. Especially since what I usually want has been done a million times before. Maybe one day I will learn to build my own theme.
Danielle Signor
December 18th, 2007 9:29 am
Hard question. Usually I tweak free themes, because I just don’t have all the sophisticated WP trickery memorized, to recreate all the subtle nuances of a well-made theme. Sometimes I do create themes on my own, but these are usually for weblogs that have simple needs (update blogs for fan-sites, simple archives or article posting, etc.)
I webdesign professionally, and I’m asked more and more frequently if I “do WordPress themes” — I do say yes, naturally, but I can’t, say, pull a K2 out of my hat. I know nothing of AJAX so I generally stick to simple themes, no widgets, where I can tweak the CSS, PHP and XHTML to my heart’s content.
Ando
December 18th, 2007 9:58 am
I used the Silhouette wordpress theme and tweeked it because it was a nice simple 3 column layout and easy to tweak.
Chic Girl
December 18th, 2007 10:09 am
I tweaked the default template a bit. I would like to learn about more ways to tweak my standard Minima template from Blogger. If anyone knows where I can pick up more tips on how to further do so I would appreciate it.
Mark Dykeman
December 18th, 2007 10:11 am
I liked the Digg theme that I used at Wordpress.com and, for now, I’m using it on my new version of the blog.
David Taw
December 18th, 2007 10:22 am
RIght now, I’m using a template that I found off of http://www.fresheezy.com. They have quite a few professional looking templates and their site has a good splash to it so it’s an aesthetically pleasing site to go and browse Wordpress templates.
I would like to pay a designer for my template (especially a designer who can also make me a title banner) but I just haven’t gotten around to doing the research on who would do a good job, etc. If I’m going to be paying for a template, I would hope it to be nothing less than perfect.
Suzie Cheel
December 18th, 2007 10:22 am
I am currently using Simplicity 1.0 , but finding it very slow loading and too cluttered.
I have found some of the comments in this thread useful, thank you for sharing .
Robert Irizarry
December 18th, 2007 11:03 am
I just went live with a redesign based on the Blogohblog theme “Big Blue” which I chose for its three column format and its integration of the nav menu to the right of the logo design. In looking over my previous layout, I was most unhappy with the logo and nav menu so these became my starting points.
From there, I took the theme apart stripping out unneeded graphical elements and code, reworking the overall style and adding SEO related code. Not being a graphical designer, I contacted designer Gary Simon for a logo and he did not disappoint.
I chose to do it myself because I was ready for it. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to accomplish. And, I had learned quite a bit about WordPress and SEO since moving to a hosted environment earlier this year. The time was right and after much hard work and testing, I’m very happy with the results.
The Opinionated Blogger
December 18th, 2007 11:10 am
I used a template off of the WordPress site primarily because I don’t have the funds to get a custom theme. Also, I wouldn’t know where to go to get a custom theme at a good rate. If my blog takes off I will consider getting a custom theme created for my blog.
Pete
December 18th, 2007 11:37 am
I use a free but not unique template. I have no idea how to use CSS so I just stick with what’s available (for free, of course)
Deron Sizemore
December 18th, 2007 11:55 am
I designed it myself. I really can’t tell you why I did what I did. It started off much less complex than it is now (although it still isn’t really that complex). It started off at a two column design with no fancy footer like you see now. After I built up some content I needed more room for everything, so I developed the layout you see now.
Evan Hadkins
December 18th, 2007 11:57 am
Actually a friend tweaked a standard design for me - no option for this.
Bern Szpilman
December 18th, 2007 12:21 pm
After looking around a bit, I’ve chosen inBloom 1.0 as my free theme. Then I went to add my own header and logo, and ended up tweaking some more.
The blog is not up yet, so I’m still working on the design before launching.
But the launch page says alot about it :)
Elaine Vigneault
December 18th, 2007 12:36 pm
I bought a template and tweaked it.
My reasons were:
1. I liked the template
2. The fact that it was purchased means fewer other bloggers will use it so mine will stand out as unique
3. I tweaked it so it really would be unique and so it would do what I want it to do
Pensacola Real Estate News
December 18th, 2007 1:44 pm
Since mine was going to be a real estate blog, I went with one of the top real estate blog design and training organizations, the Real Estate Tomato. The experience has been excellent so far.
Brad V.
December 18th, 2007 1:50 pm
I voted for the “I hired a designer for a unique design”, although it isn’t entirely true.
My wife happens to be a web designer, so she gave my blog a complete makeover after not being able to stand the “generic” look it had with a template.
Here’s the part that’s not true: I didn’t have to pay for it. :-)
Rae
December 18th, 2007 1:56 pm
My personal blog is a representation of me and I wanted it to be exactly what I pictured in my head, but I don’t do graphics, so I hired a designer to design and code what I saw in my head onto my blog… and it came out great. My blog design is complimented regularly and people remember it (after I first started blogging, I’d get “oh, you’re the spy chick!” at meet-ups). My designer: http://www.designbyreese.com wasn’t cheap, but she def was worth it.
Complete Geek
December 18th, 2007 2:02 pm
My template was free from WordPress and is called Computerized. I know just enough about designing and programming to give myself fits when something I try doesn’t work right :) My wife has a blog, too. She doesn’t like it very much when I tell her I don’t know how to do something that she wants on here site. “But you changed your blog so much. You just don’t want to help me”. Ugh….Don’t tell her I said that.
I mostly just tweaked some of the colors and column widths on mine, as well as completely redesigning my header. I liked what what already there, so I left it alone for the most part.
Hugo Santos
December 18th, 2007 2:23 pm
i use a free theme (not default) i see lots of cool themes around but they are all paid!!! lol and i don’t have enough money for one (yet)
Terry Ng
December 18th, 2007 2:52 pm
Self designed goodness! :)
Blogs + forums + shopping cart in one slick template.
Mike
December 18th, 2007 4:11 pm
We’ve been using a somewhat tweaked version of the Blog Oh Blog theme for a while. It’s very easy to work with.
While I’m an artist by trade, I admittedly seem to lose patience in designing themes. On more than one occasion I’ve popped open Photoshop, gotten started on something original, only to lose interest in what I’m doing. I never start with a clear cut idea in mind though. I’m sure if I did so, I’d finally actually finish something.
Chris Garrett
December 18th, 2007 8:20 pm
I got my blog done by the nice guys at http://the449.com.
Lex G
December 18th, 2007 10:15 pm
Myself of course, check it out under my link … I do all design elements that my blog has myself …
Lex
Marcia
December 19th, 2007 12:03 am
When I was starting my blog, I knew I wanted a unique look but also had absolutely no knowledge of CSS (and no money to hire a professional!). I chose K2 because it has such a great support forum, a resource I used quite a bit while I was getting started. It’s a nice, clean design and easy to customise, even for a CSS newbie. My final result is far from perfect, and I definitely want to have a redesign by someone who knows what they’re doing, but I’m happy enough with it in the meantime.
The downside is that, of course, everyone and their dog knows the K2 layout, so even all my customisations don’t make the site as unique as I would like.
Susan Payton, The Marketing Eggspert
December 19th, 2007 12:14 am
Being new to blogging 8 months ago, a free template served its purpose. As I have gotten into the community, I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t and now have a better idea of what I want.
Plus, since my blog isn’t really making me money yet, it hasn’t been in the budget to hire a designer.
But for the new year, I’ve decided to find at least a better template and tweak it.
Ant Eksiler
December 19th, 2007 12:39 am
Bloggrrl, thanks for the nice words!
I designed my own blog & many others like:
kingnomar.com
robneville.net
…
Seth Sluggo
December 19th, 2007 12:49 am
I designed my own theme because I couldn’t find the look of what I wanted. However, I’m finding it is a lot of work just to get the basic theme built (for instance, it took me a whole day to figure out how to get my archives link working correctly. The reason it wasn’t working is because I had a date.php and category.php page and in WP there is a page hierarcy and so those blank php pages were overriding my archives info!).
Also, I ordered some books on PHP, CSS, and Wordpress (as well as a Wacom 6×8 Intuos for PS) and hopefully after going through those books (and learning how to use the tablet), I’ll be able to continue working on my theme to add more to it. Right now it is very simple looking.
zr5
December 19th, 2007 1:37 am
I tweak the free themes available. I am really loving the news theme you are giving away so I will switch to that if I win.
john - from fat to fit
December 19th, 2007 3:00 am
I tweaked a free theme. I haven’t tweaked it so much that you can’t tell what it was originally, but I wonder if there is a time when you tweak so much that it truly becomes it’s own theme?
Roland Hesz
December 19th, 2007 3:02 am
I wanted to change the colour scheme and the header to match the title of my blog.
Plus I wanted to try it.
thisblogwillpaymymortgage
December 19th, 2007 3:34 am
For this blog I tweaked a free theme:
http://thisblogwillpaymymortgage.wordpress.com/
mla
December 19th, 2007 4:26 am
My template came from the network I blog for, and it is not what I would have chosen but it is what we have to work with … there are probably worse templates out there for my purposes.
One thing I have noticed about templates is reverse type. When I was younger I loved reverse type templates and thought they were great. As I get older and spend more hours looking at a computer all day for work and for blogging, I find myself shying away from reverse type templates because it is more work for my eyes … and over the course of days, weeks, and months, that makes a difference.
Colin King
December 19th, 2007 5:43 am
I made my own theme. The design and layout only took a couple of hours. It was the chopping up and making the various template pages and adding in the WP coding that took most of the time, fine tuning it .
Fitness Guy
December 19th, 2007 7:34 am
I have the Mandigo template for Wordpress which actually includes a lot of customization for a template like SEO and stuff. I have customized though by changing the sidebar of my blog to be wider and moding a lot of the templates to be more Google friendly
Chris
December 19th, 2007 8:48 am
I tweaked a free template and got some pretty positive responses.
I think I’m going to check out sandbox, and see what I can do with tweaking that for my next one.
JoLynn Braley
December 19th, 2007 11:08 am
I chose my current template because it was basic instead of busy and I didn’t see anyone else using it. I made several changes to it but now I would like to change my theme. I can keep working on that on my own, but it would be great to get a custom unique theme developed.
Jamaipanese
December 19th, 2007 4:38 pm
heavily tweaked free template here
Nelson
December 21st, 2007 8:27 am
I have “Considerably Tweaked a Free Template”. Now it’s more how i like
Artur Kim
December 21st, 2007 10:03 am
I felt the need to design and create my own theme since I release WordPress themes in my blog.
access-funds
January 21st, 2008 7:45 am
to be honest - I bought the template ( the shame of it )
and also its a new niche one.
www.manguonvn.info
April 5th, 2008 2:34 am
We offer free stuff including free samples, fonts, games, graphics, … We bring you fresh listings and reviews of all the best freebies that are available …
Leave a Reply