You’ve taken my advice and switched your basic, plugin free blogger blog to a self hosted wordpress blog (you did didn’t you?, of course you did!) Now you’ve got this great platform to shout from the roof top (err keyboard) and divulge every detail of your mommy life to the world. The next step is making your blog as unique as you and your voice is. WordPress themes are plentiful and range from free to crap, I hope my husband doesn’t check the credit card statement this month.
There’s no better way to find the theme that will work for you than to do the good old fashioned google search. Unfortunately, google doesn’t tell you which themes are worth your hard earned dollar. I’m hoping my guide to wordpress themes I’ve had experience with will help you make that decision.
Themes I RECOMMEND
DIY Thesis – Cost: $87
Thesis is unlike any other theme I’ve used in my year of blogging. It’s also the theme I’m currently using here at 3 Kids and Us as well as my new recipe blog Food for 5. I would go as far to say Thesis is the most versatile and customizable wordpress theme available at this point in time. Among the many benefits that I can’t entirely list here, it comes with: auto resized thumbnails, posts teasers, a built in design and options dashboard, complete SEO control, and custom style sheet that won’t be obliterated when you upgrade your theme.
Another important factor in choosing this theme – the Thesis support is beyond incredible. People are more than willing to help you customize your theme and make sure it is working in top notch condition.
But, it’s not a perfect theme. I have run into inconsistencies between Firefox and Internet explorer when customizing it. There’s no perfect solution but can I just say, QUIT USING INTERNET EXPLORER! (yes, I’m yelling at you, I feel strongly about it) It’s the most inferior web browser ever made and should be tossed in the cyber graveyard.
Colorlabs Project Arthemia – Cost: $70
Arthemia Premium offers some excellent features and a very unique design. A built in admin control panel allows you to make changes to many aspects of the template. I have little to complain about as a previous user other than the fact it is becoming a popular theme that could leave your blog unnoticed in the sea of “mom bloggers.”
Themes to CONSIDER
Elegant Themes – Cost $19.95
While I haven’t used the themes live on my blog, I have done some work using them on my test blog to consider for other blogging adventures. Out of the virtual box they seem to be very reliable and compatible with both IE and FF browsers. Elegant Themes are $19.95, which is not a bad price at all for unlimited access to download not just one but all of the themes currently available and any themes released in the 12 months following your subscription. At this time there are 26 themes in all available to download that each sport a unique design and functionality.
Studio Press – Cost: $59.95
While not necessarily a bad looking magazine style theme, StudioPress Lifestyle comes with one issue. It’s a VERY popular theme used by many bloggers that could leave your blog unnoticed if you don’t take the time to customize it and make it stand out. When I first switched to wordpress, Lifestyle was the theme I purchased and enjoyed for many months before upgrading to Arthemia Premium and finally Thesis.
Notice
I have decided to retract my previous statements regarding the support issues experienced by one blogger. Brian Gardener, owner and designer of StudioPress, has made every effort to correct and compensate for the issues Nicole experienced. After personally looking over the StudioPress support forums myself, I can see that this may have been an isolated incident. It speaks volumes for the integrity of StudioPress to see that Brian cares about the community of bloggers using his themes.
About Cat Davis
Well, I really hate to hear this. I’m just getting used to my Lifestyle theme and was going to upgrade to Allure. Now, I won’t. Thanks for the heads up on which company to go with. I now have more contenders to look at! Thanks CAT!
I had Lifestyle and moved it because as you said EVERYONE has it LOL now I have deStyle it’s simple and very easy to work with.
Great guide! I still want to get mine done, but I’m intimidated. I’ll be contacting you, though!
I get SO tired of Blogger, it drives me NUTS! haha
Catherine and readers – I am very sorry about what happened, and can appreciate your outlook based on Kim’s post. The situation that took placed was a result of bad judgment on behalf of one of our moderators, which I plan to address. I hope that the resolution which took place (both Nicole and Kim seem to feel much better about the situation) will help change the tone of your outlook here regarding StudioPress, our themes and support.
I would really hope that in this case the bad apple doesn’t cost us, because I personally make it a point to put customer service and satisfaction at the top of my priority list.
Thanks Cat for all the info and links!
I’m checking all of them out!
As far as Studio Press is concerned, I think Brian did a great job taking care of the situation and is doing his best to make the wrongs right. From the Studio Press themes I’ve used so far they’ve been easy to work with and I love the look and layout of them. It’s time for a change though so I’m shopping around because like Kasey said, everyone and their mother has Lifestyle and Revolution! lol
Thanks again!
I have not converted yet, but I will be sure to refer to your post when that day comes! Thank you for all of the great information.
I currently have Studio Press and really like it but you are right … everyone and their dog has it. I am about to change, but not because of support. I had great support from the forum and from Brian himself through emails. I would love to see some changes, plug in’s or something to set it different from the others. I never could use widgets in my theme though, so I had to add all ‘widget’ info to my HTML.
Tanya, thanks for the support – and sorry to hear that you might be moving away from Lifestyle. Guess I need to find someone to collaborate with to create the perfect mommy blog theme. Catherine, know of anyone?
I am with you on the IE thing. I switched to Foxfire and I love it so much more.
I’ve been thinking about starting my first official blog, and this info is very helpful. Thanks!
I love studio press, but sadly there is no footer widget in Lifestyle theme and I wish to improve Lifestyle theme and let me know at rajee@momsfocusonline.com
very helpful info…kinda pricey but that’s how it goes!