FoREM Facelift
Tweaking my Wordpress install is a guilty pleasure of mine. Every once and a while I get the itch just to tear it down and build it back up again. So last night I rebuilt the FoREM template once again – largely to cope with the growing amount of pages and sidebar content I was wrestling with. Gave me an excuse to upgrade to the latest version of WordPress (2.1.3) too. I’ve added links to the header and footer areas to cope with this and center justified the page (something that always bugged me about the previous template). RSS readers swing on by and let me know what you think.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Make sure to follow Inman News on Twitter too!
Drew M from Zillow | Apr 3, 2007 | Reply
I like the new design Joel. I’ve been meaning to revamp the template of my personal blog, but haven’t gotten around too it yet. Do you play with the template on a test server or just mess with the live code?
Erik Hersman | Apr 3, 2007 | Reply
Sidebar growth is one of my issues as well… It always seems like you really need to add that “one more thing”. Soon enough you have this bloat that just makes everything harder for people to navigate.
I like the look though, the top nav makes sense.
Loren Nason | Apr 3, 2007 | Reply
Thanks Joel but now I have to go a pick another theme to modifiy
or i still might use this one
I was going to use that theme when i did my redesign and upgrade
ARRRRGHHHH!
Loren
Loren Nason | Apr 3, 2007 | Reply
hmmm when i posted the comment I got php errors
but my comment still appeared
seemed to be a problem with the subcribe to comments plugin
John Schroeder | Apr 3, 2007 | Reply
I like the clean design that the site has. Looks like plenty of room for all of the extras. That is one thing that I fight with my typepad design over. I have been tinkering with some WordPress blogs but they just don’t seem quite as easy to use.
Craig Mische | Apr 3, 2007 | Reply
I like the new design. Very clean.
Joel Burslem | Apr 3, 2007 | Reply
@Drew – I tweaked the template on a WP install I have on a test server and then just ported it over to this site. That way the transition was pretty seamless.
Jay Thompson | Apr 3, 2007 | Reply
Real men just tweak the live code on the fly!
Looks great Joel! I like links in the footer. Be interesting to see if the get many clicks since they are “below the fold”.
Jim Duncan | Apr 3, 2007 | Reply
Looks good – much cleaner. I agree with Jay about the clicks below the fold … how did you decide to put the “recent comments” and “recent posts” there? It would be interesting to swap them after a couple of weeks with some of the content that is now in the sidebar.
Tony | Apr 4, 2007 | Reply
The theme is definitely cleaner…
I love your blog but I’m not so sure about the switch to blatent Google ad filled pages. Not that you didn’t have those ads before but they were much more “part of the page”. For me, they detract from your message quite a bit. Thats just me though..keep up the good work….
Joel Burslem | Apr 4, 2007 | Reply
@Jim – The template I’m using is widgetized, so it’s easy enough to move things around. What do you think I should put down there?
@Tony – I think you’re right. I was never really happy about the Google ads across the top of the page. I’ve taken them down for the time being.
Tony | Apr 4, 2007 | Reply
Joel: thanks for the opportunity to chime in
Jay: read my horror story about changing production code on the fly – http://forsalebylocals.wordpress.com/2007/04/01/april-fools-not-it-really-happened-today/ not an april fool tale…I couldn’t write fiction lik what happened
Jim Duncan | Apr 5, 2007 | Reply
Joel -
I think that if the “recent posts” and “recent comments” were more prominently displayed, they might generate more discussion. But, that’s my .02.
Incredible Agent | Apr 5, 2007 | Reply
I agree with Jim Duncan. I know you don’t want to clutter up the side, however certain items help build a better conversation and encourage people to comment.