WPDesigner.com

The $5 WordPress themes club is giving away 20,000 accounts to your readers. Wpdesigner.com will sponsor your blog contests and giveaways by using the themes club memberships as prizes. To be a part of this giveaway, sign up your blog by leaving a comment or contact Wpdesigner.com between February 23 and March 8.

Rules

• Your blog must have at least 1,000 unique visitors per month.
• Sign up any time between February 23 and March 8.
• You must announce the contest, giveaway, or promotion on your blog to get the free membership coupons for your readers. Rules of your blog’s contest, giveaway, or promotion are up to you.
• Depending on the size of your audience, Wpdesigner will sponsor 50 to 1000 accounts.
• You may award or give out the accounts all at once or spread them throughout the year for multiple contests/giveaways.
• The free coupons expire at the end of 2008.
• SiCarii.net

Participating Sites

• WPCandy.com
• BloggingTips.com
• WeblogToolsCollection.com
• UzBlogger.com
• PremiumWP.com
• ATypicalLife.net
• 7PProductions.com
• WPMUTutorials.com
• DesignBliss.com
• KnightKNetwork.com
• SiCarii.net
• NetView.ro
• PBlog.com.br
• BlogPerfume.com
• BlogAdda.com
• NSpeaks.com
• HardianNazief.com
• DeceBlog.net
• TheBlog.ca

Themes Users

If you’ve been thinking about joining the club, but haven’t for some reason, this is your way to get it for free. Ask your favorite blogger to sign up for this giveaway so you can get one of the accounts through his/her blog.

On the other hand, here’s the order page if you can’t wait. It’s $5 to sign up for a year.

About the Club

Each club member gets all previously released themes and at least twelve new ones, one per month, throughout the span of one year. Club members also get guaranteed private support and community support. Click here for the full club details.

The following are some of the released club themes: Personal, Music, and Gossip.

For Paying Members

As for current and future paying members, you’re not left out. You will get a chance to enter a drawing for a custom WordPress theme from Wpdesigner. More information will be posted about that drawing at a later date.

Happy $5 Year!

Structure-wise, I went for a small home page rather than the typical lengthy 10 latest blog entries and a sidebar. My new home page is made up of four main features: full content of latest blog entry, six titles of recent blog entries, another six titles of most popular articles, and a sidebar made up of my cheesy face and category navigation.

Design-wise, it’s grid; it’s grunge; it’s glossy; it’s illustrated. This design basically represents the fact that I’m learning how to design and learning to not rely on gradients or other Web 2.0-ish looks every time I get stuck. Out of all my designs, this latest one is closest to who I am as a person. I’m messy on the outside, but I’m secretly a member of The Organization For The Organized on the inside. (Basically, I’m a bit of a neat freak.) (more…)

I’m starting something new with this release schedule. From now on, scheduled theme releases for upcoming weeks will be posted on Sundays. Think of it as a television shows schedule. Anyway, below is the first list of scheduled releases for club themes.

January 29, 2008 - Personal Theme
First of all, you can preview this theme here. Second, this theme is supposed to be released today, but I’m pushing it back to Tuesday.

January 31, 2008 - Music Theme: Preview music theme.

February 02, 2008 - Wpdesigner 8 Theme: This is a little something extra from me to you. You’ve been asking for this theme. Well now, it’s coming.

Notes:

• All dates are U.S. based.
• If you haven’t gotten the hint, I’m planning on releasing much, much more than 12 themes for club members. If you only knew how many themes are coming your way… it’s ridiculous .
• If you’re having trouble downloading the first club theme, please find the email titled, “Happy $5 Year.” Download instructions are in there.
• The $5 themes club hit the 100 members mark today.

For new readers and those that haven’t followed Wpdesigner.com news lately, I recently launched a themes club on January 24.

For the loyal readers my small potatoes waiting patiently for the press package to spread the news about this themes club, thank you very much and below is the press package.

Here’s the press PDF file for you to point everyone to. If you need an image to link to Wpdesigner, I’ve prepared some button banners…

Let me know if you want me to customize the button banners for your blog. For example, it could say, “Happy $5 Year from ______.com.” You can link the button banner to the PDF file or link it back to the launch post, whichever you prefer.

About the PDF file, if you’ve been following along then you already know most of the information within it, except for the last part, which explains my vision for this theme club and the motivation behind the $5 idea.

Thank You’s

Thank you to everyone for supporting Wpdesigner.com themes club. Specifically, thank you to the following bloggers for spreading the news.

• Wpdesigner Launching Themes Club: $5 Year!
• Exclusively designed themes, five dollar a year
• Wpdesigner Theme Club
• 12 Months of Themes for $5
• Wpdesigner’s Theme Club
• Club themes for 5$
• Klub Kentang Lima Dollar
• Wpdesigner Launches $5 Theme Club
• The Best Design Club
• Small Potato Releases the $5 Theme Club
• Small Potato’s $5 Themes Club
• $5 Per Year For Exclusive WP Themes Club!!!
• Wpdesigner Launched $5 Premium Themes Club
• The Coolest $5 Burn Ever
• Think your themes are too simple? Maybe you need something with a little more spice…
• New Theme Club, MU Friendly
• The $5 WordPress Theme Club
• WordPress Themes Club a great deal
• $5 WordPress Themes Club
• WP Designer $5 Themes Club
• Wpdesigner’s $5 Theme Club is now open!
• Premium WordPress Theme Sites Released
• Five Dollar WordPress Theme Club Launched
• Monetizando diseños de WordPress
• Wpdesigner Announces the Five Dollar Theme Club
• Wpdesigner Launches the $5 WordPress Themes Club
• Wpdesigner Themes Club
• 5 Dollar Theme Club Launch
• Best WordPress Theme Club: The $5 Theme Club
• Wpdesigner’s $5 Themes Club
• The Five Dollar Themes Club Small Potato
• WordPress Theme Club - The Irresistable Offer!
• The Five Dollar WordPress Themes Club
• Premium Themes From iThemes and Wpdesigner

Sorry if I left out anyone, point me to your post about the club and I’ll link back to you here or within an upcoming post.

Last, but not least, what do you think would be a good slogan for the themes club? I want to go with Happy $5 Year, but it’s a little vague.

p.s. - After only one day, the club currently has more than 70 members. January 27 - Currently 96 members…

The $5 themes club is finally here. You can preview the first theme, Gossip, now. More club themes will be up for download within this week. Preview two of the upcoming themes.

What is this club?

This is a WordPress themes club. You pay $5 per year for unlimited access / downloads. Each year, you’re guaranteed at least 12 themes.

What are you allowed to do with the club themes?

You do not need a developer license to use the club themes for your clients. And, you may use your club themes on as many sites as you wish. Basically, just don’t resell, give them away for free, and / or claim that you’ve created them. Here’s the terms and conditions page.

No Add-ons and Hidden Fees

There’s no copyright or credit removal to purchase or add on to the $5. You pay $5 for the whole year. That’s it. The club themes come without copyright labels or links. In fact, the only trace of Wpdesigner and yours truly is on two short lines in the style.css file.

Themes Support

There are two ways to get help. The first one is through the ticket system from your themes club account. The second one is through the forums, where you’d usually get a faster response because multiple people would be viewing your question at the same time.

Sign Up

All accounts are activated manually. I’ll do it as soon as possible, but please allow at most 12 hours for your account to get activated. Thank you for your patience.

Tell A Blogger

If you don’t absolutely love the idea of spending $5 for a whole year of products and services then don’t mention it to anyone. On the other hand, if you do love it then please get the word out.

For those waiting on the media / press package to help spread the news about this themes club, thank you so much for understanding. I’ve been busy for the last 24 hours setting this club up and right now I need some shut eyes. The media package will be ready by today; among other related topics and files, it’ll include a detailed look at this club’s future.

Update: The press package is ready, but I’m half asleep. I will double check and put it up for download to morrow.

Sorry small potatoes. I’ve been trying hard to launch it on time, but there is no way I can do it by January 23.

Please wait one more day, until January 24 in U.S., 5:00 AM PST,while I sort everything out. It’s better to be late than rushed and sloppy. Thank you for your patience.

Customized Home Page

Normal Home Page (which is WPMU friendly)

I’ve tried to add more graphics and music images to the available space in the top right corner, but the graphics looked like clutter so the version above will be the final version. It’s just a little different from the preview.

This theme does not come with the photos featured in one of the screenshots. They’re placeholders.

This is a dark design so the preview image above doesn’t really do the design justice in terms of details. Especially for future themes club members, this is your chance to let me know what you like and don’t like about this one.

Color-wise, it’s simple. Obviously, I went with red to make it pop, but you can easily switch out the red if you have the .psd file, which you will.

At this point, I’m finished with the background and basic structure. Next is adding more graphics (music images) and the final touches.

This theme/design does not come with photos used in the preview. They’re placeholders.

Rub your eyes and read it again. If it says Five Dollar Themes Club then you weren’t wrong the first time around. It’s not $5 dollar per theme, per download, or per month. It’s $5 per year.

I’m going to launch a WordPress themes club on January 23rd 24th. Membership is $5 for 12 months. If someone ask you how to make $5 last for a whole year, tell them to join the club!

What can you get for five bucks? A lot! For less than the price of a domain name or a medium-sized cup of coffee, you get every available theme at the initial launch of the themes club and at least 12 more themes throughout your one-year membership. What does that mean? It means each theme will cost less than 40 cents.

How about quality? Judge for yourself here and here. More of them are coming and all of them will be available on January 23rd.

Does support comes with $5? Yes. You get personal and community support. That basically means you can ask for help through a ticket system or bring your question to the forums so everyone there can help you. Typically, you’ll get a quicker response from the forums.

How do the club themes stack up to other premium themes? You’ll get to see for yourself. Live demos will be online prior to the launch date. One thing to keep in mind is the club themes are mostly made for blogs, not magazines and news groups. However, don’t be surprised if the club themes come with features similar to those premium magazine or news themes.

What else do you need to know? I’m glad you asked .

1. At least 12 more themes
   Unlike other clubs guaranteeing only 12 more themes (1 per month). This club guarantees AT LEAST 12 more. Some months will feature multiple theme releases.
2. No Footer Copyright Labels
   Charging a fee for removing the copyright message in the footer is common practice, but you will not have to pay for that.
3. One License Fits All
   If you’ve been hired to create a theme for a client, go ahead and use one of the club themes as the base for your project. You DO NOT have to pay for a developer license. And if you have time, show off your modification or creation at the forums.
4. A Theme for Every Occasion
   With everything you’ll get for just $5, you’ll be able to change the look of your blog based on special events (birthdays, holidays, Pink for October, etc.) without having to sacrifice quality or waste time and money on those occasions. I’m not suggesting you should do that, but you could for the fun of it .
5. Multiple Designers
   Later this year, I will hire designers to fulfill club members’ requests and to give you variety because getting designs from one designer over and over again might get a bit boring. Although I’m offering this club for only $5 per year, I don’t want you to get bored out of your mind!
6. Wpdesigner’s Themes Club Is No Cookie Cutter
   If you can’t already tell by the price, I’m not trying to start another boring club to make fast money. So what am I doing exactly? I’m shaking up the paid themes market and proving something here. You don’t always get what you pay for. Once in a while, if you’re lucky, you get something better.

• Images, texts, and links in the preview above are meant for placeholders, not actual content. I didn’t plan on a redesign, but the current one isn’t working because it has only one sidebar, which was meant for static advertisements.
• Finally, I decided to make Wpdesigner more… liquid (in terms of content arrangement) and do away with spaces reserved for advertisements.
• Almost everything I wanted done in 2007 will be completed within the next 2 months. Currently, priority number one is the themes club. I’m not finished designing all of the themes I wanted to design. Right after, I’ll code them and set up demos.
• Afterward, I’ll implement the new structure.

Personal Blog

(By the way, this is the last personal entry from me on this blog.)

My personal blog is up and running with only one post, a to-do list. I’m not leaving Wpdesigner.com. Simply, I’m going to blog at both sites and keep the personal topics on Braintied.com.

Braintied.com will be my personal to-do list throughout this year. I’ll also use it to comment on various topics and video-blog about places that I’m going to visit (overseas). First up for this year is Viet Nam, which is where I was born and haven’t visited for eleven years. I’ll be booking a flight in March with hopefully no delays.

For this first trip, I want to gain some mobile lifestyle experience. But mainly, I’d finally get a chance to visit my cousin’s grave. My cousin was about 10 years older than I was. He and I grew up in the same house until I was 8 or 9 years old. He died young (motorcycle accident) and I never got the chance to go to his grave.

• Traveling Overseas - I’ve been living in Sacramento, CA for 11 years (currently 21 years old). The only times I’ve been out of the city were school field trips (pumpkin patch, six flags, and etc.). The thought of traveling overseas (alone) is definitely scary, but also exciting. After the trip to Viet Nam with my family, I’m going to come back, review the trip, see what I need to improve and bring with me, and then continue to travel to other countries on my own. After Viet Nam, it’s probably South Korea. If you think I’d be interested in visiting your city, state, or country, let me know in the comments. This year, if I get to, I’ll meet some of my readers small potatoes in person.

Themes Club

About some of the recent designs posted on this blog, yes, they are paid themes, not free themes. However, you won’t have to spend a fortune to get your hands on all of them. Joining the Wpdesigner themes club would give you access to download all of them. (I’m still reconsidering the price for joining the club.) Your club membership would last for one year. And during that one year, more themes would be released monthly, at least 1 theme per month.

I said at least one theme per month because while other clubs limit their releases to one per month in order to maximize profit, I will not do that. Along with the one release per month guarantee, for sure, some months will have multiple releases.

Basically, I will be creating several more designs and themes. Once they’re all finished, you can join the Wpdesigner themes club to download all of them. And then, you’d get at least 11-12 more themes within your one-year membership.

Note: This club is not for bloggers looking for a semi-unique solution, in which customers have to pay for individual themes in order to limit each theme’s level of saturation in the blogosphere. This is for bloggers looking for good lookin’ and well-designed themes at one affordable price; that’s it.

If you have any question, feel free to ask me in the comments.

(Since the preview, I’ve changed the green to blue because SO MANY OF YOU complained about it.)

I realize this final look doesn’t actually scream Personal, but I like it the way it is. This is the finalized version because I ran out of ideas. And usually, when you run out of ideas or don’t know what else to add, it’s time to stop or start taking away some elements to clear up the design. Otherwise, you’ll clutter it.

Also, I can’t work on it now… even if I want to. I accidentally… MERGED ALL OF THE LAYERS!!! so now the psd file is one big layer. Fortunately, I can still slice this design and then code it. But of course, it’ll be more time consuming to do it with only one layer.

Furthermore

Before coding it, I’ll be working on a new design for another new theme. What I wanted out of this design binge was to delve deeper into grunge, line art, and general illustrations because those are my weaknesses. However, I don’t have several more weeks to experiment with shapes, colors, textures, and etcetera, which are all required to hone my skills and develop a unique style that I can call my own.