WPDesigner » Wpdesigner.com

Wpdesigner Change of Ownership

Small Potato — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 07:30:16 +0000

The new owner is Pawel Ciszewski. If you haven’t been following the auction, I recently sold Wpdesigner.com here.

Other than introducing Pawel, below are some news and review:

The themes club will be continued.
I will stick around and blog on Wpdesigner.com from time to time while traveling. To get in touch with me, my personal site is at Braintied.com.
If you have any question about the sale of Wpdesigner, I will be a part of a one-hour interview at Jeffro2pt0.com on Saturday March 22nd, 9PM EST.

To the small potatoes, thank you for your support and understanding.

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Wpdesigner.com Is For Sale

Small Potato — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:22:19 +0000

Although April Fools is less than a month away, this is not a joke. I’m selling Wpdesigner.com.

Why Sell?

Before I give you my reason, I want to thank you for reading this blog and thank you for all of the support you’ve given Wpdesigner.com in general and me in particular. With everything that has been going on with Wpdesigner and the fact that it finally ranks #1 on the Top 40 WordPress blogs list, I know it seems like a weird time to be selling.

Of course, it wasn’t easy for me to come to this, but I’m selling for personal reasons. If it wasn’t for changes in my personal life, it wouldn’t make sense to sell this site at all. Wpdesigner.com has been my livelihood, personal project, and baby for the last 2 years.

If you’ve been reading this blog and my personal blog, you know the first and main reason is I’ll be traveling abroad for the rest of this year. Initially, I was hoping I could juggle traveling, maintaining this blog, and continue creating WordPress themes, but that’s more than likely not the case. Because of that, I’d rather hand Wpdesigner.com to a solid team of developers with enough man hours and better management skills to do this site justice.

Second reason is I’m at a crossroad in life. In the last two months, I changed my love and family lives. Now, it’s time to make career choices; I don’t have to, but I want to make a change. Although I still have the desire to compete with fellow WordPress theme authors, I would love to have the time and opportunities to explore and actually get away from the computer (my lower back acts like it’s 90 years old, but it’s actually 21). Letting go of Wpdesigner, sadly, will leave room for me to do that. (I’ll probably become a fisherman at one of the Thailand islands. I kid. I kid.)

Third reason is I don’t like giving theme support. Hahaha.

The alternative to selling this blog is hiring a team or outsource all of the tasks while I’m traveling, but I don’t have the money to hire anyone and I’m not interested in managing anyone. I’ve always been a one-man team and I’m not ready to play nice. And having me as a boss would definitely suck!

What Does This Mean for You?

I’ll try to get the right buyer so you’ll continue to get high quality WordPress themes and tutorials. More than likely, my absence will be the only change. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been preparing this blog for my absence by inviting guest bloggers to write for Wpdesigner.com.

Update: Many of you asked me what would happen to the themes club. I don’t plan on cutting the themes club short and will try my best to keep it going. If the new owner absolutely will not continue the club (unlikely), the worst case scenario is everyone would get a refund.

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Wpdesigner 20,000 Accounts Giveaway

Small Potato — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 19:43:03 +0000

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

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!

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Wpdesigner 10 Preview

Small Potato — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 11:40:30 +0000

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.)

And now, the comments template:

A look at the comments form and policy template:

The list of stuff below the comments form are the comment policies.

The themes club landing page:

There are several more templates to this redesign, but you’ll have to wait until I launch version 10.0, which will be soon by the way.

The Point of This Post
No, it isn’t to preview version 10. It’s actually a glimpse of what sort of themes are coming to the themes club. Despite the fact that I suck at designing , I think you’ll appreciate the level of details and personalized elements I’ll bring to the paid-themes market. For each future club theme, here’s what I’ll aim for.

I think I’m addicted to tweaking my own blog. I can’t help it. The Wpdesigner version 9.0 dust haven’t settled yet and I’m already busy hacking away at a version 10.0.

p.s. - A new theme will be released some time next week.

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January 28 - February 03 Theme Release Schedule

Small Potato — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:38:27 +0000

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.

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How to Spread the News About Wpdesigner Themes Club

Small Potato — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 04:55:23 +0000

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.

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…

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Launching Themes Club: Happy $5 Year!

Small Potato — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:45:19 +0000

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.

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Themes Club Launch Date - Delayed

Small Potato — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 02:31:10 +0000

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.

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Finalized Music Theme Design

Small Potato — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:35:34 +0000

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.

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Music Theme Design Preview

Small Potato — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:12:42 +0000

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.

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