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Does Your Template Suck? Mine Does.
Having an unoriginal template that everybody uses is easily one of the biggest signs that your blog sucks. If you want to stand out and be noticed, you need to make certain that your site not only contains unique and original content, but that it has it’s own “look” too.
So what the heck am I doing using the ‘Misty‘ theme for this blog which 99% of other wordpress bloggers use?
It’s common and I hate it.
The sad fact of the matter is that I don’t know a thing about creating my own template on wordpress. Having said that, I didn’t know a thing about customizing my own template on Blogger either when I started this site and after starting with the way too simplistic “Minima” template, I subsequently went on to hack blogger and pimp my template.
I’ve searched for an original, good-looking template and despite being prepared to even pay for one, I haven’t been able to find any that I like.
But all is not lost.
Despite being incredibly common, I’ve chosen this template for reasons that I think all bloggers should consider when choosing their first template:
- Keep it simple - Yes, fancy flash templates with animations and web2.0 shaded buttons look great, but they’re almost impossible to customize and change to suit your needs. And you’re in a bad place when everyone else starts using it! Choosing a simple and basic template in the beginning leaves you lots of room to hack, customize and change the template in order to turn it in to your own work of art…which is what I plan to do here!
- Header images are essential - I don’t mean they’re kind of important. They’re ESSENTIAL. There is no easier way to customize and give your site a unique look than to put up an original image that you’ve designed yourself. After you’ve clicked ‘use this template‘ in your dashboard, it should be the very next thing you do!
- Less is more - Fancy shaded web2.0 graphics look great, but don’t underestimate the power of white space. A template that is clean and clutter-free is not only fast-loading, but puts the focus on your super-awesome content. And if you’re going to have clutter, shouldn’t it be with pay-per-click advertising instead of web2.0 buttons?
- Pinkability - A template with graphical borders and text looks great, but how can you change them all to pink? It’s almost impossible! Always look for templates that have the ability to be customized to suit your own color scheme. I recommend pink. Others may disagree….
Far from this post being an excuse for my lame template, I want to use it to make the point that even though many of us may start with simple cookie-cutter sites, it’s what we can do with them that can create your original piece of art in the blogosphere.
And now I have to get to work on doing it!
Rich people subscribe to Cash Quests
That’s fine Kumiko,
This is one of the KISS templates around. I feel that the pink colour just blares out here - but hey i’ve learned now that pink=kumiko.
So its not all that bad.
by Mani
@Mani
yes. pink is kumiko
@Princess Kumiko
No, your theme doesn’t sux (they use to call it theme for wordpress, and template is for blogger ; )
i think, sux is only if you use the standard theme/template. but if you have modified it and become unique like this. it’s not common mass theme anymore
you have done it well with the pink and the great header image. and not just the pink, but i think people now has already sticked on their mind that the little princess comic is kumiko also.
just take it slow princess, making / customizing wp theme is really-2 easy thing to do. you’ll believe me on this. what really sucks i think is that sometime, your mysql query seems failed to executed. and sometime i just can’t post my comment here for the same reason also.
or maybe because you’re still working on it.
good luck anyway
by Jack Books
Frankly speaking, I hate the colour
by Blogs Do Make Money
if you want to play longer and make success,
please dont use the free template,
pay someone for you to redesign the template,
it is important to standout among the millions blogs in the internet with a unique web design,
just like Cashquest did!
by Wallace
I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to do it myself without paying someone.
by Princess Kumiko
WOW,
you do a great design for your site,
just like Mani said,
pink=CQ,
you already done and success!
why you don’t label a ‘hire me’ logo for a wordpress design service?!
by Wallace
lol.. having templates that look similar with others doesnt mean it sucks. Chill!
It’s the comment that matters.
by Chee Kui
True. But when I leave this site and surf to another and think “hey that looks like mine”, it gets me down a little!
by Princess Kumiko
Ouch, I mean content.
by Chee Kui
I got a blogger template from Blogcrowds.com and fixed most of it the way I wanted. I still have problems in that
1. you can have an archive page, so the archive link on top does nothing.
2. didn’t know this until last night, but when you look at my blog with firefox, the header runs into the body and sidepanels, so it looks crap.
I’m still searching for a FAQ on wordpress so I can convert over. My solo attempts so far have been poor at best.
by Desty
I had a look at your site.
You could probably drop the archives link and change it to a categories link that links to a page that contains hyperlinks to your categories. I don’t see the point in Archives anyway. Unless you’re a news site, who cares what you wrote in February?
The header is probably a sizing issue. Try decreasing the height on the ‘blog’ ‘archive’ and ‘profile’ buttons and it should be all ok.
by Princess Kumiko
I had to take an existing template, load it into Dreaweaver and movify it to get the template that I have today at my blog.
Although it sucks that I made it non-compatible with Blogger´s font and colors screen, so now I have to edit manually the html to change anything.
by JCM
Dreaweaver=Dreamweaver
Typos suck at 9 am
by JCM
Good luck with the customization overhaul! I look forward to seeing the changes you make. I just started into WordPress theme hacking myself and have found it to be fun and times and somewhat frustrating. And by frustrating I mean makes me want to cry like a little girl and turn my site all pink. I haven’t quite gone that far yet though.
by Jonathan Franzone
I’ve been meaning to do what Spud Oregon did with his nice4rice page and create a custom “archives” page that has a number of different ways of looking for your posts, based on category, date, most commented on, etc. but I haven’t figured out how to do the page template yet. In due time.
by Michael Kwan - Freelance Writer
Yeah, that’s a good system. Shouldn’t be too hard to make the template for that. I may try and create it myself.
by Princess Kumiko
I for one, look forward to watching your Wordpress blog morph into something as cool looking as your Blogger one was (I really liked the look of it).
Good luck Kumiko. It will be fun to see the changes as time goes on.
Regards,
by Sofcore
Well at least with all the pink, I don’t get this confused with anyone else!
If you venture into creating one yourself, this was one of the most useful how-to’s I found:
http://www.cypherhackz.net/archives/2006/12/13/make-your-own-wordpress-theme-part-1/
by Sucker
Whilst being original is good, the most important thing is to be readable and simple. Don’t make the mistake of designing a template thats too out of this world.
In the meanwhile, you need to get your sidebar back on the side.
Thats my adivce for what its worth, I too have a misty theme, but won’t be changing yet. I like its set up and ease of use.
by Steve
You must be an IE user. I’m working on it.
by Princess Kumiko
By the way I’ve tried the “Hunter” theme by Online Movies on my new blog
http://www.sportzview.com/blog
It’s similar layout and quite attractive. Comes with built in Adsense code, you only need to change your personal code, although you don’t care for that
of course.
by Steve
Do you think mine sucks too?? I just customized it myself too.
by Jennifer
Following your theory each person in this world should have a different car, for example….
Design is only one out of many factors that influence the quality of a blog.
by SEO Blog
I don’t think that your template sucks… You’ve already customized it - added header image and “pinkished” (I am sure this is not the right word in English) and it looks nice in your stile. And then with a time you spend here you will learn how to customize template more.
by Inga Oz
“A template with graphical borders and text looks great, but how can you change them all to pink? It’s almost impossible!”
=> Being a professional web developer I actually am able to change any template to whatever color scheme I want, which is a luxury I have..
Also, http://www.synchronous.ca/ shows a Wordpress theme I have developed from scratch up (a completely new CSS file basically). It’s a new company I’m starting… hopefully I’ll finish teh site in a month.
by Jeff Kee
You blog theme is good, Jeff, I like that halfly opaque header.
Vote for Pink!
(or Pedro?)
by Make Money With Funds
Thanks! It was something different eh?
by Jeff Kee
Oh, forgot to add - if you need help, $50/hr is my rate for common HTML/CSS/ and simpler PHP on wordpress.
by Jeff Kee
That’s a nice template!
by Princess Kumiko
http://www.msdanielle.com/
why do girls like pink?
This blog is no in the least readable is you ask me…my eyes are already watery! I think I will stay within my RSS reader and never come down here!!! 
by TheAnand
Personally I really like the template you have now and how you customized it to work for you. I think it looks great. And I like the pink.
by Tay
This is not always the case. John Chow has a template that is basic as well and his site clearly doesn’t suck.
by Dana
John Chow cannot be compared to other smaller bloggers though..
by Jeff Kee
Gosh, you left the longest comment!
by Andy Dang
You can change the color of the buttons etc easy with a program like Photoshop. I do it all the time…but I’m not at my home computer right now so I can’t tell you exactly how to do it at the moment. Search it, I’m sure you can find it on a tutorial website (I did).
by Cody
I’m trying to make my template much more cleaner. Its too cluttered. I’m thinking now, isn’t 3 columns a lot better?
by Andy dang
in other words, you need to customize the template you want to use.
but avoid using common template is to make your own. that what I did at my blog.
by SELaplana
I personally dont like pink but I think it works well on your site - gives it a certain uniqueness!!
http://cyberst0rm.blogspot.com
by cyberst0rm
Kumiko, today I found great tutorial about how to create own WP theme and after that I changed my old theme lol (customized it), so maybe it can help you too: http://www.wpdesigner.com/2007/02/19/so-you-want-to-create-wordpress-themes-huh/
by Inga Oz
I love pink
I think original is good, pink is even better. 
by GoddessCarlie
I think you’re right, I need to head back over to my blog and do something with the header, STAT.
by Roberta
Hi Kumiko, I think it sucks that you have moved your big header to the right. I really liked the fading of the pink colored background sorrounding your logo.
or else 
Please move it right back where it was!
Regards, Tina
P.S. I’m taking about the new header, not the one from your blogspot domain…
by Tina Finnerup