Media Theme is a theme designed from the ground up for sites that need the ability to have a slideshow or video displayed on the front page as a main feature.  It is a highly flexible theme that can be used for individuals, businesses, organizations, churches, cafes, bands and so on.

Main features:

• Option for an image slideshow or video on the homepage.
• A comprehensive theme control panel so you can customize the theme without needing to touch the code.
• Built in thumbnail uploading and resizing.
• Customizable tabbed slider on the homepage to give you control over your content.
• Five distinct page styles for use on your site.
• Custom background editor so you can use your own background images and colors.
• Custom styles so you can use your own colors to compliment your background and site feel.
• Works across browsers from Internet Explorer 6 +, Safari 3 +, Firefox 2 +, Chrome 2 + and Opera 9 +

Plus as always, Media Theme includes personal support from me directly.  If you have any questions or problems, just ask and I’ll be glad to help you out.

So what are you waiting for?  At $20 this is a deal that is too good to pass up!

Blog Page

Media Archive

Full Width

Default Page

Site Map

Over the years I’ve made quite a few sites for churches, and now that I have a portfolio full of WordPress themes for churches, people ask me all the time what plugins I use and recommend for their church sites. To help everyone out, I’ve put together this updated list of what plugins I would recommend for your church site.

All in SEO

This is the most used WordPress plugin and for good reason. It easily adds descriptions and keywords to your site’s content and attempts to make the entire site more search engine friendly. I use it on every site that I set up and think everyone who wants their site to be noticed should too. I will say lately the plugin has begun to have more frequent updates without appearing to change anything and each update requires visiting the settings page to reactivate it. A bit annoying, but I suspect it helps the developer get a few more donations. That’s not too bad considering the plugin is free. You can find out more here.

XML Sitemaps

This another plugin geared to help your site be noticed by search engines. It creates a map to show Google and everyone else where your content is located. It’s a breeze to set up and quietly does its job without getting in your way. Find out more and download it here.

MapPress

I’ve yet to make a church site that didn’t have some form of map and most of them use Google maps to provide directions as well as a visual. While it’s not hard to embed a Google map, it’s generally not very graceful. Now there is a great WordPress plugin called MapPress that will allow you to not only embed a map, but offer directions via Google directly in your site. It’s a great solution. Learn more and download it here.

Gravity Forms

Most every church needs some type of contact form, even if it is just for sending a basic message. But contact forms have so much more benefit to churches than just sending in prayer requests. Gravity Forms is by far the best plugin for forms available. Since it’s release this summer, I’ve replaced every contact form on my sites with this elegant solution. Now I can easily create small group sign ups. Allow people to write posts that the church can later publish. I work with a mentoring ministry that is using this plugin to collect information on new mentors. Once the mentor is approved, the data doesn’t have to be re-entered. All that is required is to publish the post the form creates. It’s a great solution that I would recommend to anyone looking for a form. Learn more and purchase it here.

Podcasting

Most churches that use WordPress want to publish a podcast of their messages. While WordPress creates a feed that will work with iTunes, it’s not obvious as to how to add descriptions, categories and images for the iTunes store to use. Podcasting steps in and allows you to easily add those items, plus create posts from any category to include in your podcast feed. The plugin is easy to use and is a fix and forget it solution. You can find it here.

MailChimp

Most churches use email newsletters as a means to communicate. While there are many companies out there you can use, I really like MailChimp. They provide a great set of tools that are constantly being improved. They have great looking templates, or you can create your own. Plus the best part is their mailing list is free for up to 500 users and 6 email campaigns per month. For many churches that will be all they need. Plus if you exceed that amount, their prices are more than competitive. They also provide another great plugin called Analytics360 that provides an great view on your Google Analytics data that charts how your email campaigns and posts affect your traffic. You can download Analytics 360here and MailChimp’s sign up here.

Google Analyticator

You have to keep track of visitors to your site, otherwise you’ll never know if you are being successful or not. There are lots of plugins that can add analytics features to your site, but I like Google Analyticator because it allows you to remove logged in administrators from the tracking. That way you’re only seeing true visitors and not just yourself. Plus it conveniently adds a dashboard widget to show you recent visitors. As an added bonus, this graph isn’t Flash so you can see it even if you view your dashboard from an iPhone. You can download Google Analyticator here.

WPTouch iPhone Theme

Mobile devices are here to stay and people expect to be able to view your site from their phones. Personally I believe this is especially true of any place that has a physical location that people visit like a church. If someone is in traffic and they see a bumper sticker with your church’s website on it, they may just look it up while they wait at a red light. If you site can’t be viewed on their phone, they’re not going to bother with it. The WPTouch plugin allows you to easily create a mobile device compatible version of your site. This is a mature plugin that is updated frequently. There are other alternatives out there or you could just make your own, but this is so simple and effective why bother. You can download it here.

So these are the plugins that I always use with a church’s website. Did I leave any of your favorites out? Leave a comment so we can all discover some more great resources.

I’ve been hard at work on a new theme to be released quite soon, but I can’t resist showing you a bit of what it will look like.  I’m calling this one Media Theme.  It is going to be available in two versions: one for businesses or individuals, the other for churches.  It will feature a built in image rotator that can be swapped for a video player on the front page.  Many businesses and churches like the option of having several large clickable buttons to link key areas of the site from the front page.  Media Theme will feature three large customizable buttons on the right of the main image rotator.

All colors will be customizable from the control panel without having to touch any code.  It will also feature easy connectivity to social media as well.  Take a look at the snapshot that I’ve uploaded here.  Look for this great theme to be available before November begins.

The best value I offer at Organized Themes is our Theme Package.  You get all of our current and future themes for only $70.  This includes the world class support you’ve come to expect from me.  Plus since you can use these themes on as many sites as you’d like, this is a fantastic deal for designers.  If you have any questions feel free to contact me.  If you’re ready, why not go on and purchase them all right now.

Buy theme package for only $70 here.

Originally I created this theme to power Organized Themes, but I’ve now released it to all of you to use in your own shops as well.  It is created for you to sell anything, but it is especially useful if you like to sell digital products with its built in fancy box previews.  Clicking on the customizable demo link opens up a modal window to show off your products in a stylish and functional way.

Not only does this theme work as a store, but it would also be great as a magazine or news site as the demo and purchase buttons are completely customizable or can even be turned off altogether.  Plus this can all be accomplished from inside the theme control panel without touching any code! If you did this you would have a thumbnail representing your post and the post title too.

The bottom line is this theme is versatile. I’ve seen it used in everything from an eco-tourism hotel in Thailand to selling Jazz music and books.

Company Store comes with the following features:

• Selling of digital and tangible goods and services
• Demo feature with “Fancy Box” light box to show off your products
• Ability to turn off store components and use as a magazine or portfolio site
• Integrates with third party shopping carts like e-Junkie or Foxy Cart, plus many WordPress plugins that use posts or pages for their products
• Easily add analytics through the control panel
• Custom background editor so you can use your own background image if you choose
• Cross browser capable (Internet Explorer 6 -8, Firefox 2-4, Safari 3-4, Chrome 2 +, and Opera 9-10)
• Quality support you can depend on

When I created Company Store for my own site, I had no idea how versatile it would prove to be.  Now I’m excited to see how you will use this great theme on your own sites.

Here is what is coming up:

• Very soon you can expect my “Company Store” theme to be released.  This will be an e-commerce theme built off of the theme I use for Organized Themes.  It will be compatible with wp-ecommerce and will be of particular interest to people selling digital products.
• I also have a video centric theme in the works in partnership with a new church in Nashville, TN.  It will be great for anyone who needs to showcase a lot of media–church or otherwise.
• I am adding localization to the themes which will allow for easier translation of them.  Approximately 50% of the visitors to Organized Themes are from outside the US, and many of them are from non-English speaking areas.  This will help you use these great themes locally where ever you are.

Thanks again for making this such an incredible month.

Ever wondered how many people visited your site last week?  Would you believe you can find out information like that for absolutely free?  Google offers a tremendous product called Analytics that you can use to keep track of visitors.  You simply sign up at analytics.google.com and they will provide you with some code for your site and you’re ready to get started.

First you will need to get the code onto your site.  Joost de Valk has created a simple plugin that does just that called Google Analytics for WordPress. Simply install the plugin and enter your id number into the field and Google will begin tracking information about all your visitors.

When I first began using WordPress, this was one of the first things I did for my sites and those of my clients, but there was always a big drawback–you couldn’t find out about your visitors without going to Google.  I did everything else inside of WordPress, but I couldn’t find out my stats without leaving my site altogether.  Thankfully that has changed.

Now the online newsletter company, Mail Chimp, has commissioned a great plugin called analytics 360 that brings the best of Google’s details right into my WordPress admin.  Now you can see from right inside WordPress how many visitors you’ve had, where they came from, what they looked at, how long they stayed and so on.  If you are a Mail Chimp user, they also plot the growth of your subscription list.

Analytics Graph

One unique feature analytics 360 adds by integrating into WordPress is showing the relationship between your posts and your visitors.  Of course you could figure out that inside of Google, but they won’t plot it for you.

So if you haven’t tried Google Analytics, sign up for a free account today and then install analytics 360.  Your blog will thank you.

Google Analytics Map

It’s time to release my next project–Visual Theme for WordPress.  I wanted to take my most popular theme–Alpha Church and expand it’s options for other types of organizations and businesses.  This is also the first theme that I have released that comes with multiple styles built in.  As always there is a control panel, free support, and great style to help you in your journey to a great website.

Visual Theme comes with the following features:

• Built in image rotator with with uploader.
• Five styles that can be selected from the theme control panel without editing any code.
• Five page templates for you to use in your site.
• Special Picture Style page that features a Flash like semi-transparent panel over a large striking image.
• A blog page where you can serve up your favorite blog entries from any category you choose.
• A theme control panel where you can adjust theme settings.
• A custom background editor so you can use a background image of your choice without touching the code.
• Home page features a sidebar and footer than can be turned on and off from inside the control panel.
• Drop down menu powered by javascript for style and functionality.
• Theme compatible with Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+, Chrome 2+ and Opera 9+.
• Complete instructions and support included.

Here are a few short videos to show you how the theme works.

General Options

Custom Backgrounds

Front Page Images

I am pleased to announce the release of our latest theme NEW CHURCH.  My goal with New Church was to create a theme that would work well with church’s that have a great deal of content they wish to display in a manner that is both easy to use and attractive.

As with all my themes, this one features a comprehensive control panel where you can customize the site to suit your needs.  Everything from the main picture to the headlines and text can be changed out by you without touching any code.

The bottom left of the home page features a box for your service times and contact information as well as links for your RSS feed (created automatically by WordPress) Twitter, and Facebook group pages.

The bottom right of the page features a tabbed slider with two panels that can use sidebar widgets.  The first panel features a link to your message posts where people can listen directly to your messages or visit the post for a synopsis and other information.

The theme comes complete with a custom post template for your message podcasts displaying relevant information as well as other recent messages.  A link is also provided that allows for subscribing to your messages in iTunes if you publish your podcast.

Lastly, there are lots of little touches, a custom widget to display posts from specific categories, page navigation, bread crumbs in the footer and more.

New Church comes with the following features:

• Custom control panel for all aspects of your site
• Post template for your message podcasts
• Listing of your most recent messages on the homepage
• Custom widget for displaying posts from specific categories only
• Tabbed panel on home page featuring sidebar widgets
• Links to Facebook, Twitter and your RSS feed

I’m excited to offer you my New Church theme today for only $20.  Try out the demo and

I released by last WordPress theme just 5 days ago, but I’m already starting to wrap up my new one called “New Church.”  It should be available for download soon.  This will be my first theme to feature multiple style options, so you can choose from several versions of how the theme looks without having to touch any code.  It will feature a tabbed section on the homepage where recent podcasts, coming events and recent blog posts will be displayed.

This theme will also have an option to use a static image on the home page or WP-cycle to provide an announcement / image rotator.  And this will be my first theme to include custom post pages for messages, small groups, events and blog entries.  Look for that feature to be added to my other themes over the summer.  Well enough talking about the theme, this is what one of the versions will look like.

New Church

Check back soon and buy New Church, or subscribe to my RSS feed and be notified as soon as it is released.

I’m please to be able to bring you our first theme geared specifically for non-profits, relief agencies, and missions related groups–World Theme.  Like all of my previous releases this one is powered by WordPress and features all the benefits that come with this great content management system.  The theme is designed to be simple to use right out of the box, so you can have a great looking and functioning site up in no time.

World Theme has the following features:

• Customizable homepage
• Widgets on the homepage and sidebars
• Ability to select your own logo and home page picture
• Menu bar features categories drop down menu
• Navigation features nice fade in effect for drop down menu
• Two inside page styles in addition to the homepage
• Built in page navigation to improve user experience
• Quick loading
• Plus expandable through over 6,000 WordPress plugins

I’m excited to be able to introduce you to the World Theme.  At only $20 it is a steal. Have the website you’ve been waiting for now.

As of this afternoon, we have had 105 different countries visit.  I have offered free themes and support articles here since day one and I plan to continue that tradition.  You may not know that anyone that is in a country served by PayPal or Google Checkout can purchase the premium themes I have for sale too.  I’ve had several overseas sales which I appreciate.

If you guys have any special needs in using my WordPress themes overseas, please feel free to contact me and I’ll try to help any way I can.

As always thanks for your support.

What if you could have a local copy of WordPress on your computer that works with your server?  Good news, you can and it’s easier than you think.

If you are using WordPress 2.7 or higher, you can use Google Gears to speed up WordPress.  Click on the “turbo” link in the top right corner.  WordPress will ask you if you want to use Google Gears to install some of the WordPress core files on your computer which will intern greatly speed up your admin panel.  You’ll save time creating posts, editing pages and doing pretty much everything routine on your WordPress install.  Not too bad.

Google Gears works with Safari, Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer (sorry Opera).  You can learn more here.  

Many of you know by now that I’m a Mac user.  I made the switch 2 1/2 years ago and have never looked back.  To further enhance my WordPress experience on my desktop, I’ve started using another free program called Fluid.  This basically turns any web application (like WordPress) into one that behaves more like a desktop app.  Now the two sites I work with most often live on my doc where I can access them quickly and easily.  If you are a Mac user and work with web apps often be sure to check out Fluid.

My other main issue with Featured Content Gallery is that all I really want it to do is show a picture and have it link to something like a post, page, or even another website.  I don’t need the thumbnails, arrows or descriptions.  Generally I just edit the plugin to remove these, but it can get a bit tricky.

Recently I came across another good plugin which I’m now using on Organized Themes called WP-Cycle.  This plugin has a built in image uploader to get your pictures onto your site.  You can then add links (or not) and make a few simple adjustments.  It’s pretty simple to use.  Nathan Rice, the theme author plans to make some tweaks to it for the next release.  You can download it here. Go on and give it a try in your next project.

Gallery 2.0 Screencast from Organized Themes on Vimeo.

World Fund Theme Sneak Preview

I can offer all of you a quick glimpse at my next premium theme, The World Fund Theme. My goal here is to create a theme that would work well for support agencies or mission groups. It features an earthy color palette and will have all content controllable by the end user through a theme control panel. Look for this theme to be available for purchase soon.

Events Calendar: I’ve looked at lots of event calendar possibilities for WordPress.  Right now I am recommending Events Calendar by Luke Howell.  I have recently used the Events Manager plugin and I really do like it’s feature set, but it is rather complicated to deploy.  There are lots of code variables to adjust in order to make the information you want to display to show up like you want it to.  If you are comfortable with php or you’d like to learn, this might be a great plugin for you.  My other issue with it, is that it creates information outside of the post system within WordPress.

What I like so much about the Events Calendar plugin is that you can easily create events and choose if they become posts or not.  If you’ve ever had to move a WordPress site, you know that it’s not that hard to do if all your data is inside WordPress’ posts and pages.  These can be exported.  There is nothing you can do for the data stored by Events Manager, but the data from Events Calendar goes with you.  Plus if you use posts for events you can then use other plugins or theme features to refer to the events.  On my Mountain View theme as well as the a2 website, I use a new ticker to let visitors know about coming events.  If I were to run the Events Manager, then I would have to create a separate post to use in the ticker.  Duplicate data is generally a bad idea.

You can use either of these plugins, plus many others.  My sites, I’m going with Events Calendar for now.

Simple:Press Forum: Many churches would like to have a forum where people can ask questions, engage in discussions or do all kinds of community things.  Really it’s not a bad idea, but going about it can be tough.  I have plans to add a forum to Organized Themes and I plan to use phpBB because it is very powerful and stable.  But it is a challenge to integrate into a WordPress site.  If you’d like to see how to go about this I recommend a screencast from CSS-Tricks to learn how.  It requires a pretty hefty understanding of WordPress, plus CSS and XHTML.  There is an alternative called Simple:Press Forum which is a plugin for WordPress that takes care of the form for us.  They have comprehensive directions for how to use this plugin on their site.  If you are looking for a plugin this would be a great way to go.

Podcasting: I used to recommend the PodPress plugin, but the author has stopped developing it further.  So now I’m using the Podcasting plugin on my church sites as well as for the screencast here at Organized Themes.  I like this one because it is simple to use and deploy.  It allows your user to download the file as well as listen to it in your post if you choose.  Plus, it has an easy to use way to submit the podcast to iTunes.  It’s hard to beat simple and effective.

TinyMCE Advanced:  As a developer it’s easy for me to forget that people still have to create lots of content after they get the theme up and running.  For most of us this means lots of time in the post and page write panels creating copy and uploading images.  To make that task easier, the TinyMCE Advanced adds many features that probably should be included with WordPress by default.  With this plugin you can easily pick a new CSS style for parts of your post, have more control over images, choose different web safe fonts, create tables and much more.

CForms II: This contact form is really flexible.  It allows you to do everything from simple contact forms to complicated multi-page questionnaires and sign-ups.  In its basic form it is easy to use and style, but it can get a bit complicated with the more advanced features.  Fortunately there is lots of help on the CForms website.  I now only use this plugin for contact forms on all my personal sites as well as client sites.  One note, this plugin is updated often.  That’s great in a way, but if you are obsessive about keeping your plugins updated, this one may drive you nutty.

Have you discovered any great plugins?  If so leave a comment and share them with the community!

Alpha Church Screencast from Organized Themes on Vimeo.