For those of you who have seen my Thesis skins, you’ve probably noticed the content slider section at the top of the home page on many of the designs. That slider is made possible by the Dynamic Content Gallery plugin, or DCG for short.

While I love the plugin, there are a ton of options and it can be kind of troublesome to set up and get going the first time around. So, I decided to throw together a quick video walking you through the process of getting ready to use this powerful plugin.

Just a few quick notes before we get started though:

1. I need a better screen capture program that let’s me zoom in and make the content on my screen a bit clearer to see.
2. I need to thank Raven SEO Tools (that’s an affiliate link because I seriously have a man-crush on this company) for giving me the Flip camera that I used to shoot the beginning of this video. I won it in their #RavenHunt Twitter contest and I really can’t say enough good things about their company. They recently announced a $19/mo option so there’s really no reason NOT to use them.
3. Let me know in the comments below whether you find this useful or not. As I say in the video if people like this I’ll do more. If not, I’ll take my ugly mug back behind the screen

I think that’s it so enjoy the video!

image source: fensterbme

Throughout GPL Week we’ve dealt with WordPress developers that have adopted the GPL for their products. Today, we’re going to talk to someone who not only refused to use the license, but has been a vocal opponent of it.

Chris Pearson, the creator of the Thesis theme, has spoken out several times against use of the GPL and has even gotten into a few public exchanges with WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg over the subject.

Never one to shy away from stating his opinion, I was excited when Chris agreed to a brief interview. I was hoping for some fireworks and as you can see from the title, I wasn’t disappointed.

Chris, let’s jump right into this. Thesis is NOT licensed under the GPL and you’ve been very vocal about that. Why did you resist the lure when so many other theme devs made the switch?

From the onset, I intended for Thesis to be a sustainable product. I knew that I wanted to build a business around it, but more important, I was trying to solve a very specific problem with my business model. Before launching Thesis, I had become extremely disenchanted with income models that trade time for money, and I viewed Thesis as a vehicle that I could use to “rise above” this unfortunate scenario. For all intents and purposes, Thesis solved these problems within a few months after launch—long before the GPL issue ever reared its ugly, ill-informed head.

Now, let’s examine the GPL for a second. Although it covers other issues as well, the GPL basically stipulates that anyone can take your code and do whatever they want with it…legally. In other words, the GPL is legal castration for anyone who is trying to run a business that is in any way reliant upon unique, innovative code.

Couple this with the fact that I’d already been ripped off by a few imitators who were trying to use my work to gain attention for themselves (people had basically lifted Thesis’ HTML + CSS in the name of the GPL and had attempted to give it away for free), and this was strike one against the GPL, at least from my perspective. Obviously, if I’m going to run a sustainable business, I can’t have people ripping me off and distributing my work for free.

Although the GPL says nothing about “free versus paid,” it’s undeniable that the WordPress GPL environment has created an atmosphere where free is championed and paid products are often demonized. This is why you didn’t see any premium themes or plugins until late 2007, and this is a huge reason why the GPL debate still rages on today.

As I mentioned earlier, I was trying to achieve sustainability with Thesis, and in order to do so, I had to work against the prevailing sentiment that everything should be free. Therefore, ensuring that people were not freely distributing my work was of the highest importance to me. As I see it, licensing Thesis under the GPL would totally undermine this goal and give those same people who ripped me off a legal backing for doing so! Do you hear that? It’s the sound of an obvious, epic FAIL.

Also, I had to consider the fact that I am (and have been since 2006) a leading presence in the WordPress theme development community. My work has always received a lot of attention and scrutiny, and that has made it a prime target for copycats and people who are out to make a buck as easily as possible. In situations like this, the GPL gives all the power to the “little guy” while robbing the true innovators of any protection whatsoever. I’m an innovator, my work is creative, and the GPL is NOT on my side here; this is strike two for the GPL.

Finally, let’s talk about how the GPL breaks down in the face of a solid economic model. At its core, the GPL aims to improve/increase/extend software distribution, all under the premise that “software for everyone” is going to make the world a better place. In theory, that sounds good, but in practice, something very different happens.

In an environment where distribution happens at a breakneck pace, it becomes harder and harder to distinguish a product on the basis of anything other than attention. The public gets accustomed to having “solutions” delivered here and now, and developers modify their practices to respond accordingly. Ultimately, what happens is that products get delivered to market more quickly, and people compete on the basis of attention rather than on the true merits of their products.

The phrase “quality takes time” is especially appropriate here, because that’s a formula that never changes. Unfortunately, software development is more tied to the laws of supply and demand than it is to a pursuit of the highest quality results, and the GPL plays on this in the most destructive possible way. By creating an environment of unrestricted distribution and huge scale, the GPL increases market demand by a significant factor.

Increased market demand (especially the unnatural, inorganic increase that comes about as a result of free) causes most suppliers to do what seems natural—increase their supply. However, quality still takes time, and in order to keep up with increased demand, quality suffers in the face of getting a product to market and getting that much-needed attention in a competitive marketplace.

Over a protracted time scale, nothing is more important to sustainability and efficiency than the QUALITY of the results we produce today. In the end, this is why Thesis is not and will never be GPL.

Do you still get heat about switching to GPL now that so many other theme dev’s seem to have grown disillusioned with it?

I am extremely vocal about my distaste for the GPL and my choice to avoid it, and I think just about everyone who knows me is aware of my position on the matter. As a result, almost nobody says a word to me about the GPL anymore

What would your advice be to someone considering the GPL for their work?

If you intend to release your work for free, don’t care about the fact that you created the work, and have no plans to drown yourself in product support, then I think releasing it under the GPL is totally fine. Honestly, most of the stuff that gets put under the GPL (plugins, themes without options, etc) is so inconsequential that it really doesn’t matter anyway.

Basically, if you’re serious about having a real, sustainable product, then the GPL is not for you; otherwise, go nuts!

Which side of the GPL debate do you think will win out in the marketplace where it matters most?

Despite the fact that people want everything right now and for free, QUALITY is what wins in the end. My position on the GPL is the one that will win out in the end, simply because I’m focusing on the things that matter on a scale that transcends any scale that the GPL attempts to achieve.

Call it a hunch but I think this interview is going to elicit a few responses. So, rather than giving you my opinion on the interview, I’m giving you the floor.

Is Chris right about the role of the GPL? Is it “legal castration”? Can you create a sustainable business while using the general public license? Let’s hear what you have to say via the comment form below!

Image sources: KayVee.inc & Ben McLeod

So far in GPL Week we’ve heard from three WordPress theme developers and their perspectives on one of the most divisive topics in the WordPress community. Today, however, we have the pleasure of hearing from plugin developer Carl Hancock, one of the creators of Gravity Forms.

While the GPL debate is most often discussed in terms of WordPress themes, the topic is just as contested & contentious in regards to WordPress plugins. So, what does one of the creators of the hottest plugin on the market think about the GPL? That’s what I hoped to find out.

You decided to license your plugin under the GPL. What things did you consider when making this decision?

We considered a variety of options when deciding on the licensing for Gravity Forms.  Ultimately we settled on the GPL license primarily so it was in line with WordPress and allow us to be more involved in the WordPress community.

A lot of licensing schemes are in place specifically limited to stop piracy.  The fact is you can’t stop piracy.  All you can do is market a high quality product and service to honest users that are willing to pay for it.  That is what we do.  There is value in purchasing Gravity Forms because we provide a high level of support and ongoing updates to the product.

How have your experiences with the GPL compared to your expectations going into it?

Our experience with the GPL has been in line with what we expected.  We didn’t expect it to have a negative impact on our business, otherwise we wouldn’t have done it. Ultimately the average user doesn’t know what the GPL is, it’s primarily only the hardcore WordPress enthusiasts that have any clue what the GPL is all about.

Do you think your plugin would have been received differently if you hadn’t adopted the GPL?

Yes.  I think our plugin would have been received much differently by the WordPress development community.  We would have most certainly received negative press and comments thrown our way for not being GPL.  I disagree with it, but that’s just how it is. By being GPL it has enabled us to avoid that baggage.

I know that is blasphemy in the WordPress development community, but until it is proven in a court of law… I don’t agree with the notion that ALL plugins and themes must be GPL.  Is Gravity Forms GPL? Yes.  But i’m not going to look down upon anyone who chooses not to release their product under the GPL.  If it’s a good product i’ll gladly use it, GPL or non-GPL.

The average user wouldn’t have received it any differently.  As I mentioned, the average user doesn’t know what the GPL is, how it works, or why it matters.

Do you feel you’ve been helped or harmed by the GPL?

It has helped us as far as gaining acceptance within the community.  I don’t think we have experienced any harmful effects.  We just had to be creative with how we implemented our support license key system, which unlocks automatic updates, so that purchasing the plugin is more attractive than downloading it for free from a 3rd party.

Do you think the GPL impacts plugin developers differently than theme developers?

I think the major difference is the GPL debate is much clearer when it comes to themes. Matt Mullenweg has said that themes don’t necessarily have to be 100% GPL.  Despite this fact, WordPress.org has taking the stance that themes must be 100% GPL in order to be allowed in the WordPress repository or on the commercial theme page.

I think any theme developer that releases 100% GPL commercial themes is crazy.  Design and code are not the same thing.  Theme designers should be releasing the PHP as GPL and the images and CSS under a difference license.

Sure they won’t get the benefits of being on the commercial theme page, but is it really that valuable? I don’t think so.  Sure Matt Mullenweg won’t give you the thumbs up, but is he really out there pimping your themes now?

Nope.

Don’t let someone else dictate how you run your business. Leverage the fact that you can have more control over your product by releasing it under a dual license.  It just makes sense.

But what do I know, I’m just a plugin guy…

Carl is certainly a lot more than “just a plugin guy” and I appreciate him taking the time to share with us a few of his insights on the WordPress community especially in regards to the GPL.

If you haven’t checked out Gravity Forms, you really are missing out. I’ve written up a full Gravity Forms review and give the plugin my highest recommendation. I use it in all of my WordPress projects and the support and responsiveness you get from Carl & the rest of the rocketgenius team is second to none.

Due to a couple of delays that simply couldn’t be avoided GPL Week is going to stretch into a second week. Sure it’s not technically a week but 8 or 9 days of GPL just didn’t have the same ring to it. Up next for your reading pleasure, a GPL interview with Thesis theme creator Chris Pearson. Stay tuned GPL fans!

Image sources: KayVee.inc & Ben McLeod

So far in GPL Week we’ve heard from two WordPress theme developers that have embraced the General Public License and plan to continue operating under it. Today, however, we’re talking with Jason Schuller of press75 and soon to be ThemeGarden.

Jason adopted the GPL for his themes at press75 but has been fairly vocal about the downside of the GPL since that time so I was eager to get his take on the contentious topic.

Jason, I am really glad you agreed to let me pick your brain a bit, I think you’ll have an interesting take on the subject. My first question would be why did you choose to release your themes under the GPL? Was it pressure by Matt, the Community, something you thought was right, or a combination of all the above?

There was absolutely no pressure by Matt or the community to switch my theme licensing on Press75.com over to the GPL. After speaking with Matt about it on several occasions, I decided that it was in fact the right thing to do considering that my product is in fact built on WordPress.

Actually, I was still working with Brian Gardner at the time on RevolutionTwo.com (now StudioPress.com) when we both decided to go GPL together. After I re-launched Press75.com, I simply maintained the GPL license for all my themes.

What, if any, benefits did you expect to receive by becoming GPL & have those benefits been realized?

One of the primary benefits of moving to the GPL was being accepted by Matt and the WordPress community in general by aligning the business with the values of WordPress. Also, I strongly believe that commercial theme developers have helped to take WordPress to an entirely new level, and the idea of being recognized for that fact in a positive way was definitely a driving factor for moving to the GPL.

It seems a lot of theme developers have become disillusioned with the GPL. Are you disappointed by how the GPL has worked in practice compared to what you envisioned before making the switch?

WordPress would probably not be where it is right now if it weren’t GPL licensed. Every aspect of the platform has grown to where it is now because of the community surrounding it.

With that being said, I just don’t think that the GPL license provides the same benefit for a “commercial” product such as paid WordPress themes. There seems to be two distinct communities surrounding GPL licensed commercial products.

One (in the vast minority) being those that want to contribute to the code, add on, customize and provide those improvements back to the community.

The second community (in the vast majority) I am referring to are those that simply package and re-release GPL’d commercial themes either for a quick buck by undercutting the original price, or as a means to hack spam innocent users websites by encrypting and re-packaging the theme with malicious code.

While both of these examples are fully within the rights of the GPL, I do not see ANY value added back to the community. In fact… in these cases (the vast majority), I would say that commercial themes being GPL licensed is doing much more harm than good to the WordPress community.

Do you plan on sticking with the GPL for future themes?

Press75.com will maintain the GPL license, but I am working on a new site called ThemeGarden.com which will be split licensed. In short, all PHP files (containing WordPress code) will be GPL licensed whereas all creative aspects of the theme (CSS and image files) will be copyrighted.

This model is still perfectly in line with the GPL and WordPress, but at the same time gives me back the right to fight some of the negative aspects as explained above.

Overall, do you feel the GPL has helped or harmed you & other theme devs?

I honestly don’t believe the GPL license has helped or harmed my business in any way shape or form. Users come to Press75.com because of the product I provide as well the support, not because my themes are GPL licensed.

One last follow up question and I’ll let you go. Do you feel using the GPL in any way puts you at a disadvantage to those theme developers that have rejected the GPL?

Again, from a business perspective, the GPL has had no affect in a positive or negative way.

The only disadvantage being tied to the GPL is the fact that you lose the ability to specify exactly what your customers can or cannot do with your product after they purchase it. Imagine spending hours/weeks on end developing a unique product, releasing that product one day, and then 2 days later finding that product (unmodified) for sale or being freely re-distributed on dozens of shitty (for the lack of better words) websites.

Again, I fully understand that this activity is 100% in line with the rights of the GPL license, but it is a little disheartening that the majority of people taking advantage of the GPL license use it in this way rather than adding value back to the community.

Jason’s response to the last question hit on a point that I think many within the WordPress community have generally missed. The successful premium themes and plugins that I’ve seen have all provided first class support and use that as one of their selling points.

Code can be ripped off fairly easily, no matter what types of precautions you take. Should it happen? Of course not. But it does. And, when even the likes of Google suggest downloading products from illegal torrents, you need to realize that piracy is just a fact of life on the web.

So how do you combat that? Focus on the support (which knock offs & pirates can’t offer).

That being said, I think Jason’s absolutely right that the majority of people exercising the GPL are NOT doing so to help improve the code that they’re using. Yes WordPress is where it is today because it’s an open source platform under the GPL but he has yet to present a compelling case as to how premium themes or plugins are helped by adopting the GPL.

Instead he continuously pounds the drum that they inherit the GPL and HAVE to use that license. I’m sorry Matt, but telling people they have to legalize the piracy of their work and get almost nothing in return is no way to endear the community to you or the GPL that you so vehemently believe in.

As GPL Week continues into the weekend here on WPblogger I hope to bring you some comments from one high profile  theme dev that has refused to adopt the GPL and has had a few high profile exchanges with WordPress creator, Matt Mullenweg, as a result. Stay tuned GPL fans!

Image sources: KayVee.inc & Ben McLeod

Premium WordPress theme design company, WooThemes, made a big splash last year by announcing their embrace of the GPL. Despite being able to see some of Brian Gardner’s experience there were still a lot of unknowns going into the new licensing model.

I sent Magnus Jepson, one of the WooThemes’ founders, the same 5 questions about the GPL in practice as compared to the theory we’ve all debated.

Magnus, thanks for taking the time to discuss this issue with me. My first question would be why did you choose to release your themes under the GPL? Was it pressure by Matt, the Community, something you thought was right, or a combination of all the above?

We chose GPL because Matt encouraged us, and we wanted to be in line with Automattic.

What, if any, benefits did you expect to receive by becoming GPL & have those benefits been realized?

We didn’t expect any benefits, but we hope that others have benefited from our code being GPL.

It seems a lot of theme developers have become disillusioned with the GPL. Are you disappointed by how the GPL has worked in practice compared to what you envisioned before making the switch?

We didn’t envision any change, and haven’t experienced any change since moving to GPL.

Do you plan on sticking with the GPL for future themes?

Yes, as long as we can sustain our business with the GPL license we’ll stick to it.

Overall, do you feel the GPL has helped or harmed you & other theme devs?

Us going GPL hasn’t helped nor harmed us, but hopefully helped other theme devs. The GPL license in general and WordPress has helped us get to where we are today, so that is our main reason for licensing our themes GPL.

While I asked these questions before the announcement that WooThemes’ nav system was going to be integrated into WordPress 3.0, I think that’s a great example of what the GPL is supposed to offer. The sharing of code in order to improve the platform is exactly what GPL disciples have in mind.

However, one need only look at Magnus’ Twitter stream today for an example of how the GPL is implemented most of the time within the WordPress community.

Now this specific example includes obvious trademark issues as the site in question is using WooThemes’ logo in order to promote their bundled product. However, I think this issue and really WooThemes as a company, represent the ongoing game of tug of war that occurs when theme developers license their work under the GPL.

From the outside looking in (it’s been a long time since I offered a WordPress theme for sale) it seems like the GPL has emboldened users to undertake behavior that ultimately harms theme companies. However there’s no doubt that profitable business can be built even while using the GPL.

As GPL Week continues here on WPblogger I’ll be bringing you two more interviews, one with a theme dev that has decided to abandon the GPL and another who refused to accept it in the first place. Stay tuned GPL fans!

Image sources: KayVee.inc & Ben McLeod

While there have been a ridiculous number of words wasted written about WordPress & the GPL in theory, there hasn’t been nearly as much discussion of the GPL when it’s actually put into practice.

To get a better idea of how the GPL actually impacts the WordPress community, I asked Brian Gardner of StudioPress a few questions about his experiences under the license.

For those of you who don’t know, Brian has been at the forefront of WordPress theme development for quite some time and was the first (at least to my recollection) premium/commercial theme developer to embrace the GPL. While many theme developers have followed suit in the last several months, Brian definitely blazed the trail when it came to GPL premium themes.

Brian, first & foremost, why did you choose to release your themes under the GPL? Was it pressure by Matt, the Community, something you thought was right, or a combination of all the above?

The reason I choose to switch from a proprietary license for our themes to the GPL license is simple – I wanted security and to know that my business was in line with WordPress.

While I don’t know (nor really care) whether or not themes are legally required to be GPL, I chose to err on the side of caution. I knew that there would ultimately be a commercially supported themes page, which I wanted to be a part of. Not to mention I knew that aligning myself with a platform that could potentially promote my work in front of millions of people was a wise decision.

There wasn’t any pressure from Matt – nor were there any “under the table” deals that were made.  This was purely my choice, and my trip to San Francisco to discuss this with Matt and Toni was something I made to inform them of what I was potentially doing and to ensure that I was going about it in the right way.

What, if any, benefits did you expect to receive by becoming GPL & have those benefits been realized?

I knew that putting myself (and StudioPress) in a position to be exposed to millions of people would definitely be worth the change. I also believe in the model of distribution, and know that having our themes in more hands isn’t a bad thing.

As for realizing them – that’s a hard question to answer. There’s no scientific way to prove it was a good decision, but what I will say that contrary to what people may think, sales have gone up since our move to the GPL.

It seems a lot of theme developers have become disillusioned with the GPL. Are you disappointed by how the GPL has worked in practice compared to what you envisioned before making the switch?

Yes, I truly am dissappointed.

While I fully knew what the possibilities were – I didn’t think I’d see as many folks using the GPL as a loophole for their own monetary gain. I’m not saying I regret the move, nor am I complaining here – merely stating that it’s sad to see folks misuse the GPL.

I fully “get” that what they are doing is allowed, for me it becomes an ethical issue. In my opinion, and clearly inferred with that license, the real intent is to make the code available for people to build upon, and to come out with derivative works.

[Instead], people are using it to build sites that drive traffic, get them exposure, and ultimately water down the community. To be honest, at least with our themes, I’ve seen maybe one (if that) good use of the GPL license and our work.

Do you plan on sticking with the GPL for future themes?

Absolutely – there’s zero chance that our work will be released in anything other than the GPL. While some theme development companies entertain the thought of going back to a proprietary license or splitting the php/images/css into separate licenses, that is something we won’t do.

Overall, do you feel the GPL has helped or harmed you & other theme devs?

Overall I’d say it’s helped us – more than anything, it really is the right thing to do. Our sales history is proof that the GPL license doesn’t have a negative impact on our business.

Well there you have it! I’d like to thank Brian for his time & input on what’s definitely a touchy subject. Be sure to jump over and check out StudioPress’ newest theme, (a framework!) Genesis.

Image sources: KayVee.inc & Ben McLeod

I once wrote that the General Public License (better known as the GPL) is the third rail of the WordPress community.

While that may very well be true, I’ve decided to grab it & hold on for dear life… at least for the next week.

In the great tradition of Rivalry Week, Shark Week & Passover (cut me some slack there’s a surprising shortage of famous weeks), I’ve decided to institute an annual GPL Week here on WPblogger.

I’ve got some interviews lined up with well known supporters & detractors of the GPL, I’ve got a rant that I’ve been storing up for way too long, and if you play your cards right I might finish up with a GPL Roundup Resource with more links to GPL discussions than could ever be useful.

So either sit back & grab some popcorn, or lace up your online boxing gloves cause you’ll have plenty of chances to duke it out. Either way you play it, I hope you enjoy the ride.

GPL Week Links

• Interview with StudioPress’ Brian Gardner
• Interview with WooThemes’ Magnus Jepson
• Interview with Jason Schuller
• Interview with Carl Hancock

image source: KayVee.inc

WordPress 2.9.2 was released yesterday and in following the recent trend, it contained a security patch.

It would seem that the idiot-proofing “feature” of sending posts to the trash instead of deleting them permanently allows logged in users to see the posts.

You can read all the details over on Thomas Mackenzie’s blog but basically if you have any sensitive data in a post that you trashed or perhaps said something unflattering, you need to upgrade immediately as any registered user of your blog can view it no matter what permissions they might have.

Disclaimer:

Now, before I start in on my brief bit of commentary on this issue, please let me make something clear. I appreciate all the time and effort any and all WP devs contribute. WordPress is a platform driven by the good will of many smart coders.

WordPress Doesn’t Take Security Seriously – FACT

That being said, it has become painfully obvious that WordPress is completely inept when it comes to security. There have been countless vulnerabilities discovered of varying degrees of seriousness. This lapse probably won’t impact a ton of users negatively but it does continue the disturbing trend of WP vulnerability.

Yes, WordPress has made the upgrade process a hell of a lot faster & yes, they’ve implemented an alert system that lets users know when their installations are out of date. But instead of coming up with new and creative ways to help users stay upgraded, how about spending a healthy amount of time on security issues before each release?

WordPress 2.9 has been downloaded over 4 million times and with that many blogs depending on your platform, you’d better have a better security plan than throw it out there & patch as things are found.

How about oh, I don’t know, hiring a security expert to pound on features before they’re released? How about recruiting some of the most devious minds in PHP to try and break things when Beta testing?

If there aren’t funds currently available for this (although there’s no way for anyone other than Matt Mullenwege to know that) there are plenty of ways to raise money for the purpose of increasing security.

There are currently affiliate links for different web hosts and in the past it has been suggested that those funds go to keeping the server running. Why not toss a few more affiliate links (perhaps on the Premium Theme page) to pay for a security expert? If you don’t like that method, just put a paypal link up and ask for donations.

The point is that if WordPress were REALLY serious about security issues, there are PLENTY of ways to go about address the glaring problem. Instead, we’re treated to a round of “we’re donating our time, not enough people participate in beta testing” excuses.

Until that changes WordPress’ security will remain the joke that it is.

Image Source: Robert S. Donovan

* This Thesis Skin has been updated. Scroll down for update details. *

Well folks, I’ve been at it again. I’ve created another free Thesis skin!

Now I know, this blog is about WordPress and there’s actually been a release (version 2.8.6) since my last post but frankly, the news in the WordPress world hasn’t really been all that exciting to me lately.

I mean, how many GPL and Update your Installs type of posts do you guys really want to read anyway?

So instead, I decided to spend my time creating something that I hope most of you will get some actual use out of.

Now of course, if you haven’t listened to my constant gushing about the Thesis theme and you’re still not using it, well I just don’t know what to do with you.

For the rest of you, I’m pleased to introduce the Affiliate Skin for Thesis!

Affiliate Skin

BUY THESIS | DEMO

As the name suggests, I designed the skin with affiliate marketers in mind. The excerpt and post image of your latest featured post, say one promoting your highest converting offer, is dropped into Thesis’ built in Feature Box and displayed front & center on the home page. The goal of the skin is to draw attention to the featured offer, provide a clear call to action & help increase your conversions. Other than that, it’s a fairly simplistic skin. And, thanks to Greg Boser & the team over at 3 Dog Media, installing it is a pretty simple process as well, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Requirements

The only requirements for using this skin are the actual theme, Thesis 1.6, and Greg’s Thesis Import/Export plugin (v 1.2). That’s it!

Installation

Enter your name and email address in the field above. Don’t worry, we’re not going to be spamming you. We simply want to be able to alert you when we’ve updated the skin or released new ones you might be interested in. Once you’ve registered your information you’ll receive an email with a link to the zip file. You’ll need to unzip the file and drop the custom.css and custom_functions.php files into your custom folder.

Tip: Always save copies of your current files before uploading the new versions. They’ll act as a safety net of sorts in case anything should go wrong or you make a mistake.

Drop the affskin-bg-vert.jpg file (in the images folder) into the images folder inside your custom folder (should be something along the lines of thesis/custom/images). Install and activate the Thesis Import/Export plugin. On the Thesis Import/Export page (as seen in the screen shot above), select browse under Thesis Options and select the affiliateskin-thesis-options.dat file and click Import Options. In similar fashion, under the Design Options section select the affiliateskin-thesis-design-options.dat file and click the Import Options button to the right.

Warning! Importing these options will overwrite any of your current options. However, it also saves me from having to explain every single option I’ve clicked as I did with previous skins.

Once the settings have been imported, I recommend deactivating the Thesis Import/Export plugin until you need it again. The last thing you want to do is get your site set up just the way you want it and then accidentally overwrite something. The final step is to create a category titled “featured” and add the post of your choice to the category. This will determine which post & image is pulled onto the home page in the featured section.

Using the Skin

As I mentioned earlier the featured post function is placed within Thesis’ Feature Box and as such, you can decide whether to display the section site-wide or just on the home page. I’ve opted to only display it on the home page but once again, the flexibility that Thesis offers makes it a simple option to change. Also, I’ve made use of the built in thumbnail function to automatically crop any image used as your featured post to 560 x 282. This prevents larger images from breaking the layout while not requiring you to do any of the cropping manually.

Disclaimer: Images smaller than the 560 x 282 dimensions, or long excerpts (for those of you who drop the excerpt in manually) will cause some display issues in the featured section. There might be a better method for handling these types of irregularities but to be perfectly honest, I couldn’t figure one out. If you’re a CSS & PHP guru and have suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comments or drop me a line via the contact form.

Customize to Taste

As with any of my Thesis skins, please feel free to make any changes or modifications that your little heart desires. But be sure to come back and share your adaptations here so we can all ooh and ahh over your fine work.

Of course, if you have any questions or run into any problems using this, or any of my other skins, please feel free to drop me a comment and I’ll do my best to help you sort it out. Although, I will admittedly be a bit more motivated to help if you haven’t removed my small attribution link in the footer

BUY THESIS | DEMO

Update 1.31.2010: If you’ve had a problem with the Featured Post section pulling your image automatically, you’ll probably want to redownload the skin. I’ve updated the zip file so if you have an old link to it, that’s fine. If you need to download it again, you’ll need to register using the form to the right. This is going to allow me to update you guys any time a problem like this crops up again.

If you want to make the change yourself, you’ll need to go to your custom_functions.php file and replace this code:

<?php
echo ‘<img id=”feat” src=”http://affiliateskin.wpblogger.com/wp-content/themes/thesis/lib/scripts/thumb.php?src=’.$image.’&w=560&h=282&zc=1&q=100″></a>’;
echo ‘<div>’;
?>

As WordPress design has evolved over time there’s been an emerging trend of cramming more and more information into designs.

With the advent of “magazine style” themes bloggers were able to give their readers glimpses into almost every facet of their site.

And, while there are several visually stunning magazine style themes out there, it’s easy as a blog reader to begin suffering from information overload.

If crisp, clean designs are more to your liking, I think you’ll enjoy my newest Thesis skin…

Simplicity

As you can see from the demo, Simplicity is designed to put the focus on one thing and one thing only… your content.

Using a vertical menu and a single sidebar, Simplicity blends the structural elements of the theme into the background allowing readers to instantly be drawn into the content you’re presenting.

While the skin can certainly handle a 3 column design it, in my opinion, loses a little something in the transition.

Similarly, child menus in the navigation are a possibility, but the design admittedly doesn’t handle them as gracefully as a single layer.

Requirements

The only requirements for using this skin are the Thesis theme (naturally), and Greg Boser’s Thesis Import/Export plugin. That’s it!

Installation

Installation of this skin is almost as simple as the design.

In order to download the skin, you’ll be required to enter your name and email in the field to the left.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to spam you. I just want to be able to alert you to future updates and any new skins I release.

Once you’ve confirmed your email address, you’ll be immediately sent an email with a link to the zip file.

Unzip the contents into a folder and drop the custom.css and custom_functions.php files into the Custom folder of your Thesis folder. (It should be something like yoursite.com/wp-content/themes/thesis/custom).

Next you’ll need to install the Thesis Import/Export plugin. You can do that quickly and easily by going to the Plugins/Add New link in your WordPress sidebar.

On the Thesis Import/Export page (as seen in the screen shot above), you should be sure to download your current settings and save them as a backup. That way you can always go back to the design you have now if you decide not to use the skin for some reason.

Once you have backups, select browse under Thesis Options and select the simplicity-thesis-options.dat file and click Import Options.

In similar fashion, under the Design Options section select the simplicity-design-options.dat file and click the Import Options button to the right.

Warning! Importing these options will overwrite any of your current options. However, it also saves me from having to explain every single option I’ve clicked as I did with previous skins.

Once the settings have been imported, I recommend deactivating the Thesis Import/Export plugin until you need it again. The last thing you want to do is get your site set up just the way you want it and then accidentally overwrite something.

Once you’ve imported both option files, you should be all set!

Note: I personally would recommend also changing the number of posts that display on your home page to a lower number (I picked 6) to further reduce the clutter on the home page, but that’s obviously up to you.

Customize to Taste

As with any of my Thesis skins, please feel free to make any changes or modifications that your little heart desires. But be sure to come back and share your adaptations here so we can all ooh and ahh over your fine work!

Of course, if you have any questions or run into any problems using this, or any of my other skins, please feel free to drop me a comment and I’ll do my best to help you sort it out. Although, I will admittedly be a bit more motivated to help if you haven’t removed my small attribution link in the footer

BUY THESIS | DEMO

Update 2.20.2010: If you have long list items in your sidebar that spill over onto a second line you may want to institute this fix.

In your custom.css file search for the line .sidebar li.widget li {
text-indent: 15px;

and replace the “text-indent” with “padding-left” so the new version reads:

.sidebar li.widget li {
padding-left: 15px;

That will ensure all lines of your list items are indented.