Top 5 Widgets to Supercharge your WordPress Theme

Widgets are always plugins but not all plugins have widgets. Do you agree? Whether you agree or not, here are some great widgets you can use to supercharge your WordPress theme.

Freelancer Widgets Bundle

Freelancers will rejoice with this bundle. It’s got 7 great widgets: advertisement, biography, buy me a beer/coffee, contact widget, contact form widget, opening hours widget, and social links widget all in one big bundle. These widgets are highly customizable & can be modified easily. Freelancers like musicians, artists, designers, developers, creative professionals,etc. will find this widget a useful addition to their website.

Posts By Author Widget Pro for WordPress

If you’d like to provide your readers with an easy way to compile posts by a favorite author on your website, this powerful widget is what you need. Posts by author allows you to: compile, sort, show post excerpts, control number of posts to display, display thumbnails, in 15 configurable ways. This widget is especially useful for multi-author websites to help readers sort posts by their favorite authors.

Smart Navigation Widgets

User experience is key to getting repeat visits and one way to ensure that is to keep your navigation user friendly. Smart Navigation Widgets is a powerful widget ideal for websites with large archives. This Ajax-powered widgets allows the user to navigate deeper only when he needs to. Scouring and clicking thru long lists can get boring and make users bored waiting for content to load. This widget allows you to control the number of links displayed and speed up websites in the process.

M7 Easy Accordion Menus Widget for WordPress

This cool widget makes adding an accordion menu to your sidebar as easy as dragging and dropping. It’s a fresh way to combine menus on your sidebar. You can define: general settings, design and layout settings, thumb settings, excerpt settings, post settings, and the read more text settings to display the widgets you want to feature. Super cool and elegant space saving feature. It’s responsive too!

Announcements!

How would you like to manage your announcements and schedule them way, way, ahead of time? If you are handling an events website, an eCommerce site, or a business site that holds regular events, keep your users informed by scheduling your announcements automatically with this handy widget. Whether it’s a big sale, an important event, a greeting or any type of announcement you need, simply set it and forget it. This widget gives you 4 options for scheduling your announcements: weekly, annual, monthly, or using custom start and end dates.

22 Awesome jQuery Typography Plugins 2013

In today’s fast moving internet world every website owner is using all the tools that he can to make his website look more visually appealing and more attractive in terms of design. This makes sense because if you think that websites should only provide information then you should not consider starting up a website at all.

Now many different types of technological tools are available out there which can help you design better websites. In this article I have chosen to focus on jQuery plugins.

jQuery is a JavaScript library that simplifies HTML, document traversing, event handling, animating and Ajax interactions for rapid web development.

Below I have compiled 22 awesome jQuery typography plug-ins which you can use to enhance your site. To show one example how these plug-ins can help you, let’s take a look at the first plugin J Rumble. I am sure you know sites that change the link color when you move your hover over the link. This effect is known as “hover effect”. J Rumble takes this technology one step further. By using this plugin, as soon as someone chooses an element of your site, the element will rumble, vibrate, shake or rotate.

There are 21 other plugins that will make your life easier. So scroll down and take a look.

(more…)

Specialty: Clean Business WordPress Theme

The main purpose of a business theme is to create awareness, generate interest, and convert casual visitors to engaged followers/clients/customers. For a business theme to be effective, it has to have the following elements:

  • Great SEO capabilities.
  • Great design recall.
  • Readable, well organized text and multimedia content.
  • Effective interactive feedback system.

WP Business Bundle just released Specialty, a responsive premium WordPress theme designed to present your business or your company in a clear and concise manner. Overall, the theme is clean, modern and generous with whitespace. It has a great, sizeable slider that can really grab attention of casual visitors. Visitors are given control over slider transitions which gives each slide the appropriate airtime based on visitor preference.

Content is definitely readable on this theme. Font size and spacing between text boxes are great, giving visitors an uncluttered, relaxed reading experience. Images are displayed in a clean, well organized portfolio grid style which can also be sorted according to category. There’s also the option to use a jQuery masonry layout for those who want that Pinterest look. Thumbnails are slightly bigger that typical portfolio pages giving visitors a better overview of the work. Pages containing detailed narratives include large images of the work. This theme can also handle video and it includes a large section where you can showcase a special video or image right on the homepage.

Specialty does have a responsive design giving visitors the chance to appreciate the site’s content on smartphones and tablets. Specialty includes a basic contact form, custom post types, an easy to use custom panel, and just the right amount of widgets and features to get your site up and running without much fuss.

More Features:

  • Import/Export Functionality for Theme Options
  • Seven Pre-Defined Color Schemes
  • Breadcrumb Navigation
  • Adjustable Footer Widget Area (1-4 Columns)
  • Custom Post Types: Slider | Portfolio |Testimonial
  • Engaging Portfolio Layout with jQuery Masonry
  • HTML5 Markup | CSS3 Effects

Specialty Premium WordPress Theme is part of a bundle of themes and business-tailored plugins at WP Business Bundle available starting from $79. This theme includes documentation, future updates. For an additional $9 per month, you also get the PSD files, XML files, and access to the theme’s support forum.

Join WP Business Bundle Now

30 Inspirational Non-Profit WordPress Themes 2013

Amongst all the civilized life of shopping malls and movie lexes we must not forget that there are parts in this world whose inhabitants don’t get even the basic necessities of life like food and water. Innocents get killed everyday in calamities like bomb blasts, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. Children are out of schools as their parents cannot pay for their education. People die even from minor curable diseases merely because they didn’t have the money to see a doctor. The situation is far more serious than what I can describe in a few sentences. The statement that I wish to make is that we should care about others and should donate generously to non-profit organizations that are trying to help those in need.

Perhaps the following collection of 30 WordPress themes, designed especially for the non-profits may make a small contribution in making the world a better place.

Of course different niches have different site design requirements. A social networking site should look and behave in a completely different way than what a gaming site should look like. Special care and attention was devoted to the following templates so that they craft out into a good and clean look, which is what is required for non-profit organizations.

Some of the templates below are without charge but due to certain restrictions we can’t just giveaway everything absolutely free, although we would have loved to. Hence we have charged a nominal amount in the remaining templates. Scroll down and take a look.

(more…)

Free WordPress Themes 2013: Trends

Free WordPress themes have come a long way since Kubrick. Twenty Ten, Twenty Eleven, and the latest – Twenty Twelve – is the newest Kubrick as far as Free WordPress themes go. Twenty Twelve is the current default WordPress theme.

Let’s take a look at some of the features of this free default WordPress theme:

  • Front Page Template where you can add text, images, video
  • Responsive, Mobile-first Layout
  • Custom ”Open Sans” Font
  • Custom post formats: links, quotes, asides, statuses, images
  • Widgets and No-sidebar layout
  • Custom menu, custom header image, custom background color and image
  • Multi columns
  • Sidebar
  • Flexible width
  • Editor style
  • Flexible header
  • Featured images
  • Full width template
  • Post formats
  • Sticky post
  • Theme options
  • Infinite Scroll

Those are a lot of features coming from a free WordPress theme, don’t you think? And most of these features are what you also get from a lot of Premium WordPress themes. If we use Twenty Twelve as our standard, what then can we expect in 2013, as far as Free WordPress themes are concerned?

  • All of the features listed above will become standard features
  • More Premium-like features
  • eCommerce options
  • Typography options
  • Drag and drop options
  • Page-builder options
  • More Single Page Themes
  • Free themes for email, mobile, etc.
  • HTML5 and CSS3 and adhering to WordPress Coding standards

Many WordPress themes authors, providers and developers give away free themes as samples of their work. These samples, albeit free, are not necessarily inferior to Premium themes being sold in the marketplace. In truth, some of them are even better (or Best – shameless plug). The fact that these free samples are marketing tools to introduce these new authors to the market should be a weighty incentive for them to release high quality products that will catch the attention of WordPress professionals who are always on the lookout for something fresh.

HTML5 WordPress Themes 2013: Trends

The evolution of HTML from the time it was introduced years ago to the HTML5 we know today is a technical geek lover’s journey. This article is not about that but just in case you are interested to know how it all came to be here are some interesting resources for you to check out. For those who want a more comprehensive history of HTML5, you can read all about it here – Dive into HTML5 by Mark Pilgrim. For those who just want a quick overview, check out this cool infographic The History of HTML5 published by Mashable. If you are really want to get into the technical stuff, you can go straight to the source right here – W3C.

What’s so Cool About HTML5

According to PCMag:

HTML5 was designed to provide a comprehensive application development platform for Web pages that eliminates the need to install third-party browser plug-ins such as Java and Flash. HTML5 provides support for 2D graphics, document editing, drag and drop, browser history management, audio and video playback and local file storage.

Simply put, HTML5 is composed of a set of rules that tell computers how to interpret code to display websites. It’s the 5th version of a set of instructions, governed by specific rules, that tells your browser how to execute these commands to display a specific design. It is the language of the web. HTML5 includes the following updates:

HTML5 introduces a number of APIs that help in creating Web applications. These can be used together with the new elements introduced for applications:

  • Media elements (video and audio) have APIs for controlling playback, syncronising multiple media elements, and timed text tracks (e.g. subtitles).
  • An API for form constraint validation (e.g. the setCustomValidity() method).
  • An API for commands that the user can invoke (used together with the command element among others).
  • An API that enables offline Web applications, with an application cache.
  • An API that allows a Web application to register itself for certain protocols or media types, using registerProtocolHandler() and registerContentHandler().
  • Editing API in combination with a new global contenteditable attribute.
  • Drag and drop API in combination with a draggable attribute.
  • An API that exposes the components of the document’s URL and allows scripts to navigate, redirect and reload (the Location interface).
  • An API that exposes the session history and allows scripts to update the document’s URL without actually navigating, so that applications don’t need to abuse the fragment component for “Ajax-style” navigation (the History interface).
  • An API for base64 conversion (atob() and btoa() methods).
  • An API to schedule timer-based callbacks (setTimeout() and setInterval()).
  • An API to prompt the user (alert(), confirm(), prompt(), showModalDialog()).
  • An API for printing the document (print()).
  • An API for handling search providers (AddSearchProvider() and IsSearchProviderInstalled()).
  • The Window object has been defined.

WHATWG HTML has further APIs that are not in HTML5 but are separate specifications at the W3C:

  • An API for microdata.
  • An API for immediate-mode bitmap graphics (the 2d context for the canvas element).
  • An API for cross-document messaging and channel messaging (postMessage() and MessageChannel).
  • An API for runnings scripts in the background (Worker and SharedWorker).
  • An API for client-side storage (localStorage and sessionStorage).
  • An API for bidirectional client-server communication (WebSocket).
  • An API for server-to-client data push (EventSource).

source: W3C

How Does this Affect WordPress Developers?

The HTML5 standard features make it easier to develop faster, interactive, and more semantically correct web pages, eliminating the need for functions that require JavaScript and Flash. WordPress designers, authors, and developers can take advantage of HTML5 enhancements on these 6 key elements: video, application cache, canvas for images, geolocation, worker threads, and notification. No doubt, HTML5 has bridged the divide between desktop and mobile and so far it is the best way to create mobile-friendly websites on a variety of devices.

What Trends do We Expect See in 2013

  • The rise of the baked, boilerplate, bare bones or blank HTML5 Themes
  • HTML5 will be supported by all new WordPress themes
  • More single dynamic pages websites with animation features
  • WordPress themes running on HTML5 compatible smart phones
  • Responsive design
  • Simple and clean themes (no to options-overload, yes to feature-specific themes)

HTML5 is still a work-in-progress and its adoption into more and more WordPress themes will continue as more and more users turn towards the mobile web. We can continue to expect more power, more speed, and more capabilities from it in the future as this technology continues to mature.

5 Best Ecommerce Themes for October 2012

The holidays are almost here and what better way to spruce up your website than with some great eCommerce themes to improve the look and function of your e-store. Here’s a rundown of some of the best eCommerce themes to get you ready for holiday shoppers:

1. Sold! Responsive/E-Commerce Theme

Sold! Premium WordPress Theme is an excellent mix of style and function. The clean, white space design does not distract and serves as the perfect backdrop to highlight choice merchandise. Sold has a beautiful slider where you can put your most interesting items on sale. You can even define points on the slide where you can add comments or even zoom images ala Flickr. This is perfect for highlighting detail on specific points of the product. Sold! uses two of the most powerful plugins – WooCommerce and Jigoshop – making it an effective eCommerce solution. Its multi-lingual capability, responsive features and easy customizability enables your store to service both local and global market.

Sold! Theme: $55 | Demo & Download

2. Mercor Responsive WooCommerce WordPress Theme

Another interesting theme worth mentioning is Mercor. Mercor Premium WordPress Theme gives you the look and feel of a department store or supermarket weekly catalogue. This responsive theme’s clean, fresh layout and white space styling creates an uncluttered look that’s easy on the eye even if there are numerous images and texts on the page. Mercor has a dynamic Nivo homepage slider to highlight store specials or to announce store events and sales. Mercor is fully responsive and uses WooCommerce to power e-commerce transactions. This powerful feature combination makes your site current, competitive and able to address the emerging mobile shoppers market.

Mercor Theme: $55 | Demo & Download

3. Intrigue Premium WordPress Theme

This latest eCommerce theme from CSSIgniter is bold and eye-catching. Intrigue Premium WordPress Theme is a responsive eCommerce theme that combines the power of WooCommerce and CSSIgniter’s straightforward theme design. This means that setting up a powerful eCommerce site need not be a complicated and tedious task to accomplish. With Intrigue, you can use a plethora of widgets to create the functionality you require. This theme comes out of the box in a hot red and black color scheme but you can also choose from the available 7 color schemes to create the look most appropriate to your market. Intrigue Premium WordPress Theme is not over the top and includes just the right amount of features and functionalities for whatever you need.

Intrigue Theme: $39 | Demo & Download

4. Mearishop – Clean Responsive E-Commerce Theme

Mearishop Premium WordPress Theme is a great eCommerce solution that’s edgy and modern. The Lookbook-ish appeal makes it a perfect match for a fashion and accessories store. Customers can check out the portfolio or lookbook pages to determine the style that best suits them. Mearishop uses the powerful Hana panel combined with WooCommerce functionality to give you the power to control almost every aspect of the theme. With tons of options available, this features makes this responsive theme perfect for both WP noobs and experienced developers to use. Choose from unlimited color options, 7 backgrounds and 34 patterns to define your custom look. You can even upload your background image. With 7 sliders to choose from, Mearishop gives you the options you to reach your target market in style.

Mearishop Theme: $55 | Demo & Download

5. Xing Business/eCommerce WordPress Theme

Xing Premium WordPress Theme is a modern and clean theme designed to meet the eCommerce needs of both small and large scale business alike. Xing is primarily an eCommerce theme but it is also flexible enough to be used for creative portfolios or for magazine/editorial blog type websites. Xing uses several jQuery powered features like the Flexslider and the jQuery Product Carousels(for WooCommerce recent/featured products). This highly customizable and responsive theme gives you tons of options to create the look you want. Xing is not wanting in anything – from shortcodes, to custom post formats, to custom widgets, to 8 portfolio layouts, to social sharing features and other features and functionalities to help you to create and customize your eCommerce site. Check out Xing today.

Xing Theme: $55 | Demo & Download

Keep your eyes peeled for more WordPress holiday roundups in the next few weeks!

Best Theme

  Best Theme (v1.1) A Beautiful, Responsive Theme for WordPress Sites Make sure to check out our official post on the Best Theme for updates on recent and future releases! Take some time to check out the Best Theme demo …

HOME

WordPress Themes – May, 2012 Find The Best WordPress Themes! SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 …