Archives

Announcing Uno, a photo gallery child theme for Base

Posted on by

Say hello to Uno:

Uno photo gallery theme for WordPress

Uno theme for WordPress

Uno is our very first child theme for our newly release Base theme framework for WordPress.  Uno is primed for photographers, artists and bloggers who want to display sleek photo galleries, create a photoblog or simply need a clean, one-column theme.

Back Story

The concept for Uno was hatched after chatting with Will Yurman, an accomplished documentary photographer from New York state.  Will and I were instructors and roommates at NPPA’s Multimedia Immersion Workshop in upstate New York earlier this year.  Will wanted a platform where he could maintain a photoblog, a blog, post galleries, post client galleries, add videos, add multimedia and create pages all under one roof.  For years, Will has relied on a combination of web software to make his current site function: Pixel Post for photoblogging, static files for pages, WordPress for writing and Flash for client galleries.  The new platform needed to be holistic, he said, simple to use and and designed elegantly.  I  knew it was possible within WordPress, but, I told will, I would need a few months to make it happen.

That day has arrived.

Design Philosophy

As with most of our themes, Uno’s design fades into the background and allows your content to take center stage.  We have removed all distractions from this theme so your visitors can focus on your content.

You can choose from one of three pre-built color palette styles:

While the design is simple, the underlying theme framework that powers Uno is both flexible and bulletproof.  You can add custom CSS to override any of the pre-built styles and use your favorite font from the Google Font Directory without touching a single line of code.

Separate Blog

A common request we hear from users is the need to have a dedicated “Blog” page.  This page contains all Posts, typically assigned to specific categories that you select on your Theme Options page.  This way, your photo gallery Posts don’t get mixed in with your writing, or vice-a-versa.  If this isn’t and important feature, no worries, simply don’t create a Blog page or assign a Blog category on the Theme Options page.

HD & Mobile Video

Uno can even be a video blogging theme.  Huh?  Yep, it can.  Uno comes packaged with a built-in HD video player for self-hosting videos.  To serve mobile-friendly video files to users with Flash either disabled or not available, simply enable the Mobile Video option on the theme options page and upload your mobile-friendly video files into the Post (see instructions).

Getting Started

To download Uno, you will need a subscription to Graph Paper Press.  We look forward to seeing what you create!

Photo Workshop 1.0.1 Released

Posted on by

Photo Workshop 1.0.1 was just released and it includes the following changes:

  • Internet Explorer 7 & 8 slideshow bug fix
  • Jumpy slideshow caption bug fixed
  • Internationalization added
  • Instructions file updated

To upgrade from version 1.0, please either download and overwrite the entire Photo Workshop theme via FTP (recommended) or replace these files:

  • style.css
  • instructions.html
  • functions.php
  • /includes/theme-js.php
  • /apps/slideshow.php
  • /images/loading.gif
  • /page_slideshow.php
  • /page_slideshow_clients.php
  • /includes/js/preloader.js

Existing customers can download the latest version from their member page here at Graph Paper Press.

Introducing the Photo Workshop theme for WordPress

Posted on by

Jared Cruce website using Photo Workshop theme for WordPressThe Photo Workshop theme for WordPress is finally here!  After months of development, redevelopment and re-redevelopment (you get the point), we are now turning the keys over to all you WordPressers to see what you create.  (Check out Jared Cruce’s new commercial photography website for an example of the Photo Workshop theme live in the wild!)

Photo Workshop is an all-in-one solution for photographers and creative entrepreneurs who want the ability to show a portfolio of images or videos and pitch workshops, events, or products. The theme includes new features that were just released in WordPress 3.0, including Custom Post Types (details below) and Menus and also includes new theme display options including Slideshows with optional caption, thumbnail and navigational controls.  The theme also includes image theft protection (right clicking on images is disabled), iPhone video display options, custom colors, homepage design options and two custom widgets.

Designed for Professional, Entrepreneurial Photographers

If you are a professional or amateur photographer, I have three questions for you:

  1. How good is your website at generating leads?
  2. Do you have interest in diversifying your business model or growing your income?
  3. Everyone has a website these days.  How is your different?

If you are like Jared Cruce, it’s time that you step up to the challenge and adapt your business model to the changing industry demands.  Not only does Jared have killer photography portfolios, but he also offers adventure photography workshops in the beautiful Oregon backcountry.  Using the Photo Workshop theme, Jared can update his portfolio, create private, password-protected galleries for his clients, market his photography workshops, and generate leads (form created using Gravity Forms).

Custom Post Types

WordPress 3.0 introduced a new feature called Custom Post Types.  This feature makes it easier for developers to create custom write panels with additional input fields that are specific to the content that you want to publish.  Think of it this way:  You are no longer limited to using posts or pages for publishing in WordPress.  So long boring tubular post and page templates!  Hello beautiful custom post type templates!  The custom post type we developed for this theme is what we refer to as a “Workshop”.  Each Workshop has a predefined number of fields, such as Title, Description, Location, Date, Price, Testimonial, Sponsor Info, Images, etc.  These fields are displayed using a special template file to create the Workshop (or could be an Event/Product…it’s very flexible) landing page.  Here is a video overview of how the custom post types work:

http://vimeo.com/13658887

Slideshow Options

One of the most requested features has been to add controls for the slideshows in our themes.  Not only did we add controls, but we also added captions, both of which can be optionally enabled or disabled on the theme options page.  You can also control the height of all slideshows, the transition or fading time and the length of time each slide is displayed.  Did I mention that these slideshows even work on the iPhone and iPad?  Yeah.  Pretty cool, eh?

Design Controls

We know that not everyone is a coder.  This is why we dedicate so much of our development time to building killer theme options into all of our paid themes.  Photo Workshop contains optional homepage design controls including a welcome message, slideshow, full-page video, featured posts and a widgetized region.  Check out this video overview of the new theme options (complete with AJAX saving and conditional options based on user-defined selections):

http://vimeo.com/13658826

So, what do you think? What interests you most about this theme?

Work-a-holic

Posted on by

Work-a-holic is a free minimalistic two and three column WordPress theme that focuses mainly on showcasing portfolios for artists, web designers, photographers and illustrators. Work-a-holic separates your portfolio from your blog, enabling easy navigation for clients in a clean, intuitive fashion. It also has a separate sidebar for portfolio (shows recent projects) and a separate widgetized sidebar for the blog and pages.

Major features

  • Separate Blog and Portfolio Section
  • Blog lists posts as normal blog
  • Portfolio pulls latest thumbnail of the post and lists each of them on three columns
  • Multiple image gallery container (slider) on portfolio posts
  • Basic Theme Options
  • Twitter integrated – shows latest Tweet
  • Separate sidebar on Portfolio and normal sidebar on Blog
  • One Page template with separate sidebar
  • Ability to have a separate desired Thumbnail if WP-Post-Thumbnail plugin is installed
  • jQuery effects on Portfolio thumbnails
  • Multi-level Drop Down Menu
  • Support Nested Comments
  • Three footer widgets
  • Uses 960 css framework and jQuery javascript framework
  • XHML: This theme has been tested on Firefox, Safari, IE 8, 7, 6.

Setting up Work-a-holic Video

Fullscreen

Posted on by

Fullscreen is a free one-column photography and multimedia theme for WordPress that can be used for portfolios, photoblogs, videoblogs, and virtually anything else where you want your content to be front and center. It provides visual artists (photographers, painters, videographers, motionographers, illustrators) a better way of presenting their latest work online using a minimalist side-scrolling homepage. Emphasis is placed on your content, rather than on an overly designed theme. If you are a free or paying subscriber to Graph Paper Press, Fullscreen can be downloaded from your member page.

Major Features

  • Side-scrolling homepage packed with thumbnails representing your posts
  • Automatic thumbnail generator with the ability to override the automated thumbnails
  • Built-in HD video player for self-hosting HD quality video
  • Ability to embed video from YouTube (HD), Vimeo, MetaCafe, Seesmic, Google Video, Revver
  • jQuery UI framework for icons
  • 950 pixel wide theme with no left or right sidebar
  • Comments are revealed in a modal dialog window to minimize page clutter
  • Threaded comments
  • Three footer widgets
  • Built-in Gravatar support for comments
  • Drop-down navigation to maximize homepage space
  • Built atop CSS frameworks to speed customization
  • Forward and backward compatibility with previous versions of WordPress
  • XHML: This theme has been tested on Firefox, Safari, IE 8, 7, 6.

Fullscreen examples

Design philosophy

We think your site should highlight your content, not our design. Our design takes a back seat so that your content can shine through front and center. The homepage of Fullscreen is an amalgam of your latest visual content, organized in a hierarchical manner with your latest five posts featured twice as large as the preceding 20 posts. Single post pages are 950 pixels wide, enabling your post large photos, videos, or other work that is important to you. Three widgetized areas give you customization control over the bottom (footer) region of your site.

Modularity Lite

Posted on by

Modularity Lite is a free multimedia theme framework for WordPress by Graph Paper Press. The theme design was developed with users who appreciate visual browsing and prefer a minimal layout, with their photos and multimedia featured front and center. In the future, we will be releasing “child themes” to provide design alternative and additional applications (apps) that will work with Modularity Lite. You’ll definitely want to subscribe to GraphPaperPress.com to get all the latest developments and enhancements for Modularity Lite.

Modularity Lite includes:

  • Optional homepage slideshow
  • Optional homepage one or two column blog-style layout
  • Theme Options page, where you can define background, text, link colors, contact info, site tracking code and more.
  • S.E.O. optimized titles and alt tags
  • Four widgetized areas
  • Click-down navigation for a compact, minimalist masthead.
  • Built in multimedia custom field support
  • Automatic thumbnail generation. No need to manage thumbnails using custom fields
  • Blueprint CSS framework
  • Valid, clean code

What is a “multimedia theme framework?” It’s actually quite simple. Using Modularity Lite as your base theme, Graph Paper Press will release “child themes,” which will add additional functionality and design features to Modularity Lite. You’ll definitely want to subscribe to GraphPaperPress.com to keep up on all the latest developments and enhancements for Modularity Lite.

f8 remixed

Posted on by

F8 Remixed is a unique theme for WordPress that can transform your Web site or blog into a fully functioning photography or multimedia portfolio Web site. SEO optimized, iPhone compatible, 100% customizable options page, grid-based css, built-in Galleria support, built-in multimedia support, auto or manual thumbnail control, Gravatars, plus much, much more. All colors, fonts, front page categories, contact info, homepage main photo height and other options can be managed on the f8 theme options page. There is no need to edit theme code, unless you want to customize f8.

F8 Remixed is essentially F8, except that the slideshow has been replaced with a large photo and text overlay.

f8, which is a technical term referring the lens aperture setting on a camera, is theme long in the making. A little over five years ago, I began the arduous task of trying to find a way to present my photos to the world online. I primarily wanted two things: A portfolio section and a blog section built into one CMS. What I didn’t know at the time, is that it would take me five years to figure out. After researching literally hundreds of options including Flash powered portfolios (a big no-no in today’s mobile world), to countless bulky CMS’s that just didn’t cut it, I decided on using WordPress. It was well worth the wait.

f8 static

Posted on by

f8 static is a free theme for WordPress that can transform your Web site or blog into a fully functioning photography or multimedia portfolio Web site. SEO optimized, iPhone compatible, grid-based css, built-in Galleria support, built-in multimedia support, auto or manual thumbnail control, Gravatars, plus much, much more. The credit link is required to stay in tact.

f8, which is a technical term referring the lens aperture setting on a camera, is theme long in the making. A little over five years ago, I began the arduous task of trying to find a way to present my photos to the world online. I primarily wanted two things: A portfolio section and a blog section built into one CMS. What I didn’t know at the time, is that it would take me five years to figure out. After researching literally hundreds of options including Flash powered portfolios (a big no-no in today’s mobile world), to countless bulky CMS’s that just didn’t cut it, I decided on using WordPress. It was well worth the wait.

f8 lite

Posted on by

f8 lite is a free theme for WordPress that can transform your Web site or blog into a fully functioning photography or multimedia portfolio Web site. SEO optimized, iPhone compatible, grid-based css, built-in Galleria support, slideshow-enabled, built-in multimedia support, auto or manual thumbnail control, Gravatars, plus much, much more. The credit link is required to stay in tact.

f8, which is a technical term referring the lens aperture setting on a camera, is theme long in the making. A little over five years ago, I began the arduous task of trying to find a way to present my photos to the world online. I primarily wanted two things: A portfolio section and a blog section built into one CMS. What I didn’t know at the time, is that it would take me five years to figure out. After researching literally hundreds of options including Flash powered portfolios (a big no-no in today’s mobile world), to countless bulky CMS’s that just didn’t cut it, I decided on using WordPress. It was well worth the wait.

check out f8 theme for wordpress

Gridline News

Posted on by

Update

This theme has been updated and is now part of the Gridline Suite. Subscribers can download this theme, now renamed just “Gridline,” from their member page.

Gridline News is a clean and modular news magazine theme for WordPress 2.3 and up that is packed with AJAX to add flexibility to the important home page real estate. The main story section contains four of your latest posts layered on top of each other, accessible via tabbed navigation. Gridline News can transform your tubular blog into a full news magazine website.

Installation

  1. Unzip the downloaded file
  2. Upload the entire “Gridline News″ folder to your “/wp-content/themes/” folder
  3. Log in into your WordPress control panel
  4. Click the Presentation tab
  5. Select the “Gridline News” screenshot

Configuration

  1. GETTING STARTED: To get Gridline News off and running, you will need a minimum of 5 categories to populate the homepage. The main section on this page is the latest article posted in category 1, followed by category 2, 3, and 4. The three posts at right are all from category 1, offset by 1 to avoid duplication. The other sections display the latest articles in their respective categories.
  2. YOUR CATEGORIES: In the “home.php” you will find a series of query_posts functions which refer to specific category ID numbers from my database.
    You will need to change the category numbers to reflect the ID numbers of the categories that you want to display on your homepage. Category numbers can be found in your control panel under Manage->Categories. There are a total of 6 spots in the home.php file to change to reflect the post categories that you want to display on the main page.
  3. YOUR PHOTOS: To have thumbnails in each post, crop the thumbnail to 150px wide by 100px tall, upload it to the web and copy the URL to the photo. Within WordPress’ Write Post page, scroll down towards the bottom and click on the Custom Fields section. Add a key called “small_photo” and then paste the link to the thumbnail photo into the key value field. Photos posted within each entry’s post will should not exceed 350px wide by 225px tall, otherwise, the images will bleed out and make you site look icky. View a screenshot of the custom fields used for the Gridline News Theme. Make sure your custom field values and keys match those in the screen shot above (but change the key value to the exact url to your images.) Custom fields are one of the most overlooked, yet powerful, tools in WordPress. Read more about using custom fields.
  4. YOUR AUTHORS PAGE: Gridline News comes packaged with an author archive (authors.php), which will display some author specific info pulled from the Users page in your WordPress installation. In order for the author’s image to show up, you’ll need to place a jpg of the author titled by the author’s last name in the wp-content/themes/gridline/images/authors/ folder. For instance, mine is Allender.jpg, sized at 75px X 75px. Here is an example author page.
  5. STYLES.CSS: Unlike most WordPress themes which plug all the css in one file called styles.css, Gridline utilizes the Blueprint CSS framework to help separate positioning, typography, forms and what I’ll refer to as custom or gridline specific styles. To edit all custom gridline specific styles, you’ll need to edit the style.css file located in your wp/wp-content/themes/gridline/ directory.
  6. COMMON ISSUES JQuery, the javascript framework used in this theme, and Prototype, the javascript language that powers some WordPress plugins, don’t like each other. To create a pleasant user-experience, deactivate all plugins that use the Prototype javascript framework.

ABOUT BLUEPRINT

All Gridline Themes utilize the CSS framework called Blueprint. Who is credited for the ideas behind Blueprint? Some of the best designers on the web. They include Jeff Croft, designer for Blue Flavor, Khoi Vinh, design director for NYTimes.com, Nathan Borror, Christian Metts, Eric Meyer, Wilson Minor, Angus Turnbull, Olav Bjorkoy and a few others. Most major websites use some form of css framework to allow for rapid, consistent development and design. Take the Blueprint 101 course to learn about all the possibilities.

CAUTION

If you are new to WordPress, HTML or CSS, Gridline probably isn’t the best theme to try to learn on. Gridline is, however, perfect for those who want to learn by doing, reading and practicing life inside a sophisticated WordPress magazine theme.

Gridline Lite

Posted on by

Gridline Lite is a free minimalist theme for WordPress 2.8 and up with full sidebar and bottombar widget support that utilizes a CSS framework to help streamline development and customization. Gridline pulls in the most recent post, with five recently posted stories listed in offset backgrounds below to keep your readers attention.

Installation

  1. Unzip the downloaded file
  2. Upload the entire “Gridline Lite″ folder to your “/wp-content/themes/” folder
  3. Log in into your WordPress control panel
  4. Click the Presentation tab
  5. Select the “Gridline Lite” screenshot

Configuration

  1. GETTING STARTED: To change the number of main entries listed on your homepage, click Options > Reading in your WordPress interface.
  2. Photos posted within each entry’s post will should not exceed 590px wide, otherwise, the images will bleed into the sidebar and make you site look icky.
  3. YOUR AUTHORS PAGE: Gridline Lite comes packaged with an author archive (authors.php), which will display some author specific info pulled from the Users page in your WordPress installation. In order for the author’s image to show up, you’ll need to place a jpg of the author titled by the author’s last name in the wp-content/themes/gridline/images/authors/ folder. For instance, mine is Allender.jpg, sized at 75px X 75px. Here is an example author page.
  4. STYLES.CSS: Unlike most WordPress themes which plug all the css in one file called styles.css, Gridline utilizes the Blueprint CSS framework to help separate positioning, typography, forms and what I’ll refer to as custom or gridline specific styles. To edit all custom gridline specific styles, you’ll need to edit the file style.css in your wp/wp-content/themes/gridline/ directory.

Gridline Magazine

Posted on by

Update

This theme has been updated and is now part of the Gridline Suite. Subscribers can download this theme, now renamed just “Gridline,” from their member page.

Gridline Magazine is a theme for WordPress 2.8 and up that makes extensive use of custom queries and custom fields to create an unique blogging format. Gridline can transform your blog into a full-blown Magazine or news Web site. Gridline utilizes Blueprint, a CSS framework that streamlines development by utilizing an easy-to-use grid and sensible typography.

Note: The demo site is currently being reworked. Click here to see a live site using a slightly customized Gridline.

Installation

  1. Unzip the downloaded file
  2. Upload the entire “Gridline″ folder to your “/wp-content/themes/” folder
  3. Log in into your WordPress control panel
  4. Click the Presentation tab
  5. Select the “Gridline” screenshot

Configuration

  1. GETTING STARTED: To get Gridline off and running, you will need a minimum of 6 categories to populate the homepage. The main section on this page is the latest article posted in category 1. The three posts at right are all from category 1, offset by 1 to avoid duplication. The other sections display the latest articles in their respective categories.
  2. YOUR CATEGORIES: In the “home.php” you will find a series of query_posts functions which refer to specific category ID numbers from my database.
    You will need to change the category numbers to reflect the ID numbers of the categories that you want to display on your homepage. Category numbers can be found in your control panel under Manage->Categories. There are a total of 6 spots in the home.php file to change to reflect the post categories that you want to display on the main page.
  3. YOUR PHOTOS: To have thumbnails in each post, crop the thumbnail to 150px wide by 100px tall, upload it to the web and copy the URL to the photo. Within WordPress’ Write Post page, scroll down towards the bottom and click on the Custom Fields section. Add a key called “small_photo” and then paste the link to the thumbnail photo into the key value field. Photos posted within each entry’s post will should not exceed 590px wide, otherwise, the images will bleed into the sidebar and make you site look icky. View a screenshot of the custom fields used for the Gridline Theme. Make sure your custom field values and keys match those in the screen shot above (but change the key value to the exact url to your images.) Custom fields are one of the most overlooked, yet powerful, tools in WordPress. Read more about using custom fields.
  4. YOUR AUTHORS PAGE: Gridline comes packaged with an author archive (authors.php), which will display some author specific info pulled from the Users page in your WordPress installation. In order for the author’s image to show up, you’ll need to place a jpg of the author titled by the author’s last name in the wp-content/themes/gridline/images/authors/ folder. For instance, mine is Allender.jpg, sized at 75px X 75px. Here is an example author page.
  5. STYLES.CSS: Unlike most WordPress themes which plug all the css in one file called styles.css, Gridline utilizes the Blueprint CSS framework to help separate positioning, typography, forms and what I’ll refer to as custom or gridline specific styles. To edit all custom gridline specific styles, you’ll need to edit the style.css file located in your wp/wp-content/themes/gridline/ directory.

Visualization

Posted on by

Visualization is a grid-based, magazine-style theme for WordPress 2.3 and higher that is easy to customize and make your own. The theme utilizes Blueprint, a CSS framework, which streamlines development time by utilizing an easy-to-use grid and sensible typography. Visualization can transform your blog into a full-blown magazine or news Web site.

Visualization Includes
  • Widgetized sidebar and bottombar
  • Optional custom header images
  • Dynamic sidebar to maximize homepage real estate
  • Nine spots on the homepage to pack with content
Getting Started

To get Visualization off and running, you will need a minimum of 9 categories. The main section on this page is the latest article posted in category 1. The other sections display the latest articles in their respective categories. If you want a post a Sports article and have it show up in the main section, you would simply put the article in category 1 and Sports categories. The Sports section below will offset by one, enabling the main page to never publish duplicated content. See the screenshot below for reference.
Visualzation tutorial

Using Photos

Visualization utilizes WordPress’ custom fields to display and manage each individual entry’s thumbnail photos. These include the 270 X 100 px skinny horizontal images (custom field key value=thumbnail) and a 75 X 75 pixel images (custom field key value=square). The screenshot below demonstrates the custom fields used for Visualization. The “photo” key value is optional if you prefer to program in additional lead photos measuring 590px wide into your theme design. Visualization Custom Fields

Common Issues

JQuery, the javascript framework used in this theme, and Prototype, the javascript language that powers some WordPress plugins, don’t like each other. To create a pleasant user-experience, deactivate all plugins that use the Prototype javascript framework.