Archive for November, 2011
We want everyone on WordPress.com to be able to find the best theme possible for their blog. Something beautiful, amazing, and cool. A theme that makes you want to jump up, run your laptop next door, and show your neighbor your awesome blog. That’s why we love bringing you so many new themes, why we have over 150 themes for you to choose from, and why we have even more on the way. It’s also why every day you let us know different ways we could make all our existing themes just a little bit better. You contact us in support, add your suggestions in the forums, comment here, and — of course! — blog about it.
Because of all that we took as many of those little bits as we could and made our incredible collection of 150-plus themes even better for you.
More Custom Headers and More Color Schemes
We know how much you love customizing your themes and making them your own so we made sure that our best, our most popular, and our most beautiful themes let you do just that. The Custom Header Image feature lets you quickly add your own personal stamp on a theme. We went and added it to themes missing it that could really use it and use it well. You’ll now find that it’s available in themes like Notepad, Titan, Simpla, Grid Focus, and Chaos Theory.
And if you’re using the Modularity Lite theme, Inuit Types, Spectrum, Bouquet, or Vigilance you have new bonus color schemes to choose from. Coraline alone got five brand new color schemes!
Make sure you try out all the new design possibilities these color schemes bring to Custom Design.
Even More Theme Improvements
There were even more theme improvements. They were slightly smaller but good things come in small packages. Things like improving the custom header feature in our most popular theme, Twenty Ten. You can now change your header text color or even hide it altogether with a visit to Appearance → Themes and just a few clicks.
Sometimes less can be more
We also added Post Format support to the Spectrum theme. There are more customization options in the Structure theme, Misty Look, and Fruit Shake. Ocean Mist has customizable Featured Images for each post’s header image. Our most popular themes now have better comment labeling when comments are turned off and better author highlighting for multiple author blogs — making them perfect for blogs that are more like small business sites or magazines. And — and there are even more theme improvements that were done. Too many to list here!
We’ll keep on bringing you new themes. Keep on letting us know what you’d like to see improved with them. 
I’m happy to announce that we have added two great new premium themes to our ever-expanding Theme Showcase!
First up is Anthem – a responsive, minimal design from The Theme Foundry.
Anthem is perfect for artists, designers, and photographers who want their images to take center stage. Choose from seven different post formats to give each post a unique look and feel. Anthem provides 4 customizable widget areas in the footer as well as 3 custom menu locations. You can also upload a custom logo image which can be cropped into a circle. Want to find out more? Head on over to the Theme Showcase!
Next up we have Luscious by StudioPress.
This eye-catching design has been custom-tailored with bloggers and publishers in mind. The deep red tones of Luscious are embellished with bright red and yellow accents drawing attention to each post’s heading. Choose from 6 different layout options, 2 custom menu locations and 7 widgets areas. Read more about Luscious in the Theme Showcase.
I’m happy to announce that we have added two great new premium themes to our ever-expanding Theme Showcase!
First up is Anthem – a responsive, minimal design from The Theme Foundry.
Anthem is perfect for artists, designers, and photographers who want their images to take center stage. Choose from seven different post formats to give each post a unique look and feel. Anthem provides 4 customizable widget areas in the footer as well as 3 custom menu locations. You can also upload a custom logo image which can be cropped into a circle. Want to find out more? Head on over to the Theme Showcase!
Next up we have Luscious by StudioPress.
This eye-catching design has been custom-tailored with bloggers and publishers in mind. The deep red tones of Luscious are embellished with bright red and yellow accents drawing attention to each post’s heading. Choose from 6 different layout options, 2 custom menu locations and 7 widgets areas. Read more about Luscious in the Theme Showcase.
We’ve made two big changes that make it easier to encourage friends, family, and colleagues to interact with your WordPress.com blog.
First, now you can invite people to follow your blog. If your blog is public, anyone can use the Follow button to sign up to receive an update each time you publish new content. But if you’d like to share your blog with specific people, we’ve made it easy to send them an invitation to check out your site.
Try it out now and invite some friends to follow your blog:
1. Head to your dashboard and click on Users → Invite New. Type the users’ email addresses or WordPress.com usernames.
2. Set the Role to Follower.
3. If you like, add your own message to personalize the invitation, then click Send Invite.
When your friend accepts the invite, they’ll start receiving email updates each time you publish a new post.
Secondly, you can also use the new invitations to add contributors to your blog. Have you ever thought that it might be fun to have a friend write a guest post? Or perhaps you want to ask a colleague to help moderate comments. Adding contributors to your blog has never been easier.
Head to Users → Invite New in the dashboard and enter the person’s WordPress.com username or email address. Then select the contributor, author, editor, or administrator role, and send the invite.
Your new user will now be able to access your blog by visiting the My Blogs section of their dashboard when they log in to WordPress.com. They’ll also receive an email notification that they’ve been added to your blog.
For more details on the new invitations, check out the Support document on Inviting Contributors, Followers, and Viewers.
We’ve made two big changes that make it easier to encourage friends, family, and colleagues to interact with your WordPress.com blog.
First, now you can invite people to follow your blog. If your blog is public, anyone can use the Follow button to sign up to receive an update each time you publish new content. But if you’d like to share your blog with specific people, we’ve made it easy to send them an invitation to check out your site.
Try it out now and invite some friends to follow your blog:
1. Head to your dashboard and click on Users → Invite New. Type the users’ email addresses or WordPress.com usernames.
2. Set the Role to Follower.
3. If you like, add your own message to personalize the invitation, then click Send Invite.
When your friend accepts the invite, they’ll start receiving email updates each time you publish a new post.
Secondly, you can also use the new invitations to add contributors to your blog. Have you ever thought that it might be fun to have a friend write a guest post? Or perhaps you want to ask a colleague to help moderate comments. Adding contributors to your blog has never been easier.
Head to Users → Invite New in the dashboard and enter the person’s WordPress.com username or email address. Then select the contributor, author, editor, or administrator role, and send the invite.
Your new user will now be able to access your blog by visiting the My Blogs section of their dashboard when they log in to WordPress.com. They’ll also receive an email notification that they’ve been added to your blog.
For more details on the new invitations, check out the Support document on Inviting Contributors, Followers, and Viewers.
According to David McRaney, “You may think that you’re a rational, logical being who sees the world as it really is. But you’re as deluded as the rest of us, and that’s OK, because it keeps you sane.”
David is a journalist and the creator of the WordPress.com blog You Are Not So Smart, which was recently expanded into a book, You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself, published this October.
“This is an amazing and revolutionary time for writers,” David says. “The barriers to entry are so low, and the platforms like WordPress.com are so well made, anyone with a voice can start shouting and be heard. Instead of writing a book and hoping a publisher won’t throw it into the slush pile, writers can start a blog and build a fan base. They can prove to publishers there is a market for their work and their voice.”
About the Book
“You Are Not So Smart is a celebration of self delusion. One topic at a time, it explores how silly and irrational we all are through the lens of fascinating psychological studies,” David says. “For example, you may think that you see everything going on before your eyes, but you are only aware of a small amount of the total information your eyes take in, and even less is processed by your conscious mind and remembered.”
Ironically, a bout of irrational thinking is exactly what helped David to land the book deal:
“I got into a heated online argument with two friends over which was better, the PS3 or the Xbox 360. The argument went on for days, and I think we all crossed the line, insulting each other and getting legitimately angry – and we’re friends in real life!
I thought it would make a great blog post, so I researched why I was so brand loyal and silly. That became my post on brand loyalty and fanboyism, which I published that post at about the same time an iPhone prototype was stolen. With the buzz around fanboyism at an all-time high, someone at Gizmodo saw my post and asked if they could republish it with links back. I agreed, and all of a sudden my hits went through the roof. I kept writing and posting and soon emails arrived from the publishing world asking if I was interested in turning the blog into a book. I said hell yes.”
Learn more about David and You Are Not So Smart by checking out our interview with the author.
Congratulations on your new book, David!
According to David McRaney, “You may think that you’re a rational, logical being who sees the world as it really is. But you’re as deluded as the rest of us, and that’s OK, because it keeps you sane.”
David is a journalist and the creator of the WordPress.com blog You Are Not So Smart, which was recently expanded into a book, You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself, published this October.
“This is an amazing and revolutionary time for writers,” David says. “The barriers to entry are so low, and the platforms like WordPress.com are so well made, anyone with a voice can start shouting and be heard. Instead of writing a book and hoping a publisher won’t throw it into the slush pile, writers can start a blog and build a fan base. They can prove to publishers there is a market for their work and their voice.”
About the Book
“You Are Not So Smart is a celebration of self delusion. One topic at a time, it explores how silly and irrational we all are through the lens of fascinating psychological studies,” David says. “For example, you may think that you see everything going on before your eyes, but you are only aware of a small amount of the total information your eyes take in, and even less is processed by your conscious mind and remembered.”
Ironically, a bout of irrational thinking is exactly what helped David to land the book deal:
“I got into a heated online argument with two friends over which was better, the PS3 or the Xbox 360. The argument went on for days, and I think we all crossed the line, insulting each other and getting legitimately angry – and we’re friends in real life!
I thought it would make a great blog post, so I researched why I was so brand loyal and silly. That became my post on brand loyalty and fanboyism, which I published that post at about the same time an iPhone prototype was stolen. With the buzz around fanboyism at an all-time high, someone at Gizmodo saw my post and asked if they could republish it with links back. I agreed, and all of a sudden my hits went through the roof. I kept writing and posting and soon emails arrived from the publishing world asking if I was interested in turning the blog into a book. I said hell yes.”
Learn more about David and You Are Not So Smart by checking out our interview with the author.
Congratulations on your new book, David!
I’m happy to announce that we’ve added another group of three new themes to our collection today. Each one has its own distinct personality but they do share one thing in common: they’re all awesome themes that I know you’ll love. Let’s check them out.
The first up is Photography, a premium theme designed by The Theme Foundry specifically for Photographers looking for a great way to share their photos.
It takes advantage of Post Formats to present your galleries in a beautiful custom way — in posts and two custom page templates. Make sure you check it out on the Theme Showcase and browse around the Photography theme demo site.
Next up is the super-fun, Brand New Day theme designed by Caroline Moore. It’s a lovely, illustrated theme that comes in four different “flavors”–day, night, autumn, and winter. Each flavor is expertly tied into the design. Plus it has different sidebar arrangements and a narrow/wide column option.
Finally, we have the beautiful Bouquet theme designed by our very own Michelle Langston and made available for your blog … on her birthday — Happy birthday, Michelle! Bouquet is the successor to some of our older flowery themes. But what’s a Bouquet without multiple flowers? The Bouquet theme lets you pick a Pink Dogwood (shown here) color scheme or Forget-Me-Not blue (you can see a sample on the theme showcase).
Let us know how you wind up using these three themes and watch out for more new ones soon. There are always more on the way.
I’m happy to announce that we’ve added another group of three new themes to our collection today. Each one has its own distinct personality but they do share one thing in common: they’re all awesome themes that I know you’ll love. Let’s check them out.
The first up is Photography, a premium theme designed by The Theme Foundry specifically for Photographers looking for a great way to share their photos.
It takes advantage of Post Formats to present your galleries in a beautiful custom way — in posts and two custom page templates. Make sure you check it out on the Theme Showcase and browse around the Photography theme demo site.
Next up is the super-fun, Brand New Day theme designed by Caroline Moore. It’s a lovely, illustrated theme that comes in four different “flavors”–day, night, autumn, and winter. Each flavor is expertly tied into the design. Plus it has different sidebar arrangements and a narrow/wide column option.
Finally, we have the beautiful Bouquet theme designed by our very own Michelle Langston and made available for your blog … on her birthday — Happy birthday, Michelle! Bouquet is the successor to some of our older flowery themes. But what’s a Bouquet without multiple flowers? The Bouquet theme lets you pick a Pink Dogwood (shown here) color scheme or Forget-Me-Not blue (you can see a sample on the theme showcase).
Let us know how you wind up using these three themes and watch out for more new ones soon. There are always more on the way.
Photo galleries on WordPress.com are a great way to share the pictures you’ve taken with your friends, family, and your followers. But the design of your theme can limit how large your high-resolution photos are displayed. Today, we’re announcing a great new way to make the most of your photos: a full-size carousel view that presents your images as large as your display can contain them.
To experience the carousel, just click an image in a photo gallery on any WordPress.com blog. You can navigate between photos using the left and right arrow keys, or by clicking or tapping the arrows on the left and right. You can easily like a photo from the carousel, too. When you’re done, click anywhere in the background or press the Esc key on your keyboard to return to the thumbnails.
Check it out here, with this gallery of images taken by some of our colleagues during our recent meetup in Budapest.
Now, whether you’re using a tablet or a large desktop display, you’ll see photos in the best light possible. And the best part of all: if you’ve already been posting photo galleries on your WordPress.com blog, you’ll get the new full-screen carousel view without lifting a finger. If you haven’t posted your first gallery, there’s never been a better time to try!
