Frugal Wordpress Theme And A Focus Shift For The Blueprint
You may have noticed a slight difference in the look of The Blueprint. It was originally built from the framework of the Flexx theme from iThemes, but it’s now sporting a brand new core.
I recently finished creating my very first Wordpress theme called ‘frugal’. In its stock form it’s a super clean, minimalist Wordpress theme that has everything you need to properly showcase your blogs content and not a code snippet more. Since creating this theme I’ve gone ahead and rebuilt Motivate Thyself with it and now The Blueprint. (Dan Miranda of Command Your Time is running it in stock form)
The New Features
I tried to stick with the same general look. I didn’t necessarily want to redesign The Blueprint, just infuse frugal’s core code to see what happened. Here’s what has changed:
- Guest Post Submit button: I’ll explain more about this later in this post, but there is now a clickable button in the header for guest post submissions.
- Category Bar: Now, instead of the categories mixing in with the rest of the sidebar content, they sit right under the main navigation bar for easy access (this was a Flexx feature as well, we just never utilized it).
- A Kind of Share-This space above the comments: By way of widget, I’ve added an easy way for readers to share, subscribe and follow, right above the comments.
- MY FAVORITE! Threaded comments: Now we can reply directly in the comments instead of having to @ everybody. I’ve been using this on Motivate Thyself ever since I change over to frugal and I’ll never go back!
There are a few more minor differences. You’ll notice the main navbar is a bit different as well as other minor design changes.
What is the frugal Theme?
As I’ve already mentioned, this is my very first Wordpress theme creation and I’m quite proud of it. I’ve had great feedback thus far and look forward to seeing it on more an more blogs. It’s totally FREE and is the **shamelessly inserting anchor text** best free wordpress theme available! 
frugal came about while I was looking for a theme to meet my Wordpress theme customization requirements. I needed something that could be the perfect clean slate theme to build off of. The problem was that there were either simple themes that were poorly built and had none of the features I deemed essential (threaded comments capable, attractive, custom avatar size and placement without having to add a plugin, clean code that validates, etc…) or full featured themes that required a complete stripping before they could be properly customized. So I built frugal to fill this need.
frugal is an excellent Wordpress theme in its stock form for anyone looking for a super light, fast, clean theme to do nothing more than make their content shine. But if you want to customize it, I’ve included a 29-page ebook that goes over both the basics of Wordpress theme design as well as how to specifically customize your frugal theme. And like I said, it’s all FREE! So be sure to check it out, download it, promote it if you like it and give me feedback so I can keep improving it!
Share Your Voice!
Now for the focus shift for The Blueprint. Sean and I have talked a lot about what direction we want to take The Blueprint and with the recent introduction of the best copywriting blog in existence I felt is was time to make a decision and move forward with the adjustments. So here goes…
Most of us are bloggers, right? And we all, at some point or another, have great ideas to share about this very subject. But few of us have an established venue to share our great blogging insights. Sean and I would like The Blueprint to be that place.
So what we’re doing is offering an open door to submit post ideas. We want you to be able to take that blogging idea or tip or whatever you think needs to be aired out, and share it with our readers.
Open Debates
One of the things that we have enjoyed at BB is the willingness for this community to hash it out in the comments. Tired of the ‘bland posts/pats on the back’ kind of content, we’re looking for ideas that will shake things up. We want bloggers who are willing to put themselves out there a bit. Not all posts should be agreeable and frankly it’s the agreeable ones that are often the most boring. Let’s learn from heated discussions and brutal debates (tactful, respectful, brutal debates 
), and make The Blueprint an exciting venue to chat up blogging, while sharpening our online presence.
To submit a guest post request or just learn a bit more, go to our guest posting page.
Question (I’m totally stealing this from Collective Inkwell’s last post): What kinds of posts do you find most interesting to read AND which ones seem to invite the best conversations in the comments?
Eric
Related Websites -
Zultys Announces Video Webcast Feature for MXmeeting 4.1 Scalable Web Conferencing & Collaboration Solution — Solution adds webcam video broadcast, remote printing, flash-based viewer and more Sunnyvale, CA, November 18, 2009 — Zultys Inc., a leading manufacturer of secure and Enterprise class IP PBX phone equipment for the mid and Enterprise market, today announced MXmeetingTM 4.1, adding new features to the very successful next-generation...... - New Features make Lending on Prosper Better than Ever Prosper.com released a few new features recently. These features might be interesting to all lenders or potential lenders. Here's a run down on some of the new features and how they could affect Prosper's peer-to-peer lending market. Portfolio Plans - Prosper now provides an automated method to bid on set......
- Hosted PBX - Full-featured Phone System Hosted PBX is a full-featured phone system ensuring attractive benefits to small as well as home businesses in a cost-effective manner. The common function of a hosted PBX system is to connect the business with its clients and customers. Hosted communication features are provided through dedicated VOIP technology. All......
-
GPS Review: Garmin Nuvi 1690 [/caption] The good: The Garmin Nuvi 1690 features free (and ad-supported) access to Garmin's nuLink data service, which provides traffic data, fuel prices, Google Search for POIs, and a host of other features, including Bluetooth hands-free calling help to keep the driver's hands on the wheel while navigating. The bad:...... - Platform Lift Ensures Equal Opportunities at Ballyfin Primary School A movemanSKG Prestige platform lift provides an access route for less able students at the newly built primary school in Ballyfin, a small village in the beautiful Slieve Bloom Mountains of Ireland. The building is on a slope, and the three-stop lift allows wheelchair users to move between entrance level,......
The Frugal theme for Wordpress is truly outstanding work Eric. And you are crazy for giving it away for free. I’ve found a couple of bugs which I’m investigating (to make sure it’s the theme and not me hehe) but I will email you in the next day or so about that.
As for shaking things up…
Bring back the (Comment) Luv!
Well done, Eric – you have no idea how humbled I am by the skills of a person who can create a whole theme! I’ve always loved the categories under the nav bar that you have over at Motivate Thyself. I hope Thesis can add those and threaded comments soon. I’ll show your new theme to my daughter, see what she thinks. Yours was one of the blogs she said looked like a ‘proper’ blog when I was showing her around my blog route! I noticed the new theme over at Motivate Thyself but know why? I sublimenally missed your lovely integration of photo and header!
I also think the new direction sounds great. I was panicking when you mentioned a focus shift, thinking you were maybe going to add Twitter limits to comments, for folk like me who get carried away and talk too much!
I’d love to try out your new guest post system sometime. Last time was interesting and fun!
In answer to your question? I like any kind of post that helps blogging evolve and encourages bloggers to support each other, no matter what their unique voice or level of blogging knowledge is. I like the community over here, where people feel free to talk about all things blog-related. I like when people are brave enough to be personal and passionate, yet kind, light hearted and open to dialogue in the comments.
And here’s a question I’d love you and Sean to answer. Why have you disabled Comment Luv on all of your respective sites over the last week or so? Maybe you could do a conversation-stimulating post about it! We all have theories, but it would make for interesting reading!
PS -@Marc
You snuck that post in while I was typing – it’s a bit worrying that we now comment simultaneously!
PPS Weirder and weirder…The Comment Luv box is now showing!!!
We’ve been talking about these changes for a while and it will be exciting to start implementing them. Great job on the theme redesign, Eric. frugal theme is the perfect template for our baby.
Writer Dad’s last blog post..How to NEVER run out of ideas
I think the Frugal Theme you have created is really good.
Most interesting posts? Not sure if I can answer that question. A good post is a good post and it’s hard to qualify it in words.
To me the underpinning of a good post is one in which what is being said really needs to be said and brings something unique and fresh to the table. Those, of course, are difficult to come up with and produce.
But they are always the best.
Bamboo Forest’s last blog post..How to Make the Choices You Really Want to Make in Life
I love the idea of a bloggers-blogging-about-blogging platform. Not only does it bend the space-time continuum but it is a topic that we can’t often address on our own blogs.
Hayden Tompkins’s last blog post..How to Thwart the Biological Shopping Imperative
@Eric That’s not a bad analogy
A lot of what Thesis has done is right on the money, e.g. the integration of All in One SEO but some things leave me scratching my head.
Take Thesis 1.5. Still in beta but have you tried it? It has these new settings for column and sidebar widths giving you very fine granular control. For someone like you and me it’s a welcome addition perhaps but for others I think it’s just going to complicate matters.
What with features and teasers, full width control, built in SEO. I hope Thesis isn’t going to end up as being the next bloatware.
Mattie, who remained in Seattle. ,
Thanks Marc! I don’t necessarily think it’s crazy, but who knows. I think to get your foot in the door in a crowded arena like Wordpress themes, it’s better to have as few road blocks as possible. I figure I can get the basic design out there for free and then maybe create a more robust version as a ‘Premium’ theme. But I don’t know, we’ll see.
I’m sure there are a few bugs. Shoot them my way and we’ll take a look.
The comment love got ‘lost in translation’. It should be back now. Eric
No need to worry Janice, you’re in-depth comments are always welcome around here.
I’m glad you like the new theme. I’m really excited about it and hope to see it around the Internet as time goes on.
The commentluv thing happened after I moved my blogs from one server to another. As I told Marc, ‘Lost in translation’. It should be back now. Eric
@janice and here I thought you were ignoring me
Crazy is a strong word
A free version is always a good start and far be it from me to add complexity to your workload but I wouldn’t want to see you put too much more work into your theme and not get anything back for it.
I can see a dilemma though. For me I would probably pay for a premium version of Frugal if I hadn’t already bought Thesis. I guess I’m not your ideal customer and the question of whether or not I would buy Frugal is something you’d have to ask them.
See, that’s the thing. Many who like frugal, use Thesis and they generally say the same thing…”If I hadn’t bought Thesis, I may have been willing to purchase frugal.” So I figure to get those bloggers to try it anyway, I had to give it away and let them play.
There are many examples of a product starting off as free and eventually becoming profitable, but it’s no doubt a challenging feat. Yet so is being profitable when you come out of the gate with a price tag. Eric
Thanks Sean, I thought so too.
Eric
Thanks Bamboo, we’ll see how the theme reacts to the blogging public.
I like your point about good blog posts being those that say things that really need to be said. That idea points out the fact that we are often afraid to speak of and say the really difficult things, but that it’s those things that can make for the greatest posts and discussions. Eric
Exactly Hayden! That’s the idea and hopefully our community won’t be afraid to submit their blogging voice for us all to read and discuss.
I’ll be expecting your submission soon!
Eric
Ahh Hayden you know how to get straight to the heart of all geeks
Oh yeah, what you did was right in this case. Your pricing model moving forward is something only you can decide just don’t work yourself to the bone for peanuts
I don’t care what it proclaims itself as, Thesis is not that easy to use. I think that’s an angle you can work on with Frugal
You know Marc, that funny that you mention that. Even I have trouble with some of Thesis’s customization quirks. It’s almost too intelligent for its own good. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an awesome theme that once master has limitless possibilities, but it’s really more complicated than most would prefer.
I look at it like a modern car versus a classic model. The mechanic pops open the hood of the classic and sees a logical makeup of parts that can be easily tuned to their desire. Then they pop open the hood of a modern car and are met with computer chips that need extra equipment to even make sense of anything.
Maybe not the best analogy, but you get my point. I definitely thinks that’s an angle I may pursue. Actually @Sean pointed this out to me last week.
By the way, I have the threaded comments set to a 6 comment limit, so if you want to reply to this, start a new comment and we’ll go from there.
Eric
Yep, it’s stuff like this that made me create frugal.
“I hope Thesis isn’t going to end up as being the next bloatware.”
This is one of the major issues with software in general. There’s always this ‘need’ to come out with new versions and each new version ‘needs’ to have new features. Unfortunately these features often add more complication with little benefit.
It’s the whole 80/20 thing. 20% of a theme’s features bring us 80% of its benefit. So after a few versions, the new features become minute in benefit, but just as heavy on the bloat as any of the previous additions.
This is one thing I WILL NOT do with frugal. I will NOT add a single feature that I don’t believe is worth the addition in code. The whole point of the design and the name I chose for it is that it’s everything you need in a solid blog theme and NOTHING more. Eric
Spot on.
As you know, I’m all for SEO but not everyone shares the same opinion. I don’t think Thesis should have integrated the All in One SEO pack into itself.
Leave it to the plugins, that’s what they are for.