Abaminds

I thought it would be easy to find a proper WordPress theme for Abaminds. It wasn’t. I found flaws on each and every theme I tried. Even on this one. But in the end this was the best I could get, considering my needs and demands.

I could write several posts on this subject. And in fact I plan to write a WordPress theme review series on another blog of mine. You can — and perhaps should — do the same.

How to take writing ideas from WordPress themes

1. Try several different themes. If I were you, I’d use an unknown blog as my “playground.” I’ve tried several themes on this blog before I started promoting it (i. e., when it didn’t have any readers). If your blog or site already has some visitors, you won’t want them to witness your experiments, will you?

1.1. All right, so you may want your visitors to witness your theme experiments. Why? Well, if they notice often visual changes taking place on your blog within a few hours (or days) and send you comments about it, you’ll have an excuse a topic to write about, and it might generate at least one new post. Depending on how you manage the whole situation, you may extend the subject, stirring your readers’ curiosity and even asking for suggestions and advice.

1.2. Why should you try several different themes (no matter if there are going to be witnesses or not)? Because each single theme has different features; as a result, you’ll have more to write about.

2. Put each theme to the test. Take notes on everything: installation, taglines, headers, sidebars, footers, link colours, search boxes, plugin compatibility issues, widgets etc.

2.1. It may be a good idea to concentrate on the problems rather than on the positive aspects of each theme. This way your article would be an alert for other WordPress users.

2.2. Be personal. What is a problem for you may not make the slightest difference for other bloggers. Hence you should make it clear that you’ve analysed the themes according to your own needs.

2.3. Speaking of your needs, the more you describe them, the better your article will (probably) be. Suppose that for you it’s very important to display a tagline, and one of the themes you’ve come across just won’t show it up. You might explain in your post why you think taglines are important for a site or blog, and then describe your attempts to fix the theme. This may result in some helpful tips for your readers.

2.4. Don’t forget to mention any false promises you stumble upon. If you pick a theme described as widget-ready and it isn’t so, tell your readers, even if you don’t really care about widgets.

3. You may either write individual posts about each theme or build a table to compare their features (and issues) in a single place. Of course you could also write a post series and end it with a table to summarise it. Or you could start with the table and then write the post series to provide more details on each theme listed.

4. If you have enough technical knowledge to fix most themes’ issues by yourself, keep in mind that many people — probably most of them — lack such knowledge. And take advantage of this fact by writing tips, how-tos and step-by-step guides for the avarage Joe/Jane. Make your articles truly easy to understand and you’ll eventually attract a loyal readership, because everyone wants help to solve their problems and this is exactly what you’ll be offering.

5. If you are the average Jane or Joe, don’t feel discouraged. You may not be able to give any advice on how to fix WordPress theme issues, but you may write posts that many readers will relate to, because they face the same difficulties. So, instead of trying to play the “superhero,” admit that there are things you don’t know how to solve. Confess that you’re a bit (or totally) lost and that you had to drop a theme you’d have loved to use because you simply couldn’t find the proper way to customise it. This is nothing to feel ashamed of.

6. Images are very important when you write about design. So don’t forget to take several screenshots and include them in your posts. The more, the better, especially if your articles are aimed at a not so savvy audience (see #4).

6.1. Alternatively you can record the desired images with a camera or a screencapture software, act as a narrator to add your comments on each scene and release your WordPress theme tips in video format.

6.2. Podcasts don’t seem to be a nice content format when it comes to discussing design, for the obvious reason that you can’t insert images on them. But feel free to prove me wrong. I’d love to see how you’d get around this limitation.

What if I use both WordPress and *insert other blog platform here*? Which one should I write about?

Why don’t you write about both of them? Compare their pros and cons and, if you aren’t afraid of being controversial, choose the better one — telling exactly why you think it is superior to its alternative. Yes, this type of post has been written countless times. And yes, many people will take the time to read yet one more article like that.

If you don’t like controversy, then just provide the comparisons as useful pieces of information to help your audience make a choice.

What if I’m not a WordPress user?

I believe all of the suggestions above apply to other CMS and blog platforms in a way or another. So just replace “WordPress themes” by the desired layout type. You’ll be very likely to find interested readers (or viewers, if you produce video content), no matter what platform you discuss. That is, unless you choose a CMS or blog platform which no one else uses. But then again, you might use your articles to either arise other webmasters’ interest in it (by focusing on its advantages) or to explain why it isn’t popular (by detailing its issues).

This article has been submitted to Litemind Lists Group Writing Project.

Posted on November 12th, 2007 by Karen Zara
Filed under: Ideas and Inspiration