Previously, I have listed some very nice WordPress themes for download. Still, we cannot ignore bloggers who still have their blogs hosted in Blogger (blogspot.com). If you are having a blogspot.com blog, and is using the xml new Blogger (previously known as Blogger Beta), here is a list of beautiful, nice, neat XML templates that you may want to try them out.

Before listing those templates, I would like to remind you that, please backup a copy of your current Blogger template. Just in case you want to change back to your current template later. And also please bare in mind that once you have upload a new template, all your widgets data configuration might be lost. So do whatever backup that you need to do before upload and try out the new templates.

How to upload a new template? (in XML new Blogger)

1. Download and unzip the template file.
2. Login to your Blogger Dashboard.
3. Go to Layout > Edit HTML.
4. Browse for the XML template file that you have just downloaded and unzipped.
5. Click on the Upload button.
6. Save template and you’re done.

[...more]

Tags: Blogger, theme

Did you buy a domain and get your WordPress blog hosted there? It is always a nice idea to also make your computer a local server, and install WordPress in it. I always encourage my blogger friends to have WordPress installed in their local computer.

Why? Because you can easily customize your theme, test out plugins and other features of WordPress, before you upload the whole thing or implement the plugins that you are going to use, to your host. You can see the result almost instantly, as localhost connection is always faster.

If you ask me how do I customize my blog theme, I will tell you that, I have a local server installed in my computer which is not open to public and I can just preview any changes I made easily without disturbing my current online blog theme.

All you need is a web server application, Apache, MySQL database and PhpMyAdmin application.  There are several open source all-in-one web server application you can choose from. I would suggest you to use WAMP or XAMPP. [...more]

Tags: tool

A week ago, WordPress announced that WordPress 2.5 RC1 is available for download. 4 days ago, another released known as the RC2 has been made available. The WordPress development team is really getting their hands fast on this. Today WordPress 2.5 is finally released to public, the stable version.

I believe a lot of blogs will be mentioning about this, however, I would still like to inform all my readers about the release of WordPress 2.5. A list of plugins have been tested for compatibility with WordPress 2.5. Before updating your WordPress, please make sure that all the plugins that you are currently using is compatible.

I’ll download version 2.5 and install in my local machine and test it out before uploading the new bunch of codes to my host. Are you ready for WordPress 2.5?

Also check out how to update WordPress.

Tags: release

To distinguish your blog with other blogs, you ought to have unique quality contents. However, the outlook of your blog design is also another issue to give good impression to your readers, especially first time visitors.

There are plenty of free themes available for downloads and most themes allow you to modify to suit your own taste, but giving credits back to the creators (at the footer), which is pretty fair.

Here, is a collection of 10 elegant WordPress themes that you may consider using them.

Olive Theme by Chris Niedojadlo

I personally like this design. It’s a 3 columns design and widget ready. The default colors is well blended into the theme.

[Download Olive Theme]

Danika by Cyberwire LLC

This theme is similar to the previous Olive Theme. 3 columns and widget ready.

[Download Danika]

Office Theme 1.0 by Greg Ponchak

I like the stationery theme and wood texture behind, really looks like on your working desk. 2 columns and widget ready.

[Download Office Theme 1.0]

RedBlue by Themey

This is a 3 columns, widget ready theme. Red and blue blended nicely.

[Download RedBlue]

iTheme Clear Blue

This is a very “Mac” feel theme. I like the smoothing blue theme. 2 columns and widget ready.
[Download iTheme Clear Blue]

PinkLove

This is a very pretty theme which is suitable for girls. 3 columns and widget ready.

[Download PinkLove]

Div Ice

Looks similar to the previous PinkLove theme but in cool ice blue. Suitable for boys, well, of course girls can use it too. 3 columns and widget ready.

[Download Div Ice]

Div Black Theme

If you are a fan of dark theme, this is quite a nice one. 3 columns and widget ready.[Download Div Black Theme]

Notes

This is really a plain white theme with little colors here and there. Looks like using a highlight pen. Yup, it has a notebook layout. A 2 columns theme. The original theme is not widget ready, however, I’ve converted it to a widget ready theme.[Download Notes]

TV 6Th Feeling

A very contract theme, light comfortable background with dark foreground. 2 columns and widget ready.

[Download TV 6Th Feeling]

Hope you enjoy these themes. Happy pimping your blog.

Not enough, hunger for more options? >> Check out TopWPThemes

Extra reading >> Skin Your Blog

Tags: theme, Wordpress

The RSS button, usually in orange can be found in almost every blog. Many newbie will just ignore this wonderful tool just because they don’t really know what does it mean. Here is a simple explanation on the RSS feed.

We only have 24 hours a day, which we need to spend time on our daily routines, accompanying our family members, as well as reading blogs or blogging. We wouldn’t want to waste extra time by checking updates from our favorite blogs one by one – the so called “blog hopping“.

Some people may argue that they prefer blog hopping, visiting their favorite blogs one by one just to check for updates. Some claim that if there isn’t any updates, they will still leave a message in the chat box. The real intention behind the message usually indicate the owner something like “Oh! Hi there, I was here before and hope you can hop over to my blog too.” I used to do that too for a short period of time. It did boost up some traffic. In fact, that’s what most blog hoppers really want. They may not even read your blog content but just leave a “hi hi” message and hoping that you will head back to them. Most of the time, it works. [...more]

Tags: feed, freeware, rss, traffic