Approach

I began developing this theme with three objectives in mind – I wanted to built a powerful, easy-to-use, automated CMS with WordPress. I can proudly say I fulfilled those objectives the best way possible. This approach required a set of wonderful features to meet the objectives. I am going to share with you each of them below.

Custom Write Panels

To make things easier, I developed a set of custom write panels for the client. Can you imagine how much time would it require to use the default custom field functionality to enter something like 30 fields for a post (the cars details)? That would take forever. This is why I implemented custom write panels, so that the time-saving and easy-to-use objectives get met. However, this is not all.

Automated Image Placement

This is a great feature that does not come by default with WordPress themes. It is sometimes tricky to make it work it right. But, using this feature on your site, after several months you will realize that his has not saved you hours, but whole days and I have no shade of doubt when I say that. Here is why. My client uses about 10 images per post that go to the gallery, one of the images must go the the homepage and another in thumbnail size must go the the category. Normally, that would mean 12 more custom fields for image links. You get what I am saying, right?

Galleria Integration

Galleria is one of the best JavaScript image galleries out there, written in jQuery. I have implemented it in many WordPress driven sites and I am very pleased with its results. As I pointed out in the previews point, the gallery is completely automatic – just upload the images in the media library of the post you are writing and they are at the same time at the gallery. It cannot be easier or more time saving.

Glider Integration

Glider is a great script that makes it easy to create a sliding component in a website. I love that script and I have been using it in several other projects too. It is fully automated for sure. In the site I am talking about it show up the first image the latest post of six car categories I have set to. It is a great effect to the site, in my opinion.

Suckerfish Menu Integration

Suckerfish drop down menu is a complete XHTML/CSS drop down menu invention, except for IE6 which needs to use a small piece of JavaScript to make it work right. It is quite well known now on the web right now. What makes it special in the site is the fact that it makes use of categories and pages at the same time, it has rounded corners and I find it cool.

Open Source Works

The last but not the least, what I cannot forget to say is that this site is completely developed with and on open source. It is built on Ubuntu, designed in Inkscape, developed on Bluefish and run on WordPress, my lovely combination of Open Source Web Development tools.

Have to Say

I would love to hear what you are thinking about what you just read. Your opinion is very much appreciated.

The Theme

UKLocum Website Preview

This project was pretty urgent and I could not afford to design a new theme from scratch, having a lot of other works in hand.  So I decided to go for a free WordPress theme and tweak it to fit my needs. I looked around and I can say that the theme community of WordPress is doing a great job. What I decided to go for is the Magazeen theme that was featured at Smashing Magazine too. Do you want to know what I tweaked? Read on…

Theme Code Cleaning

As you may already know, coders code differently. That is why getting your hands dirty with others people’s code is not a very enjoyable experience, moreover, sometimes it is a real pain. That was the case even with Magazeen which I expected to be better coded. The problem with code was that there where redundant use of DIVS and not logical cascading of CSS. This is my humble opinion – check it yourslef to be sure.

Most of code clearing was easy as it consisted in just removing functionality that the theme came prepacked with such as comments form, advanced widgets, thumbs gallery other elements that I cannot recall now, but it is quite boring and frustrating in other tasks as the drop down menu integration below.

Suckerfish drop down menu integration

The Magazeen theme did not come with a drop down menu, so I needed to integrate one as my client, Greg, required it. Not going into much trouble, I decided to use the Suckerfish Drop Down Menu which I had used several times previously. Because the code was messy, the most difficult part was fitting the theme code to the menu rather than integrating the drop down menu to the theme. However, it ended to be a success.

Custom Banner Integration

The custom banner integration consisted in removing some code from the banner section and placing the banner image there. Also, to help SEO of the site, I used a CSS image replacement techinque for the logo so that the human fisitors can see the nice image logo whereas the search engines read the given text wrapped in <h1> html tags.

Color Combination Alteration

Pawel, my client’s graphic designer, suggested that we used another color combination that would go better with the logo and banner colors. I implemented that color combination and it resulted in  another success.

Welcome Guest or User

Under the menu, I integrated a piece of PHP code from WordPress to welcome a guest visitor and to tell them to log in or to register and also to greet a registered user and to allow them to log out from front page or any other part of the site, so that not to make them to spend time and click to go to admin panel to log out.

Extended User Register

Because of the nature of the site and the needs of my client, he asked me if we could extend the register form with other fields. So  I did, using a great plugin called Register Plus. This is a very feature reach plugin which would allow you do almost anything with your register page, from having your custom logo to adding a lot of functionality and fields. I want to immensely thank the plugin’s developer for offering such a great plugin to the WordPress community.

Events Manager

The most impressing part of the UKLocum is the Events Manager. The Events Manager is a plugin developed by Davide Benini. It allows you to manage events specifying precise spatial data such as location, town, province, etc. It allows your visitors to book their participation in listed events. In my opinion it is the best plugin out there for event management.

When my client, Greg, saw it, he was enthusiastic about it. However, we had to face a challenge with the events. We needed to have people register first for the site, after that they would be able to book the events. Taking in consideration that the plugin developers have fulfilled almost any need in functionality terms, I found the solution fast enough. I employed the HidePost to accomplish that task, just another great plugin out there. I hid the booking form from not logged in visitors, telling them to log in or register, if not, to be able to book the event. That was the happy end of our next challenge.

Bottom Line

What would be the last words of this long boring post? Hmmm! As you could have already deducted from reading this post, WordPress is being more and more important in nowadays web environment. Also,  running WordPress freelance business (perhaps that’s not the right collocation) is a great way to make a living by making money online. The last but not the least, if you need a custom WordPress theme or other WordPress services and, if you are looking for a professional and reliable WordPress freelancer, look no further than my contact page.

Don’t forget that your opinion is most appreciated – please share it below.

Yes, we’re serious: 100%. If you buy 5 PDFs for $29.95, then $29.95 is donated. Our ambitious target is to raise more than $50,000 to help the families and communities affected by this tragedy.

We’re offering our entire range of books — from PHP to Project Management — for the sale; designers, developers, freelancers, managers, and business owners alike will all be able to choose a selection of professional books to enjoy.

You have just 3 days to treat yourself to this amazing deal, courtesy of SitePoint, and know that you’re helping Australian families in need. What are you waiting for?

Go now at SitePoint and get five books at the price of one and feel it in yourself that you are being helpful to other human beings and other beings in the planet. Do it now, they need you!

PS: I just bought mine and donated at the same time.

Do I have to pay for the theme?

No, the theme will be available for free download and usage. The theme in fact is being released under the GPL license which is the same license that WordPress uses. The theme will also have free updates and upgrades forever. Also, I hope we guys build a great support forum for this theme and others to come which will also be free to access, ask and answer.

What do I have to pay for than?

You might never have to pay for anything. But, in case you need help to set up the theme, configure the plugins etc, you might want to buy one of the five (5) service packages that will come along with the theme. These packages vary from setup to theme enhancements and even PSD to the actual theme. More information about this topic will come along with the theme release.

Master Theme Features

• Modern and beautiful web typeface.
• Tableless design and 100% CSS-based layout.
• 2 columns of fixed width.
• Widget Ready.
• XHTML 1.0 Transitional valid.
• CSS 2.1 valid.
• Search Engine optimized coding make wise use of h1, h3, h3.

Preview and Download

• Preview Master Theme at WordPress theme directory. A better preview is to come soon.
• Download Master Theme

Support and Customization

Installation

STEP 1. Extract the files it contains. You need to preserve the directory structure in the archive when extracting these files.
STEP 2. Upload the theme to your /wp-content/themes/ directory.
STEP 3. Now go to Appearance >> Themes and activate the “Master” theme.

License

Master theme is licensed under the GPL. It may be freely modified and copied as long as the license stays GPL. This means that you may use it for your personal and commercial projects and you may also make any changes you like.

Change Log

2009-01-07: Initial 1.0 release.

Design

All the design is done with Inkscape, my favorite vector graphic design application. It is a great and easy-to-use tool at the same time. My client chose the color combination and I implemented them in the design, giving the me gradient flavor. Designing this blog was a great pleasure for me.

Coding

The theme is coded in tableless XHTML/CSS. At first it was pure and valid, but after my client, Troy implemented Awaber subscription code into it, it got full of validation errors. I is not a situation I like to be in, as I claim I code only valid talblelss XHTML/CSS websites and WordPress themes.

Widgets

The theme has two customizable, widget-ready sidebars. This sidebars are supported by CSS style any widget that require extra style, such as wp-calendar widget. My client, Troy could use any widget he needed to.

Layout

The  theme has a simple, three column layout. There are two widgetized sidebars, as I mentioned above, one on the left hand and one on the right hand. Also it has a main center column where the blog content is placed. At homepage there is a static welcome message form Troy. It is basically simple and nice.

Testimonial

Banango (Baki) has been a tremendous resource for me and my growing business allowing me to focus on what I do best and having him take care of my web development needs. He has been extremely responsive to my needs and very professional – I couldn’t be more pleased.

Conclusion

This was a short description of the experience that I had with Troy Broussard, designing and coding a WordPress theme for his blog TroyBroussardTravel.com. I would love to hear your thoughts about this theme. Also, please consider subscribing to my RSS Feeds to have the possibility to read and view more great articles and projects. In case you need a WordPress theme, please drop me a line. If you cannot decide what to do, please have a look at my portfolio to see more works of mine. Thanks for reading!

1. Freelance Switch Jobs

The perfect job listing site for every freelancer. It is a very rich job listing site. It is a little different form other jobs listing site as there the employer lists the advert for free whereas the freelancer has to pay a little money per month to have access at the contact of the employer, just $7 per month. They say this makes it possible for less freelancers to apply for jobs, but I am afraid this statement has made to many to subscribe. Make a try yourself.

2. WordPress Jobs

Perhaps this is not the most appropriate to be listed the second, but it has helped me a lot to find many projects, so I am paying her (metaphor) back. You will find there a lot of WordPress-oriented jobs. I presume that every web designer and developer knows WordPress, is aware that it is invading the web. There you can find programming and designing jobs, which means that it is not a must to know WordPress very well, to find a job there.

3. Authentic Jobs

Authentic Jobs is a great place to find freelance and full-time web related jobs. They are quite expensive on companies that list their job requirements there and my own impression is that there you can find great jobs and you must be a well prepared web person to chosen. They say that since 2005 they have been listing in their site jobs form big and well known companies such as t MSNBC.com, The Motley Fool, Turner Sports Interactive, ESPN, Phinney Bischoff, Garmin, Sony BMG and many others.

4. Fresh Web Jobs

This is another good web jobs listing site. There, expect the fact that you can find good jobs you can even register and make this as a job central where you can collect jobs from other sites that you are interested. As I use Google Reader for this purpose, I did not explore completely this feature, but if you are interested you can do it yourself. If not, Make sure to bookmark the page in your favorite way so you can come and search for jobs whenever you need or like to.

5. Krop.Com

Krop is a neat job listing site, not saying much of itself in word, leads you to deduct its importance and power form its content and look. You will find there a long list of web jobs that vary from web designers and developers to directors of tech and so on. You won’t want to miss a bit of it.

6. Smashing Magazine Jobs

At Smashing Magazine jobs you can find a proper job for yourself. It lists quite professional jobs, the kind of Krop does. It is part of a great online design-oriented magazine and you can profit even of the its content. You do not have any reason to miss it.

7. SitePoint Marketplace

At SitePoint’ Marketplace, a great website for designer and developers, there is a section named ‘Looking to Hire’. There are frequent web jobs. I have found many jobs there and I have found it to have great potential. Do not forget to subscribe even here an see if it is good for you.

8. ReadWriteWeb Jobs

The Read/WriteWeb job board provides job opportunities for Web Technology and New Media professionals, at startups and tech firms all over the world. At least this is what they say. If you find yourself very professional and are looking for a professional carrier in a big tech firm, go there and have a look.

9. Slashdot Jobs

They say that they connect 9 million IT professionals and developers on Slashdot, SourceForge, Linux.com, Freshmeat, IT Managers Journal and Newsforge with the companies looking for the brightest minds in the technology industry. Very impressive; don’t lose the chance.

10. 37signals Jobs

They say that companies such as The New York Times, CNET, Facebook, Adobe, Trek, and American Express use their job board. Another chance not to lose. Go there and explore it yourself.

What I do:

I have subscribed to the RSS of all this sites and read them every time I need another project. When I find something I for me, I just apply; it is simple.

You can make this list longer adding sites at the comment section and contributing to the community. Or you can give me a feedback about how you found the article; it would be very encouraging form me.