One thing that I didn’t expect is Yahoo doesn’t not allow you to access your .htaccess file (or even see if for that matter). My experience is limited to about 5 years of messing with this type of stuff, but the .htaccess file is pretty important, and not having access makes it much harder to do things many scripts need to do. So I started looking for a walk around.

My first round of research led me to a Yahoo plugin and Disable Canonical Redirects Plugin. The Yahoo plugin is supposed to come with all WordPress installs on their server, but my clients didn’t, and it isn’t available for download (at least my 20 minute search provided nothing). I tried a few snippets of code I found, but nothing provided results.

It was starting to look like I wasn’t going to be able to use the traditional permilinks set up, so I went to plan B. Without .htaccess you can add /index.php/ to the beginning of your permalinks set up in the WordPress admin. See the image below to see what I mean.

Of course, this kind of sucks. Not only do I have to add a ugly index.php in my URL, I have to explain this complicated thing that makes my client hate his hosting company and his website, which is never good for business. I want my clients to love their websites so they keep pouring money into it.

Why would Yahoo block access to the .htaccess file?

I want to point out a few guidelines that will make it easy for anyone who has something to submit, to submit it. I have all the time in the world, and all the space in the world to post anything you have to say!

What kind of content do you accept?
Well, first off it needs to be related to blogging. That means anything to do with websites, blogging, wordpress, and all that stuff. Second, it needs to be substantial. I’m not looking for posts that show how to post something using WordPress. They should be at least 300 words in length, and should be formatted in a easy to read format, with headers and correct grammar.

A few key guidelines:
Your submission should be original, and not published elsewhere on the internet.
You must agree not to publish anything we publish anywhere else without notifying us first.
Include a link you would to be listed along with your article.

How do I submit something?
If you would like to submit something for my consideration, please email it to levi(at)cricketsoda.com. I will review it and let you know what I think.

One of the biggest problems with services like Blogger and WordPress is the amount of work you have to put into the whole deal to get a blog that looks the way you want it. And no matter how simple of a set up you are going for, there always seems to be some sacrifice you have to make in order for things to work out.

Of course, the big wigs upstairs know this and continue to work hard to provide a little bit of freedom without straight up offering them their hosting passwords.

Blogger announced the day before Halloween that they have added two new transparent styles to their available navigation bar themes. Now instead of just the four default colors, you can also choose transparent dark and transparent light. These new and improved navigation bars allow your background to show through just a bit, giving it a much more seamless look.

They have also streamlined the navigation bar, making it a little less heavy. This is a improvement many Blogger users have been looking for because the basic four, Blue, Black, Tan, and Silver make for very limited design choices.

To enable the Transparent Light or the Transparent Dark navbar, go to Layout | Page Elements, then click Edit next to the navbar widget.

The theme that really caught my eye is the This is Bold Theme.

Not only does the title pop but the top navigation menu is clean, clear, and easy to read. The top two posts are highlighted followed by a more blog feel mid section. The footer is finished with some afterthought navigation and custom widgets.

Everything in this theme is completely finished, including the dates and comments sections. Even the sidebars have their own customizable headers that fit right into the design.

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First of all, a .com domain name, as opposed to a .info or .us will rank better overall. More quality websites have been built with a .com, and it is giving extra emphasis. Really, if you want the best rankings you would get a .gov, but those are a little harder to come by. I’m not saying that the other domain extensions are worthless, but it is something to consider.

What About Dashes?
Dashes should only be used if they have to be, and you will find better results without a dash. Search engines don’t penalize you for having 1 or 2 dashes in your name, but having more than that is considered spammy, and if you search for some high volume keywords, you will notice that most websites don’t have a dash and rank well. Plus, when you are telling people about your site in person, it is more clumsy to explain where the dashes are, and they are likely to forget by the time they get home.

Keywords
When picking a domain name, it is good to keep the keywords you are wanting to target. If you can include a keyword in your domain name, it will be much easier to rank well for that keyword. This can be overdone though, and you want to make sure you don’t just try to cram a bunch of keywords into a long domain name. A good rule of thumb is to just make sure your domain name makes sense, and it won’t be considered spammy.

Underscores?
I never use underscores in my domain name unless I am creating a programming related website and it fits the theme. When people use underscores in searches, they are usually trying to figure out some piece of code, and want the search engine to help find a page that explains the code they just entered. Google knows this, and returns programming related pages based on what you typed.

While using the underscore may help bring in more programmers, most of the time your visitors are going to be less allergic to sunlight and more prone to find your competitors non-underscored website. It just a better idea to leave the little fella behind, and join the dash revolution.

Numbers?
Again, it is really all about making sense. It might be better to look for alternatives if the online domain name available is widget343.com. Unless you are worshiping Satan and a 666 is needed, or smoking pot and a 420 is needed, its best to leave all the confusing numbers out of the mess. Who likes math anyways.

If you do see numbers in your future, then just make sure it is going to be something people don’t have to work to remember. Also keep in mind that if Google has to rank widget.com, against, widget2.com and widget334.com, widget.com will have a huge advantage. Widget334.com would have to be an amazing site to push to the top.

Conclusions
Picking a domain name requires a little bit of thought. Once you place your order, you are stuck with the domain name, or at least the bill. And once you build a site around a domain name, you are going to have to stick it out for the long run. So, take these ideas into consideration, come up with a few options, and sleep on it to make sure you end up with a performing domain name that you can really get behind.

This WordPress theme comes with many features including:

• 8 color schemes to choose from.
• Customizable Header Slideshow so you can highlight all the best content on your site
• Portfolio slideshow giving you a great way to show off your images
• Built in breadcrumbs and tab menu for easy navigation
• New settings menu added to your WordPress admin to add many new features.

This theme comes widget ready, and includes complete documentation to answer any questions you may have. If you are interested they have a special deal going on right now, and a developers license is only $69.

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Should you just start creating files and start from scratch so you can get all the functionality in right where you want it? You could, and it would be a great learning experience for almost anyone, but honestly all the core functionality of WordPress is going to be the same no matter what type of site you are planning to build. What we want is something that has the foundation in place for us to build and place our elements in place. We want a WordPress theme framework that will let us bring our design to life quickly.

Many theme frameworks take advantage of child themes. Usually a child theme is one or two files that you can input all your design aspects to change the theme. This way you can have several child themes, and you never have to edit the core theme files.

There are many WordPress theme frameworks available for download from the net, most of them free of charge. Once you have these basic themes in place, you can start adding your own stuff with ease. The themes purpose is to be a bare base to unleash your website upon. There are different types depending on what type of site you are looking to design, so look through them all and figure out which one best fits your website design ideas.

1.Sandbox Theme
The sandbox theme is a basic two theme layout that can be modified by editing just the CSS if you fear digging into the PHP files. It focuses on semantic markup that makes it easy to modify quickly. It also includes support for hAtom and hCard microformats so advanced readers can take advantage of that easy to read code. This theme bloats that it’s real beauty is on the inside with semantic classes in each element of the layout, making modifications easy and pain free.

2.Thematic Theme
Thematic is open source framework that offers a grid based layout, many different widget ready areas, and a entire community behind it to provide support. It is SEO optimized, and can be quickly customized to your liking.

3.Hybrid Theme
The Hybrid WordPress theme is free and open source, and provides you with 18 templates ready to go with 9 widget ready areas that give you the ability to create any type of site on the fly. It also uses a system of child themes so you never have to edit the core theme files, and can make portable child themes with ease. Child themes may have a small learning curve, especially for those who are use to normal WordPress themes, but in the end they are much easier to use, and will keep you happier down the road once you learn to use them.

4.Carrington Theme
The Carrington theme focuses on making it easy to create different looks for different categories on your site. They also offer different versions of the theme depending on what you are creating the site for. They have a normal blog theme, a text only theme, and a theme design especially for mobile devices.

5.The Buffet Framework
The Buffet Framework is a open source theme that offers many features for the advanced developer, and a simple set up for the novice to mess with. It also features an extension ability that allows you to code extras in, and users will be able to turn your created extensions on and off in the admin panel.

6.Starkers
The Starkers WordPress framework strips all the unneeded code from the original theme, and resets the browser defaults to give you the perfect starting place for your design. It is the ultimate in barebones and includes no styling elements what so ever. It is your complete blank canvas to make your own.

7. Whiteboard
The Whiteboard framework is very similar to the starkers theme, but with a slightly different starting feel and layout. It was built because the author felt that the Starkers layout didn’t really fit him, and so he created this. So if you feel the same way this may be the best basic starting WordPress framework to use.

8.Imagination Theme
This theme is a combination framework meets traditional WordPress theme. It comes pre loaded with 9 styles you can use straight out of the box. It also comes with basic settings for all the elements on the page so you can customize your theme. This is perfect for the beginner looking for something that really shines, but doesn’t take a lot of work.

9.OnePress Framework
The OnePress framework is designed to allow you to integrate a phpBB forum into your WordPress site. This allows you to build a community, and have your users post their own topics. This is great for a community type site where you want a lot of interaction with your users. It also offers several preset themes with a big wow factor.

So as you can see there are plenty of frameworks to get you started designing your theme. They can help you start with a solid foundation, which will keep you from running into problems later on down the road.

And you can get it all put together in a single day.

There are many different portfolio themes available on the net, and just searching Google will provide you with a lot of options. One of my favorite portfolio themes is by Theme Forest, and it is stunning just to look at.

The Front Page Design

There are also many customizable options with this theme that allow you to get the look and color scheme that matches your organization. It also has an amazing portfolio display section that puts your work center stage.

The Portfolio Page

If you are looking to get your portfolio online, you really can’t go wrong with setting a WordPress theme, and Pandora is a powerful theme.

If you would like to see it in action and download this theme Click Here >>

There are many pre-made WordPress themes. A few of them stick out above the others when it comes to providing additional functions on your site. Some are simple and just provide design changes, while others are function powerhouses that completely change the way your website works.

One of the most powerful premade WordPress themes available is called WP Remix. Once you get WP Remix uploaded into your themes directory you have access to a long list of additional features that will really make your website special.

Many of the additional features include:

Color Schemes
You can pick from many different color schemes to quickly change the color to make your logo or preference. They currently have 7 color schemes and are planning on adding many more soon.

Grid Based Layouts
The WP Remix WordPress theme comes with over 50 page templates using a easy to modify grid based layout. This type of layout allows you to add new elements easily without having to rethink the entire layout of your website.

Ads
The theme comes with the ability to add advertisements from third parties or to promote your own products. Predesigned locations created to get the best results from your adverts make it easy to get your ads up and running.

SEO Ready
Right off the bat your website will be SEO ready with this theme. The content of your theme comes first in the code, giving any spider the juicy stuff first. All meta data is included right where it should be, and proper use of titles make sure your site ranks well in search engines.

Printable Pages
Built into this theme is printable pages that allow your visitors to click a link to get a page specially made for printing. This makes your site look good even in printed form.

Widgets!
One thing that has really made WordPress as amazing as it is would have to be widgets. It has never been easier to add new elements to your site. All you have to do is click and drag, and this WordPress theme is ready to take full advantage of this feature.

Contact Form
For some reason WordPress doesn’t come with a built in contact form. But, lucky for us this theme fixes that by taking advantage of a lightweight plugin. Your fully customizable contact form will allow visitors to contact you directly right on the site.

The WP Remix theme is a great way to get your website up and running quickly. It gives you a clean and professional look quickly, and allows you to make the customizations to really make your website your very own.

WP Remix is avaliable from their website, and will run you $75 to $197 depending on what type of license you are looking for. They also offer a large array of add on modules to add specific functionality to your site.

The New Yorker Theme is a theme inspired by the New Yorker. It provides you with clean columns that give all your important story the highlighting they need. With room for several ads, and many different type of media like videos, you can give your readers the information they are looking for right there.

It also includes things like widget support, and sliding tabs that allow for easy navigation of all your information. Like most premium WordPress themes, it comes with auto thumbnail support, which means you spend a lot less time messing with your images, and a lot more time posting to your WordPress newspaper.

As with most good WordPress themes is comes with a price tag, but this is amazingly cheaper than most premium WordPress themes. Style WP offers this theme for only $39!

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