Thesis Theme for WordPress: Options Galore and a Helpful Support CommunityI’m a big fan of WordPress as a blogging platform, and I highly recommend the Thesis theme for anyone wanting to get up and running with a search-engine-friendly, powerful system that can be customized and extended.


When choosing a theme, there are three general options:

  • Use a free theme
  • Hire a designer/developer to build a theme from scratch
  • Purchase a premium theme

Free themes have the downside of being of variable quality, and support is often lacking when something goes wrong. Hiring a designer to build a completely custom theme is a good idea, but it can get quite spendy if you find someone who does a thorough job. Thesis is a premium theme but it’s quite affordable (a single blog license is less than $90), and features a ton of powerful options that aren’t found in the vast range of free themes.

Why Thesis

Here are what I feel are the key benefits to thesis and how they can help a photographer:

  • SEO is Built-in: Thesis was designed with search engine optimization in mind. Having these features built into the theme mean that extra plugins aren’t needed to help you boost your ranking in Google.
  • Many design options can be set via an easy admin panel: Choose one column or up to three. Set the column sizes. Decide if you want to feature a rotating photo gallery. Choose which pages to display in a navigation menu (or add links that aren’t even part of your site). All of these options are set graphically without writing any code.
  • Excellent support: There’s a VERY active user community. I recently dropped in on the customization forum and found more than 40 different design/customization topics… and that was just in the past hour. The official Thesis support staff respond to inquiries in a timely manner, offering tips, suggestions, or bugfixes as needed.
  • Active development: Thesis is under active development, with new releases a few times a year offering enhanced features. As an example, Thesis 1.6 will be the next version and it will include a bunch of new options for menus and navigations.

Overall, for someone who isn’t a PHP developer, Thesis provides a great value, paying for itself many times over in the amount of time saved over either learning to write code or hiring someone to do the same. Check out Thesis and kick your WordPress website up a notch.

This post features affiliate links.

These other posts might be of interest to you:

  1. Thesis Just Got Better: An Easy to Customize WordPress Theme
  2. Six Plugins You Don’t Need if You Use Thesis
  3. WordPress 3.0 is Released: New Menus, Theme Options, Better Help

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thesis,
wordpress,
wordpress themes

Image management in WordPress changes with version 2.9 (due to be released in the next few days). Basic photo manipulation tools have been added as part of the core WordPress functionality. You can now crop, resize, flip, and rotate images from within WordPress (without any plugins).

Here’s a tour of the new image manipulation features of WordPress 2.9… note that this will best be viewed fullscreen (or at a larger size than the embedded widget):

YouTube Preview Image

While you won’t stop using Photoshop or Lightroom with these features, for those times when a quick/dirty image is needed in a blog post, I expect the new features will make things a lot easier for bloggers.

These other posts might be of interest to you:

  1. Social Photo Podcast #6: Family Photo Sharing, WordPress 2.9, and a Couple Funny Sites
  2. Upgrading WordPress: It’s Easy
  3. WordPress 3.0 is Released: New Menus, Theme Options, Better Help

Tagged as:
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screencasts,
wordpress,
wordpress 2.9

WordPress 3.0 is the newest release of my favorite blogging software. The new release includes an all-new easy-to-use menu system, more options for theme customization, a lighter admin interface with more contextual help, and more. You can download it directly or upgrade your existing install.

I’m sure I’ll write more in depth about specific elements of the new features, but in the meantime you can take a quick video tour of WordPress 3.0 (hit the icon in the lower right to embiggen the video):


Are you diving into WordPress 3? Are you going to wait a bit before upgrading your sites?

These other posts might be of interest to you:

  1. Do You Need to Update WordPress Every Time a New Version is Released?
  2. Thesis Just Got Better: An Easy to Customize WordPress Theme
  3. Pump Up Your WordPress with the Thesis Theme

Tagged as:
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wordpress,
wordpress 3.0

I’ve talked to several photographers who have expressed a similar thought: “I know that I should blog… but what should I blog about?” There’s not a single right answer to that question, but there are a couple general options for a photographer who blogs: either blog for your clients, or blog for your peers.

Blogging for your Photography Clients

A client-focused blog is a great way to show off your recent work and highlight your services. By highlighting some of your recent photography, you’ll help your potential clients understand your style and portfolio as well as be able to keep fresh images on your website. Another nice aspect of blogging about recent client photoshoots is that your clients will often get a kick out of seeing their photos on your site. They’ll tell their friends and family to check out their picture on your blog, driving traffic to your site and exposing your internet presence to a larger audience. For a couple great examples of client-focused blogs, see the work of Gabriel Boone Photography and Sara Gray Photography.

keyboard ~ blurBlogging for Photography Peers

A photography blog that’s aimed at photographers probably won’t lead to a direct increase in client business, but it can be a great way to discuss and share technique as well as engage in a dialog with others who are in similar situations. If you’re going to blog for peers, be sure to offer a combination of explanation plus examples. The blog can cover all sorts of topics or it can be focused on a particular thing for which you have an expertise to share. Remember however that you don’t need to be an expert to blog… blogging your learning experiences can be beneficial both as a learning tool as well as something that other photographers can use as reference. Examples of blogs aimed at fellow photographers would be Digital ProTalk and this very site you’re reading.

Which Should You Do?

It’s up to you. If you’re looking to share your client work and directly reach your existing and potential client base, then a client-focused blog is the way to go. If you’d rather reach out to other photographers and expand the breadth of your reach amongst peers, then a blog aimed at the photographer audience is a way to publicize your voice. I’d caution against mixing the two types of blogs, as photographer-facing posts might confuse or bore your clients, while example after example of client work might not always attract the interest of your peers. Splitting up blog topics was one of the key reasons behind the formation of this site, providing a venue for my photographer and social-oriented posts which previously resided on my client-facing website.

There’s no single right way to blog, but your blog should have a focus of your own choosing. If you currently blog (or are thinking of starting), what’s your focus? Who do you blog for?

Photo by striatic, used under Creative Commons licensing

These other posts might be of interest to you:

  1. Four Quick and Easy Blog Post Ideas
  2. Build Your Network by Leaving Blog Comments
  3. How Not to Use Twitter as a Photographer

Tagged as:
blogging,
clients

If you’re new here, you can keep up with my latest photography information at Picture Pundit – subscribe to my newsletter for a FREE Report: A Guide to Twitter for Photographers.

The Crowd at Wordcamp 2008One of the first articles on Social Photo Talk was a look at What Should a Photographer Blog About. In that article, I mentioned that it’s important to identify the audience for your blog. Another important aspect of blogging as a photographer is to decide how your blog fits into your business. Is it just another page on your website, or is your blog a core marketing medium? Are you merely providing more information on your existing services, or are you using the blog to reach others in the industry or as a revenue-generating service?

If you’re serious about your blog for your photography services, it should be treated as any other marketing/advertising activity, meaning that you’ll want to spend some time and money to become as proficient as possible. Reading Social Photo Talk falls into this category. It also might mean purchasing some books (either paper or E-books), listening to some photography podcasts, or attending blogging or social media related events.

Last weekend, I was in Seattle to present at WordCamp Seattle, a conference about blogging and the WordPress blogging platform. While some of the attendees definitely fit into the geek/techie crowd, a large portion of the audience were people with businesses unrelated to tech that are using blogging as part of their business strategy. While I was there, I recorded a few brief videos with these people; I’ll be posting the videos in the coming weeks as testimonials of the benefit of attending social media events even when social media isn’t your core business.

How do you learn about blogging and social media?

Photo by Randy Stewart, used under Creative Commons licensing

These other posts might be of interest to you:

  1. Social Media Events for Non-Techies: Meet Laurie
  2. Social Media Events for Non-Techies: Meet Andy
  3. Social Photo Podcast #21: Google’s Photo Business, Social Media Lost and Found, Outsourcing Your Blogging

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events,
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wordcamp,
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Old ToolsWith the automatic upgrade features now included in WordPress, instalilng updates is much easier than it has been in the past. Even though it’s a simple process, there are still a few things to keep in mind for a smooth upgrade experience. Here are my recommendations for upgrading the WordPress software:

  1. Back up your database. Although I’ve never had a WordPress upgrade go wonky, having a backup of your database ensures that if something were to go awry, you won’t lose any of your blog’s data. Backups can be performed manually or using a plugin, for more information see the official documentation.
  2. Deactivate all of your plugins. This step is optional. To be honest, I don’t usually do it, but I have had a couple problems in the past that would’ve been made much simpler if I’d deactivated plugins. After the upgrade, if a plugin is problematic, it’s much easier to troubleshoot if it’s inactive. Do as I say, not as I’ve done.
  3. Upgrade WordPress. Go to Tools->Upgrade (or click the link in the yellow bar at the top of your WordPress Admin panel) and WordPress should download and install the latest version automatically.
  4. Verify things are working. If everything appears in order, go ahead and reactivate your plugins.

That’s it! Upgrading used to be much more time consuming before the automatic upgrade features were built into WordPress. Now, it can be a quick affair… once you’ve done it a couple times, you’ll probably be able to do the whole process in less than ten minutes.

Go forth and stay up to date!

Photo by Svadilfari, used under Creative Commons licensing

These other posts might be of interest to you:

  1. Do You Need to Update WordPress Every Time a New Version is Released?
  2. Thesis Just Got Better: An Easy to Customize WordPress Theme
  3. WordPress 3.0 is Released: New Menus, Theme Options, Better Help

Tagged as:
blogging,
wordpress

Is it worthwhile to repeat yourself?

Most folks who have a blog and use Twitter will send a tweet that links to a new blog post (either manually or through an automated means). That’ll drive traffic, but how many of your Twitter followers will see it?

TweetHint: not all of them. Probably not even a majority of them. If someone is following more than a few people on Twitter, they’re not reading everything. Twitter users drift in and out of the stream of tweets, catching whatever happens to flow by while they watch. If you’re tweeting while someone happens to be away, your tweet probably isn’t being seen.

One way to help your tweet reach more viewers is to repeat the tweet. One option is an automated tweet scheduling service such as that offered by FutureTweets or SocialOomph.

Another method (and the one which I use) is to manually post a tweet at a later point, referencing the post which someone might have missed. For example, see this tweet which was the automated tweet when my post-SXSW thoughts went live, and then I manually posted a follow-up tweet later that evening to catch a crowd that might not have seen the original one.

You don’t want to overdo it and post too many times… after all, the folks that are paying close attention don’t want to see you advertise the same post over and over and over, but I’d argue that tweeting a link 2-3 times is completely appropriate.

And so I ask… is it worthwhile to repeat yourself?

Photo by wonderferret, used under Creative Commons licensing

These other posts might be of interest to you:

  1. Future Blog Content: Schedule Your Posts
  2. Can You Tweet Too Much?
  3. 14 Things a Photographer Can Tweet About

Tagged as:
blogging,
promotion,
self-promotion,
tweets,
Twitter

NumbersYesterday I saw that Chase Jarvis posted about a list of the top 20 photography blogs based on (as he put it) some math. Most of the blogs on the list are ones I’m familiar with either because I’m a frequent reader or I hear about them all of the time. There are a couple surprises. While it’s an interesting list to see, I’d argue that “top blog” listings are much like “top Twitter” listings… don’t worry too much about the numbers, and instead look at why you’re blogging and what results you’re seeing, and don’t worry too much about the ranking.

Photo by Krissyho, used under Creative Commons licensing

These other posts might be of interest to you:

  1. Nine Words that Kill Participation on Blogs
  2. How to Let Others Share Your Flickr Photos via Blogs

Tagged as:
blogging

Subscribe via iTunes: – this link will launch iTunes for easy subscription

Here we go with Episode 23 of the Social Photo Podcast. Hosts Aaron Hockley and Lyza Danger Gardner talk about better blogging, Facebook, a Social Media iPhone App, Lightroom 3, and more. This episode is about sixteen minutes long.

All this Web belongs to meLinks to Things We Mention

Distribution and Feed

We’re now on iTunes – if you use iTunes, you can subscribe using this link: Subscribe on iTunes

You can also find the podcast as an attachment to the main Social Photo Talk RSS Feed. You should see a player at the bottom of this post if you want to listen directly, or you can grab the Episode 23 mp3 file directly.

Feedback

We’d love to have your feedback – technical, content, or otherwise. Leave a comment here or send mail to [email protected] – thanks!

Photo by Robert Scoble, used under Creative Commons licensing

Podcast: Play in new window
| Download

These other posts might be of interest to you:

  1. Social Photo Podcast #22: Blogging, iPad Updates, Easy Release, Adobe’s Lens Correction
  2. Social Photo Podcast #21: Google’s Photo Business, Social Media Lost and Found, Outsourcing Your Blogging
  3. Social Photo Podcast #18: Lightroom 3, CS5, iPad Preview

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identica,
iphone apps,
lightroom,
lightroom 3,
lightroom 3 beta,
photo blog boost,
rick sammon,
social media,
social media marketing

If you’re new here, you can keep up with my latest photography information at Picture Pundit – subscribe to my newsletter for a FREE Report: A Guide to Twitter for Photographers.

Subscribe via iTunes: – this link will launch iTunes for easy subscription

Episode 22 of the Social Photo Podcast is ready. Hosts Aaron Hockley and Lyza Danger Gardner talk about blogging for photographers, an iPad update, Easy Release, browsing photos on the iPad, wallpapers, Adobe’s lens correction features coming soon, and more. This episode is about fifteen minutes long.

Racing StarsLinks to Things We Mention

Distribution and Feed

We’re now on iTunes – if you use iTunes, you can subscribe using this link: Subscribe on iTunes

You can also find the podcast as an attachment to the main Social Photo Talk RSS Feed. You should see a player at the bottom of this post if you want to listen directly, or you can grab the Episode 22 mp3 file directly.

Feedback

We’d love to have your feedback – technical, content, or otherwise. Leave a comment here or send mail to [email protected] – thanks!

Photo by Andrew Stawarz, used under Creative Commons licensing

Podcast: Play in new window
| Download

These other posts might be of interest to you:

  1. Social Photo Podcast #19: iPad, iPad, iPad, and Adobe
  2. Social Photo Podcast #16: iPad Poll Results, URL Shorteners, Andy Adams Interview, Call for Questions
  3. Social Photo Podcast #14: More iPad talk, eBooks, HDR

Tagged as:
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