Feed your WordPress Demons!
If you are a professional in the field of web design or photography, it always pay to have a portfolio of your latest work. There are actually a few top blogs that focus only on displaying stunning photos and artworks on a daily basis. Whatever your forte’, having a Wordpress theme to manage your gallery is a life-saver.
As someone who has had a few gallery sites up and running, I can tell you nothing is more important than having a theme that is attractive and easy to use. eGallery by Elegant Themes is just that. First of all, the theme is just stunning. The contract of colors with this theme is just amazing.
What I like about this theme is the ability to rank artworks on the fly with the pop-up star ranking system. The timestamp and the comment count are also pop-ups. You also get picture snap functionality in the sidebar which is a decent addition.
Overall, you want your gallery to be simple to use and good looking, and eGallery is just that. The theme is provided to you as part of your subscription to elegant themes. You also get life-time support and fixes. Best of all, you can remove the footer if you want, and you can keep the themes for free after your subscription has expired. I would give this theme 4.5/5 stars for the looks and functionality.
Earlier this month, I talked about how you can protect your Wordpress site against hackers. As someone who has been a victim of hackers for so many times, I can tell you that you’d be doing yourself a favor if you keep a constant eye on your Wordpress installation.
While protecting yourself by hiding plug-in and version info on your Wordpress blog is the way to go, you should also do your utmost to protect your wp-admin folder. That’s where all the action happens. One way to protect your admin section is by limiting who can access your files there. Matt Cutts has an ageless piece on this.
But I would go one step beyond what Matt is suggesting in his document and deny access to wp-login file as well. That would allow you to protect your blog against Brute Force attacks. Here is how:
{Files wp-login.php}
order allow,deny
deny from all
allow from [your ip]
{/Files}
Replace { with < in the above, and put your IP in there, and you are ready to go. Keep in mind that this will make it very inconvenient for anyone to play with your log-in file (including you). But I rather be safe than sorry.
Mac Success Wordpress Style is a cool new free theme that you can use to write about technology and even Mac, if you like. It’s a 3 column theme that comes with a features section which you can use for your featured posts. There are also placeholders for ads, if you want to monetize your blog.
The Theme has been released by Sheley Wordpress Styles, and you can download it for free here.
I have talked a lot about niche themes on WP Jedi. But one thing that I have probably not talked about is the mother of all niches – blogging. You have probably seen it by now. There are many folks around us who make decent living from teaching other how to blog or make money with blogging. I personally have no trouble with that as long as these guys actually make money from blogging before they started getting yours and my money.
But the truth is, many folks get into the blogging niche without actually making the millions first, and I don’t have a problem with that either. Pro blogging is a very hot niche these days, especially with the economy breaking down. Who wouldn’t want to be able to make a decent amount of money without the hassles of dressing up and going to work everyday?
Bob v3 is one theme that is just made for pro bloggers. As the name indicates, there are three version of this theme. The theme has evolved through the past couple of upgrades, and is now one SEO power house for pro bloggers. Bob v3 comes with the one feature that every pro blogger needs – “my favorite posts.” You get to promote posts that are the most popular on your blog. I also like the fact that you have an “about me” section to promote and sell your background.
The tabbed content is very useful. The content Ajaxified slider is “cool,” and you can use the tab feature to save real estate and show your readers more things. One thing I would change about this theme is the advertisement section. I believe it’s too low on the page, and I have not had success with my ads on that spot. It may work for you, but I am personally biased there.
Overall, Bob v3 is a very contemporary looking pro blogging theme. It’s very easy to navigate, and it’s easy on eyes. With a bit of modification, you can have your very own super blogging theme. One thing I would say is Bob v3 is a theme for serious bloggers. It is not a cheap theme as it comes with many premium features, so if you are not planning to have a serious blog, you should probably look at free theme. Good luck.
Pro blogging Wordpress themes are very dear to my heart. There are so many of them out there. But if you look at most of them, they are light themes. By that I mean you can expect to see a white background with most pro blogging theme. I personally like these themes as they are easier to read. Besides, I find dark themes depressing. But Revolution Elements is one dark theme that I can’t stop looking at.
I am not very design savvy. In fact, I can’t even tell the difference between most colors (a bit color-blind you could say), but Revolution theme is the only theme that I can actually read its content (with its dark background). Most dark themes don’t get this concept right. Folks NEED to be able to read the stuff for a theme to be a success.
With Elements, not only you get a very readable theme, but it is very easy to navigate as well. You get 4 125*125 banner spots that you can use to monetize your blog. You also get a footer advertisement spot which allows you to put small little ads on your footer. 
Elements is a very SEO friendly theme that can be used to create very attractive blogs. One thing that I would like to see with this theme is the actual PSD files. I love theme sellers who provide you with EVERY file that you need to be able to customize your Wordpress themes. Having said that, Revolution 2 allows you to sign up for their support service and get their help with your customization process. Either way, I would give this theme an A-, which is more than I have ever given to a dark theme. Don’t take my word for it though. Check it out for yourself.
