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Updated WordPress Theme: Black Hat

This update contains several fixes and enhancements.

Details

Black Hat is a dark minimalist theme based on Adrian Diaconescu’s Corporate Sandbox, which is of course based on the Sandbox framework. It is has been built specifically with WordPress 2.7 in mind, but is also backwards compatible for version 2.6. (Sorry, I will no longer be supporting version 2.5 or older.)

Stickers icons courtesy of DryIcons. Favicon by Brian Brasher.

Features

Theme option for changing sidebar location – Pretty self-explanatory, there’s a theme option so that the sidebar can easily be moved from left to right and back again from within the WordPress admin panel. The sidebar can also be removed altogether using this option.

Sitemap template – If desired, you can create a sitemap for your blog by simply using this template.

Links page template – If desired, you can create a links page by simply using this template.

Printer-friendly stylesheet – Something I think a lot of users don’t think about until someone tries to print a post. Personally, I think all blogs should have these!

Admin & Login links – Many WordPress-savvy users don’t need a link to get to the Admin panel, but it’s nice for those of us who can’t remember the exact URL for it!

Favicon & “web clip” icon – Something else I think a lot of users don’t think about. Personally, I hope all my users replace these files with their own. A favicon helps your blog stand out, IMO. Web clip icons are used by iPhone and iPod touch users when adding a bookmark to the Home Screen.

Visual sticky post indicator – With the introduction of sticky posts in WordPress 2.7, I’ve noticed that it’s hard to tell if a post is sticky or not. I like visual aids, and this is one.

Easy to implement Feedburner links – By default, Black Hat features a feed icon linked to the blog’s RSS feed. This can be changed to a Feedburner RSS feed by simply updating the Theme Options page. Additionally, you can also add the Feedburner email subscription link for your feed.

Default and conditional feed options – By default, Black Hat includes the coding for the following feed types: RDF/RSS 1.0, RSS .92, RSS 2.0, Atom 0.3. The RSS feed for all comments for your blog is also included. (note: these are overwritten if using the Feedburner option instead)

Conditional feeds: If viewing a single post, the comment feed for that post is available. If viewing a category, the feed for all posts in that category is available. If viewing a tag, the feed for all posts with that tag is available.

Additional/SEO meta tags – When developing my themes, I take the liberty of adding many commonly used meta tags. Most of the information is automatically filled in via various WordPress commands and can easily be modified by the user.

Twitter integration – In the post footer (when you click on a post, not viewing the index or archive page), there is a “Share on Twitter” link. You can also display your latest Tweet in the sidebar by updating the Theme Options with your Twitter username.

Related Posts feature – This function looks at the tags for a post and finds all posts matching those tags. If no tags are specified for a post, this function will not show up. This function can be disabled via the Theme Options.

Customized default avatar (Gravatar) to match theme design – Black Hat includes an avatar to match the theme style. To use, you would simply login to the WordPress Admin panel and set the custom avatar as default.

More detailed information on these and other features can be found in the theme’s readme file!

Fixes

• Comments displaying improperly (or not at all)

• Related Posts function now matches all tags, not just the first one listed.
  • If a tag has been used only once, it is not included in the search.
  • If only one tag is used, and it has only been used once, Related Posts function will not show.

• Comments and trackbacks now separated.
  • If both trackbacks and comments exists, comments count corrected.

• Favicon corrected for backend (WP Admin).

• Navigation links added to post single view.

Availability

Demo | Download

Businesses lending a hand to job hunters

I’m sure y’all don’t need me to tell you that finding a job is hard work. I know that I am extremely lucky to have found another job within a month of being laid off. Jim was laid off last week, so having me working again so soon was a real blessing. But I know plenty of other people who are still looking.

Looking and applying for a job is hard work, and I’m happy to see that some businesses are looking to lend a hand to those still trying to find work: in particular, Staples and Office Depot. I ran across a couple entries on Mommy’s Wish List that I thought some of y’all might find useful in your search (or you could relay to someone you know who’s searching):

• Office Depot is offering free printing and faxing services to customers until May 30th. (more details here)
• Staples is offering free and business cards to customers until June 13th. (more details here)

Hopefully that’s helpful to someone out there! Please feel free to share related hints or treats in the comment box below.

Updated WordPress Theme: Black Hat

I normally don’t post updates to my themes here on the blog, but I think this one warrants an update post for a variety of reasons. This update has been so extensive, I want to post a little more information on this its features as well as its development. I also want to highlight what the theme has to offer — while this is all is located in the readme file, I don’t think I laid everything out in the original introduction post. And last but not least, I wanted to cite the various resources that I have used in both the development and updating processes.

Details

Black Hat is a dark minimalist theme based on Adrian Diaconescu’s Corporate Sandbox, which is of course based on the Sandbox framework. It is has been built specifically with WordPress 2.7 in mind, but is also backwards compatible for version 2.6. (Sorry, I will no longer be supporting version 2.5 or older.)

Stickers icons courtesy of DryIcons. Favicon by Brian Brasher.

Features

Theme option for changing sidebar location – Pretty self-explanatory, there’s a theme option so that the sidebar can easily be moved from left to right and back again from within the WordPress admin panel.

Sitemap template – If desired, you can create a sitemap for your blog by simply using this template.

Links page template – If desired, you can create a links page by simply using this template.

Printer-friendly stylesheet – Something I think a lot of users don’t think about until someone tries to print a post. Personally, I think all blogs should have these!

Admin & Login links – Many WordPress-savvy users don’t need a link to get to the Admin panel, but it’s nice for those of us who can’t remember the exact URL for it!

Favicon – Something else I think a lot of users don’t think about. Personally, I hope all my users replace this file with their own. A favicon helps your blog stand out, IMO.

Visual sticky post indicator – With the introduction of sticky posts in WordPress 2.7, I’ve noticed that it’s hard to tell if a post is sticky or not. I like visual aids, and this is one.

Easy to implement Feedburner links – By default, Black Hat features a feed icon linked to the blog’s RSS feed. This can be changed to a Feedburner RSS feed by simply updating a file to include your Feedburner feed URL. There is also pre-written coding for the Feedburner email subscription link. Another simple edit can enable this feature.

Default and conditional feed options – By default, Black Hat includes the coding for the following feed types: RDF/RSS 1.0, RSS .92, RSS 2.0, Atom 0.3. The RSS feed for all comments for your blog is also included. Conditional feeds: If viewing a single post, the comment feed for that post is available. If viewing a category, the feed for all posts in that category is available. If viewing a tag, the feed for all posts with that tag is available.

Additional/SEO meta tags – When developing my themes, I take the liberty of adding many commonly used meta tags. Most of the information is automatically filled in via various WordPress commands and can easily be modified by the user.

Twitter integration – In the post footer (when you click on a post, not viewing the index or archive page), there is a “Share on Twitter” link. There is also some pre-written coding to allow you to display your latest Tweet in the sidebar.

Related Posts feature – This function looks at the first tag for a post and finds all posts matching that tag. If no tags are specified for a post, it simply will not show up at all.

Customized default avatar (Gravatar) to match theme design – Black Hat includes an avatar to match the theme style. To use, you would simply login to the WordPress Admin panel and set the custom avatar as default.

As I said, more detailed information on these can be found in the theme’s readme file.

Sources and Link Love

These are the various resources and individuals who have helped make this theme possible: WP Candy, Cats Who Code, ThemeLab, WP Recipes, WP Hacks, Lorelle on WordPress, the WordPress Codex, WP Seek, WP Tavern, Jacob at A Blinding Sonic Blast, WP Lover, WP Hackers mailing list, Theme Playground, and For the Lose.

My apologies if I’ve left anyone out!

New WordPress Theme: Black Hat

My newest theme for WordPress 2.7. I think this one has been my biggest challenge due to all the features I had wanted to incorporate. As I had previously highlighted in my post the other day, this theme includes a detailed “read me” file covering its various features and a couple of FAQs/frequently requested modifications:

• Theme option for changing sidebar location
• Sitemap template
• Printer-friendly stylesheet
• Favicon
• Additional feeds
• Additional/SEO meta tags — including Google’s new canonical tag for paginated post pages. (Rumor has it this tag will be added to the core code in a future WordPress release. Nice!)

While I don’t think it’s my best work visually-speaking, I think its functionality and user-oriented details make it one of my better themes overall.

As time permits, I will be updating previous releases to meet the standard that I’ve set for myself with this release.

Details

Black Hat is a dark minimalist theme based on Adrian Diaconescu’s Corporate Sandbox. It is has been built specifically with WordPress 2.7 in mind, but is backwards compatible down to version 2.5. Stickers icons courtesy of DryIcons. Favicon by Brian Brasher.

Availability

Demo | Download

New Neopets petpage template: Fairy Dust

I had originally designed this for a Blogger template, but ported to Neopets petpage format by request. I have several other designs that I will be (hopefully) porting soon.

Preview:

Code:

Download here.

To install:

Go to your Neopets’ homepages index. Click the “Edit” link under the pet whose page you want to modify. Copy the contents of the template’s code file into the edit box. Scroll down and click “Preview Changes.” After the preview page loads, scroll down and click “Save Changes.”

New WordPress Theme: Red Delicious

My first new theme featuring the WordPress 2.7-specific features. Hopefully, I’ll soon have the time to update my other themes.

Details

Red Delicious is a fruity red theme. Works with WordPress version 2.7 and is backward-compatible down to version 2.5. (If you were really desperate, it can work with 2.3 but I wouldn’t recommend it!) Background courtesy of Country Clipart by Lisa. Stock image for header by Creapril.

Availability

Demo & Download

Iron Bowl 2008 Wallpaper

Here’s this week’s wallpaper:

Click image to preview

Download: 1024×768 / 1152×864 / 1280×1024

So how about that Tide? I have to admit, that was one of the most enjoyable games!!

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

Bama vs Mississippi State Wallpaper

Here’s this week’s wallpaper:

Click image to preview

Download: 1024×768 / 1152×864 / 1280×1024

Bama vs LSU Wallpaper

Holy cow, Saturday’s game was a real nail-biter!! We watched the game at a friend’s house and I tell you what, I think I was on the edge of my seat for the entire time! Some really big mistakes could’ve cost us the game. (*ahem* JP, what was that “phone” crap?!!?) Overall, it was a good game, though Bama really needs to tighten up before hitting Miss State this weekend!

A big thanks to Rich and Isabel for letting us invade their lovely home.

Here’s this week’s wallpaper:

Click image to preview

Download: 1024×768 / 1152×864 / 1280×1024

Bama vs Arkansas State Wallpaper; Bama’s #1

Here’s this week’s wallpaper:

Click image to preview

Download: 1024×768 / 1152×864 / 1280×1024

We’re number 1!

I was reading something posted on AL.com yesterday:

Last time Bama was number 1 in the regular season: November 1, 1980, the weekend before an election.

Weird timing, right?

I’m so proud of my team.

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