The terrible choices left now with themes
-
I have a number of attractive and interesting and popular sites on WordPress, and I wanted to start a new one.
But I have discovered the choices of themes now is almost depressing. You’ve eliminated two I used a good deal, and I do not understand at all why.
Andrea was a perfect container for photo blogs (see Chuckman’s Montreal), and you now have nothing remotely like it. indeed, I find the list of available themes reflect little in the way of creative possibilities.
So, instead, I’m starting the new one at Blogger where it appears there is now more creative latitude. This is a shame and shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.
Can anything be done in future?
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
-
Hi,
In the Can I Use “Retired” Themes forum topic justpi said:
Whether the themes are still available or not doesn’t have to do with whether you had previously used them or not, it has to do with when the blog was created: retired means no longer available in newly created blogs, but still available in blogs created before the theme became retired.
and
a) As macmanx implied, retired themes do not show up in the Theme Showcase site.
b) “Retired themes remain active on the blogs that use them”. That’s correct but it’s half of the picture: a retired theme also remains available for use on any blog that was created before the theme became retired (even if the blog doesn’t now use or hasn’t ever used the theme).If you’re interested, I can transfer to you an old, abandoned site or two on which Andrea is still available.
-
Hi there, as the retired Andrea theme https://andreademo.wordpress.com/ is not responsive (and therefore not particularly tablet or phone friendly-resize your browser window to see what I mean), you may still want to consider using one of the newer photography themes. Here are a few to get you started: https://wordpress.com/themes/filter/photography+responsive-layout/type/free/ Make sure you click through to the demo site to get the full flavor of the theme.
I particularly like Isola https://wordpress.com/themes/isola/ for its large photos on the homepage, but if you have specific needs, please let us know and we’ll try to suggest other themes as well.
-
-
-
To: musicdoc1
Hi, and thanks for your answer.
I would very much like to take you up on transferring a couple of old sites on which Andrea may be used.
How does one go about this?
Also, is it easy, or possible, to change the names and URLs to what I would use?
I’m a writer and photographer and collector, but my tech competence is limited, and I view places like WordPress as display cases. I don’t worry about the people using tiny screens because they are really inadequate to what I do.
John Chuckman
(email visible only to moderators and staff)Examples of my existing sites:
-
To: musicdoc1
Hi, and thanks for your answer.
I would very much like to take you up on transferring a couple of old sites on which Andrea may be used.
How does one go about this?
Also, is it easy, or possible, to change the names and URLs to what I would use?
I’m a writer and photographer and collector, but my tech competence is limited, and I view places like WordPress as display cases. I don’t worry about the people using tiny screens because they are really inadequate to what I do.
John Chuckman
(email visible only to moderators and staff)Examples of my existing sites:
-
To: justjennifer,
Hi to you, too, and thanks for the information.
I understand about the people using mobile devices, but they are not my audience, the nature of my images not being possible to appreciate in such small format.
Examples of my existing sites:
https://chuckmanmontreal.wordpress.com/
https://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com/I’ll look at the themes you suggest and try evaluating them.
In general, the way the themes are displayed on the theme page it is hard to judge how some aspects would work.John Chuckman
(email visible only to moderators and staff) -
John,
on transferring a couple of old sites on which Andrea may be used. How does one go about this?
See the Transferring a Site to Another WordPress.com Account support page. The process appears quite simple. It seems odd to me that nothing is mentioned regarding whether the receiving party has an option to accept or reject the transfer. I would hope so!
Also, is it easy, or possible, to change the names and URLs to what I would use?
Yes. Changing the site title can be done in a matter of seconds at General Settings. See the General Settings support page. Instructions for changing a site address (URL) may be found in the Change a Blog Address support page.
I’ve just transferred https://sbstage04.wordpress.com/ to the username chuckman2, after changing the theme to Andrea, and changing the site title to “Chuckman’s new site.” The site is empty of content, except for the default “About” page and a few default widgets.
Regards,
doc -
John,
Have also transferred the site https://sbstage03.wordpress.com/ to you, after changing the site title to “Chuckman’s latest.” It has no content except the default “About” page, and a draft post. Like https://sbstage04.wordpress.com/, it displays default widgets which may be replaced.
I noticed only after I transferred this one that it’s set to private. See the Privacy Settings support page regarding privacy options.
-
-
-
-
@chuckman2 – Glad to see that @musicdoc1 was able to help you with your needs.
I understand about the people using mobile devices, but they are not my audience,
Maybe, but you should still consider making your site accessible to the widest possible audience regardless of device. Mobile devices doesn’t only mean phones, it also means tablets, and the use of both is growing.
As far as your sites using Andrea, you do have the option of enabling a special mobile theme which will only be displayed to relevant users. The good news is that of the three sites you’ve mentioned in this thread, only Chuckman’s Montreal is not using the mobile theme for WordPress. Perhaps you disabled it on that site at some point? Here’s more on that: https://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/mobile-themes/
In general, the way the themes are displayed on the theme page it is hard to judge how some aspects would work.
That is the reason why clicking through to explore the demo site will give you a better feel for how a theme looks and behaves. If viewing on a computer screen, resize the browser window to get a feel for how viewers on a phone or tablet will see it.
Best wishes and good luck.
- The topic ‘The terrible choices left now with themes’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 