So You Want to Create Your Own WordPress Theme

One of the best ways to make your WordPress blog stand out is by deploying a customized theme. There are two ways you can do this — buy a commercial theme, have a professional create one for you, or create your own.

While the first option is definitely the easiest route, using a commercial theme does not automatically mean that your blog will truly stand out in terms of design — others can buy and deploy the same theme. Moreover, sometimes you might find that you would be violating the terms of the license agreement should you wish to tailor the theme to your liking. You might have to pay for a “developer’s license” if you wish to do that.

Professional designers can definitely give you a unique theme, but that usually involves paying a good amount of money so unless you have cash to burn it’s not really an option for many.

Firefox Add-ons and Themes I Can’t Live Without

Perhaps the best thing about Firefox is the ability to install add-ons and turn your browser into something more than just a piece of software you use to navigate the Web.

Here are some of the add-ons and themes that I like and cannot do without:

GreaseMonkey
Essentially, GreaseMonkey allows you to customize the way web pages look and function. Once installed, you can easily add a plethora of free scripts to enhance your web surfing experience. For example, I use the Better YouTube, Better GMail 2, Better GReader, WordPress Comment Ninja (which is great for managing comments on your WordPress blogs) and Blog Comment Autofill scripts.

Download | Search for, and download GreaseMonkey scripts

Revolution Theme Goes Open Source

One of the best themes for the WordPress platform, Revolution by Brian Gardner, has gone Open Source to many whoops and cheers from many bloggers, including me.

The theme series comes in a variety of flavors — magazine, blog, media, photography, professional, and video. What I personally like best are the two variations in the magazine format: Revolution Church and Revolution Lifestyle (showcased below).