Theme Today

Feature Friday Template: Newscast 4 in 1

Beau — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:34:17 +0000

Today, I’m presenting you guys with an awesome theme from Themeforest called Newscast. This is a great theme for someone looking to setup or has a magazine-styled blog. The slideout images makes this theme standout among its competitors. It comes with 3 different types of slideshows, 4 skins (3 variations of front page), large admin back-end and a whole lot more. Equipped with some great features, Newscast may be the perfect theme for your site. I’m very impressed with the styling and layout of this theme, it looks like it costs at least $1,000. Check out the demo for yourself and see the greatness of this theme!

Demo // Purchase

20 Free Gallery Wordpress Themes For Photographers

Beau — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:12:16 +0000

I’ve talked alot about how Wordpress is a very versatile, open-source application. Wordpress gained its popularity with content blogs but expanded over the years into sites that cover a wide range of topics and styles. From corporate sites to e-commerce sites, Wordpress can do it all.

Wordpress has allowed photographers to share their images to the world. There are many premium themes but you can also find some great free one’s. I’ve compiled a list of 20 free themes that you can use on the Wordpress platform. Click on the image or title to view the demo of these templates.

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Ascari Wordpress Theme

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Galleria Wordpress Theme

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Sharpfolio Wordpress Theme

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Shuttertheme Wordpress Theme

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The Unstandard Wordpress Theme

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WP Pix Wordpress Theme

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Fotofolio Wordpress Theme

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Creative by Nature Wordpress Theme

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Autofocus Wordpress Theme

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Reflection Wordpress Theme

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Nishita Wordpress Theme

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Photoblog (Dark) Wordpress Theme

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Grace Wordpress Theme

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Hyku Wordpress Theme

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Monotone Wordpress Theme

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Ocular Professor Wordpress Theme

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Viewport Wordpress Theme

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Aperio Wordpress Theme

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Photo Biyori Wordpress Theme

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PhotographerDream Wordpress Theme

10 Photoshop Tutorials For Objects In the Office

Beau — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:58:52 +0000

I’ve compiled 10 of the very best and free Photoshop tutorials for objects you see laying around a typical office. Everyone can learn from the simplest of tutorials. You never know when you will use any tutorials so every collection can be of use to all graphic designers.

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Pencil Tutorial

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Flash Drive Tutorial

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Lock Tutorial

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Jaguar Folder Tutorial

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TextEdit Tutorial

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Portable Speaker Tutorial

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Address Book Tutorial

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Inkpad Tutorial

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Headphones Tutorial

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Chinese Food

Feature Friday Template: Red Ikons

Beau — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:00:28 +0000

I’m back and ready for this week’s edition of FFT, where I display the best themes on the net. Today I present a new Wordpress theme called Red Ikons distributed by our friends at Theme Forest. If you’re looking for a portfolio site with an expensive look than this is the theme to use. This 3D styled theme has one of the best featured sections, it just pops! It has many other features including services and client testimonials section, drop-down menu, ready landing pages, social network integration and much more… My only con is that it only comes in the fluorescent red background you see in the demo.

Demo // Purchase

How To Get Things Done on Your Blog

Beau — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:37:17 +0000

Bloggers have the luxury of working whenever they want, wherever they want; this can also be their downfall. Without a set schedule and no boss looking over your shoulder to make sure things get done, the way you spend your time is crucial to the success of your blog. You can choose to be productive and spend time wisely. Or you can get distracted with the internet and look back at your day and wonder why you got zero work done. I’ve been struggling with this and it has taken years to finally be able to get things done and it feels great! Below are my tips to get things done in order to be a successful Blogger/Webmaster.

Wake Up Earlier

Waking up earlier has been the most important aspect in improving my work ethic. I used to wake up right before I had to go to work. This caused me to rush out of bed very disorganized. Now, I wake up at 5:30, get some work done on my sites with some coffee and setup my day to get things done. I still work a 9 to 5 so after an hour of working on my sites I leave the house. It took me incremental changes to be able to wake up early. My advice is to set your alarm clock for 10 minutes earlier and keep making small changes until you feel comfortable with the time you wake up at.

Write a To-Do List

A to-do list allows you to get things done that are important. When you know exactly what needs to get done you’re less likely to get distracted. It feels good to cross out what you got done. Make sure that they can be accomplished in an hour or less. If not, I would break your task down into further to-do’s. I write a to-do list in the morning (another benefit of waking up early), some people prefer to write it at night. Be careful not to overload your list, I would say 3 to 5 important tasks should suffice. For example, here is my to-do list today:

2/24/10 To-Do’s
- Write Get Things Done post for Theme Today
- Comment on 10 blogs
- Rough draft of new blogging service

Stop Checking Stats

This was one of the killers for me. I would check my Analytics and Adsense accounts every hour. Got 10 more visitors, yay! Made 10 cents this hour, yay! Really? I think we got bigger to fish to fry here. Checking stats isn’t nearly as important as writing great content. There is no point in analyzing traffic or income on an hourly basis, you’ll just make yourself crazy. Now, I limit myself to once a day, I even think this might be excessive. To get a better picture, checking stats weekly or monthly would be more beneficial.

Set Time Limits

Block time off where you just work, nothing else. It’s like having set hours at work where you have to be there only difference is you want to be there. Set a time limit where you be productive, I like setting one hour intervals. Its more of a psychology aspect for yourself. One hour is not a lot of time to work but in that hour, if you work continuously, you will get alot done, I promise.

Turn Internet Off

Working online can be a bit distracting, who am I kidding? It’s very distracting! There are so many sites that catch our attention for a long period of time. We browse and browse and browse until there is no more browsing to do, then its on to the next site. In order to be disciplined and get things done, you need to do you. Don’t get distracted by endless sites that don’t make your blog better. If you have the internet browsing bug, then shut off your internet connection and write some posts on a Notepad.

Change Scenery

If working at home is distracting and you find yourself watching TV while you work then my suggestion is to leave. One of the best things about being a Blogger is that you are mobile. You can grab your stuff and go to the local coffee shop or park. I love working at coffee shops, the environment is usually relaxing and others are doing work also.

Know When You Work Best

You should know when you work best, maybe it’s at 6:00am or maybe 11:00pm. Whatever time it may be, you should work during that time. For me, I love working when no one is awake. This goes hand in hand with waking up early. During the time I’m awake there is no one else in my family that can distract me. It’s just me crossing out tasks and conquering the day.

Have Boundaries

Know when and where to work and when and where not to work, I still struggle with this. You should have a set place in your home where all your work is conducted, preferably away from where you are most. Currently, I live in an apartment so my work space is in the living room. I work for an hour or two, spend time with my family and if I’m walking to the kitchen, I’ll open up the laptop and check my site. So its like I’m always accessible to work and it effects my personal life.

Another boundary you should set is time. Like I said before, its very important to set time limits. After you get your to-do list done and your time limit has ended you should close up shop until you set another block of time for yourself. In the meantime, don’t turn on your computer. Step away from your blog because you have life to enjoy.

One Task at a Time

My girlfriend pointed out that when I was working I tended to drift off to another task without finishing what I was previously working on. This caused me to work on 10 things at once without ever getting any of them done. Now, I choose one task and work on it until its done. If something comes up that I need to do, I just jot it down in my notebook. I’m able to put all of my time into one task which results in quality work that I’m able to leave behind completely when it’s done.

In no means am I an expert in getting things done, but the above action steps have gotten me to become more productive. If you want further and more extensive advice I suggest visiting these sites:

Top Celebrity Gossip Blogs That Will Make Your Brain Melt

Beau — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:00:29 +0000

Nothing in the world of internet is secret anymore, that includes celebs. More than ever, celebrities are being photographed and written about as they try to lead a normal life. From the demise of Lindsay Lohan to Brad and Angelina’s latest breakup rumors; all is exposed. Below are the “best” celebrity gossip blogs on the net. I promise reading these daily will surely give you a headache.

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Inside Look Into Google’s Offices

Beau — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:00:19 +0000

We are all familiar with Google and what they do. If you don’t then chances are you might be part alien. Anyways, Google is the most successful company in the world. They have revolutionized how the internet is operating. Google, the powerhouse in search engines, now has branched off into many products and services across the web. Take a look into the offices of Google, they take a more creative approach to working. Some companies have taken this approach but not as many as I would like. Just take a look and tell me you don’t want to work here.

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And to think they started from this…

PHP Dir Submit Can Help You Get More Traffic and Links

Feature Friday Template: inFocus

Beau — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:00:17 +0000

Today’s theme is a very professional Wordpress theme that has been selling like hotcakes over at Themeforest. The first thing that caught my eye was the jQuery slider on the homepage and it has 3 staging effects! This theme is extremely customizable and built on a solid code framework. inFocus comes with 10 color variations and 27 custom shortcodes. This theme is ideally for a business and/or portfolio that screams professionalism.

Demo // Purchase

Other features include;

jquery slider + 3 staging effects
Ajax contact form
unlimited portfolio in 2 views
portfolio video support
lots of blackened options
and much more!