All Thesis design and development is temporarily on hold. My day job has just become more demanding than ever, and requires more of my time.

I’ll be back doing Thesis work in no time, hopefully. In the mean time, take a look at Dave Wilkinson and Matt Hodder. They both do fantastic work with Thesis.

Vox has announced  that they are shutting down as of September 30th, 2010. No new content can be added to Vox hosted sites after September 15th, and all content will be removed permanently. From the Vox blog:

Vox has been a fun place to explore, create and connect with your friends. But Vox is closing its doors on September 30, 2010.

All content, gone. All links to your content, gone. All that hard work creating a site of your own? Gone. Sure, they’ll point you in the right direction to move to a different site, but at what cost? Your place on the Internet, gone.

I’ve written before about the importance of hosting your own website.  These days, there’s really no reason not to. The cost is extremely reasonable, and you can outsource the technical stuff to someone like me. With minimal costs and enormous benefits, there’s really only one sane choice.

Having a place all your own online is not only important, it’s absolutely crucial. Putting your content, hard work, and future in another company’s hands is absolutely insane. Host your own site, own your own content, and you never have to worry about something like this happening to you.

Today I’m releasing my latest Thesis skin – Substance. Substance is designed to show off your content without getting in the way. Instead, it blends into the background. It’s not so much what Substance has, but what it doesn’t.

No widgets.

No sidebars.

No social media links.

No images (unless you upload a header image)

No fluff.

Besides your content, there’s a simple nav menu down at the bottom of the page. Unconventional, but it’s less important than your content. It should be below it. Under that, a small search box. That’s it. Substance has what you need, and leaves out everything you don’t.

View the demo site.

Download Substance now. It’s free.

Today I went live with the latest design for GL3 Media. The most obvious change, of course, is a redesigned front page. In the old version, the blog *was* the front page. That’s no longer the case. Instead, i created a static front page showcasing the three main services that I offer.  Here’s a before and after:

Pretty drastic difference.

Most folks that visit this site have a particular need – and I want it to be easy for these folks to find a solution.  Don’t worry – the blog is still here.  Simply click the Blog link in the header, and everything will look familiar.

Thoughts on the new landing page?  Let me hear ‘em on Twitter.

I do that now.  I’ll take your fantastic design in PSD form and turn it into a working Thesis design.  If you ask really nice, I’ll even install it on your site for you – because that’s the kind of guy I am.  Head on over to my PSD to Thesis page to check out the details.

This past Tuesday, the constant bickering about Thesis vs WordPress came to a head in The Great Thesis vs WordPress Debate 2010. (I’m totally going to trademark that name, by the way. )

I won’t bore you with too many details – the gist of the argument is this:

Chris Pearson, creator of Thesis, feels that he can license his software however he wants.

Matt Mullenweg, the alpha dog behind WordPress, says “nuh uh”, since WordPress uses the GPL license, ALL themes/ frameworks / plugins / etc must also use the GPL.

Again, not to get too technical, but the GPL requires that all code be freely distributable. The creator can still charge for non “code” files, such as CSS files, images, etc…. but PHP files must be freely available for anyone to do whatever they want.

I’m no lawyer, and I didn’t read the entire GPL – I have no interest in such matters. And that’s key, right there. As a developer, I don’t have even the slightest concern for licensing disputes. They don’t matter to me, and they don’t matter to my business.

When I build a client site, I use WordPress, and Thesis. For each client site I build, I purchase a Thesis Client Site Option. It’s $40, and it’s required by DIY Themes. I gladly pay this amount, since Thesis is a great framework for me to build on.  As long as it makes sense, I will continue to do this.

End users don’t care about Thesis vs WordPress.

Not at all. They don’t care about GPL, derivatives, licensing, or any of this fuss. They care about using the best software around. They care about having a site that works well. They care about getting things done. So while there’s a Holy War going on, folks are still building sites on WordPress and Thesis. Work is still getting done, and it will continue to get done.  Folks will continue using two great products, until such a time as something better comes along.

Whenever my wife goes shopping, she heads straight for the sale items. She absolutely loves sales. I’m pretty sure it’s ingrained in her DNA to buy things that are on sale, even if she doesn’t need them.

While I don’t really understand that, I do love when the things I need are on sale. A good sale on something I need can really make my day. What does that have to do with GL3 Media, you ask?

For a limited time, I’m putting the Custom Blog Setup on sale. Normally I charge $500 for the full monty, but I’m feeling generous.

How does $196 for a complete blog setup sound?

This is the same package that normally goes for an even $500 – I haven’t cut anything out. You still get all the good stuff:

The total cash value of what you get is $267 – not including my time and expertise. You read that right – if you purchase hosting, a domain, Thesis, and Gravity Forms, you’ll spend more than you would spend if I do everything for you.

Less money, less work, better results. Get started now.

P.S. I just wanted to make a quick note about this, so there’s no confusion. I’m a Thesis Developer, as well as a Gravity Forms developer. Everything you purchase from me will have the proper license, so you’re nice and legal. I support great software, and would never skimp to save a buck.

There are dozens of ways that people make money with their website. None is easier than using Google Adsense, even if it’s not always the most profitable.

When using Adsense, it’s important to use a feature called Section Targeting. Basically that means you get to define the area that Google uses for context when it displays ads. Normally you’ll just insert two lines of code into your single.php template – one before the post, and one after.

Since you’re using Thesis (And seriously, haven’t I convinced you to switch yet?), you can’t go hacking the Thesis core – that’s a big no-no. Instead, you can just insert this block of code into your custom_functions.php file.

//Adsense Section Targeting
function start_adsense_targeting(){
echo “<!– google_ad_section_start –>”;
}
function finish_adsense_targeting(){
echo “<!– google_ad_section_end –>”;
}
add_action(‘thesis_hook_before_headline’,'start_adsense_targeting’ );
add_action(‘thesis_hook_after_post’, ‘finish_adsense_targeting’);

The reason I recommend using the thesis_hook_before_headline hook rather than the thesis_hook_before_post hook is that my method includes the post title in the section targeting.  Since your headline is very likely to be keyword-rich, why not include it to target your ads better?

That’s it. One little tiny block of code, and your Adsense ads will be much better targeted to your content. The end result? More relevant ads, more clicks, and more money in your pocket.

When you’re a web designer, the most important people in the world are your clients. The second most important are your potential clients. Without a steady stream of clients, you won’t earn a living. Your client base tends to also be a huge source of frustration. Even for the most seasoned web design veterans, clients can absolutely drive you nuts. Here’s the thing, though: it doesn’t need to be that way.

It’s not the clients, it’s you.

That’s right – just about all those frustrating things your clients do and say are your fault. There’s a better way to handle things. You can prepare your client for what to expect, so bad situations don’t come up.

My friend Naomi Niles wrote up a guide to help designers avoid these stressful situations. It’s called – you guessed it – A Smoother Web Design Process. Here’s who Naomi says this guide is for:

Web designers that are tired of having issues with clients all the time.
Web designers that find the web design process more stressful than it needs to be

If that’s you, and I can see you nodding your head, so I know it is you, you should pick up the guide. It’s available in PDF form, though you can print it out if that’s your thing. It only costs $7, which let’s face it – is nothing. Pony up the seven bucks and make your job easier.

Get the guide here.

Oh, just a side note before i forget. Naomi has an affiliate program set up for this guide. I could have signed up to get paid every time someone buys her guide through my link, but I didn’t. There’s no financial incentive for me here. Pick up the guide for a pittance, and start handling your clients better.

This week I read a brilliant article by Hugh MacLeod, creator of the famous Gaping Void comics, entitled “Why You Shouldn’t Write for Other Writers.” The gist of the article is, if you write to appease other writers, you will fail. Miserably. Sure, other writers will praise your work to no end. But the customers, the people who are your real target, will not get it. They won’t like what you write. They won’t buy what you’re selling. And that my friends, just won’t do.

This logic works perfectly in the web development and design world.

When you’re creating a new site for a client, it’s important to remember what matters. Writing pristine, gorgeous code is a great goal to have. Clean code tends to make search engines a little happier, and it’s a heck of a lot easier to maintain. But if your entire focus is on writing brilliant code that other developers will tip their hat to, you’re going down the wrong path.

The same goes for the design aspect. Creating a design that impresses other designers is not necessarily the best choice. Other designers are not your client. They are not paying you, and they should not matter to you.

Your client matters. More importantly, your client’s customers matter.

Let that sink in. Your client is not the most important person when you’re creating a new website. The people who spend money with your client are. These are the folks who pay your client’s bills. They keep him in business, so he can hire people like you.

The site you design should target your client’s customer base, or desired customer base. The design should be clean, with a clear purpose. Navigation is supremely important – if a site is hard to get around, would-be customers will leave. A site should be, above all, easy to use. If a site sells something directly, it should be obvious. It should be easy to make a purchase. Contact information should be readily available, in case a potential customer wants more information.

Usability matters more than anything else. Keep this in mind before you fall into the trap of designing for people who don’t matter.