Danny Brown

podcaster - author - creator

blog design

Making the Switch to Headway

300x250Regular readers here may have noticed my blog has a fresh new lick of paint in the shape of the Headway premium WordPress theme. This replaces the Thesis theme that I was using previously.

While I’m a big fan of Chris Pearson’s Thesis, I found it wasn’t quite so user-friendly for making major design changes (unless you were a decent level of coder). Because of this, many of the blogs using Thesis have a very similar look. Enter Headway.

Developed by Clay Griffiths, Headway takes some of the best ideas from Thesis, adds a whole bunch more, and mixes it all together in a powerhouse WordPress theme. Ideal for everyday WordPress users as well as intermediate and advanced coders, it’s one of the most flexible themes I’ve ever used.

I’ve only just started customizing my blog and already I love the way each page has a different feel. When I really get to work expect some real changes! (Note: the redesign took me around 6 hours from basic framework to fully customized, with no CSS or HTML coding – this is all from out of the box).

Some of the features include:

  • Drag and drop design.
  • No two pages the same.
  • SEO customization on no-index, no-follow, do-follow, meta, tags, posts and pages (everything, then!).
  • Unique “Leafs” system that lets you add text, media and widget boxes on the fly.
  • Easy visual color and font editor for making your own completely personalized skins.
  • In-house Twitter synchronization and social network options.

I could keep writing about how cool Headway is, but you’d get really bored of my praise, I’m sure. Instead, check out the Headway site, watch the videos, and check the theme out for yourself. Or, mosey round my blog and see the different designs for different pages.

Just a note. Since I’m a Headway affiliate, any sales of the theme result in a percentage for me. So, here’s a deal – for any theme ever purchased through one of my links or banners, I will donate 50% of the affiliate payment to the current 12for12k charity in your name. Sound fair?

  • Update Tuesday November 3 – the game just changed radically with Headway 1.5 and its visual editor. Check out all the details here.

Note: This blog no longer runs on the Headway framework. Instead, it’s a custom WordPress design by Lisa Kalandjian of SceneStealer Graphics.

Competition and Changes

last one!
Image by presta via Flickr

For regular readers of this blog, you’ve probably noticed the change in design. Again. Despite the previous one being in use for less than a month. So my apologies for any confusion – I swear I’m not going through an identity crisis!

Unfortunately, while I did like the design of the previous theme, there were some compatibility issues with some of the plug-ins that I use. These couldn’t be worked around, so the result is what you see now. I hope you like it.

Of course, subconsciously the re-design may have something to do with the fact that I just helped my wife get her blog up-and-running. While she’s had a couple of blogs prior to her new one, this is her first self-hosted one. Seeing it all come together was the impetus I needed to look at my own, as well as the fact the plug-in issues needed to be resolved.

You should check it out – she’s got a far sharper mind than I have and she has some interesting ways of putting her views across…

So there you go. New design but still same old me, and competition from my wife for readers – just another day in the life.

Thanks for your patience while I keep dabbling to get a fixed abode – I think this one’s a keeper!