THE CITIZEN ON MARS

I was strolling through web design sites just about yesterday, searching for new and latest Wordpress theme designs; maybe some recent releases would interest me and make me decide to modify or completely alter the ultra-excellent Original News Theme that I am suiting up for now.

To be sure, the batch of new releases is mostly sharp and becoming more and more sophisticated than ever before. But somehow, I couldn’t decide on what theme design that suits me for now. Maybe later.

Along the way, I came back to Grid Focus, the globally-popular Wordpress theme designed by our very own compatriot Derek Punzalan, and truth to be told, it remains among the most enigmatic theme design that is available out there; ultimately world-class and extremely unique and extraordinary.

Do not be fooled by its simplicity. This is where its exquisiteness lies. Grid Focus is just an awesome design that way that there’s no surprise how it becomes staple in every list of best Wordpress design of all time.

See this screenshot.

For a demo of the site, please click here.

For Blogsome users, I have decided to port it and the zip file could be downloaded here. Enjoy.

This is a modification of the very famous Pressrow theme by Chris Pearson. Across the world from Brazil, my blog friend Catatau! had just made some stunning modification to Pressrow that now it gains a newfound stylishness, akin to that of Thesis theme. But unlike the premium Thesis theme, Pressrow Catatau Theme could be had for free.

So I ask Catatau! if we can get it onboard as part of my gallery of ported Wordpress themes. And Catatau! responded in the affirmative. So the rest should be history…in the making.

Pressrow-Catatau---as I wish to title it---retains the simplicity of its master design, pure white and dainty, so soothing to the eyes, like a virginal seashore of some ancient land.

It seems I’ve been pre-occupied with empires and lost kingdom nowadays, most probably it’s because of me being too immersed in the subjects I teach in the University this semester, one of them being Asian Civilization or History 102, and it is such a riveting class that me and my students have thoroughly delved into the abyss and mysteries of lands long forgotten, from Mesopotamia to Mohenjo-Daro, through the windy Silk Road in Ancient China and among the majestic Hindu temples in Southeast Asia.

Back to the ported design, Blogsome bloggers could download it here.

For a demo, please visit this site.

I have decided to port Brian Gardner’s excellent minimalist Wordpress template called White Space into the Blogsome module since it is one of the simplest 3-Column design that I have worked on so far. Therefore, Blogsome users would find it easy to install and would encounter no possible hitches in its implementation in their blogs.

The first time I looked at it, I never knew it was absolutely plaintext in structure. There are no images involved in the design yet it looked like it is a template designed with all the pomposity involved, with all the curves and the shadows, the bold headers in eye-catching colors. Maybe it’s the cool gray tagline that is just under the headers that make White Space look like a very finesse design---despite that it’s all fonts and colors; no images whatsoever.

Maybe Mr. Brian Gardner is not only a superlative Wordpress theme designer, but also a magician at that. He was able to make plaintext look so deceivingly advanced. It’s a very rare ability I am sure.

For Blogsome users, please download the files here.

See this demo site.

For the full Wordpress design files, please visit this page.

I have some problem with its theme name but for certain, I have no such acrimony for how it looks in its entirety. This “LUST” Wordpress theme is so neat and remarkably clean that despite the liveliness of its very red headers, it remains soothing to the readers’ eyes upon initial browsing.

I have decided to port “LUST” into Blogsome since most of those who downloaded my ported templates prefer mostly clean and easy to read designs, with lots of spaces for images in their posts. Mostly, Blogsome users who delve on technology stuffs prefer these characteristics in a template mold and this latest addition to my portfolio of ported designs is dedicated to them.

Besides, newbie Blogsome users would surely find it’s simplicity and modernity so appealing and therefore not be stuck with out-moded default WP themes available in the Blogsome Themes section---most of them still WP version 1.1. With this very simple-to-install design, I hope more and more newbie bloggers out there would find Blogsome as the suitable blog for them.

Check out this live demo.

For Blogsome users, please download the files HERE.

For pure Wordpress users, please visit this page on WPDESIGNER.

This is one most recent Wordpress theme release from Christopher Frazier of Glued Ideas and I find it so alarmingly admirable that I could not help but blog about it. It is called simply as Subtle. This design is probably so high on my list of fine-looking Wordpress themes---and it is actually too gorgeous to be merely referred to as fine-looking. Blogging Pro simply describe it as beautiful and one theme that "makes authors look good".

It's general look approximates what the latest trend in web design demands and it is so inculcated in it the main characteristic of Web 2.0---big candy-colored fonts, elegantly shaded backgrounds and is fully-widgetted.

This design probably wasn't intended for public released when it was created by its designer and would have been one of those included in sites that collect great CSS designs like CSS Remix and CSS Beauty and copyrighted and not available for reproduction. But surprisingly so, it is made publicly available.

Mickeymotoc of Stepping On Poop had most recently suited-up this Subtle theme for his site and it looks so fine on him. It shows how this template could easily be customizable.

See here the demo site.

Download the Zip files here.

I’d be porting the Blogsome codes for Subtle a bit later on.