photo credit: Padraic.

There are more benefits to creating an archives page than simply for pleasing readers (who may become subscribers).  First of all, having someone travel back in time using the previous/next or pagination (Page 1, 2, 3… Last) links may cause heavy load to your server and cost more if you are hosting your images on a service that restricts bandwidth usage (many Blogger account holders).  In the end, it’ll save you and your visitors time and aggravation.

What Are Archives?

An archives area is a useless part of every blog that displays the posts, categories, or links to date archives (January 2008, for example).  It can either be compact or extended.

Personally, when I look at blogs, the URL structure should allow you to instantly see the structure that posts are placed in, even though it may not be the preferred method for search engine optimization practices.  For example, I converted all posts to a site.com/year/month/date/post-name/ structure, so it would be easier to know when posts were published and for better organization in the future.  However, most people would rather see a site.com/post-name/ structure, which can be inefficient at times, especially when you are publishing on a large scale.

Secondly, blogs need an archives area, whether a simple yearly archives in the sidebar, or a page dedicated to providing archives information.  I went with an approach that suited me - a separate page for archives with the ability to browse by specific months, years, as well as a listing of all posts.

Other Definitions:

1. A place or collection containing records, documents, or other materials of historical interest.
2. A long-term storage area, often on magnetic tape, for backup copies of files or for files that are no longer in active use.
3. A repository for stored memories or information: the archive of the mind. 

Creating an Archives Page

Nearly every weblog software available allows you to create some kind of static page, unless you have to create a post, then place it a few months behind the first post, so it doesn’t appear within posts.  The page (or post) should be appropriately named, “Archives”, “Posts”, “History”, or whatever you want to call it - be creative.  

An alternative to creating a page is using a drop-down or static menu in the sidebar.  This method is moderately restrictive, unless you combine several plugins - recent pots, most popular pots, posts by date/month, and so on.

Next, you’ll need to decide what type of archives style you want.  Do you want to include links to each category/topic, posts, dates, etc., or keep it as simple as possible?  That choice is mainly up to you, but it is important that it includes enough information for decent navigation around your blog and from post to post.  You can even use your archives to highlight your most popular posts, instead of placing them in the sidebar.  

Unless you use a script or plugin, it may be necessary for you to manually create your archives section, which should be done after every five or so posts published.

Key Points to Remember:

• Build the archives page not for search engines or yourself, but visitors who want to read past content.
• Be sure to highlight your most popular posts or categories in some fashion.
• Don’t let the first posts you’ve published vanish into the “dark.”
• Make sure you have covered multiple ways for visitors to find information - by date, category, most popular, and so on. 

Avoid the Hassle

Some themes (or blog software) include a pre-styled archives page, so it isn’t necessary to create your own.  However, you may still want to edit this page if it doesn’t suit your needs.  While it isn’t extremely time consuming to create an archives page, it can be rewarding in the long-term as people who want to read your previous posts will find added value in this page. 

Creating the archives page correctly now rather than later will also have an added benefit since you won’t be dealing with nearly as many posts, tags, and categories.

Alternatives and Additions

While people don’t normally view your Sitemap, it is useful if you would rather have a version of all your blog information that search engines can also use.  The Google XML Sitemaps plugin (WordPress versions 2.1 and higher) will automatically create a Google, Ask.com, MSN, and Yahoo searchable and complaint XML-Sitemap of your blog.  You can see an example here.  Sitemaps should not solely be used as visitors don’t/can’t use them, instead they should be placed in the footer of your blog or on the archives page itself.  

WordPress Plugins That Will Do the Job

These plugins automatically build archives based on your posts, so all you need to do is integrate them into your blog, and your archives areas are automatically updated.

• Clean Archives Reloaded - Generates a list of all your posts, sorted by month; enhanced with JavaScript to allow collapsing and expanding of months.  Compatible with WordPress version 2.5 and higher.  [Preview]
• Flexo Archives Widget - Displays archives as a list of years that expands when clicked using JavaScript to show months with posts.  This plugin is similar to an option already available, but is designed to be more compact than the default widget.  Number of posts in each month is also an option.  Compatible with WordPress version 2.0 to 2.5 (or higher).  [Preview]
• Organize Series - Helps you organize articles and posts that have been placed in a series, making it easier for readers to discover all the series you’ve written and find posts a part of each series.  Adds a new taxonomy to the WordPress taxonomy - “categories”, “tags”, and “series” as the types.  Compatible with WordPress version 2.3 up to 2.5.1.  [Preview]
• WordPress navigation List Plugin NAVT - A powerful tool that helps with control of your site’s navigation.  It gives you the ability to create unique site navigation from your pages, categories, and users using a drag and drop interface - pages, categories, authors (editors, contributors, subscribers), internal/external links, and list dividers.  Dozens of additional functions are also included.  Compatible with WordPress version 2.3 up to 2.5.1.  [Preview]
• WP-dTree 3.3.2 - Generates navigation trees for posts, pages, and categories, and includes out-of-the-box Scriptaculous support, feed icons, post counts, and more.  [Preview]

True Blogger is a “crispy blue” premium WordPress theme enabled with jQuery components that can be used to contain more content by using a sliding feature. Typically, the theme would run for $79.99, but with the contest, you can get the theme absolutely free.

Other features which set this theme apart (a short overview):

1. Unique design and layout
2. BBC style news ticker
3. jQuery-based scrollable news section
4. Separated comments and trackbacks
5. Stylized comments
6. Widget ready
7. Fully XHMTL compliant, Valid CSS (10 warnings)
8. CSS file is easily editable and organized
9. Web 2.0 appeal - sleek and vibrant colors
10. If you purchase the theme, you also receive full post-sales support.

You have until April 5, 2008 to enter in the contest by posting a review of the theme or contest, providing a link to the contest details post. The winner, chosen at random, will receive a Single License for the theme, allowing the theme to be used on one website.

• Contest Details
• Additional Theme Information
• Theme Preview

Good luck!

WordPress themes have become increasingly more powerful, delivering the ability to manage content and bring the platform to deliver more than just textual content, but media content, too. With more themes and resources available, people with less experience with blogging, designing, and coding will be able to implement the ideas from the tutorials.

In this roundup of posts from the past week or so, several design resources have been presented which will provide good inspiration and tools to optimize your theme to create the impression in your readers’ minds that bring them back.

20+ More First Class WordPress Themes (Smashing Magazine)

Smashing Magazine has once again created a high quality resource highlighting the best themes, many of which I have never seen before. Whether you are looking for a simple, minimalist, stylish, or simply a theme for showcasing images, they have all been included. You’ll be able to make a statement with these themes as many have not been given the proper credit or else are relatively new and need promotion.

They have also included the new admin themes, contact manager plugin/theme, and the Prologue theme.

Other collections in their series include: 100 Excellent Free WordPress Themes, 83 Beautiful WordPress Themes You (Probably) Haven’t Seen, and 21 Fresh, Usable, and Elegant Themes.

45+ Must See WordPress Themes (Noupe)

Noupe, a resource for web design, has put together an outstanding resource with themes recently released, organized in a simple manner. Themes have been designated into several categories - minimalist, grunge, news and magazine, mobile, unique ideas, personal, by the number of columns, photo-oriented, artistic, and elegant. Obviously, there are dozens that you may find suitable for your blog. Included themes are both free and premium (paid).

An additional note: This post is the second article in a four-part series on how to master WordPress, taking a look at tutorials, hacks, themes, kplugins, and best practices to make the most out of WordPress. The first post gained a lot of buzz from the community and is highly recommended, even for people experienced with the platform.

Blog Design Madness (Vandelay Website Design)

A competition started by Vandelay Web Design was set up as a face-off between various designs, some of which have been selected by readers. Of the sixty-four designs, the highest rated will move on to the “next round” whereas others will be eliminated. You can vote on your favorite theme between the two listed (each poll is open for twenty-four hours).

On March 24, they created a resource list of 101 Typography Resources for Web Designers that brings together thousands of free and downloadable fonts as well as insightful articles for better blog typeface design.

Live Wire Theme Series

Live Wire is a premium theme series created by Adii and Mark Forrester and is available for purchase at Premium News.

Looking at the previews of the theme, it appears to be an extremely high quality theme with all the key features that bloggers are looking for such as ad management. The themes are all clean, organized magazine-style themes with various formats and color schemes.

Live Wire 2.0 

Live Wire Edition 

Live Wire Style 

There are three different themes - Live Wire 2.0, Live Wire Edition, and Live Wire Style.

Main features include:

• Automatic Image Resizer - Resizes all images no matter what size you have uploaded.
• Author Profiles - Allows the theme to be used for multi-author blogs and also includes Gravatar support to display thumbnails of authors/comments.
• Custom Page Templates - Theme includes custom page tempaltes for General Archives, a Sitemap, and Image Galleries.
• Color Schemes - Four different color schemes are included to better suit your personal taste in design.
• Featured news section
• Video Panel for use with Flash videos
• Navigation Drop Down Menus
• Sidebar Tabbed Box
• 2 different homepage layouts for the featured section
• Widgetized sidebars
• Banner ad management integration
• Flickr and FeedBurner integration

Preview:
Live Wire 2.0
Live Wire Edition
Live Wire Style

Purchase/Pricing:
Pricing for themes starts at $99.95 for a Single License for individual themes, a Developer’s License at $249.95 (which includes all three themes).

A Live Wire Package - Single License includes all three themes (12 total styles) and also allows you to use any of the themes on two sites at the same time. This package runs for $149.95.

Available for purchase here.

SilveRay Clean and Soft 3-Column WordPress Theme from Blog Perfume

From BlogPerfume, the SilveRay WordPress theme is their first theme, which is clean and soft, has three columns, is widget-ready, customizable, and has been tested on various browsers. The theme is also ads friendly, has SweetTitle tooltip installed, LiveClick installed, and has a search bar at the top corner.

License: Footer links back to Blog Perfume must remain intact.
Price: Free
Preview

For the people that won free subscriptions to the $5/Year Themes Club, the new owner will be continuing it. WP Designer will aslo be occasionally while he is traveling at his personal site (and perhaps his main site).

For further announcements, you can listen to the live interview with him on March 22nd, 2008 at 9 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). It will begin with his inspiration, why he chose to work on WordPress, the reasons for his site going up for sale, and the outlook for the WordPress themes market.

It’s extremely simple to get your hands on your own copy.  To enter the contest, you have to blog about the contest and you will be entered in your chance of winning the theme.

Money Blogger Theme Screenshot 

Anyone looking for a theme that will capture their audience in the make money online niche and blogging-related field, then blog away about this great contest!

If you win, you’ll receive:

• A modern Web 2.0 designed theme with a blue-green color scheme
• CSS tabs for displaying quick content in the top section for content such as recent posts, comments, monthly posts, etc.
• Widget ready
• XHTML compliant
• Unique design
• Easily customizable using CSS
• Modular sections for easy editing
• Full support after purchasing theme

Take a look at the preview.  Good luck!  The contest ends on March 25, 2008 when a winner will be announced.

The release of the Options WordPress Theme in the past week really left no separation between premium themes and free themes, except for the hefty price tag attached to most premium themes.  For example, in an earlier post, I tried to establish a separation between what types of themes and features should be included in each theme category.  When we take a look at the themes being released on an overly growing theme-release market, each theme includes more features, support, and designer experience. 

Ian thinks that the market will die down or completely diminish within the next year, at most.  After all, the premium theme market just began exploding extensively over the past year to the point it is today.  If freelance/hobby/business/corporate designers that are currently producing paid themes see the free, feature-packed themes continue to rise, they will likely have to refocus on their objective or create themes that reestablish blogging.

What will happen:

• New bloggers will likely choose the most popular, feature-packed themes they can get their hands on.
• More high quality, free themes mimicking paid themes.
• Competition will continue growing between “free released” designs, stepping up the quality and feature level of the themes.
• The market for “mass-sold” blog themes will fade out, but there will continue to be a demand for themes that aren’t anywhere else - perhaps sold at budget prices in a limited quantity.
• Designers teaming up with other designers and developers to create “super packages” (sometimes with a price tag), which combine themes, support, plugins, the whole package.
• Additional disputes will form concerning the quality of themes, licensing/porting, the direction that blogging/WordPress should take, and between designers/developers/bloggers.
• WordPress ‘1.x’ themes will become second-par to ‘2.x’, or the current themes.

What won’t happen:

• Bloggers won’t completely stop purchasing or browsing for the highest quality/paid themes.
• I don’t think prices will skyrocket any more than they already have - except for completely custom themes.

Designers will likely suffer, while bloggers will enjoy the wide array of quality themes available.

The past eight (or so) months of ‘premium themes’.
Could the fall already be well underway?  Or is a new spike about to take place? 

Just a year ago, no one could have imagined the escalation of the WordPress theme community that it is today.  Whatever is in store for the next year is sure to keep everyone ready to meet new demands and more blogging opportunities.

In the past, he has created themes for his personal blogs, but hasn’t created one that had the core essentials, one that brings blogging back to its minimalist form.

Beginning with the first post, Andrew explores how to plan out the overall feel of your blog, with later posts discussing navigational structure, single post layout, and more.

I highly recommend checking it out, if you want to create your own them for your blog.  Otherwise, if you’re already a designer, the guide was created to refresh on the basic aspects of a theme.

The rapidly changing market for themes has permitted the growth of a premium blog themes market.  What truly separates the not-so-great, OK, “premium” and paid themes from one another?  Is it simply based on the amount of experience of the theme designer, the functionality of the theme, or a combination of factors such as web usability, interactivity, design, and so on?

When bloggers want to make the switch from a free theme to a paid/premium theme, are they really purchasing the theme that is best for them, or is the theme premium simply because there is a $200 price tag attached to it?

For this experiment, I want to focus on the difference between the levels and quality of themes and what bloggers should be looking for in themes whether downloading or purchasing them.  As theme designers, they are simply trying to contribute to the blogging community, although it is important to be aware of the amount of influence a theme choice places on your image as a blogger.

We’ll address the following theme properties:

Coding

Is the XHTML and CSS code easily editable using modular code?  Poor designers generally don’t separate each line of code and place it so the user has to spend a large amount of time gazing over code that they probably don’t know what it means.  Unnecessary code that leads to a longer page load may be included.  Code left out will also lead to major problems, as the missing code will prevent numerous functions from working.

Valid XHTML and CSS code should be standard among themes unless they are using techniques that can’t be made web standards-compliant.  Before downloading the theme, check if it is using the XHTML and CSS validation pages.  If the theme contains errors, it is an immediate indication that the author didn’t place the required time in to make it valid.

Approaching web usability, it should have cross-browser compatibility with at least Firefox and Internet Explorer, but also appear semi-correctly in Safari and Opera.

Finally, the theme should follow WordPress coding standards, and basic usability guidelines.

Design and Features

How unique is the design?  Did the theme “designer” simply adapt another theme and add a header image and style the fonts differently?  For example, in the WordPress Presentation area, is there a separate page for customizing the sidebars?  Is the footer expanded or is it plain - limiting the ability to place content/links there instead of in your sidebar.

If the designer has included pages that can be customized, they should tell you how to make the most of the feature.

The sidebar widgets should be styled to fit with the theme (and any customization abilities), including but not limited to, advertisements, most commented, etc.  There should be a default set of widgets pre-styled into the theme to make use of the available features, right from download.

Aesthetically, does the design focus more on navigation and organization first, rather than the color scheme and typeface?  Your readers should be able to say “I enjoy the great content at Your Site“, not “I wish they would change the font size.”  While the theme design should appeal to your selected reader base, it should be styled so that the widest audience can gain knowledge from your blog.

In addition, does the theme make the most out of the features of WordPress, and does the theme fill the space of the average screen size, making the most of white space?

Is the theme as SEO friendly as possible?  Sidebar content should load and be placed after the content area.

Documentation and Support

Each theme should be documented, providing a link somewhere within the theme to the author’s release page.  Often, web hosting review sites partner with a “designer” and create a 5 minute to release theme, simply for the purpose of adding sponsor links within the theme, and not crediting the author at all.

Within the release page or the author’s site, they should provide free support to any theme that they have released, whether that is in the form of a contact page or by replying to comments.

A Read Me or some other type of how-to guide should be included for users of the theme, in the case that code or plugins have to be added to make the style work and appear properly.

It is also important to look at how the author presents the theme - does he or she go into details about the qualities of the theme and the process they used to achieve the effects, or is there only a download/preview link?  Is there even a preview or demo link at all?

If the designer incorporated icons, JavaScript, or other types of code that require a fee, link back, etc., they should have noted that somewhere in the files, or the theme isn’t legal and can result in legal problems if the designer failed to mention them.

Qualities to look for in themes:

Note: This is a general look at what to expect from each quality-level of themes.  There may be different features of each which determine the quality, in your own opinion.

Features	Poor Quality	OK Quality	Excellent Quality	Paid/Premium Quality
Coding and Styling
Valid CSS/XHMTL
Cross-Browser Compatible
Unnecessary Code
WP Coding Standards
Usability
Malicious Code/Ads
Design and Features
Unique
“Wow!” Factor
Customizable Options
Pre-styled Sidebar
Widget Ready
Typeface Quality
Navigation and Content Styling
Screen/Page Usage
SEO Friendly
Documentation and Support
Release Page
Support - Email/Comment
Fee for Support				- Sometimes
Read Me or Instructions to Install Plugins/Features
Legal
Pricing/Other
Fee Required
Sponsor Links

	Contains or includes the specified features, or is incorporated well/correctly
	Does not contain the specified features, or is poorly incorporated

As noted in the table, when considering the number of qualities that are similar between “Excellent Quality” and “Paid/Premium Quality” themes, there isn’t much differentiating between the two.

In the comments, please address what types of themes you distinguish as premium, or high quality, and free.

Icons used in the table are courtesy of Fam Fam Fam’s Silk Icons.

First, we’ll take a look at WP Designer’s Themes Club.

The Themes Club offers at least twelve themes over the course of the year, all for the low price of $5. You receive unlimited access to the theme downloads without the need for a developer license. Use the blog themes on as many sites as you want, but don’t redistribute them or infringe on the terms and conditions. Unlike many other designers, he doesn’t require you to keep the footer links in, and there is no fee if you want them removed.

Support is available through a ticket system (available through the themes account) and through the forums.

The main approach to the Themes Club is to prove that there are valuable, high quality blog themes for a minimum price, with free support (provided via ticket system if you purchased a membership).

To get the club started, a theme has already been released (preview here). 

An overview of the Gossip WordPress Theme properties:

• 3 column theme
• Styled for gossip and celebrity-related blogs
• Text styles - for downloads, alerts, notes, and info - with different colors and images to represent each category
• 4 widget-ready sidebars
• Advertisement template preloaded as a text widget (300px by 250px)
• Sidebar search form - expandable, so it fits in any column
• Advertisement template - ideal for inserting banner images/AdSense between posts
• Templates customized for archives, links, and gallery pages
• Plugins integrated into theme - Author Highlight, Comment License, WP-PageNavi, and WP-PostRatings to make the theme work right after downloading
• Firefox, Internet Explorer 6, Opera, and Safari compatible
• More features coming soon to the theme such as celebrity A-Z listing template, more theme and plugin options/integrations

The Themes Club looks extremely promising, offering a way for more bloggers to access “premium” WordPress themes for a cheaper price.

iThemes is a more typical premium WordPress theme creator/distributor with several top WP designers working on themes. However, more support is given with the themes in the form of free WordPress video tutorials to get your theme working, as well as introductions and overviews of the WordPress blogging platform. 

For the launch, they released a theme series called Essence , which was designed to give small companies a blog that still had a unique feel to it instead of being a corporate/monochromatic theme.

Features of the theme series include:

• 5 color themes to choose from - dark, red, silver, blue, and golden (Previews are available on the main demo of each color)
• Static home page
• 7 inside page layouts
• Integrated blog templates
• Two header options - text or graphic

All iThemes feature: easy customizability, easy to use, clean and valid code, widget ready, and search engine optimized.

Single-Use Package - $99.95 - Footer credits must remain intact, ideal for people who use the theme on a single website
Multiple-Use Package -$249.95 - Footer credits may be removed, ideal for people who use the theme on multiple websites

Add-on services can be purchased for $150 for installation and optimization and one hour modifications.

These two new premium WordPress theme websites should prove to be a valuable resource for people that want a semi-unique blog theme, but have a little cash to invest in their blog.

New Years Eve Theme | Preview | Download 

A few of the features:

• 3-columns
• Valid XHTML and CSS
• Widget ready
• Premium quality
• Works on latest version of WordPress (2.3.1)
• Backward compatible with WordPress 2.2
• Price: Free
• License: Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0

A few of the features:

• Valid XHTML and CSS
• Widget ready
• Premium design
• Works on the latest WordPress (2.3.1)
• Backward compatible with WordPress 2.2