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What Theme Is This Site Using?
swarlley
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03 Dec 13 6:19 am

What Theme Is This Site Using?

Hello again,

I really like the layout of this site: dudeiwantthat(dot)com

After looking at the source code, it doesn't appear to be a Wordpress site. Do you know of a theme that is similar to this layout that I could buy (if needed.)

Thanks,
Chris
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cecille.l
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03 Dec 13 6:47 am

 Hi Chris,

That site appears to be using a custom-made theme. You can try getting in touch with the site owners and check what framework they used.

Hope that helps. Have a good day!
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Cecille

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aletta
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04 Dec 13 12:26 am

 Their HTML and CSS is all nice and clean and well-commented, which smells like handcrafted to me (as opposed to using any CMS with a "theme" on top).

Found this on their "about" page:

We here at Dude are minimalists and...control freaks. The entire site has been conceived, designed, coded and published by two very weird people. No pre-canned site management software or third-party components. We take pride in each and every aspect of the site from the images we use or create to the spelling and grammar in every article. We feel that goes a long way in differentiating Dude from all of the other plug-and-play Tumblr and Wordpress sites out there. It's a labor of passion and we hope you enjoy the results.
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swarlley
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04 Dec 13 2:40 am

 Thanks for the insights.

I did find a theme that should do what I want, though I can't really find any reviews on the theme. It is called 'webicator theme'.

I'm not sure about buying these lesser known themes and am wondering if it is kept up to date or if it works properly. Any thoughts on that?
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aletta
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04 Dec 13 2:57 am

 Wow, there's really not much information on that site at all, is there?

On one hand, it's cheap in the grand scheme of things.

On the other hand, if you're going to be spending a bit of time tweaking a theme to get it to be exactly how you want, you kind of want to be sure it's not going to putz out at the next WordPress update.

If I were you, I'd spend a bit more time hunting around some of the more reputable theme directories (themeforest is one), and see if you can find something that fits the bill AND has comments/reviews/version notes. Remember to look at the basic structure and functionality of the theme rather than superficial things like colours etc.

If you can't find anything... shoot the creators of that other theme an email (address is at bottom of the page) with your concerns. See how responsive they are. If they answer promptly and their answers are what you want to hear... $39 isn't a lot of money to gamble.
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swarlley
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04 Dec 13 4:27 am

 Yeah. The $39 isn't the problem as much as 6 months down the road if there is a Wordpress update that breaks the theme. It would cost much more in repairs after 'hulking out' on my laptop.

I wrote them an email as your suggested. Also, I found a guy on freelancer who has completed several projects creating similar themes and he is getting great ratings on his work. I just posted a job there as well.

Thanks again!
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swarlley
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04 Dec 13 8:55 pm

 Hey Aletta,

Their support got back with me in less than 12 hours and let me know that their theme is still up to date.

This brings up another question. Say that I do buy the theme and in 6 months they decide to stop updating it to keep up with Wordpress updates. Couldn't I just hide someone on oDesk or Freelancer to solve any troubles that might come up? Any idea if this would be insanely expensive?
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aletta
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04 Dec 13 9:19 pm

 I'm not really sure, Chris.

I don't really expect that a theme would ever just stop working completely and suddenly, or be completely and utterly bollocked by a WordPress update. It sounds like WordPress are pretty cautious about making serious changes, and maintain support for older stuff for a long time after making those changes. (ie, your stuff would keep working)

I think if there are going to be any problems, they won't be as a result of a WordPress update -- they'll be issues with the theme as it stands. You'll probably notice them much earlier on. Any dramatic issues from a WordPress update might not appear for a year or two.

And yeah, if worst came to worst, you could definitely hire someone to help fix things up. I wouldn't expect it to be *insanely* expensive, but it depends on your definition of *insane* ;) I would expect a couple hundred bucks, max, but it depends on the complexity of the problem and the theme.
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swarlley
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04 Dec 13 9:45 pm

 Perfect! Thank you kindly. I'm going to go ahead and get that theme.
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aletta
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04 Dec 13 10:04 pm

 I just picked the brain of the esteemed Jono, and he suggests that you're much more likely to be bollocked (word of the day) by an update to the theme (from the theme developers), rather than an update to WordPress itself.

So if you get everything working top notch for you on your site, don't feel overly obliged to update to each new release of the theme unless there is a serious security issue or some other compelling reason to update.

And if you do, make sure you do keep a copy of the old version of the theme so you can roll back if it throws you for a spin.

And of course do site backups before you update WordPress as well. You can never do too many backups :)
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swarlley
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05 Dec 13 1:18 am

 That is good to know. I'll heed your advice and make frequent backups.

And thank you Jono for your thoughts on this.
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swarlley
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08 Dec 13 8:12 am

 Have you worked with Thesis theme at all? I was looking into it and wondering if it has the flexibility to allow me to do the magazine or grid style.
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aletta
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08 Dec 13 9:17 pm

 I don't have any experience with it, no. Anyone else tried it?

If you're just after the magazine-style layout, there are a LOT of themes out there that will do it.

Eg, http://themeforest.net/category/wordpress/blog-magazine?utf8=%E2%9C%93&sort_by=sales_count&categories=wordpress%2Fblog-magazine <== all of those.

http://themesindep.com/demo/simplemag/ <== this one is $45. Look at homepage version VI in the top dropdown menu.

Having said that, I'm not sure what additional benefits Thesis has going on in the background. It's a little on the pricey side given that the $80-something pricetag only lets you use it on one website, but it might be a worthwhile investment.
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