What is the most basic Word Press Template? (10 posts)

  • I have a client who wants to DIY on her website and blog. I recommended Word Press, but didn’t know what the most basic template out there is. A theme that she could do easily (WP for Dummies). 
    She is a cosmetologist looking to build her customer base through social media. Your thoughts please.
    Thanks, Denise

  • @deniserubright WordPress comes with a base theme that is good to start with. I think it’s Twenty Twelve – you can read a bit about it here.

    http://managewp.com/twenty-twelve-wordpress-theme

    That said, she might have better luck getting a premium theme where all of the customization is handled by the theme’s admin dashboard. ElegantThemes is a good easy to use one – for $40, you can get 76 designs to choose from. You can see all of the designs and how it works in a review post I wrote recently.

    http://kikolani.com/elegantthemes-review-preview-75-premium-wordpress-themes-on-one-page.html

  • Kristi, I went ahead and used the Twenty Twelve template for now. Using my company information to just get a feel for what the software will do.

    Here it is: http://wichitamediaconsultants.com/WMC/ a very rough draft
    What plugins do you recommend? Currently I have:

    1. All-in-one SEO (which I haven’t configured yet
    2. Contact form 7
    3. Akismet
    4. Google XTML
    5. Really simple facebook, linkedin, twitter buttons
    Please let me know so I can include on the site.
    Thanks,
    Denise@kristi-hines

  • If she is a hairdresser and will be featuring hair styles, she may want to add the WP Lightbox plug-in.

  • Thanks! @deereinhardt

  • @deniserubright A photo gallery plugin is a great suggestion from @deereinhardt.
    I just found a way to make the photo gallery with Pinterest buttons built it. You have to use NextGEN gallery and there is a Pinterest Lightbox plugin that works with it.
    I don’t know if you are aware, but adding a Pin It button requires customizing the button for every location where you want it. It’s a real pain. But this combination of plugins adds the Pin It button into the gallery features and is very simple for website visitors to use. And easy to set up.
    Let me know if you want the URLs for those plugins and I’ll look them up for you.

  • @deniserubright when i first started out, used twenty ten as template similar to to twenty twelve. Ever since i moved to thesis, i have never look back. The new version once you get the hand of it is almost code free. :)

  • Yeah, I guess if I have to learn how to do it, I might as well start with the platform I’d want to work with in the future.  Thanks for the input @geoffrey-gordon

  • @deniserubright Those sound like the ones I would start out with which cover the basics! If you’re interested, I wrote an entire post about getting started with WordPress.

    http://kikolani.com/how-to-start-a-wordpress-blog.html

    You can skip past hosting, domains, etc. and there is a section on themes and plugins. :)

  • @kristi-hines you are the best!Thanks you for your help.Denise


Add your voice to the discussion

Existing members: . If you do not have a SME account, .

 
 
Check out the Social Media Marketing Podcast!

Networking Clubs Leaderboard

Avatar ImageE
Ann at  greenoakAnn
Avatar ImageChris
Kapil MudholkarKapil
Avatar ImageLydia
Avatar ImageJudith
Avatar ImageJameson
Avatar ImageRobin
KMediaIrelandKMediaIrel
Avatar ImageHarry
Learn more about the Networking Clubs

Recently Active Members

Profile picture of
Michael Pingree
Profile picture of
Profile picture of
Profile picture of
Profile picture of
Profile picture of
Profile picture of
Ann at  greenoak
Profile picture of
Profile picture of
Profile picture of
Josh Armstrong
Sophia Eng
Profile picture of