Rebuilding and inviting guests
Everyone who happened to see the live test of the updated site a day ago could see that the new design structure didn't work at all. There were error messages and broken styles everywhere! Lesson learned: Don't try to rebuild a site live when having fever…
I switched back to this design again, and will stick to it while I start over from scratch to get it done in a good way this time. The keywords for the new site will be simplicity, freshness and new content. The extra days of waiting will hopefully be worth it, as the new site will be built as I should have built it from day one.
But I can reveal one of the new features: I will open up my blog for guest writers. Do you have something exciting to tell the world about? Is it related to the topic of this site in some way? Then please let me know about it. I'm hoping to get a couple of guest posts every month, by people who have interesting things to write about. I have a few ideas already, there are a lot of amazing stories in the world of free website templates. Feel free to come up with suggestions and requests.
Comments
Comment from Alberto
Time: September 5, 2007, 12:21 pm
Andreas,
in the upcoming blog renewal you could reduce a little the size of the page-labels in the header. The last one "Commercial Website Templates" opens an unuseful new line.
Comment from emil
Time: September 5, 2007, 5:58 pm
"The keywords for the new site will be simplicity, freshness and new content " - i like that, but my question is : the old content will be lost?
Comment from Andreas
Time: September 5, 2007, 7:03 pm
The old content will not be lost. Most of it will be kept, but re-organized and edited. In some cases shortened, in other cases expanded. The things that will be removed are things that nobody will miss - or even notice that I remove…
Comment from Odeh
Time: September 6, 2007, 2:07 am
Hi Andreas, What kind of articles you accept?
Comment from Andreas
Time: September 6, 2007, 2:29 am
Odeh: I have not set up any special guidelines. I will accept articles that I believe are interesting to read for people who visit this website. Articles about web design, web standards, templates, software, business, WordPress, marketing and similar topics could be one direction. But I may also accept articles about music, music production and music distribution since I am a musician myself. Or anything else that I think could be interesting to post here…
Anyone who is interested in posting a guest article should contact me and tell me what you would want to write about - and why. There will be no money involved in the guest articles. I will not pay for articles and I will not accept money from any person or company who want me to post an article about their product or website. The guest articles are not advertisement slots, just some extra reading beside my own material. :)
Comment from Dima Design
Time: September 6, 2007, 8:30 am
Good idea. I shall try to write good article about design, simplicity and quality to its realizations. Only I am afraid, that there will be mistakes in my writing. Andreas you will correct my mistakes then in my article?
Comment from Tomek
Time: September 6, 2007, 2:22 pm
"Lesson learned: Don't try to rebuild a site live when having fever" - yesterday i made bigger mistake i update meta tags on OS commerce shop but when I did it I found that to publish new copy I must have another special password but admin of the shop don't give me it so the shop was offline for about 12 hours (first time in his 6 years history) now it works good but it was a very stressful situation. About the blog writers Im not a good writer but I will help You with comments. Regards
Comment from Just a girl
Time: September 6, 2007, 11:04 pm
Hi Andreas, as a regular visitor of this site and downloader of your amazing templates, I just wanted to say hello and THANK YOU for making available such great stuff. I love this layout, but I'm sure your new one will be even better. Good luck with the guest writers.
Comment from Zeb
Time: September 7, 2007, 10:02 am
I missed the new look. How about posting a screenshot for us to comment on? Maybe it can help make it even better. Cheers :)
Comment from heleny
Time: September 7, 2007, 10:54 am
I did'n get to see it, but i'm sure it looks good. Hope you are better now! Good ideea with guest writers.
Comment from Warpfuz
Time: September 7, 2007, 5:29 pm
Nice with guest blogging! :) Maybe I'll try to write about my music production, something about inspiration or what's difficult… I'll hope that's OK. :) Good luck with the new design!
Comment from bonn
Time: September 8, 2007, 12:58 pm
I'm curious to see the changes, because I had not the opportunity to see it live ;)
i also did some mistakes an everybody could see it live. worst is if you accidentally delete your old files ;)
Comment from sintra
Time: September 10, 2007, 9:47 am
Hi Andreas. I am happy you decided to accept guest writers. Hope you will het well soon
Comment from webdesign kay
Time: September 10, 2007, 12:44 pm
Awsome work eh! im waiting for it!
Comment from Rex
Time: September 10, 2007, 7:11 pm
Hey Andreas! I would love to see your talented work….will comment on it when u will be done with it.
Keep up the amazing work u do. :)
love your templates,
Adios
Comment from Jon Garrido
Time: September 10, 2007, 10:23 pm
I write content on immigration/racism.
There are many articles at Hispanic News - Jon Garrido Writes
I would like to include my written articles/editorials on your website. Just tell me how if after visiting Hispanic News and read the articles on racism and immigration, you think they fit with you.
Comment from Kathie Thomas, A Claytons Secretary
Time: September 12, 2007, 2:29 pm
I'd love to see your templates but I'm not a member of Facebook so can't see them. Hopefully what you have here are the same - always love to see what's available.
Comment from Andreas
Time: September 12, 2007, 3:36 pm
Ok, one more time… Please read this carefully:
There are NO templates on Facebook. The templates are right here, on this website. There is NOTHING in the mentioned Facebook group that you can not find here as well. Nobody should join Facebook because of the group I have started, that is not the point. You are not missing anything, so the group is simply not a reason to join Facebook.
However, the group (which is called "Andreas' website templates") may be interesting to those of you who are already Facebook members. I use Facebook to keep in touch with my real-life friends, and I want to keep my work away from that communication. In order to do that, I have to turn down a lot of friend requests from people who are using my templates - or just know me as a template designer. It is not fun to do, so I have created a separate Facebook group for everyone who are interested in my work.
The group is a simple discussion forum and a "wall", a kind of guestbook. Any Facebook member can join and ask questions, in the same way that you can post a comment right here. You can also get in touch with other people who use my templates - just as you can do right here.
The template group is the one place on Facebook where I'll be happy to speak about (and answer questions about) templates, web design and similar topics. If you are already on Facebook, then feel free to join the group rather than sending a friendship request (unless we are actually good friends of course!). But if you are not a Facebook member already, you can just as well stick to this website until you find a better reason to join the site!
Comment from Paulo
Time: September 13, 2007, 1:10 pm
Where are the free templates?
Comment from Andreas
Time: September 13, 2007, 1:17 pm
The free templates are on the free website templates page that you can reach from the main menu of this website (the button text says. Or just click right here for a shortcut. :)
Comment from Mark
Time: September 13, 2007, 9:30 pm
Greetings Andreas,
I am a former US Peace Corps volunteer and hold a Masters degree in International Development from Clark University . While doing a google search for information comparing Drupal vs Joomla I came across your website. For some time now I have been planning to develop a humanitarian aid group/foundation that will be housed and based primarily on the web. The general idea being that if you remove expensive corporate offices and large administrative budgets most of the funds can be directed towards those who need it most.
The mission of the organization will be to promote awareness and provide support and aid relief for displaced persons and refugees (specifically orphan children) who live in areas where genocide is occurring or, who have been uprooted due to military conflict (e.g. Sudan, Chad, etc). My online goals are to show “average” people that one person can make an impact even when certain global conflicts seem unpromising. Also, I would like to demonstrate that the average citizen doesn’t have to be apathetic toward global conflicts situations that are having horrific consequences. Rather, they can be proactive and really do something to positive to assist.
With the aid of Wordpress, Drupal, or Joomla I believe that I can create most of the site myself but I am searching for a developer who can assist with some end user functionality. Because I am not interested in making one penny from this work and have already put out about $300 for hosting and domain registration I am searching for an individual, or web company that is willing to assist in return for exceptional PR (e.g. helping a startup NGO), possible payment after initial launch, and just overall good karma. If you think that you might you know of someone willing to assist, or know of certain developers who donate time, could you please forward this note along? Or, I know you have a lot of people reading your blog…maybe you could move this and add it as a post?
Kind regards, and I sincerely thank you for your time.
Mark
ps. you can find out more info about me here:
Comment from Andreas
Time: September 13, 2007, 10:13 pm
Mark: I get a lot of requests like that (almost one per day), and after going through several similar projects I have realized that the best way I can help as many people as possible is by doing what I do right now: providing free templates and themes that anyone can use for free.
While I can't help with customizations and specific features, WordPress and the huge number of free plugins should provide you with a great starting point at no cost - and you are of course welcome to use one of my themes if you want a simple design to start with. I know about 120 different charity organizations that are using my designs right now, most of them using WordPress as their site engine. If you would need assistance with using or customizing the theme, you can always send an e-mail or post a comment here.
But there may of course be other designers who are happy to take on such a project, so I'll leave your comment as it is. Good luck! :)
Comment from Gratismannen
Time: September 13, 2007, 10:38 pm
Sorry Andreas, I missed the new look of your site and I hope you will get it up soon again. You shouldn't do anything while having fever.
Comment from Mark
Time: September 14, 2007, 4:10 am
Andreas -
Thanks!! And keep up the great site.
Mark
Comment from mae mcgill
Time: September 16, 2007, 12:44 am
Hello Andreas -
I am a newbie to the internet. I was introduced to you by one of my internet friends. Although my personal website has been launched, it is in desperate need of a facelift. Your designs are exactly what I would like my site to represent … simplicity yet professionalism. In order to use your design do I have to use HTML or CSS. By the way, can you please tell me what does CSS means? I have a specific reason for proposing these questions. When I tried to write HTML on my Internet Explorer browser, the language did not translate over the internet but remained in English. On the otherhand when I transferred the HTML language to Mozilla Firefox browser, it translated the language. In other words, I do not have HTML or XHTML on the Internet Explorer browser, but I do have HTML on Firefox. When I begin to input my information into your designs, which browser should I use? Thank you. By the way, I am very excited about your designs. I can't wait to begin using them! In the meantime, I hope that you are a Yankee Baseball fan. I am from the Bronx, New York and I just want you to give you a SHOUT OUT from the Bronx! The new Yankee Stadium should be completed in Year 2010… Hope you will join us for Opening Day!
Emmonie
Comment from Sven
Time: September 17, 2007, 10:33 pm
Good idea. I shall try to write good article about design, simplicity and quality to its realizations.
Comment from Khushal
Time: September 5, 2007, 9:28 am
well actually i didn't see it so can't comment but i hope to see a good change. and Yes i blog as well;)