Gamma Wordpress Theme
2009-12-07Say hello to Gamma (Because Greek letters are cool). Gamma is my first publicly distributed Wordpress theme and the third major revision for niamu.com.
If you're wondering what happened to Alpha and Beta, they do exist. They're just so unpolished that they'll likely never see the light of day ever again.
I've been working on this theme for months now. Development has only been active for the last month or so, though planning and initial sketches began last summer. Suffice to say I have put a lot of thought into this theme and I'm very happy with the results. Happy enough that I want to share this theme with the rest of the world.
Features
There are a few things that really make this design unique. The most obvious of which would have to be the featured image that accompanies each post.
This is achieved by my own invented algorithm that dissects the content of each post and picks out the prominent keywords to perform image queries. When a suitable match is found, the image is cropped and then automagically added to the metadata of each post.
Ok, I lied. That's nonsense. It's actually controlled by a Custom Field labelled "Feature" where the user inserts an image url (1024x450px) that will then be used as the featured image. Not as clever, but every bit as beautiful.
Other features involve awesome webkit transition effects for those using Safari and Chrome (and Firefox just as soon as they perfect their special sauce). Sure, these effects could be duplicated with some clever JavaScript libraries, but I really hate embedding JavaScript in a web design and increasing page load times for all that nonsense. CSS3 effects just make more sense.
I also made use of a plugin developed by Michael Weingaertner which modifies the structure of the default Wordpress link to give the bottom of pages a bit more flair as well.
Legal
Because this is a public theme, it's the first time I've ever had to consider licensing. Because I'm such a fan of open source, I decided to licence this theme under Version 3 of the Gnu Public License (GPL).
As for this particular website, I've also decided that from this point on, all content published by myself and commenters on this blog will be placed into the public domain. This will allow for legal mash-ups of content and other fun stuff should the need ever arise.
Updates & Changelog
This is version 1.0 and even though I don't anticipate other major iterations and versions, there will be active development on this theme as with most open source projects. Therefore, those interested in the project status and contributing to or modifying the Gamma theme should consult the GitHub changelog where the project is hosted.
How to Install
Duh. This is nothing new for any of you, I'm sure. But on the off chance that this is the first theme you've ever installed in Wordpress, have a look at the Wordpress codex for a tutorial.
Oh, and do yourself and the rest of the Internet a huge favour; Please run the latest version of Wordpress. Keep yourself secure.
How to Use
Using Gamma in your Wordpress site is made rather easy with the incredible options page that comes with this superb theme.
Simply navigate to the options page when the Gamma theme is activated on your site and tweak settings like your logo image, the author's social networking sites and Google Analytics tracking ID.
It is also expected that each of your posts make use of the tag. This is not entirely necessary, but it does make for a rather dashing footer on the home page.
Download
I've provided several packages of downloadable content to best fit everyone's needs.
A standard zip archive for easy upload and extraction into Wordpress is available for those that want to get started right away. However, those that want to stay up-to-date with all the latest revisions and updates have the Git repository available to them through GitHub.
Finally, for the graphic designers amongst us, all source image data is available in yet another separate package. Tweak channel information and curve values to your hearts content.
Gamma repository hosted at GitHub.
FAQ
Why doesn't it load properly in IE6?
Seriously? I disabled the stylesheet for IE6 visitors so I didn't have to bother with all the crazy hacks for PNG fixes and so on. I'm sorry if you're at work, but there's no real excuse with Google Chrome Frame to have to put up with IE6's shit.
Why aren't pages supported?
I do eventually plan on integrating this, but it never made it into the first release as I didn't have much of a need for them within my own site.
Can you design a site/theme for me?
Sure, just wire the first $10 million to this account number... All kidding aside, I am open to the idea of creating websites and themes for others, but beware; I'm very picky about what I work with. Email me and we'll see if we're right for one another.
Feedback
I welcome any and all feedback. If you have an idea for a feature you'd like to see added, or a gripe about the way something works (or doesn't work), leave a message in the comments or send hate mail to brendonwalsh@niamu.com.