Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime

Wordpress. Themes?

edited March 2017 in - Website Problems
Can anyone advise me on which theme would be best for my Wordpress website? Just setting it up properly for future intention. Taken on board that I need written substance on my social media, so have decided to concentrate on my script, which doesn't require feedback from a fan based, and in the mean time set up my sites for activating once I start on my prose, in addition to the script..

can anyone suggest which themes to select from? There's so many I'm a bit confused...?

Comments

  • You need something that is easy to use and easy to navigate.

    I have a favourite and can let you know the name but have to go out soon and blood sugar ow, I'll have a look later.
  • I've used sequential for mine. https://patsycollins.uk

    You need to try a few and see which you like best. They don't all have the same options and colour schemes, so if you want a particular look that will influence your decision.
  • Shoreditch. It's very simple and easy to use, and nice and clear. And free.
  • LizLiz
    edited March 2017
    Here's a page from it - i was building this site to do a thing on and raise money for refugees but used another idea instead, I'll probably use this site for something else. It doesn't have anything on it yet, except what I was toying with. But it's a lovely theme, and i like the big space at the top where i have put an Oxfam photo of refugees, where you can put anything you like.

    https://3000poems.wordpress.com/2016/05/05/first-blog-post/?preview_id=6&preview_nonce=8617ce0164&_thumbnail_id=-1&preview=true
  • It's fun to look through them and try some out. You'll know when you get to the one that 'fits'.
  • Thanks for the advice and links. Liz is right, as usual. That I need a simple and easy theme for my website. I presume, as I am just beginning, potential followers won't mind too much if the website is a bit 'basic'.

    Once I know which things I want to blog about and how I want to relate to any potential subscribers etc, then I will have a better idea of what is needed for my social media.

    For now, experimenting is the key. To find out what works and what doesn't...
  • My Wordpress is the PLANE theme. Works OK for my needs. Reasonably clear and tidy.

    https://themoustachioedreader.wordpress.com
  • Had some advice about my WordPress website. It is currently in a different custom name than my author's one, as I started it some time ago for a different purpose.

    I want to change this name to my author's one to enable potential followers to search on Google for it. The advice I received was too keep the current custom name.

    So confused now. Wouldn't that make it more difficult to locate my writer's name, which is what would need to be promoted..?
  • Okay. Thought that sounded ill-advised. So I'll try and see if I can transfer it to my pen name? Surely that will be possible...?
  • Yes. It is.
  • You'll have to pay for it, though.
  • Wouldn't it just be easier to start from scratch with the theme you want under the name you want? Just let the redundant one expire and don't renew.
  • Yes, it is much easier, and cheaper as you can do it for free.
  • You're probably both right on that score. i was thinking of setting up a blog just for my political views, but feel I can weave them into my posts and messages, relating them to my writing and stories and what things motivate me when it comes to these tales etc, because then I can précis these ideas into one big one, incorporating my values within these contexts. So, yep, I think I will take that advice. Sound, as usual... thanks..
  • Been reading an article referring to 'permastructures' on WordPress. Bit technical for me to grasp the relevancy of these links.

    Can anyone give me a straight forward answer as to how these would help people find my website posts?
  • No. You are going into way too much detail. No-one will look at your website unless there is something on it, and even then unless it is of the most scintillating interest the number of followers you can expect is tiny.
  • Okay. Thanks for that bit of advice. I'll take your earlier advise about setting up a new Wordpress website just for promoting my stories. You're probably right. I won't get many followers, but it should be fun to try to win some over. And I can keep my other website for my personal one. It'll help keep me occupied and maybe engaged on other's sites too. Thanks again, Liz..
  • Hope that writing is coming along...
  • Yes, thank you, Liz. Little by little. More editing every day. Keep chipping away at it and sooner or later I'll have it completed. Thanks to all the encouragement and advise given to me on this forum..
  • I use Hemingway Rewritten. Good luck with yours Lydia, hope you figure it all out.
  • edited March 2017
    Am changing my domain name on Wordpress to one which uses a specific keyword in this name that reflects my business. To make it easier to locate on search engines.

    Thinking that I should use the words romantic author in this domain name, to represent my novellas, but what about my film scripts? Should I include a reference to these and, if so, wouldn't the name be getting too long and no longer catchy and simple to use? What word could I substitute instead of author? There's writer but that sounds too general and non specific... any suggestions here..?
  • What word could I substitute instead of author?
    "Creator of words, but not actually words rather the order they’re written in"
  • Lydia you don't need to have those words in your domain title - they will be in the description and a search engine is more than capable of finding them. Keep your address short and snappy your name and author or writer will be more than enough. Plus if you write any other sort of fiction in the future the domain name is then not correct.
  • I dunno - lydia1960romancewordslinger.wordpress.com has a certain ring to it.
  • Yeah. I think you are right, Liz. Just my author's name and the word 'writing' added. That should be sufficient...
  • I dunno - lydia1960romancewordslinger.wordpress.com has a certain ring to it.
    Bit of double-edging happening here.

    'Romance words linger' or 'Romance word slinger'?

    :\">
  • Trying to work out the difference between adding a new custom domain name or mapping one? Which one would allow for just my pen name to be located on a search engine? Confuses me this...
  • Can anyone advise me on this. Trying to register my website with my pen name.lh thorn.wrong.com has already been taken, presumably by another writer.

    Can anyone suggest a strong keyword to use for writing to add onto a primary custom name to easily be located on search engines..? Using .net and or .org...? Bearing in mind I am now concentrating on script writing, but keeping the keyword as open as possible in case I divert in other writings later..

    will do a search on Google, but thought I'd ask the experts here too.
  • Just had a thought. How about lh thorn.spillingink.com? There's a bit of mystique about it as in whAt type of writing that might be...?
  • There is a website out there called Spilling Ink.

    Quill and Ink?
  • Let's see. thorn.quillandink.com? It's a bit long as they recommend snappy, short domain names.

    If I chose a .net or .org for my domain name and no other writer had the lhthorn.writing.net/org would search engines by able to distinguish between mine and the other writer and their domain name, .which has the writing.com attached which is why I cannot use it...?
  • Don't set yourself up for the POSSIBILITY of being mistaken, OR, that the other writer might see conflict with you. We are all unique in our own way; I believe we should try to protect that as far as possible. Also, I think you need not preface the 'site' name with your author name. The author name will reveal itself on the blog/home page. The site name should, as you correctly say, be short and snappy.
  • It's not the other writer, but potential followers I am concerned about. Should they be directed towards the other writers site?

    And surely if you are trying to lure followers to your social media then using your pen name is a must? A given...?
  • What about simply...

    lhthornwriter.whatever (co.ok/com/net etc)

    If you use something like 123-reg.co.uk you can test out any permutation of names and co/com/net/org etc and see which is/are available and the cost to buy. 123 also do a web builder package - was quite cheap for a years use when I signed up a few months back. £12 for first year or something. They have many templates you can build your site from.
  • And surely if you are trying to lure followers to your social media then using your pen name is a must? A given...?
    If you read my whole post in which I was trying to be helpful, I did acknowledge that by saying: The author name will reveal itself on the blog/home page.
    To simplify, what I meant by that is that when a person clicks on romanticink.co.uk, the reader will see that the site is a showcase of works by LH Thorn.

    Too many late nights for you, Lydia.

    ;)
  • Call me stupid, or something, but what if they enter the wording lhthorn and the other writer's website appears? That's what I am worried about...

    And thanks, Kramer, but I'm having enough difficulties with this website to consider going elsewhere.

    It's simply that my mind functions creatively, so analytical thinking is difficult for me. Apologies if this is all self evident to you experts...
  • edited April 2017
    Going ahead with lhthornwriting.... as my tag. When going to register this, with .com as its ending, it recommended that I add .blog instead.

    Not understanding the differences of these domain names properly, would it make any difference with search engines, quickness in locating the name etc, if I put .com or .blog on the end of my domain name... tried googling this but nothing relevant came up.
  • The dot com tag is universally accepted as a primary domain name. Many companies using a dot co dot UK suffix will also link to the same name with a dot com tag.

    Should you later want to sell books, etc from your site, it will appear far more professional with a dot com (slightly more expensive too) tag. One could see a dot blog tag as restricted only to a blog. I can't offer much on the search results for each, save to say that searches generally rely on number of hits per site for their ratings. On that basis, either should rate similarly.
  • Thanks, PET. Good advice as usual. The idea of appearing professional, as a writer, to potential interested parties. So lhthornwriting.com is therefore the recommend one. Great. I'll go ahead with that one..
  • Registered my domain name and ones for .net, .org to prevent those being taken.

    Just wondering about my tumblr site. It's domain name and whether I should map it to Wordpress? Or to link Wordpress with tumblr, other way round? They are two different social media sites with different followers expecting different things. So should I directly link them or just add contacts details for them?

    The Fiverr expert that set up tumblr said I didn't need to post on Wordpress, just link it to tumblr....? They do seem to be more wordy on Wordpress, the bloggers and, aiming my stories to primarily the Wattpad crowd, think they would mostly be on tumblr, from my research, and prefer mostly images than lengthy blog posts...?
  • Looking at my Shoreditch theme for my WordPress blog, website. It says the layout adjusts itself depending on which device you are using, so will look good on smaller screens, such as an iPad or iPhone, as well as a computer.

    And it works great as a personal blog, as well as for business. So I'd just like to thank Liz for suggesting this theme as being a suitably simple one for my needs..
  • It is pretty nice.

    At the bottom of your Wordpress blog you can put buttons to share to Facebook, Tumblr, Google+ and Twitter.

    Each time you blog you can set it up to go to Facebook automatically. Then you go to your page with your bog post on and press 'Tumblr' and it will post to Tumblr and so on. You don't need ot worry about who reads what as it can post to all places.
  • That happens with my tumblr posts. Goes automatically to Twitter. But wouldn't that be overkill if I have my WordPress blog posts go to Facebook, tumblr etc? I read that people don't like multiple posts...?
  • Then don't send them.
Sign In or Register to comment.