August was a great month for Contented Niche. With quite a bit of traffic flowing in, I’m pleased with the success this blog has experienced so far.

But now is the time to take it in a new direction. I’ve noticed that resource posts and other, longer, articles are drawing in the most attention, so I’m going to focus on those for a few months until I can sustain my numbers at a comfortable place. Then I’ll be back to daily posts and see where things go from there.

Does this mean I’m not going to highlight some of the best and most unique icons and WordPress themes? Of course not, just not as often.

And did I mention that I’m hard at work on building a few themes of my own? I don’t want to give any set in stone deadlines, but expect to see the first one posted by mid month.

So expect to see the changes come this week with fewer, but better (and certainly more in depth) blog posts to come.

Oh, and if you have any suggestions for a post you’d like to see, just drop me a comment below.

Thanks for sticking around.

Smashing Magazine has, once again, raised the bar on free WordPress themes with their newest release, Notepad Chaos. Personally, I’m not too fond of the theme. A bit too chaotic, too colorful, and too busy for my tastes–but I’m sure there are some of you who will find much joy in installing this theme. Design choices aside, what does this theme offer that goes above and beyond the competition?

Come to think of it, never mind. The theme is all about the design, and theme-ographer Evan Eckard makes that perfectly clear with massive, lush backgrounds and wild handwritten notes strewn about the page.

While Notepad Chaos isn’t breaking any new ground in a technical sense, it does wonders for those with a keen eye for design.

Theme designers must be strapped for inspiration. After talking about WP CODA, which was based off of the impressive Coda site, just a couple of days ago, we now have a theme that is based off of the look and feel of the most popular Linux OS, Ubuntu. Aptly named Ubuntu WP (are we seeing a similarity here?), the theme does a nice job of bringing the now classic Ubuntu color scheme to blogs everywhere.

To be quite honest, I was getting rather tired of seeing many Linux blogs all use the same default WordPress theme or a similarly unattractive design, so its nice to see a breath of fresh air in the Linux world–and hopefully Ubuntu WP will deliver it.

While the design won’t be winning any awards any time soon, it is certainly utilitarian, and focuses mostly on the content over wowing the visitors with snazzy effects and chic color choices. Nonetheless, if your readers are like any of the Linux users I know, you’ll have no problem getting them to read your blog so long as you provide them with plenty of function, or content in this case, over form.

And, to top it all off, Ubuntu WP packs in all the things that will make Ubuntu users rejoice. Stable, Widget Ready, HTML and CSS Valid, and totally Free.

I’m a Mac user, so I saw Panic’s Coda website quite a long time ago when the awesome text editor (and so much more) was first released. While I don’t use their product (I’m a cheapskate and use Smultron and Cyberduck instead), I was totally impressed by the smoothness of their website. Slick JavaScript effects always catch my eye.

So, as you can imagine, I was pretty jazzed to hear about the new WP CODA theme for WordPress. Crafted with love by Greg Johnson, this theme has everything found in the original Coda website–but you can use it with WordPress. Pretty cool–but it has a few nagging drawbacks.

First off, it uses a lot of JavaScript (obviously) to create those shiny eye-catching effects everywhere. Not really a big deal, but there is a pretty sizable group of people out there who choose to turn JavaScript off permanently. Say goodbye to those visitors.

The other big issue is that, by default, WP CODA only displays pages–not posts. Big bummer. Though it can be changed fairly easily (and the theme’s author tells you how), it’s just one more step that you have to take to make your site actually functional. It’s also the reason I named this post as I did. If you’re looking for a more static looking website, but you absolutely love using WordPress as a CMS, this is the theme for you.

Despite the drawbacks, WP CODA is a very impressive theme, and it’s pretty obvious that a lot of work probably went into this. Well worth a download, being free and all.

Far too many WordPress themes focus on being hip, modern, minimalist, or on the other extreme, downright gaudy and over the top. It’s a rare theme indeed that actually focuses on something other than being slick and sophisticated while still maintaining an attractive appearance. Floral Day from SimplyWP does just that.

I can honestly say I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a free WordPress theme that is specifically designed for the arts and crafts group. No, I’m not talking about the architectural movement nearly a century ago, but scrapbooking, sewing, and other such activities from the heartland. Floral Day comes across as a bit country, a bit shabby chic, a bit feminine–making it the perfect theme for those who blog about crafts, sewing, or any other similar hobby.

Good portfolio/gallery themes are surprisingly hard to come by in the WordPress theme world. Sure, there are a few that are downright awesome–but they cost money. In the free arena, finding a site for you to display your (or someone else’s) works of art can be a real drag. If you’re already a web designer, sure, you can just build your own WordPress theme. But if you’re a photographer or a graphic artist, or a t-shirt designer, or something else along those lines, you’re stuck with ready made themes or finding a developer to create one for you for a hefty price.

As far as free themes go, you’re limited just to those which display one massive picture at a time–or something similar.

Now, however, you have a chance to display multiple pictures all at once in true gallery style. Inspired by the countless CSS galleries we see floating through the web, CSSEY is a theme designed for people who: 1. like free themes 2. like minimalist themes 3. want to show off their wares. And that’s it. If you can’t fit yourself into all three of these categories, CSSEY is not the theme for you.

Thanks to Best WordPress Themes for bringing this theme to the limelight.

Every once in a while, a WordPress theme comes along that really blows me away. It doesn’t have to be particularly fancy. Maybe it’s just full featured. Maybe it has some amazing splashes of true genius. Whatever it is, there are some themes that definitely stand out from the pack. Infinity is one of those themes.

Designed to resemble the attractive look of the Vikiworks Studio blog, the Infinity theme is three columns of pure graphic design goodness. I tend to think it goes a little overboard with the “so memorable that you’ll have to change a lot to make your blog unique” head and foot portions, but the core of the theme is solid.

This is definitely a theme that will make your blog stand out–until too many people start using it.

Aside from the glaring problem that the theme is instantly recognizable as a free theme, there are a couple of other issues as well. Lack of widget support. Flickr integration but no Twitter integration. But, for the most part, these are minor flaws that have been corrected in a “spin off” theme called Mashup. It’s not finished yet, but should be soon.

In any event, if you can live with the problems, have the need to customize, and want a very attractive free theme at your fingertips, give Infinity a try.

Thanks to Smashing Magazine for bringing this amazing design to the limelight.