Here, the sidebars have been configured to show on either side of the content rather than a pair on the left or the right, and I’ve been playing around with theme images again. The top of the ‘wall’ is part of the header, and an image repeated both across and down the central sheet forms the rest of it. Grass grows along the bottom of the wall in the footer image.

http://demo14.abundancetheme.com/

This one demonstrates how a y-repeat tiled central sheet image can be used to give the sidebar a different color to the content area. The image of a flower similar to those in the header and footer replaces the default sidebar list bullet image.

http://demo13.abundancetheme.com/

Again the result of messing around with the theme’s image and tiling options with reckless abandon, the idea behind this one would probably work much better if implemented in cleaner colors. Although it does demonstrate that you can have a lot of fun with the theme due to it’s flexibility, it’s worth noting that in the majority of situations, quirky designs can lead eyeballs away from your content as well as your advertising. If you’re tempted to go wild because the theme will let you, weigh up your situation carefully and remember that … read more

This one’s very loud around the edges, but it does give some idea of what can be achieved with a bit of image manipulation. Someone with actual graphical skill could probably pull off a similar idea without being quite so dazzling. However, the abilty to use an image in the central sheet is new to the theme and so I couldn’t resist the chance to play with it. The cues – a ‘norepeat’ background image – sit between the top of the browser window and the top of the central sheet, the header … read more

The gap between the top of the central sheet and the top of the browser has been closed and the central sheet border and padding removed. There’s also been some adjustment to the border width of the menus.

http://demo10.abundancetheme.com/

As if it wasn’t already feature-packed enough, the latest version of The Abundance Theme offers a facility for uploading theme images straight from the WordPress admin instead of via FTP. In addition, you can now use an image in the central sheet area, tiled across, down, both or not at all.

It’s no longer necessary to edit theme files in order to configure excerpts if the default configuration isn’t appropriate for your needs. Now you can define excerpt length as well as image or video … read more

With a growing base of satisfied users, it’s not unusual to randomly encounter the Abundance theme strutting it’s stuff and posing in a variety of configurations on those WordPress websites lucky enough to have found it.

Now that it’s discovered video there’ll be no stopping it – watch as it demonstrates it’s widgetized areas, video thumbnails, page templates and more. It even goes as far as to expose something that most WordPress themes will keep under wraps until they’ve got to know the casual surfer … read more

In the theme’s options page, I closed the gap between the top of the central sheet and the top of the browser on this one, removed the central sheet border and padding and set the sheet color and background color to be the same. I uploaded the header as usual, then removed the cat and his thought bubble from it and uploaded it again to tile across the page behind the header (having already established that the image would tile seamlessly). Paw prints replace the standard sidebar bullet image.

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Created to demonstrate the ratings facility at the same time as I was actually coding it, and whilst simultaneously being distracted by some of the videos I chose to illustrate it, this site was brought to you by a violent heavy metal purple and the design skills typical of the average coder. It’s not neon orange though, so things could have been much worse. The header was made to appear as if floating above the rest of the site by removing the padding and border from the central sheet and coloring the navbar … read more

The top offset gap has been closed here and the the sheet padding removed, but I’ve left the sheet border. There’s a narrow footer at the bottom of the page created from the same image as the header, both of which match the tiled background and the sidebar bullet image. Title bars have an upper and lower border in a darker color, and the navigation menu items have been given the same color as the navbar and so lose the tabbed look. The search box and date are beneath the header, and the … read more