I really should make this some kind of newsletter, because I feel like these announcements are too exciting to be contained in just a blog post. Well, maybe not so exciting to you, but they are to me.

First of all, I made an update to the Pricing list to include custom page templates. If you don’t know what custom page templates are, then you should check out the newly public Big Shots Photography blogsite. Click on the “seniors” link and you’ll notice that the header and menu items change. And if you go to any of the gallery pages, those are designed differently as well. If you sign up for a Custom Blogsite package, it includes custom page templates for both galleries and information pages. But if you’re wanting another template built for a different type of section in your blogsite (i.e. seniors), then you can sign up to have one created for you for $75. I’ll create the custom template and all you have to do is create the pages that will then be assigned to this new template. There are endless possibilities for this use, including private client pages, client proofing galleries, etc…

And as an introductory offer, I’d like to offer a free custom page template to anyone who signs up for a Custom Blogsite Package, in addition to the information and gallery page templates that are included. Use this for anything you’d like! Offer ends July 31, 2010.

Secondly, I am SO excited to announce that I finally bought a Mac, which means I can do some really hard proofing now that I’m multi-platformed (is that a word?). I’ve always been ambi-platformed (maybe that’s a better word?), but the last Mac I owned is probably being used as a door stop somewhere (really, they had one at the Mac store I bought my new one from!). I still use it when doing architecture, so I’m already well versed in the new OSX. Now, I don’t have to count on my Mac-using-clients to inform me of anything buggy on their end. Yay!

Ok lastly, (and happy for me but sadly for you) I am leaving on vacation for 4 days this week, starting on Wednesday, so as I’ve said many times in the past before….DON’T BREAK ANYTHING! ha!

A quick post to let you guys know that WordPress 3.0 was just released today.  I went ahead and upgraded this site and am in the process of testing it out.  If you’re a subscriber or a past client, you probably received some bogus subscription emails.  I was testing out the new menu creation feature and for some reason 3.0 thought it was a new post and sent out the email update.  Weird! According to this page, it’s considered a post type, but I have no idea why.  So just be aware that if you have a subscription plugin and want to play around with the new menu feature, an email will be sent out to your subscribers.  I’m going to email the developers of the Subscribe2 plugin to see what they can do about turning that off.

REMINDER: If you want to upgrade to 3.0, be sure to backup your database first.  Many of you might already have the WordPress Database Backup installed, so just go ahead and run it before clicking on the upgrade button.  You may want to wait until you hear back from me on my thoughts of the upgrade.

Let’s talk about blogsites!  I’ve been on a roll with them lately, and have really stretched my skills in making the most of WordPress to build blogsites that are all-inclusive, interactive experiences.  It’s amazing what you can do!  Here’s an example of a blogsite that pushes the limit and power of WordPress.

Marla  and I worked together to create a multi-template blogsite that contains 1) a regular blog (not yet live),  2) a senior information site (now live), 3) a general client information site (not yet live), as well as portfolio galleries featured in both the blogsite and senior information site.  All this with one WordPress login! All of the URL’s are root based and SEO friendly (i.e. …/senior-info instead of /blog/senior-info), making for a more organized, streamlined, and neatly presented blogsite.

Take a look around her senior information site (the other sections aren’t live yet), and you’ll get a feel for how her branding elements have been infused into every nook and cranny of the site.  I’ve recently switched from using flash fonts (i.e. sifr) to cufon fonts (image-based) and found that the custom cufon fonts load a lot faster than the flash ones.   Cufon fonts are great for replacing regular web-based fonts for menu titles and post titles (body font replacement not recommended).

Marla is also incorporating video into her site, so you can check out what she’s done and get a feel for how it can look on your own blogsite.  She also wanted to include client forms and agreements into her site, and I was able to set it up for her so she could create them within WordPress and create the pages herself.  Be aware that some of the pages are password protected, but you can view the senior information form to see an example.

I hope you feel a bit more inspired to come up with ideas for your own blogsite!

Sorry for the delay in updating. The transition into summer has been a little rough, but things are going smoothly now. I wanted to post about this upcoming event that we are sponsoring. ExplorePhotoWorkshops.com is holding a photography workshop in August and we are providing promotional cards that will be handed out to all workshop attendees. If you haven’t purchased your attendance yet, you can use the promo card “blogs4photogs” to receive $100 off the price! Here are the details:

Explore Photography Workshops
August 13th and 14th in Dallas, TX.
Come to learn from from our outstanding speakers
Raye Law, Michelle Huesgen, and Allison Cottrill
Visit our website at www.ExplorePhotoWorkshops.com
for more information and to register. Use the coupon code “blogs4photogs” to get a $100 off.

If you’re like me, you’ve been HIGHLY curious about the release of the new Apple iPad. I’m not posting to advertise for the iPad or to even sway you to purchase one. Instead I wanted to discuss the issues of iPad (and iPhone) compatibility when it comes to the design of your WordPress photography blog or blogsite.

Let’s start the discussion with a new article that came out today: http://www.wplover.com/1670/getting-your-wordpress-themes-ready-for-apple-ipad

Go ahead, I’ll give you a few minutes to read it. I’ll be waiting right here.
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Ok, so now that you’ve read it, I wanted to bring up a couple important points from the article that highly concerns photographers with WordPress blogs.

a)  Layout.
Some of you have VERY wide blogs, over the standard 960 pixels. On most hi-res monitors these days (and I know you have one of them if you’re a photographer like me who likes to work on one while editing photos), that width is just fine. But many are not aware that there are still people out there with smaller resolution monitor settings. It was fine and dandy to assume that those dinosaur monitors would eventually burn out and become extinct, but with the emergence of small browser machines (i.e. iPad and iPhone), this should still be a very important issue.

What can you do about it? Well, just make sure that important content that you want people to see and read don’t go too far beyond the 960 pixels width. Regardless of the fact that iPads and iPhones have easy zoom features, it doesn’t make your site very user-friendly if you force some of your visitors to constantly zoom in and out to view your content.

b) Flash.

We’re talking Adobe Flash of course. 90% of you have the Flashfader plugin to create the flash slideshow in your header. Just admit it, you have one. So yeah, it’s pretty sucky that Apple still hasn’t given support for iPad and iPhone to view Flash content, but it’s not like we can tell all the buyers (and yes, I do have an iPhone so I’m one of them) to stop buying the products because they don’t support Flash. It is reasonable though to find an alternative method of showing our photos in a non-Flash format.

So how do you go about doing that? Well, I’ve recently found that using the Nextgen Gallery plugin along with the Nextgen Smooth plugin allows you to create photo slideshows that simulate a Flash show very closely, without the Flash. It’s javascript based, which Apple supports, and loads quickly and efficiently. Ugh, but what if you don’t want to redo your Flash slideshow? Well….you can have a static image replace the Flash if the browser detects that Flash isn’t supported. So instead of a blue box, the viewer will see a static image like your logo or something like that. This can be done pretty easily with some css coding that I can do for you.

This special has expired.

Hope y’all are enjoying the spring weather! (I know I am). I wanted to put together a spring special. Since I’ve recently started Tweeting (slowly but surely), I wanted to hook you up with a discount for adding me. Receive $100 off a Custom Blog or Blogsite Package if you add me on Twitter and Facebook. You also have to either tweet about the special or publish it in your FB status. This special is good through the end of March.

1. Add me to Twitter: http://twitter.com/BlogsforPhotogs
2. Become a fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Blogs-for-Photogs/271595277374

3. Post this on Twitter or your Facebook status:
Check out #BlogsforPhotogs spring special. Get your own custom blog! http://bit.ly/densvo

4. Fill out the Sign-Up form and mention this special to get your discount!

Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to overhaul my OWN photography blogsite? I’ve been so inspired by the client projects I’ve had, that I’ve been itching to play with my own site to see how far I can go with my own ideas. I had to start with my logo of course. It’s been a very, much needed process of finding out who I am and how I can translate that into my logo. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about. Well, since I also have a history in the architecture field (and still do it from time to time), I did want to incorporate it in there somehow, and also the fact that I consider myself a designer-of-all-trades, so to speak.

Of course I had to go ahead and flash animate the logo as well, (you know I just had to). My colors changed as well, to a palette more vibrant than before. The layout of the blogsite is hopefully unique and easier to navigate than before. The “fake out” splash page actually has the blog entries below the initial flash content and includes a “read the blog” button to easily take you there in case you didn’t notice the blog section. I cleaned up the navigation menu items and put the archive links in an enhanced footer, making it SO much cleaner and nicer in my opinion.

So voila! Here’s the finished product. http://designfocusstudio.com
Hopefully you are as inspired by it as I have been by your blogs. I guess time will tell if my PHOTOGRAPHY clients like it too.

Happy February!
In the wake of the discovery that I CAN create flash logos after all, I wanted to offer them with new custom blog packages. You must have an existing logo for it to be converted to an animated flash. If you know exactly how you want your logo to be animated but don’t know if it’s do-able, contact me and I can take a look at your logo and see if I can achieve what you want before you sign up for the blog package.

If you haven’t seen the latest animated logos I’ve done, see the last 2 posts here and here.

This offer expires February 15th.

Thank you to everyone willing to be guinea pigs with their logos. I came up with some fun designs. If you’re interested in getting your existing logo made into an animated flash, please contact me for a quote. Prices start at $75. If you’d like it embedded into your splash page or blog, the cost is an additional $50.

I had so much fun with these! (These are looped for your viewing pleasure. Finally product stops after first loop.)

Oh fun day! I think I’ve tweeted and posted about this everywhere. I’ve finally gotten my head straight enough to learn Flash and am starting to animate logos. Check these out:

For now I’m practicing and playing, so if anyone has a logo that they’d like animated, contact me and I’ll give it a shot. Eventually when I get good enough I’ll start charging it as part of our services.