Branford Magazine WordPress theme

Branford Magazine is a free WordPress theme for websites. It's called a magazine-style theme (or a 'news portal' style theme) because the homepage looks like a magazine.

With a little work, anyone can install WordPress and a theme like Branford Magazine. It's helpful if you have a general knowledge of HTML, but you can work around that if you have to.

Branford Magazine was inspired by some of the best elements of Mimbo and Revolution themes. It creates a clean-looking webpage with easy navigation... and it looks great.

Best of all, both WordPress and Branford Magazine are free. Download them, install and customize them... and you're all set.

Once they're installed, it's easy to update your website. If you can write email or update a blog such as MySpace, Blogger or LiveJournal, you can use Branford Magazine with WordPress.

TIPS FOR INSTALLING & CUSTOMIZING YOUR THEME

1. Use the Mimbo sidebar.php rather than the Branford Magazine one. For some reason, the Mimbo version is more idiot-proof if-like me-you want to modify it. (Get the Mimbo sidebar.php as part of the free theme download at the Mimbo website.)

2. Remember to change the /wp-content/ folder CHMOD to 0777 so that you can import and upload images in your "write post"panel. (The images are uploaded in the "Upload" section.)

CHMOD is usually set via FTP. In FireFTP (a free Firefox utility), right-click on the folder and select "Properties" to change the CHMOD.

Some people feel that there can be security issues with CHMOD 0777. Many people change back to 0755 after importing the images they'll need. But, others aren't concerned about selected use of 0777. Use a search engine to research this if you're worried.

3. Here's a Branford Magazine "cheat sheet" to remember which images (and image sizes) go where.

In the Custom Fields section:

leadimage is the large-ish picture in the main story near the top of the page. It can be any size that looks good to you. The demo site shows an image that's 300 wide x 200 high.

featuredarticleimage is the field for the horizontal images associated with the article excerpts in the left column of the homepage. Each image should be 255 x 88.

rightcolimage is the field for the icon-type images in the right column. Each image should be 75 x 75.

4. The files you'll probably tweak: The index.php has the info for the left column and right column. The sidebar, at the far right side of the page, is in sidebar.php.

The tabs below the navigation bar are in ui.tabs (The navigation bar is a list of Pages that you create in "Write Page" in WordPress.)

Note: These tips are short summaries from the ebook, Sites that Soar!, and they are used with permission. (The book features lots of screenshots and more detailed explanations.)

Many people can install and customize the Branford Magazine theme on their own.

The process is about the same as for any other WordPress theme: Change the graphic, adjust the colors, learn the nuances of the theme, and then... play!

However... if you're not familiar with WordPress and at least a little PHP, it could be a time consuming process... the first time, anyway.

The best source of help -- recommended by Branford Magazine creator, Michael Oeser -- is the ebook, Sites that Soar!

It's a 72 page book with screenshots that shows you, step-by-step, how to customize your Branford Magazine homepage, and make your website look great!

RESOURCES

Michael Oeser's site, DER-PRiNZ

WordPress downloads and installation info (Check with your hosting service, first. Many of them will automatically install WordPress with a single click.)

Sites that Soar!, an ebook that explains how to install and customize Branford Magazine (recommended by Branford Magazine creator, Michael Oeser)

USEFUL FORUMS
Branford Magazine support forum
Mimbo users forum
WordPress support forum

EXAMPLES

Sites that Soar! blog
Hollow Hill, the ghost hunting website