Site Type: WordPress

Theme: Bravissimo. Bravissimo is a Web 2.0 premium theme available on Themeforest.net. It features a flexible home page slider for visual impact, 15 defined color schemes and numerous widget areas. The theme options can be overwhelming to configure so expect to spend some time understanding this theme if you purchase it. It’s a great looking theme with great design. The code could use some fixing. Although there weren’t any deal breakers in the code.

Modifications: Re-created the header background images and the slider background images to use custom colors provided by the customer. Pulled the logo out of a flat file with a white background as the customer didn’t have a layered file. Configured the slider and widgets to display images, text and video on the home page. Modified the PHP of the portfolio page to use pages instead of posts. Modified the page template PHP code to correctly identify when a page is a sub-page. Replaced the footer background image with a low byte count image  because the image the author provided couldn’t be repeated correctly. Customized the provided contact form to include phone and zip code fields. Modified the header links and CSS as needed. Added browser caching code to the .htaccess file.

Plugins: Akismet, All-in-One SEO, Google XML Sitemaps, Maintenance Mode, MapPress, pageMash, Viper’s Video Quicktags, WordPress Backup & WP DB-backup.

(Note: The site owner is performing additional work on the site after the initial installation and design.)

Visit: Enterprise Iron & Metal

Site Type: WordPress

Theme: Business Success. Business Success is a premium theme available from Theme Forest. Business Success is a very modern theme incorporating nice back-end theme set up options. It also includes widgets defined for the home page layout making it easy to configure with text or blog posts. The image slider is the recently developed and free CU3ER 3D image slider. The 3D slider makes a big impact on the home page. I love this theme because it’s well coded, easy to configure, easy to modify and has great graphics. It comes with 7 color options.

Modifications: This was a simple site so I didn’t make many modifications to the theme. The home page is designed with widgets provided by the author. I did create the site logo. The other pages are populated with text and images provided by the client. I added a fix for IE6 because the Google map doesn’t display correctly without the fix. I also edited the PNG fix process used by the author.

Plugins: Akismet, All-in-One SEO, Google XML Sitemaps, Maintenance Mode, MapPress Easy Google Maps, pageMash,  WordPress Mobile Edition.

Visit: Klotz Auto Parts

Site Type: WordPress

Theme: Akiraka. Akiraka is a premium theme available from Rocket Theme. Akiraka is graphically oriented theme with intense color schemes. It offers 10 predefined color schemes. A large area for your most important message and image inhabits the top of the content area. Three fairly large clickable images for impact fill out the lower viewable area of the home page.

Modifications: The home page was modified in several ways. First I modified the PHP code to use use the graphics and images I created. Second, a logo was designed and uploaded. Next, the PHP code was modified to include static information rather than posts for the home page content. A true CSS table was created for the auto part page.  A number of CSS modifications were made to meet customer needs. Akiraka is a fairly complex theme to modify due to the heavy use of graphics and the user friendly back end. Making a theme easy to use for non-technical people makes the code much more complex.

Plugins: Akismet, All-in-One SEO, Contact Form 7, Google XML Sitemaps, Maintenance Mode, MapPress Easy Google Maps, pageMash, Really Simple CAPTCHA, WordPress Mobile Edition.

(Note: The site owner chose the theme for this site.  High FX Media performed the initial design & configuration of the site. Ongoing maintenance and updates are performed by another party.)

Visit: West Michigan Reporting

Site Type: WordPress

Theme: TealGray Retro. TealGray Retro is a premium theme available on ThemeForest.net. It features an image & text slider as the main focus. The slider images can be the same on all pages or change based on the page displayed. It comes in one color and is a nice looking design.

Modifications: The home page was modified  by editing the PHP code to use static HTML instead of posts. Second, the logo was modified with colors matching the theme designer color scheme. Next, the RSS feed icon was moved from the left to the right. Lastly, the bottom bar was modified to allow downloads per the owners request.  A number of CSS modifications were made to meet customer needs.

Plugins: Akismet, All-in-One SEO, Exclude Pages from Navigation, Google XML Sitemaps, Maintenance Mode, MapPress, pageMash.

Visit: High FX Test.com

High FX Test.com is a WordPress testing site where I can test your modifications prior to implementing them on your site (if needed). You never know what you’ll get if you click on the High FX Test link because it’s a testing domain.

Visit: The Web Host Report.com

Site Type: WordPress

Theme: WPRemix. WPRemix is a premium theme designed with flexibility in mind. The theme comes with quite a number of page layouts The layouts can be mixed and matched as needed. The author encourages modifications, but you’ll need to know some HTML, CSS and/or PHP to make modifications.

Modifications: Increased the page display to 960 pixels; modified the colors; removed the background image outside the page; inserted a background image on the home page; changed the maximum width of navigation choices; added a third column to the lower part of the home page; added translate and share buttons; added a sortable table to the compare page; modified the footer text, colors and layout; created my own page layouts with images on the left and text on the right; eliminated the sidebar from pages; edited a less than satisfactory layout for blog posts; numerous changes to the CSS. Added PHP files and PHP code to include affiliate links rather than pasting links into each page.

Plugins: All in One SEO Pack, Contact Form, Deactivate Visual Editor, Exclude Pages from Navigation, Google XML Sitemaps, Include HTML, Maintenance Mode, pageMash, PHP Execution, WP-SpamFree.

Visit: High FX Media.com

Site Type: WordPress

Theme: Business Theme. Business Theme is a premium theme available on Themeforest.net. This is an eye catching design with an automatic slider on the home page. A slider like this provides a mechanism to quickly display much more content than a completely static page. A visitor can quickly understand what your site is about and decide whether to investigate further. I like this theme a lot and chose it for my primary site because of the modern design, the colors and the eye pleasing graphics. The author used great colors and subtle shading and boxing to define page areas.

This theme has some fairly complex technical installation issues. Setting up this theme wouldn’t be described as simple.

Modifications:  Create a new logo and installed it. Edited the background to include my heading (Featured Web Sites) in the slider. Compressed the background images used for the header, slider & main content areas. I’m not sure why, but the theme author never compressed these images. The page load faster with compressed images. Removed borders around the menu items. Edited the PHP code to use two custom fields for images. The author used the same image/custom field for all image displays. The images were displayed in different ratios (1.5:1 & 2:1) causing image distortions. One custom field is used for the slider images and another for Portfolio images. Set up sidebar widgets. Created a graphic for the Free Premium WordPress Theme sidebar widget. Added a link to the Privacy page in the footer. Last but not least, I modified the main content area below the slider. The author had current blog posts showing here. I wanted static information so I changed the PHP code to include two HTML files.

Plugins: All in One SEO Pack, Contact Form 7, Dean’s FCKEditor for WordPress, Exclude Pages from Navigation, Google XML Sitemaps, Maintenance Mode, pageMash.

Visit: Soo Fireplace & Stone

Site Type: WordPress

Theme: Fancy Theme. Fancy Theme is a premium theme available on ThemeForest.net. It features an image & text slider as the main focus with 3 feature boxes below the slider. It comes with 6 defined color schemes. This theme works quite well for a pellet stove, fireplace and hot tub retailer.

Modifications: The home page was modified in several ways. First I modified the PHP code to use pages instead of posts for the three feature boxes below the slider. Second, the old logo was modified and made more current. Next, the background behind the logo was resized to fit the Soo Fireplace & Stone logo. Lastly, a text box was created for the customer feedback and PHP code was added to replace posts in this area. A logo was added for Don Earl Heating & A/C to the header. A number of CSS modifications were made to meet customer needs. This included the background color. I also fixed the 404 error page because the author hadn’t coded it correctly.

Plugins: Akismet, All-in-One SEO, Exclude Pages from Navigation, Google XML Sitemaps, Maintenance Mode, MapPress, pageMash.

(Note: High FX Media performed the initial design & configuration of this site. Ongoing maintenance and updates are performed by another party.)