WordPress Frameworks and why they work

by tim on June 27, 2011

What exactly are wordpress theme frameworks? In a nutshell, they are there to help make the life of wordpress developers like me easier. They can of course be used by people who want their own custom wordpress site yet don’t know how to make a theme from scratch. A wordpress theme framework is actually a ready-to-go theme that is designed to be a solid yet flexible foundation for your own theme or as a parent theme for your child themes. There are frameworks that are easy to set up with all the options available through the admin and there are those that require a steeper learning curve. And although not for everyone, it is definitely an asset to the wordpress community.

And since frameworks are generally made to work out of the box, they are already SEO optimized, have valid and semantic XHTML and have native support for many popular plugins. Which are just some of the reasons why they work.

I have compiled a list of open source frameworks that I have used one time or another and the paid ones that I am convinced are worth their price.

1. Thematic

Thematic is a free, open-source, highly extensible, search-engine optimized WordPress Theme Framework featuring 13 widget-ready areas, grid-based layout samples, styling for popular plugins, and a whole community behind it. Originally built on The Sandbox, it was modified to add more functionality. A very flexible theme with a complex yet organized back-end.

2. Hybrid

Hybrid is a user-friendly, search-engine optimized theme framework, featuring 15 custom page templates and 8 widget-ready areas, allowing you to create any type of site you want.

Like WordPress, this theme is completely free and open source. You can use it for your client work or for a blog about your grandchildren. It is continuously being developed and has a community growing around it.

3. WP Framework

Cuts down custom theme development time tremendously. It is a solid foundation to build on top of, regardless of your project, which leaves you to focus on the features you need to implement. And like most frameworks, it is already search engine optimized, very fast and configurable.

3. Prototype


Another open-source theme from Theme Hybrid, Prototype is a specialized parent theme with multiple nav menus, several widget areas, and per-post layouts, allowing anyone from designers to users to quickly creates beautiful sites.

4. OnePress


The OnePress framework is an integrated website and forum solution. It is, simply, a WordPress theme to serve as the foundation and framework for your web site and online community. Leveraging the powerful WordPress and phpBB projects, OnePress provides a set of features focused on helping you build and maintain your site from the inside out. With this set of tools, you can easily run your community and do so with professional presentation.

5. Whiteboard


The Whiteboard framework for WordPress is built to speed up the process of designing and coding a WordPress theme. Whiteboard does so by eliminating the time spent on WordPress’ back-end PHP that is common to all WordPress themes.

6. Hybrid Core theme framework

If you’re an end user, this framework wasn’t built for you. You’re certainly welcome to use it, but you may find it tough if you’re not familiar with creating WordPress themes.

Hybrid Core was built for theme developers. Its purpose is to aid in the development of your themes while leaving the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript completely up to you.

This framework is also for people who are tired of trying to hack a single “theme framework” to bits via a functions.php file just to make simple changes. It’s for people that are tired of the misuse and misunderstanding of parent/child themes in the WordPress community.

Commercial Theme Framework

Thesis Theme Framework

I’ve always been partial to Thesis, I’ve been recommending it to my clients and in fact, BeThumbed.com is built on Thesis. The community is awesome and there are tons of thesis tutorials you can find online, as always google is your friend.

You can use the theme out of the box and the back-end was built with the end user in mind. Customizing the theme is not too hard although it may pose some hazards for the first timers.

A rock-solid foundation for any type of website, it is relatively easy to manage and with the support that comes with it – definitely worth every cent.

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This is what makes our world go round

by tim on June 19, 2011

We are new to homeschool and we LOVE IT! We are now on our third week of independent homeschooling and the kids are enjoying it, its not easy in any way especially with both my hubby and me working full time. We both work at home, both keep our own time and our kids are technology-oriented and already knows how to navigate the computer. Which is one of the main reason why we choose an online curriculum, Time4Learning. It s a great curriculum and the kids love it, although there may be times when they find it a little bit boring which is why we mix it up with other learning tools as well. We’re leaning more towards “Unschooling” or rather its more like a “desire-based learning” for our son while our daughter needs a structured environment that time4learning offers.

My children have different learning styles and we want to help them realize their genius, because it has always been my belief that every child is a genius in his own right. The problem lies on how to cultivate them in order for them to reach their full potentials. Which also makes Time4Learning a great curriculum for us because it caters to different learning styles and it makes it easier for us to check our kids’ progress because they keep a comprehensive report of each of my kids’ progress and also allows us to review the lessons that they are having a hard time with.

I’ve been getting a lot of help from online communities too especially The Homeschool Buyer Co-op, where I got to see what homeschool families are using, what works for them, what doesn’t, what’s recommended and the how-to’s in homeschooling. The Homeschool Buyer Co-op is a free homeschooling organization for both new and veteran homeschoolers. Co-op membership is free and confidential, and entitles homeschooling families to discounts from hundreds of educational suppliers. The Co-op also sponsors “Group Buys” for curriculum packages that can save homerschooling families lots of money. On the site you’ll find lots of free information, such as databases of free curriculum, field trips, and educational contests and scholarships.I got a lot of information from that site alone and its been a really big help. This site also introduced us to Time4Learning – for which I will be eternally grateful. :) For those considering homeschooling, check out The Homeschool Buyer Co-op.

Disclaimer:

Time4Learning has given me the opportunity to review their program and share my experiences. Time4Learning is an online educational program that can be used as a homeschool curriculum or for afterschool enrichment. While I was compensated, the content in this review was not written by Time4Learning. The opinion is entirely my own.

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Happy Father’s Day, Tatay!!!

by tim on June 19, 2011

We love you so much!

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Daddy – Our Hero

by tim on June 18, 2011

Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!!!

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Lunar Eclipse – June 16, 2011

by tim on June 16, 2011

I saw the blood red moon in its entirety. It was a brilliant display of the fury and magnificence of nature and of the wondrous Glory of God. I could not stop staring at it, I was like a little child staring at my children’s telescope and trying to find the right angle to get a good photo through the telescope… This is what I got and of course, I couldn’t stop myself from writing a poem…

Ode to the moon

Oh, Luna, my muse
Where art though in this cloud-free night?
Your shining face so bright
Alas is not in sight.
The sky brings a blood red face
Staring down with fire…
Why do you bring such ire?
Throwing the heavens in deep quagmire.

Selene, Luna, Soma or are you perhaps Chang’e…
Did the moon rabbit stopped playing with you?
Bloody Red Moon,
I too will bid you adieu.

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Khleomi’s 6th year

by tim on June 10, 2011

My little princess, Khleomi Helen turned 6 last June 3 and she declared her 6th birthday to be the best ever. It was her first without a party and a first for me not being too harassed, usually I plan weeks before because I’m always hands-on with invitations, cakes – the works… And believe me, planning a 2-3 hour event takes a lot of patience and ingenuity. For this year, I skipped the planning part and just went with my guts. All she wanted was a cake, a barbie doll with spare clothes (she wished that on her fallen eyelash), a baby doll and me not working. Most of what she wanted was doable, the only difficult one is the “me not working” part. But a promise is a promise and throwing caution into the wind, I took a four day vacation. I did check my emails every now and then but I did not really do any real work which was a great feat for me. I haven’t taken that much pictures because we were enjoying too much… All in all it was a birthday to remember and just seeing the sparkle in her eyes made it all worthwhile…

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Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy!

by tim on May 8, 2011

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No arms, No legs, No worries

by tim on April 20, 2011

I’m not really a whiner, although I do whine when alone… Let’s just say that “I’m not a vocal whiner”, that more or less rings true. I have a “can do” attitude and never say no to challenges, it doesn’t really matter if I know how to tackle it, what matters is I’ve set my mind to do it. I tend to handle everything alone and have this sort of “perfectionist” attitude in dealing with everything, I sometimes (always?) think that I can do it better – that is the bane of my life. I tend to argue a lot when I believe that my stand is correct (and even when its not) and I seldom say sorry when I lose an argument (which by the way, I rarely do… I think). Sometimes when I fall down, I find it hard to stand up, I wallow in self pity for a bit, recalling everything that happened and thinking of “what ifs”. When I was younger, crying is a really rare occasion. Now, I still don’t cry at least not in the presence of someone else.

I know that what I’ve written above doesn’t really make sense, its a sort of revelation that does not matter to anyone else but me. But now that that is out in the open, I just want people to see into their inner selves and try to identify their weaknesses and try to imagine what they would do when faced with the dilemma of climbing out of the deepest ravine of their lives. When you stumble or fall, do you get up? I sometimes think I can’t but so far, I’ve proved myself wrong time and time again. Its been a long time since I went to church and sometimes I forget to pray, but I know in my heart that God is watching everything I do and is waiting for me to call on him whenever I need help and believe me, I needed help a lot of times. I don’t really believe in a one true religion, but I believe that God lives in us and we can talk to him directly anytime, anywhere without any need for a third party. And in the times that I can no longer get up, I always call on Him and He never failed to deliver. It might not be in the way I expect but it will be in the way that will be more beneficial in the long run.

Below is a video that I recommend everyone watch and after watching, ask yourself this:

What have I done to deserve the life I am living right now?

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To Homeschool or not to homeschool

by tim on April 10, 2011

I’ve toyed with the idea of homeschooling my kids a year ago but was a bit apprehensive because I do not have any idea how to go about it. But this year, its a different thing, I checked and researched all I can about homeschooling in the Philippines and although it is as of yet not that popular, it is considered a viable option by the Department of Education, the problem now is choosing the right homeschool provider for our family. We eventually narrowed it down to two, Catholic Filipino Academy and The Master’s Academy. Both have rave reviews from parents and I’ve been trying to get in contact with them to help me with choosing the right one for my kids. As of the moment, we are not yet decided…

Why homeschool? Mainly because I don’t want my kids to be stereotyped as PASSED or FAILED, and I do want them to know more than what can be taught in a classroom setting. I know my kids are geniuses in their own rights and as a mom I want to be able to know what kind of genius and to hone that into something that they can use when they grow up into adults. I was raised in a traditional school and although I passed with flying colors, I did have some difficulty during my preschool days because I have mild dyslexia, I had to undergo intensive one on one tutoring with my teacher in order for me to know how to read and write correctly. I got to read and spell properly during the middle of my Grade 2 school year. And after that, I breezed through it all.

I’ve always taken pride in the “researcher me” mainly because I have a knack of understanding and putting concepts into action pretty fast so everything I research is actually put into good use. My five years of Engineering didn’t actually paved the way for my current profession, I did enjoy my college years because I got to know a lot of people and experience a lot of things but I was more into journalism those five years than engineering. I wanted to be a lawyer but for some reason took up engineering, I do not regret the choice I made coz I made a lot of good friends and that’s where I met my hubby too. So all in all, it was a delightful 5 years of my life. I know you’re asking, why homeschool when I was enjoying college life so much?

The reason is because I want them to enjoy college while taking the course that they want to pursue. I want to prepare them as much as I can and let them hone their talents so that they will be able to decide with their minds as well as their hearts. Most people I know will see us as weird and will always ask the same questions over and over again. My kids will get as much social interaction as they can, even better than those kids cooped up in a classroom most of the day. They will get to enjoy school and they will learn as much as they can about a variety of topics that they want to learn and they will be able to cope in a social situation, mainly because they will be assured of our love and understanding no matter what happens.

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Big Buck Bunny

by tim on April 10, 2011

This open source short film makes me want to learn how to use Blender… Big Buck Bunny was unveiled 3 years ago but its magic is still very much alive even until now. My kids love it, we just watched it (3x) a few minutes ago and being open source I am free to show this to you in full. So enjoy the hilarious antics of three nasty rodents and Big Buck’s payback. My little princess literally cringed on the butterfly part, she loves butterflies! For those peeps who want to know more about the creator of this funny and inspiring short film, here’s the link for you –> Project Peach

There are three more open source films made by the Blender foundation and I’ll post them all as soon as I finish downloading them and showing them to my little critics for approval.

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