February 12, 2015
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Taking the right Steps
In John's latest post he discusses the teams efforts in choosing the right theme system.
Here's the link to his post: http://thexangateam.xanga.com/2015/02/11/what-weve-been-learning-about-themes/?
The theme of a site is how a site looks and feels, and a theme system is the framework by which most everything else revolves around.
This step is extremely important in site development, as the current major theme systems on the market each have pros and cons. John did mention a few in his post.
What we are using now with Xanga is the default theme system that came out of the box with a self-hosted wordpress site. As many have shared in FB groups and on the Xanga FB page (along with this blog) - they are not thrilled at all. After all, the default theme system we are using is nothing but what is used on a basic default wordpress website.
The issue with choosing and selecting what theme system will work best depends on what direction we as a community want to use the site for, and how we want to manage our own blogs.
How pages are displayed, how we manage our blogs - and what other plugins (or features) we apply to the site from here on out - needs to be compatible with the framework that is being selected/applied to the site.
As John shared in his post, the Xanga team is researching which theme system may work best, as some are more about flexibility and others for ease of use.
Personally, I like a balance between flexibility and ease-of-use. But I tend to venture more on the ease-of use side, with the option to add CSS/HTML in a module for a section on my blog. This, in my opinion, is what Xanga 1.0 had available... at least for premium members.
Being able to adapt my blog how I see fit, and maintain a strong level of connectivity to others on the platform, is something that I think made 1.0 ... well, what we miss.
I like setting up my blog for long term use, and updating a section or two for seasonal and/or special reasons. In short, I don't like to change things up on my blog all the time. I've found that blogs that change their look and feel a lot tend to confuse me. Am I on the same persons blog that I visited last week? or is this a new person? Stability in my sites look and feel is a part of branding I'd like to have some ease in managing. I'd also like to add HTML/CSS to my blog, especially pertaining to advertising or getting paid to do something. After all, that small level of flexibility would allow me to earn a bit of revenue. If anything, to at least cover an annual cost or two for myself and others.
But again, it all begins with the theme system.... and which one that is available that could be adapted to our purpose on Xanga 2.0 the best.
It is a lot of research, and to be honest - I've only done a cursory amount on the topic.
For those interested in this topic, here are some articles online that might prove interesting:
http://amylynnandrews.com/how-to-choose-a-wordpress-theme/
http://www.websitegeographer.com/wordpress-theme-blog/
http://www.wpexplorer.com/simplify-presence-wordpress-products/
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/genesis-framework-review/
http://www.sitepoint.com/4-popular-wordpress-theme-frameworks/
http://athemes.com/collections/best-wordpress-theme-frameworks/
Of course it's a lot of information to take in, and I'm sure John and the Team are pouring over a lot more information then I could even think of.Addressing a theme, therefore, isn't just about formatting and how the site looks and feels... it's about the future of Xanga.
Any insight on this topic is always welcome. I'm personally looking more at the Genesis framework...
But who knows, the team might take notes that attribute the best parts of each system... and design one that is more secure then any of the others.
Do you prefer ease of use? or would you prefer more flexibility in managing your blog?
(already several good comments on The Xanga Team's update about this topic)
Comments (15)
For Xanga to be focusing on themes when most of the "social" functionality is dead in the water reveals they are missing the forest for the trees.
People would rather have social connectivity such as an interactive front page to feature blogs for starters with a "default" theme. I guess XangaCorp doesn't get that.
The truth of the matter is they are making this an extended project that's been going on a year and a half for services they promised would be ready out the gate or soon afterwards.
At the rate they are going and time frame of updates, a fair guess is it will take a least 2 more years before they have any of the social interaction features at acceptable levels, if ever.
They need to be honest and print a timeline of when they expect to have the site working as promised during their fundraising campaign. This "We'll get to it when we get to it" attitude would be quite unprofessional even as a free site. For them to be charging folks for degraded service and not provide real engineering/consumer status updates is mind boggling and a continuing insult to all who purchased blogging memberships.
@Soullfire - If you'll notice, I said theme system - not just themes. The theme system is the framework that other 'social' level plugins must be able to work with. Here is a bit more about the difference with the pros and cons of a stand alone theme and a theme framework -http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Frameworks
Here is another definition of Theme Framework that will hopefully help understand why the Xanga team is doing their research on this issue: http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/what-is-a-theme-framework/
Adapting any WP plugins to work with a framework is much easier when you know what to adapt the plugin to.
My expectation is that once the theme framework is addressed, the features that we've all been expecting will be more easily and quickly implemented.
at my age, ease of use is pretty important, but if I can figure out how to make changes, I do like to put my own personal touch on it too ~
You and I are in the same boat as far as ease of use with a little personal touch.
It seems that the issue of themes is an important one but sometimes you just need to bite the bullet and make a decision then get on with life. Although I understand the gravity of selecting the theme I also agree that the sense of community is slipping away and so are the few remaining xangans. Please let John know that time is of the essence if xanga s to survive!!
I agree, and have been conveying all the frustration and issues (and encouragments) to John and the team.
I haven't seen a new user in over a year.
I haven't seen a front page in as long.
Xanga has been nothing but a major disappointment for me since 2.0 rolled off the shelf.
Talk is cheap. I want results.
New accounts aren't yet available. I'm confident that once the framework is addressed, then we'll start seeing serious progress.
Ease of use can be addressed with simple tutorials and even some cut and paste/fill in the info posts. I taught myself all kinds of tricks and such from sites online, and while I'l far from an expert, I had no trouble making my page look like I wanted on the old, useful Xanga look and feel. The newer 'themes' thing they made was pretty simple once you played with it a little bit, but you had to already understand what you wanted before you started, or your page would be pretty messed up. I'm on the side of more flexible, with lessons for the more complex things, than so cookie-cutter simple and inflexible that you can't have the page look like it's yours. The free WP offers zillions of variants of themes, many are free, and also mobile compatible. So, I'm still mystified as to why this is such a big hairy issue. But then, most of what Xanga has done all along mystifies me...just like how Xanga is tagged as misspelled in the editor...ON Xanga.
Good points. I learned some things that others put on youtube when we all were using 1.0. But those were done on a platform that was long established. We're creating something new for us, so we're going to be figuring things out as we move forward.
I check back here periodically for updates, since you're apparently the mouthpiece for the Xanga Team. However, this current update troubles me. Just from the few comments you've actually posted from people (unsure how many you may actually get here) you seem to be cherry picking which ones to respond to, despite the sound and valid statements made about the Xanga Team's decision to focus on something as arbitrary and less important as themes rather than focusing on actually developing the useful social features that were initially promised. What little user base remains is slipping away, and it's impossible to get new users in to begin with. Xanga simply cannot last another 2 years that it might take to get the functionality it needs to continue on what few paying users that they have now. The seeming inability to address these key issues (social functionality and the ability to gain new users) is self defeating and seems to be turning interested potential users away (both new and those who wish to return). With users dropping off like flies when subscriptions run out and they choose not to renew for a product that does not meet their needs, I wonder how long exactly Xanga can survive while hemorrhaging money they way that they are. Isn't that what caused the entire collapse of dominoes in the first place?
But no, let's focus on picking themes instead of addressing actual concerns of what is left of the community. Perhaps is we pull the wool down far enough, the users won't find their way back out for another six months.
@KamikazeZealot - I answer almost all comments and share openly any questions that come to this blog. So there is no cherry picking.
It may take some time to respond to some answers as I'm still writing them out.
In regards to themes, there is a difference in 'themes' and a 'theme system'. A theme system is the framework by which we all manage our blogs, and how everything else connects to the site. You could say that wordpress is our foundation, and the theme framework is akin to the frame of the house. Which framework we use, and how the floorplan is laid out will determine how we proceed as a site.
Not to labor on this issue of why 1.0 wasn't working anymore - but the platform just couldn't support new web technology and the business model wasn't able to support the overhead.
But, choosing the right theme framework (system) to help us all manage things better - will open the door for faster updates/upgrades... including such things as threaded comments and more community connectivity.
@Joel Wasn't the reason they chose WP to begin with the idea that it was an 'out of the box' type solution? Seems I remember that it was touted as being easy to modify, already had all it needed to be useful...so what happened to that idea? And if it's NOT all that, then what about all those blogs that now use WP for sites? Are those sites somehow compromised, or unsafe? Seems a lot of folks use WP just as it is, for free, for blogs.
If Xanga was an E-business-based set of sites, that had to shield personal banking info for customers of 'net-based business purchases, that might be one thing. But most people I see here at this point are bloggers, not e-commerce. So, I don't see why the WP model needs all the revamping.
@moniet - yes, the reason the team chose WP because it was able to be modified - and that it could be made to be useful. That idea still remains. The challenges have been many in getting the old system, the old data, to the WP powered site. We're talking over 2 million accounts to be made available - and to ensure that the system is stable enough to start modifying the site to what we expect it to be.
From my understanding of WP and of companies that utilize the site, many organizations provide their own level of modifications to ensure that the data is secure for the purposes that is expected. Although many bloggers on Xanga are just bloggers, there is also a large group that want to be able to do business through their blogs. Also, because Xanga is a pay to blog service now - the need for a secure site from the word 'go' is also needed. Even as a regular blogger, we don't want our private journal entries to be made public, or any other personal data on our accounts to be made public.
WP is a platform, or the foundation. Now that we have a stable foundation, we can start building onto it what is needed to be made into what we want it to be.
My expectation is that once the framework is addressed (the Theme System) - then modifications will be all the much easier to address.
Every major corporation that utilizes WP as its foundation has done a lot of revamping to make their site operate the way they want it to, Xanga is no different in that regard.
The 'revamping' after the theme system is addressed is most likely going to be choosing what features will be the next priority. In WP, these features are called 'plugins'. So, plugins will be researched and used/or modified and then installed and tested to make sure they work with the theme system as expected. Every plugin needs to be able to work within the framework that it is designed to work in.
Hope this helps answer your questions.
Hello fellow Xangans!
For many a year I had quite the love affair with this, my first blog. Though I've not had time nor desire to "keep up" - i certainly not forgotten her, the faithful man i am (Grin). I apparently have missed all of 1.0 and the 1 meager attempt to upgrade to 2.0 just recently led to a fail. I haven't much desire to learn much of all it seems I may need to to keep up; I rode the 'look and feel' well into the introduction of 'themes' and mourn (ed, perhaps still?) the loss of my signature orange and blue layout. (IS there any chance i may ever see it again?)
I have gleaned ...something of this being a 'paid' site - have i surmised correctly that my once (paid) lifetime membership has expired? I am not really sure if i'll ever receive notification of these queries being responded to - or when and if i may find my way back here - i DO sincerely miss the exclusivity of privacy and control over access which the 'old days' provided. She wasn't the most beautiful page nor the widest read, but she was mine....
Blessings to all,
Frank
p.s.
I do believe someone reading this likely has access to my contact info - please do reach out to say hi if you like - i still, as before continue to adjust to loss though not like it much more to any degree...
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