Lower Prices and More

Last Updated on Thursday, 19 May 2011 06:13 Written by Theresa Thursday, 19 May 2011 02:36

Could that be right? In today’s economy, there’s actually someone lowering their prices? That’s right kids, it’s true…to an extent. The prices I’ve decided to lower are outlined below, including some new developments you might be interested in reading. First though, I’d like to apologize to anyone trying to contact me through my contact page and finding there was no form to do so. I had disabled the plugin and forgot to change it on that page. All fixed now!

Lower Prices on Tune-Up Package!
With WordPress upgrades getting easier and easier to maintain, I’ve decided to lower the price on the Tune-Up package by $25. Tune-ups for existing clients is now $125 and $150 for new clients. You’ll still get 5 customizations and WordPress and active plugins upgraded.

New Maintenance Package! $150 for 4 months
Available to existing clients who previously signed up for a Complete Blog or Blogsite Package, this maintenance package gives you peace of mind that your blog is working smoothly. Need a customization? No problem. For a 4 month service period, customizations are included as long as you stick with the same theme and layout. Have a problem with a plugin not working? Also included, as well as any WordPress version upgrades. Exclusions: blogsite upgrades (i.e. custom gallery pages info template pages). If you are looking for complete theme re-build, see the next option….

Theme Re-builds $260
Also only available to existing Complete Blog and Blogsite package clients. Want a completely different look and layout? A brand spanking new theme re-build is what you want. Same support service period and unlimited customizations are included as the other blog packages, just less expensive for my devoted clients!

Horizontal Blogs $800 $600 for a limited time
This at-first strange layout has slowly gained popularity in the blog world. Never one to back down from a challenge, I came up with my own theme, which can be customized with your logo and branding. Note: there are some limitations because of the nature of horizontal layouts. It’s been tested on multiple browsers, but not all mobile devices (not compatible with the Facebook mobile browser).
For a demo of the horizontal theme, view the Blogs for Photogs Horizontal Theme. Contact me if you are interested and want to find out more information.

Become an Affiliate and earn free customizations!
Are you a photographer or photography service provider? Do you have a banner link section or page and interested in bartering for advertising? Contact me if you’d like to become an affiliate and earn free customizations for your blog or blogsite.

Spring Special: Get Mobilized for free!

Last Updated on Monday, 14 March 2011 01:49 Written by Theresa Monday, 14 March 2011 12:21

How mobilized is your blog?  One of my goals this year was to learn how to create a mobile version of a blog or blogsite that is truly a “mini” version of the actual site.  I had a plugin working for a while that switched over to a mobile theme, but I found a lot of things wrong with it.  1) flash galleries weren’t being substituted for non-flash compatible ones that I set up, 2) post images by default don’t show up on the front page or show up too small and 3) I could never get it to look exactly the way I wanted.  #2 was a big point for me considering as photographers, we want our images to be seen and often seen as large as possible.

Well now, I can say I have it probably 85% figured out. I’ve worked hard in getting my photography blogsite working correctly on an iPhone and I think I now have it to where I’m quite happy with it. Here are some goals I was trying to accomplish:

• increase text size to increase readability on small devices
• format the width to increase visibility of post images and text (many blogs are wider than the default 980 pixels width allowed)
• insure that galleries are viewable (non-flash compatible)
• verify menu compatibility
• verify forms are operational
• overall formatting of theme structure works correctly

When I say that I’m 85% there, I have to admit that I can’t be 100% sure only because I don’t own an iPad, so I can’t verify the layout on that device.  THIS is one of the reasons why I’m offering a special this Spring.  For any custom blog or blogsite, I will create a mobile version of  your site for free. In actuality, you’ll be helping me out since I need more practice in creating mobile stylesheets.  If any of you have Androids or iPads, that would be a double bonus for me.  For blogsites, I always install a non-flash compatible photo gallery system, so portfolio galleries always show up.  I’ve also found a flash slideshow plugin that stacks photos in posts when viewed on a non-flash browser.

Here’s a side by side comparison of my blogsite that shows the difference between what it looks like on 1) Firefox for PC 2) Safari on an iPhone 4 and 3) mobile plugin called Wapple Architect.  Click on the thumbnail to see the pc screenshot.

Firefox on pc
(1440px widescreen reduced to 1200px):

custom mobile style on Safari on iPhone (320px wide):

Mobile theme using Wapple Architect plugin

As you can see, the iPhone version is more readable now with the text and width adjustments.  If I were to leave it alone and just let the default stylesheet load, the text would be TINY and the width of the blog would make image viewing difficult as well.  The mobile plugin theme is….yuck.  It doesn’t look much like my blogsite and images are small, and I had to hack it quite a bit to show the first image at all.

Spring Special: Free mobilized style for all Complete Blog and Blogsite Packages – sign up by April 30th, 2011. The cost to mobilize an existing blog theme is $50. After April 30th, the cost to add on a mobilized theme will be $100.

January 2011 special

Last Updated on Tuesday, 4 January 2011 01:54 Written by Theresa Tuesday, 4 January 2011 01:54

It’s ridiculous how quickly 2010 came and went. Who’s ready for 2011? I think the past year has proved how important social networking is to our business, so I thought I’d incorporate it into my January special. This is a great time to tune up your blog and add some things to spruce it up, don’t you think? My Tune-Up package will also include any social networking tools added to your blog that you want in addition to the 5 customizations and WordPress upgrade, just for the month of January. If you love to tweet, then add a little “tweet box” somewhere to include your latest feed. Or if you’re like me and use Facebook the most, add a slider box with your fan box and feed. Other tools include “like” and sharing buttons for every post. I’ve even seen people use the “like” button as a tool for photo contests; a great way to draw potential customers to your site!

The Tune-up package is only $150 for existing clients and $175 for new clients. Just fill out the Sign-up form and be sure to mention the January special. The deal ends at the end of the month.