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Elemental is a WordPress theme framework designed by Darren Hoyt and programmed by me – it’s available at Pro Theme Design
One of the key things I wanted to do with Elemental was simplify it - and I mean this from a few different viewpoints. I use Elemental on this very website. Over time I have added new features and functionality as and when I have needed it - in fact the functionality I have added has largely been influenced by my own needs. However, in hindsight, I have spent too much time trying to make Elemental do everything - where [...]
As I mentioned in February I had a conundrum - I wasn't sure how to make changes to my theme Elemental without breaking peoples sites. Thankfully the people who read my site are super clever and suggested I create a version 2 and so, over the last month or so, that's exactly what I have started doing. I am currently in the process of ripping Elemental apart - and near enough rewriting it from scratch - and I thought I [...]
I have a conundrum. I want to improve Elemental - my WordPress theme framework. I want to make it lean and fast; but this will involve removing functionality. This in turn means that when people upgrade their themes things may break. And I don't know what to do? Examples I want to remove options and features and make better use of WordPress built-in functionality. For example: HTML5: I want to move to HTML 5 for the theme. I'm in the [...]
Once I had finished researching similar voting sites I was ready to start designing and building the WPVote theme. To decide basic page structure I went with Balsamiq mockups and knocked out some quick reference designs. I had a firm idea in mind for how the theme would function so it wasn't that hard to make the images, and Balsamiq is REALLY easy to use so I had my reference images built quickly. As I mentioned in part 3 of [...]
I have recently published my first 'Art Directed' posts on Binary Moon - namely my reviews for the movies Coraline and Up. Ever since I saw Jason Santa Marias art directed site the idea has brewed in my head that I would do something similar, so when I redesigned I kept that wish in the back of my mind so that new designs could be slotted in easily. What is 'Art Direction'? To be perfectly honest I have no idea [...]
Shortly before I went on holiday last week Darren and I released the Elemental WordPress theme on Pro Theme Design. The theme has been a labour of love. It is the most comprehensive and advanced theme I can make, and will form the backbone of all my future themes. Elemental is a WordPress Theme Framework, that has all the essential theme elements included. It has awesoem built in SEO and as a Framework is very flexible allowing me to create [...]
Elemental is the upcoming theme framework for Pro Theme Design. It's been in development for absolutely ages, and the code is really showing it's maturity, and I am really pleased with the possibilities it opens up. The focus when developing Elemental has been to keep things as straight forward and easy to use as possible. The code is simple and minimal, and the features have all been chosen to reduce the requirements of third party plugins incorporating many of the [...]
As I briefly mentioned on Monday, I have finally redesigned Binary Moon. I actually started redesigning about 2 years ago. Initially it was going to be an update rather than a totally new look, and I even built most of it, but I just wasn't entirely happy. Then last year I started building what would become my soon to be released framework, Elemental, and the logical progression from that was to use it as the base for the site you [...]
This is a very quick post, purely to say that the new Binary Moon design is now live (so click on through if you're in a feed reader). I will do a proper write up next week, pointing out some of the many new features and different things I have done. There's been a lot of time and effort spent on the theme, most of which is in Elemental - the new theme soon to be released by Darren and [...]
Earlier this year I said I was 'back in the swing', posted a few times, and then vanished. The reason isn't that I have nothing to say (although I have less than I used too) but that I am in the middle of redesigning this website... which will also include a server move. I moved over all the files and databases about 2 or 3 weeks ago, and now I don't want to have to update everything again. Unfortunately I [...]
Before I continue I'm going to give some warning for those who still haven't read the Harry Potter books. If, like me, you like to be surprised when you read something new - leave now This post is a follow on from my earlier Harry Potter theory about RAB. So, let's start with the obvious... Is Dumbledore really dead? There are people who seem to think that Dumbledore hasn't died [...]
As I mentioned previously I fancy having a go at working out what is going on in the world of Harry Potter. I'm going to split my theories up into a series of posts, each about a different element of the books. Since I've already mentioned him this one is going to be about RAB. Before I continue I'm going to give some warning for those who still haven't read [...]
So... anyone else read it yet? I bought my copy late Saturday morning, there were loads of copies available, and a rather miserable looking witch handing them out. I bought my copy in Bexleyheath, which is fairly close to where I live, and Alan Rickman was due to make an appearance and sign copies of the book. I couldn't be bothered to wait around (he was already late when I [...]
It's cool to have the WordPress login page customized to fit your own website branding. This is even more significant for multi author blogs, or sites you have set up for clients as it adds that little extra something. Since writing this post in 2007 I have released a plugin called BM Custom Login which does everything described below I was actually inspired to write this post because of a [...]
I often get asked questions about TimThumb and why it doesn't work in certain situations. I can generally tell what is wrong with the script within about 60 seconds of being sent a demo url. Below are my top tips for debugging TimThumb issues. Keep TimThumb up to Date This is super important. TimThumb should always be kept up to date. I regularly publish bug fixes and improvements and often [...]
Previously Harry Potter Theory #1: RAB Harry Potter Theory #2: Dumbledore Before I continue I’m going to give some warning for those who still haven’t read the Harry Potter books. If, like me, you like to be surprised when you read something new - leave now Snape is an enigma. What is he doing? From the very first book it has been made incredibly clear that two things are true. [...]
About BenMy name is Ben Gillbanks. I'm a lover of Video Games, WordPress, Web Development and everything in between.
I have been working on the internet since 1998, and working with computers even longer. I am a hardcore Nintendo fanboy and have owned most of their consoles at one stage or another.
Read more about me on my about page.
RT @m4tt: 'Star Wars Rebels' is Lucasfilm's first animated series under Disney, coming fall 2014 http://t.co/YsS8iJ8mmD