With all of the various themes I've gone through I'd have to say that Corporate was my personal favourite, so much so that I couldn't imagine myself changing it for something else especially after the amount of work I put into it. That is until Leland of ThemeLab fame entered the picture.

In addition to running ThemeLab, which happens to be one of my favourite WordPress-specific sites, Leland also operates a design studio called CustomTheme which creates ... you guessed it ... custom WordPress themes.

Anyway, I was chatting with Leland one day and he generously offered to create a theme for WordPress Canada. How could I say no? The result is what you now see before you.

The design is splendid! The theme looks great and the header graphic is awesome. Under the hood the code that runs everything is lean and mean.

I'm still working on a few minor points but for the most part the design is exactly where I want it to be. Of course with the re-design I've been moving things around so if something appears out of place (ie: I inadvertently broke it) please let me know.

I think the thing that impressed me the most about this whole process was CustomTheme's ability to anticipate exactly what I wanted. During my chat with Leland I briefly described what I like in a theme and they went to work. They showed me a few updates during the process and they were right on track!

Overall I have to say I am extremely pleased both with the design process and the final product. I know I sound a bit giddy because I'm excited but seriously, if you're thinking about getting a custom design for your blog do pay CustomTheme a visit. You won't regret it - I don't.

To that end, DesignersCouch has put together a list of 30 snazzy looking comment forms.

The Los Angeles City Council has tentatively approved a multimillion-dollar proposal to tap Google Inc. for government e-mail and other Internet services.

While the deal is reportedly worth $7.2 million it is not about money. It is about Google finally convincing a government body to take the plunge and use its services officially - something it has been working tirelessly at for some time. With Google's foot now in the door how long will it be before other government bodies follow suit?

Of course not everyone is pleased with the decision. The Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) is concerned about potential security breaches with having sensitive data stored online.

Moving to Google Apps may limit public institutions' ability to shield sensitive information from the public domain - information that ultimately keeps the residents of Los Angeles safe.

Icon Finder is a search engine geared towards helping you find icons. Looking for Twitter icons? Type in 'twitter' and check out the results. Now they have taken it a step further by posting the ultimate list of icons. In this post you will find links to over 250 icon sets containing more than 100,000 icons. Wow.

If you plan to use any of these icons in an online project be sure to read over the licensing arrangement as they vary from free for personal use to Creative Commons.

• by placing a marker on the world map, or
• by geolocating yourself

Once you have done so, you can then fill out a few details such as name, URL and Twitter ID among others. When another user arrives at the site he can click on the various markers bringing up a small dialogue box containing the profile information associated with the particular markers. There is even an option to login and follow a Twitter user if that person provided a Twitter ID. You can also include yourself in one of the following categories:

• Users/Bloggers
• Developers
• Core Developers
• Companies
• Fans

The inclusion of categories makes for an interesting way to search for people by applying the appropriate filter. If you prefer not to search by category you can simply plug a username in the search bar. Of course you can always do it the old fashioned way - by scanning the world map and clicking on markers. This is the most enjoyable way in my opinion.

h/t WordPress Tavern

In my experience of being a forum volunteer I've come to realize people have 2 major beefs:

1. The search function
2. Unanswered threads

Search function: I admit the forum search function is not as robust as many people would like. Hell, I've used it myself when trying to locate particular threads/information and the experience can be somewhat frustrating. However the built in forum search is not the only option open to users. There is still that little known search engine called Google.

If a user is suffering from a particular problem odds are he/she is not the first one. In fact chances are pretty good that many have encountered the same problem at some point. By consulting Google the problem can easily be solved in many cases. I know it's a pain to have to Google something when the forum has its own search function but until that function is enhanced this may be the best course of action.

Unanswered threads: I understand how frustrating it must be to have a problem and post a support query only to have that query go seemingly ignored. There are many reasons why a thread may not receive a response such as:

i. Vague or incomplete information.
If you're seeking assistance try to describe the problem you are having in as much detail as possible including what steps you may have already tried. Always include a link to the problem site. You'd be amazed how many threads volunteers pass over because the OP (original poster) failed to include a link. It's virtually impossible to diagnose visual problems without seeing the problem firsthand. Also, try to make the title of your thread as relevant as possible. Don't post nonsense like Help! or My Site is Broken! as this will probably go ignored.

ii. Numbers game.
Remember the forum is volunteer driven. The software you are using has been made available to you free from charge. You are not entitled to support. The people answering support questions in the forum do so out of the kindness of their hearts. As I have stated elsewhere on this site I joined the forum because I enjoy it. Since I'm not a theme creator or plugin author it is my way of giving back to the community but understand I do so because I want to - not because I'm obligated to.

Of the hundred of thousands (or perhaps even millions) of WordPress users out there there are only maybe 15-20 people who answer support tickets on a regular basis. Given the number of support questions that come in on a daily basis it's not hard to see why many questions go unanswered. It's not uncommon to see a question buried on page 15 within 24 hours of it being posted. I understand people are busy with their own lives but the truth of the matter is we need more volunteers. At the risk of sounding like a martyr I work 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week in the roofing trade - hard physical work - and I find the time to help out. Obviously I'm not as active during the season as I am during the off-season but I still make an attempt.

iii. Posting to threads marked as "resolved".
I've seen many questions posted to threads long since marked as resolved. If you have a question start your own thread. Don't highjack the threads of others and certainly don't post to threads that have been set to resolved as noone will read them.

iv. Nobody knows the answer.
Some of the questions are quite technical in nature and there is a very strong possibility that nobody has the solution. Or, combined with the above, it's possible that some of the more advanced helpers simply didn't see the question.

If you are seeking paid assistance there are several options available to you. If you solicit such help in the forum please describe the nature of the problem and include your contact info. After doing so the thread will be closed in accordance with Section F of the Forum Rules. You may also seek paid help from the WP-Pro's Mailing List or WordPress Jobs.

While I think the current design is a huge improvement and one I really like I can't help wonder what if? The mockup created by Weightshift is a very good one. The colours, while not as subtle as the current design, are pretty cool nevertheless.

I wonder how long it will be before we start seeing new admin themes for 2.7?

Thanks to Jeff at WP Tavern for that.

Arthemia | Release page

Black Dragon | Release Page

BranfordMagazine | Release page

Hamasaki | Release page

Hybrid News | Release Page | *requires the Hybrid Theme Framework

Igloo News | Release Page

Indomagz | Release page

Inuit Types | Release Page

Linoluna | Release page

Magadine | Release page

MagZine | Release Page

Mimbo | Release page

OpenBook | Release page

RebelMagazine | Release page

Saturn | Release page

Small Magazine | Release page

TimeCafe | Release Page

TMA | Release page

WordPress Magazine | Release page

WP Gold | Release page

WyntonMagazine | Release page

As I said back in December these are but a few as I'm sure there are many more fine free magazine style themes out there. If you come across any drop me a comment.

Update: 28 March 09 - I no sooner asked you to leave a comment if you came across another cool free magazine style theme when I stumbled upon two. Here they are.

Feed Me, Seymour | Release Page

Magazine Basic | Release Page

Further reading:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Smilies

I realize that not everyone can, or is willing to learn how to decode these files but I'll show you a quick and dirty way to get around the problem that pretty much accomplishes the same thing. First thing you need to do is open up index.php in a plain text editor and look for the call to the footer. It will look like this ...

<?php get_footer(); ?>

Next we wrap that in a couple of lines of commented code so that it looks like this ...

<!--- START FOOTER --->
<?php get_footer(); ?>
<!--- END FOOTER --->

Save the file and upload it. Next, load up your site and view its source code. Make note of everything within the commented out lines. In other words, copy everything between ...

<!--- START FOOTER --->
code
<!--- END FOOTER --->

... and paste it in to your theme's footer.php file replacing the nonsense currently there. Save the file and you're done!

Now this isn't going to work in all cases but it should most of the time.