Where’s the crowd’s wisdom? And the solution?
I was actually asked this question a while back and I didn’t have an answer - or didn’t have an answer that I was happy with… So I figured I might as just well tap into your collective wisdom and pose this question to you! It is WordPress-related and it is more technical, but I’m sure between all 10 000 (approx) of you that will read this post today, we can brainstorm a solution.
BTW: All those PHP Whizkids that responded to my post earlier this week - I hope you’ll be giving us some insight here hehe…
The Problem
I’d like to know whether it is possible to run different blogs off the exact same WordPress database? If you have a look at all of our Premium News demo sites (i.e. Fresh News, Gazette, Flash News etc.), you’ll notice that all of the sites uses the same content, yet they’re all using separate WP databases at the moment. Ideally, I’d love for them to all work from one database, which will make updates super-quick and easy - but now I need to update each database / WP install separately and manually, which is a big hassle…
Before you suggest a theme switcher - it is not going to work, as the different themes uses different theme options - so there are conditional database entries depending on what theme is in use.
Solution!?
So do any of you have an idea of how I can integrate these into one database, but still maintain their unique domain name (i.e. http://themename.premiumnewstheme.com) and specific theme options? I’m not the only one with this problem - so anyone that can develop a plugin of some sorts can gain some major geek cred!
What do you think? Got ideas?
(Image by *Violator3)
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Premium News: 8 & Counting…
Yep - that’s right people… We have just released our 8th theme on Premium News already, making it 8 releases in about 5 months’ time. The new theme is called Fresh News (more info here) and it continues to push the limits of what WordPress can & can’t do. This will most probably be our last magazine / news style theme for the foreseeable future (we’re working on some groundbreaking new stuff here…), but judging by the popularity of Flash News, Gazette & Live Wire in recent months - we just felt like adding another valuable option to our product range.
The credit for the theme & 90% of the development goes to Magnus Jepson, who has taken the style of his previous Flash News theme to the next level in order to come up with this super-slick, yet sophisticated new look. There’s two key features of this theme that I’d like to emphasize, since I feel that they’re pretty cool and will contribute hugely to the success of the theme. The first one is the traditional blog layout that we have included - which allows to user to change his / her homepage to look and function like a normal blog, without eliminating all the other great features we’ve built into the theme. And the second feature has got to be the 6 great colour schemes that Magnus has designed and packaged with the default one on display with the demo site.
Except for those two features, we’ve pretty much included all the features and functions that has become synonymous with the Premium News brand - so you can be assured of a top-notch experience if you decide to purchase the theme. We were definitely not trying to reinvent the wheel with this release; instead the focus was on adding another design style to our existing range to increase the options available to potential buyers.
So what do you think of the theme? I really love the design - the subtle gradients especially - and I’m of the believe that this theme could become one of our most popular yet…
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{radiiate} - Growing, Going Forward
About a week ago, I mentioned that my business had not grown as much as I would’ve liked at that stage and that I felt as if I had gotten stuck a bit… Well today, I’m glad to finally be able, to give you an update on my “business-creating” activities during the last 6 weeks, since quiting my full-time employment gig.
Creating a new business (establishing a brand, legally formalizing the operations etc.) is never easy and from the get-go, I’ve been under the kosh in terms of having to handle all these admin tasks, whilst still being part of all my development activities. So the very first hurdle for me, was brainstorming a trendy, new name for my business… After going back and forth with a few ideas, I finally settled on {radiiate} (if you click through, you’ll get a “coming soon” screen where my new website will soon be housed).
Along with the name, you’ll also notice that I’ve already had a logo designed as well. I realize that a logo and website might not have been top priority (as I could’ve probably just started out by using my blog as the only contact point for prospective clients), but I felt I needed to be able to identify with this journey I’m embarking on and without a logo it seemed kinda faceless. From the thumbnail to your left, you’ll also see that the logo was designed to be very flexible and that I’ll be able to adapt it to whatever purpose it is needed for.
So yeah, I’m obviously very excited about the next few months and a lot of things are falling into place… I’m looking for some office space close to home now and I’ve already taken another young designer under my wing and who’ll be working with me on all {radiiate} projects. I’ve also decided to create a new category - Creating a Business - where I will continue to blog about all the issues / decisions / aspects related to establishing {radiiate} as a new business venture.
As always… Let me know what you think!
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Revitalizing My Portfolio & Freelance Work
When I switched over to the current design, I consciously excluded my portfolio page from the site alltogether, because at that stage it was really outdated and I wasn’t looking for freelance work anyway (since I was employed full-time). Along with that, I needed to redesign my portfolio from the ground up, to showcase my work in a better, more efficient way. Since I’m back in the freelance business and finally redesigning this blog again (because I don’t like this design), my portfolio needs some urgent attention…
Only problem is that simply redesigning my portfolio / showcase, will not solve this problem completely, because the designs within my portfolio is really outdated. Since launching Premium News last year (beginning of November 07), most of my time has been committed to designing, developing, upgrading & supporting my premium themes, which didn’t leave a lot of time for custom client work. Throw into the mix, my 2 months’ of being a full-time employee, and time becomes even more criticial.
So the designs are outdated - so what!? Right? Nah… You see the problem is, I’m not happy with most of the stuff that’s in my portfolio and even though it represents my journey as a web designer, my skills are far more advanced today than they were 12 months ago. So even though I will retain some of my older work, it is my new stuff that I’d like to showcase instead.
Work in Progress
I’m currently working on custom designs for three clients: a redesign for Mike Stopforth’s blog, a complete overhaul of Christine Meintjes’ website & blog (switching her to WordPress) and also redesigning Skyrove’s WiFi Hotspot portal pages. I’m very excited about all three of these projects, as they are the first freelance projects I’m undertaking since getting back to freelancing. I’d obviously love to show you these design mockups at this stage (they’re mostly done already and ready for coding), but I’m sure the respective owners would rather show you themselves when they’re ready to launch their new designs…
One thing I am however sure of - and that is that I’m currently doing some of my best design work to date. I really feel inspired every single time I open Photoshop and I’m finding more and more inspiration from all over (online & offline). This all bodes very well for my journey as a freelancer, as well as my pending journey into starting a business (more about that very, very soon).
Freelance Availability
So considering all that I’ve said above, I’d love to take on some new custom client work… You can consider me to be available and to have the capacity to take on your projects! I’m reopening my contact form and I’d love to hear from you if you need a web designer… I’ll also provide you with examples of my latest work - so feel free to request them!
I really look forward to showcasing my latest work… I’m sure you’ll approve! 
Comments Off
Revitalizing My Portfolio & Freelance Work
When I switched over to the current design, I consciously excluded my portfolio page from the site alltogether, because at that stage it was really outdated and I wasn’t looking for freelance work anyway (since I was employed full-time). Along with that, I needed to redesign my portfolio from the ground up, to showcase my work in a better, more efficient way. Since I’m back in the freelance business and finally redesigning this blog again (because I don’t like this design), my portfolio needs some urgent attention…
Only problem is that simply redesigning my portfolio / showcase, will not solve this problem completely, because the designs within my portfolio is really outdated. Since launching Premium News last year (beginning of November 07), most of my time has been committed to designing, developing, upgrading & supporting my premium themes, which didn’t leave a lot of time for custom client work. Throw into the mix, my 2 months’ of being a full-time employee, and time becomes even more criticial.
So the designs are outdated - so what!? Right? Nah… You see the problem is, I’m not happy with most of the stuff that’s in my portfolio and even though it represents my journey as a web designer, my skills are far more advanced today than they were 12 months ago. So even though I will retain some of my older work, it is my new stuff that I’d like to showcase instead.
Work in Progress
I’m currently working on custom designs for three clients: a redesign for Mike Stopforth’s blog, a complete overhaul of Christine Meintjes’ website & blog (switching her to WordPress) and also redesigning Skyrove’s WiFi Hotspot portal pages. I’m very excited about all three of these projects, as they are the first freelance projects I’m undertaking since getting back to freelancing. I’d obviously love to show you these design mockups at this stage (they’re mostly done already and ready for coding), but I’m sure the respective owners would rather show you themselves when they’re ready to launch their new designs…
One thing I am however sure of - and that is that I’m currently doing some of my best design work to date. I really feel inspired every single time I open Photoshop and I’m finding more and more inspiration from all over (online & offline). This all bodes very well for my journey as a freelancer, as well as my pending journey into starting a business (more about that very, very soon).
Freelance Availability
So considering all that I’ve said above, I’d love to take on some new custom client work… You can consider me to be available and to have the capacity to take on your projects! I’m reopening my contact form and I’d love to hear from you if you need a web designer… I’ll also provide you with examples of my latest work - so feel free to request them!
I really look forward to showcasing my latest work… I’m sure you’ll approve!
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