Help choose a design for open-source creative software website

[linuxforartists]

Hey Guys,

I'm planning to build a website to promote learning of open-source creative software, like GIMP, Inkscape, etc. It'll be an "aggregator" of tutorials, similar to how Linux Today collects news from many sources.

The website will be powered by WordPress. Here are links to the themes I am considering. You can see sample screenshots and live previews:

Newscast (http://themeforest.net/item/newscast-4-in-1-wordpress-magazine-and-blog/91058)

Black Aperture (http://themeforest.net/item/black-aperture/43052)

Sight (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/11/24/sight-free-wordpress-3-0-1-ready-theme-for-magazines-and-blogs/)

The target readers of my site are Linux users and multimedia artists who like to use open-source creative software to brush up photos, edit videos, record music, etc.

Some might ask, "Why don't you design it yourself?" Fair question. Although I've used Ubuntu for several years, I'm a beginner with the creative applications. This website is partly to help me learn how to use these programs and share the best tutorials that I find with others. I'd rather the site look good than not.

If you have other suggestions for good themes, please share the theme name and a link where to where we can view it.

Thanks for your help!

[samalex]

They all look professional, so it's up to you to choose which one conveys the message you're looking for.

[lovinglinux]

Newcast looks awesome. BTW, I would like to find an extension for Joomla similar to that slider.

One thing I learned about templates, is that they look really good on the demo sites, but once you add your content and start adding extensions to the platform, things might not be as good as you expected, due to the nature of your content and extensions. For instance I am in the middle of the process of building a new website for my stuff, which is basically browser extensions and some tutorials. I have already switched the template twice since I started. Now I feel I'm getting somewhere.

I would recommend that you take a look at rockettheme.com (http://www.rockettheme.com/wordpress-themes). They have professional themes for Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal and phpBB3.

Make sure you pick one that is built upon Gantry Framework, which is very powerful in regard to customization of the template. I never used their Wordpress templates, but the Joomla templates build upon Gantry are awesome. You can change module positions, colors, size and a lot more from a simple administrative backend. When you visit a template demo, go to "Features >> Module Variations" to see what I am talking about.

Gantry is a little bit slow in the backend, but the results are awesome.

[linuxforartists]

@lovinglinux. That was a lot of helpful advice. I'll take a look at the RocketTheme website. Thanks!

[chris200x9]

black aperture

[lovinglinux]

@lovinglinux. That was a lot of helpful advice. I'll take a look at the RocketTheme website. Thanks!

Just another thought...useless perhaps :)

While asking what other users think about a particular template might help, you need to consider you will probably be looking at it every day. So perhaps you should give more points to those templates that are really pleasant to you. I for one get bored with my templates pretty easily. Sometimes, by the time I finish a web site I am already sick of looking at it and want to change the template again :)

[Spice Weasel]

Newscast is the best.

[MooseDog]

voted for Sight. readability, design, layout. a few tweaks to the php and css files and you're good to go.

[krishnandu.sarkar]

I'd have choice Newscast

[lykeion]

Voted for Sight with same reasons as MooseDog. Readability should be a priority if it's a learning site with tutorials, etc

[Giraffemonster]

I chose sight. It looks simple, as to not confuse/intimidate someone who plans to learn about open-source software. Also, this sounds great, good luck with the website. I personally, can't produce/develop software at all, maybe this could help.

[rg4w]

Light text on dark background is simply more difficult to read. I know it's fashionable these days, but no matter how many people overuse it it hasn't changed the physiology of the human eye.

For this and other readability-related reasons, I voted for Sight.

[Shintek]

No offense to the designers of the other themes but, Black Aperture rapes the other ones.

[sagarhshah]

have to agree with giraffemonster and rg4w on this.
Love the site template.Very simple clean and crisp design.

[linuxforartists]

Glad to be getting these comments. Reading what you guys like and don't like will help me figure out the best way to present the website.

@Giraffemonster: Thanks for the support. Yeah, I'm not very technical as well. There are lots of good tutorials out there, but I've really had to dig through Google to find them.

If I can help other Ubuntu users save time, then building this website will be worth it. I'm doing this project not because I'm an expert, but because I need help too. ](*,)

[ctrlmd]

both
Newscast & blackAperture looks great but blackaperture look more elegant

[linuxforartists]

This poll is running a lot closer than I thought. Almost evenly matched.

Is it just me, or is white the color that's associated with design? I'm wondering if it's a Wallpaper magazine thing.

[linuxforartists]

I want to thank everyone for voting. Your comments and feedback were very helpful. Knowing why you liked a particular theme was invaluable.

That the results were so close reinforced my initial indecision, all the themes look quite cool.

Looks like I can't procrastinate any longer . . . time to get down to work on this website. I'll probably come back here to gather more feedback in the future. ;)