My first free variation is ready!

Branford Magazine theme is a free WordPress theme. It was created by Michael Oeser using elements of the Mimbo and Revolution themes.

To save readers of Sites that Soar! time and frustration, I’m creating my own modified version of Branford Magazine theme.

The first variation, Branford Magazine – Aisling variation 1, is ready for release. It’s based on Branford Magazine 2.0.

Here’s what I’ve changed.

• The stylesheet is modified from Branford Magazine 2.6. Links are underlined, but in black text. Space is added around images in posts and pages.
• There are just two tabs at the top of the page: Lead Article and Recent Posts.
• The sidebar includes “More from this category” and “Browse categories.” It does not include any advertisement space. You can use Widgets (in your dashboard’s Appearance > Widgets) to add more content, or manually add content in any WYSIWYG editor.
• The footer includes links to Sites that Soar and BranfordMagazine.com, as well as the original Branford Magazine, Mimbo and Revolution.

HOW TO DOWNLOAD AND USE THIS THEME

To download your copy, right-click on this file name and save it to your hard drive. http://www.branfordmagazine.com/downloads/branfordmagazine-aisling1.zip

To use the file, unzip it with any zip/unzip program such as WinZIP, and upload the theme to your WordPress files in wp-content > themes. Then, activate it in your WordPress dashboard, in Appearance > Themes.

Important note: There may not be a preview image when you activate this theme variation. Activate it anyway. This theme variation has worked fine at the three websites where I tested it, but it may have a few bugs in it.

(This is a “beta” version and will remain one because I don’t write code, I tweak it through trial-and-error.)

That said, you can always use this variation as a starting point and tweak it to meet your needs.

Remember, this is based on an older version of Branford Magazine. So, you will need to use relative URLs in your Custom Fields. (See more info, below.)

Also remember that I do not provide support for this theme variation. It’s free and my attempt to be helpful. However, I don’t write code. I can’t tell you how to further modify the theme, or how to fix something that you don’t like. (I recommend experimenting, trial-and-error, just as I do.)

HOW TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR THEME

You can customize this theme following the tutorial on the original Branford Magazine site, DER-PRiNZ.com or at Darren Hoyt’s Mimbo website.

For more complete customizing instructions, you can purchase my 150-page ebook, Sites that Soar! Or, you can find some tips at my Sites that Soar support site.

IMAGE URLS IN CUSTOM FIELDS

In this theme varation, you’ll continue using relative URLs for images in your Custom Fields.

Relative URLs look like this: 2009/2/yourimage.jpg

If you need more information on this, see my book or read When homepage images don’t show up.

IF YOU HATE IT

If you try this theme variation and don’t like it, simply overwrite the files with any other version of Branford Magazine that you prefer. You can find them at the Downloads tab at BranfordMagazine.com.

AN ALTERNATIVE TO THIS NEW THEME

If you’d rather keep your existing, older version of Branford Magazine, but have underlined links, you can use a new stylesheet with your current theme. Follow my instructions at Old Theme, New Stylesheet.

IS THIS LEGAL?

This is a legal modification of the original Branford Magazine theme.

The original Branford Magazine theme is a free WordPress theme created under the Gnu General Public License. The terms of this license include the following terms.

“You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1 above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:

a) You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.

b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License…”

The change notice is in the Stylesheet, and this theme is free and also licensed under GPL.

(This means you can further modify the theme and distribute it as well. Let me know if you do, so I can link to it.)