Disclosure: We are a professional review site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review. We test each product thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.
Are you looking for a new theme for your WordPress website? Looking for a theme full features and is already optimized for the Search Engines? Have you thought about Thesis Framework? Maybe you have already heard about Thesis and know enough about that it can be hard to use. Plus, you still have to get a skin for it if you, do not have the time to customize thesis.
Even if you have already decided to buy a Thesis Framework, the options for for skins are limited. There are several free skins available from Thesis designers or you can spend the money and get a premium one from premium designers. But they all have the same things in common. Many of them lookthem have the same look, maybe the colors are different and layout is a little different but if you look closely it looks the same as all the rest. Also with the current skins available Thesis skins, you have to configure it. Then you find out, the skin is pretty limited with the options available. In the end, you still have to add plugins and play with the code to make it yours.
If these are some of the reasons, that have turned you off of Thesis, then I have a solution for you. Recently a friend of mine, created Thesis Awesome, a premium Thesis skin membership service. With his service you can purchase skins or you can get membership and get them all! Like most theme memberships, as long as your membership is up to date, you get any new skins added to the site and you will always have the choice to upgrade to the latest and greatest version of the skins currently installed. Of course, if you do not need a developer’s or personal membership, then can always purchase any of the skins you want individually.
Thesis Awesome was created by Hesham of Famous Bloggers. Who has spent countless hours perfecting Thesis for his site. Just looking at his site, you know the quality of work he does and what he is putting into his skins. So far he has five beautifully designed skins for you to choose form and is planning on releasing new ones in the near future.
BlogSkin – What an Awesome Thesis Skin
Out of all of the skins Hesham has created, my favorite and the only one I currently recommend getting is the BlogSkin. The BlogSkin is a new Skin that was released earlier this month. The design is a professional clean look that will look good for almost any site.
If you notice the price is a little more expensive than the others. You might be thinking to yourself, why does it cost more? The reason it cost more, is its full of features and options, that you normally wouldn’t find built in to other skins and his older skins do not have them yet.
What Do I get With the New Options Panel?
Hesham has created 6 panels including a color scheme changer,with a load of features that will give you full control of your blog design elements.
Options Panels include
- General Options
- Social Media Options
- Multi-Author Options
- Geeky Options
- Advertising Options
- Footer Options
So What Do These Options Do?
I won’t go into details, but I will list a few of the more important features of each panel. Please visit Thesis Awesome for more information.
General Options
Currently you can choose from six different color schemes and more will be added in future updates. You can add your custom log and an custom RSS feed URL and email subscriptions to the top navigation image buttons. Another cool feature is using the teaser feature on the home page. You can add a “Keep Reading” image button.
Social Media Options
The social media offers an easy way to promote your articles by providing social media share buttons. The panel has almost everything you need and even includes an option to include Facebook comment!
Author Box Options
Another great feature is the author box. With this feature, you do not have to worry about hard coding the author box to your theme or look for a good looking plugin that creates this. Hesham has added some nice features to the panel that the plugins do not have.
Geeky Options
Geeky options have three main features. These options include a slideshow option for your features posts, Twitter @Anywhere, when TwitterLink plugin, the skin will automatically detect it and will add the Twitter ID Field in the comment box, Twitter card, and lazy load effect for your images.
Advertising Options
The advertising options have a Google Adsense option that tells Google where your content starts and ends. This way Google will be able to decide what relevant ads to place on your articles, and will not target keywords in the comments or sidebar. Hesham has been testing AdSense on Famous Bloggers and several blogs and enhanced the the advertisement for best possible promotion on your site.
BlogSkin also has special widgets setup for 468×60 header and 728×90 footer banners. All you need to do is use Datafeedr Random Ads v2 plugin or Max Press’ Banner Ad Plugin so you can rotate adds and you use your own affiliate banners.
Another option is adding a “STOP” box at the end of the post. This is an eye catching visual ad that you can place at the end of the post where you add a bit of text to valuable resources ads. Studies have shown by adding a Stop box to the end of the post, is a great way to get your reader’s attention and get them to click on your links.
Footer Options
In the footer options you add your text, such as; copyright statements, policies and anything you might need to stick down in the footer.
Final Thoughts
BlogSkin was designed for wide range of niches. With all the optionsit has, it so easy to give it your own personal touch just by changing the color scheme and adding your own logo. Although, this skin works best for entrepreneurs, making money niche, and multi-author blogs, this skin will work with some custom changes, this skin can easily be made to fit other niches.
Even though my Evolutionary Designs is mostly a New Media blog, I can’t wait to get my hand on this theme and make it my own. For this review, I was able to check out the features and how they work and what is needed to configure the settings. Right out of the box, BlogSkin options are easy to configure, and for the most part it is simple as clicking the check boxes to activate the features.
Just a reminder, Thesis Awesome Skins is not a stand alone product and you MUST have the Thesis Framework to use this product.
About James
Bravo for the creators of those awesome skins. They do look professional, elegant, and impressive. I have a great admiration for people who have got a skill in artistic design. It’s a talent you must be proud of. Way to go!
I agree – these skins are absolutely stunning. They have revolutionized the WP Themes industry. Take a look at the quality of skins that came out before the release of Thesis Awesome and the ones that came out after it. Thanks for improving the general quality of free skins available. We all really appreciate it.