Back in September 2009, I started a blog network called Porch Swing Media. It was rooted in the idea that most of my friends are incredibly talented, and quite a few of them are writers. I had some web know-how (SEO, interface design, web design, and just enough CSS and PHP knowledge), so we decided to try our hands at the blogosphere. I created the platform on a WordPress Mu install, and was trying to administer 13 different sites all with different themes and feels, wading through convoluted code that wasn’t mine. Trying to appease the writers by giving them a design they could be happy with, while juggling optimization wasn’t working out.
So I started from a blank slate. What came out was a design that was still customizable for each blog (to a degree that still left continuity), more accurate Analytics, and a design we were all pretty content with.
I incorporated a Global Link Bar that links to all of the sites within the Porch Swing Media Blogging Network and a footer bar powered by Wibiya. The theme automatically pulls the first image from the post, and creates an excerpt for each post automatically as well. This feature allows my writers to focus on what they do best, writing, and keeps me from having to go back and make sure everything is working right. If you are interested in the PHP code I used to generate these, drop me a line, and I’ll be glad to share. This feature also gives me much more accurate Analytics results, because readers have to click on individual posts to read the full content, thereby allowing me and the writers to know which content and which SEO tactics are working the best, rather than the standard way WordPress handles content.
This theme also features a dynamic loading CSS file, that is specific to the blog you are on, allowing us to create a sense of community and brand with PSM, while still allowing each blog to be unique in its own right.
Here is a list of some of the blogs, so you can go see the theme in full force in its many different styles:
D is for Delicate – A blog about crafting and vegetarian cooking
Faye Dodges Zombies – A blog about crafting, newlyweds and life
Typed Slowly – A blog about home brewed beer
Turby and John – A blog about natural health and beauty
Any criticisms, upgrades or whatever are more than welcomed. Leave me a comment telling me how to make it better.
