Privateer Web Solutions » The Privateer Theme

Editing Skins for the Privateer Theme

Privateer Web Solutions — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 23:27:47 +0000

If you like one or more of the currently available skins for the Privateer Theme, but do not like the colors used, want to use different graphics, or have the graphics on your server stored in an odd place, you can easily modify the skin to be more along the lines of what you are wanting.

At their core, skins are nothing more than a set of database commands used to update privateer theme options with new settings to provide wanted looks.

Because they are text files, you can open them in text editors, change different things within them to be what you want or need, save the changes, and use the end result.

Skin File Locations

Skins that I make for the Privateer generally consist of two or more files:

The Skin File:
This is the file containing all necessary database option adjustments to apply a skin to the Privateer Theme.
These are located in /privateer/stylesets/ and have the skin name as part of the file name and an extension of .sql.
The Skin Readme:
Readme files for the skins I create are located in /privateer/stylesets/read-mes/ and have the name of the skin with a .txt extension.
These contain any special information related to getting the skin set up properly, the presumed image path directory used, and colors used.

When you want to edit a skin, you should locate both the skin file ( make a backup copy of it ) and the read me file ( read the readme file! ).

Altering File Paths

Because different people install WordPress in different ways, and the option data within skin files often contains image urls, you may find yourself needing to adjust the image paths to suit your server setup.

Most skins for the Privateer Theme assume an image location starting with /wp-content/themes/privateer/stylesets/ . If you have your wordpress install located in /site rather than / ( root ), you can do the following to make a skin which uses graphics work on your site:

Hire me:
Contact me and arrange to have me fix the directories to work on your server for a small fee. (expensive)
Edit theme options:
Track down the file urls in the various options within the Privateer theme and hand edit them. (slow)
Edit the Skin File:
Open the skin in a text file, search for the beginning of the current image locations, and replace matches with what is needed for your own site. ( cheap and fast )

So, here is how you would edit the Blue Music skin if your server is set up to have /site/wp-content as the wordpress content directory:

Open the banner-blue-music-readme.txt file ( the skins readme )
Note the Base Image Path Assumed
/wp-content/themes/privateer/images/qs/bluemusic
Open the skin file ( Banner_Blue_Music_styles_only_set.sql ) in a text editor
Do a search and replace on the entire file, searching for /wp-content/themes/privateer/images/qs/bluemusic and replacing it with /site/wp-content/themes/privateer/images/qs/bluemusic
Save the file
Upload the resulting skin file to your server (overwriting the existing skin file)
Apply the skin via the Privateer – Quick Display – Change Style menu.

As you can see, it is fairly simple to change the file paths associated for a skin.

Changing Skin Colors

When you like the layout of a skin, but don’t like the colors, there are a few options currently available:

Apply the skin and manually change colors
Effective, but time consuming in some cases
Hire me to change the colors
Effective, but a bit expensive
Edit the Skin File
Typically quick and easy.

Let us assume that you want to change some of the colors in the above referenced Blue Music styleset.

When you open the readme for it, you will see a list of colors used (usually…sometimes I forget)

Find the color that you want to replace and choose a color to replace it with.

Then…

Open the skin file in a text editor
Do a search and replace, searching for the color in question and replacing it with the color wanted.
For example, we want to change #97E7FE to #FFFFCC…so a search for 97E7FE replacing it with FFFFCC will change all instances of the first color to the second color.
Save the file
Overwrite the original file on the server
Apply the styleset

A few quick search and replace commands can alter all of the colors within a skin.

Changing the Images used in a Skin

For certain skins, you may want to replace the images that are used with your own images.

When doing so, if you want the look to be right you should make sure that your images are the same size as the skins images.

Within skin readme files, images used are typically listed along with the presumed image path, so you can locate them and replace them with the images that you want to use instead.

With the above, you should be able to use the existing skins to create versions with completely different color sets.

Easy sales pages for WordPress with the Privateer Theme

Privateer Web Solutions — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 05:38:54 +0000

If you are looking to create nice looking sales pages fast using wordpress, the Privateer Theme might be something to consider.

With it, you can create as many sales pages as you want using only one wordpress install. Each page can look completely different both from the wordpress site itself, but from each other.

See combination example and tutorial: WordPress Sales Pages with the Privateer Theme.

Version 1.4 of the Privateer Theme for WordPress is out

Privateer Web Solutions — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:08:50 +0000

I’ve finally wrapped up the next version of the Privateer Theme ( the one I use for this site ).

New features include:

The ability to make completely custom headers and/or combine custom content bars with the existing bars
XML Sitemap Generation
Support for Google AdSense for Search
Extra content areas above and below the sidebars.

For full details, please check out the Privateer Theme Page and Privateer Theme Forums.

The Boxlist and Postlist Custom Display Set

Privateer Web Solutions — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:22:45 +0000

The Boxlist and Postlist Custom Display Set is the initial set of custom displays for The Privateer WordPress Theme.

It includes 12 different custom displays, outlined as follows:

Page: Extra Column Boxlist
- This display adds an extra list of content boxes to either side of the content area for page pages.
Page: Extra Column Postlist
- This display adds an extra list of posts to either side of the content area for page pages.
- The posts to be displayed are set by choosing a category to pull them from for each page that uses this display.
Page: Extra Two Column With Boxlist
- This display places content normally, but adds two columns below the content, one side containing content areas and the other containing a list of posts.
- It can also be used to place only content areas or a post list below it if wanted.
Post: Extra Column Boxlist
- This display adds an extra column of content boxes to either side of the normal post content.
Post: Extra Column Postlist
- This display adds an extra column of posts pulled from a specified category to the side of the normal content.
Home: Two Column Boxlist Postlist
- This display adds an extra column of content boxes next to the normally displayed posts on your home page.
- Check out my home page for an example of this display in use.
Archive Pages: Two Column Boxlist Postlist
- Each of the archive pages ( tag archives, date archives, author archives, and category archives ) includes a custom display that will add a box list to the side of the normally displayed posts, just as the home page display for this set does.
404 Pages: 2 Column With List
- The 404 page for this set can be configured to display one or two content columns of content areas as well as a list of posts at the top on either side.
- This is a good way to showcase various features of your site and give people the latest information from you if they happen to hit a page that simply does not exist.

$27.00

The Privateer Theme 1.2 is just around the corner!

Privateer Web Solutions — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:25:46 +0000

I’ve been working on adding features to make managing sites using The Privateer Theme for WordPress a bit easier. With a bit of luck and a lot of programming, I should have it available within three to four days.

A partial change list:

More (and more flexible) custom displays
A custom display installer, so you don’t have to upload them via ftp.
Quick sets. These are saved option groups that you can create and/or apply to instantly change the entire look of your site. Perfect for trying out different looks quickly as well as designing locally and applying your finished look to your production site.
Better interoperability with Google AdSense and Analytics
A more robust lockout system so you can choose to refer those who are not logged in to your login page, show them a static page, or show them a brief maintenance type blurb.

The Privateer v1.0, a new WordPress Theme from PWS.

Privateer Web Solutions — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:35:40 +0000

Finally, after a good month and a half of solid coding, I feel that The Privateer Theme is ready for the public.

Feel free to grab a copy of The Privateer Theme and check it out, or find out more about it at the Privateer Theme Page.

Note: 1.0 is outdated and has a few bugs within it, but is still available to any interested in using it. It also lacks the new features available in 1.2.

So what does The Privateer Bring to the table?

Complete separation of WordPress Post/Page objects and the WordPress HTML Templates
- Each major template page ( single.php, page.php, home.php, etc. ) has its own optional kicker, title, byline, and content areas, which you can populate as you see fit.
- Both major wordpress objects ( pages and posts ) can have their individual pieces turned on and/or off.
A robust admin panel
- Setup and style the template page level items.
- Setup search engine optimization for the template.
- Setup and style post and page objects shown via the template.
- Override the default display with drop in custom displays.
Site wide view blocking
- Turn your site off at will, blocking potential visitors based upon their permissions and displaying a custom message or page to anyone without the necessary permissions.
- Good for heavy maintenance or just running a private members only site.
Drop in Custom Displays
- Custom displays are much like templates, but they are simple drop in codes that override the content section of a particular template type.
- Each has its own built in admin menu and page/post custom displays can be chosen on a page by page or post by post basis…and have individual options available within the wordpress page/post editor.
- Activate multiple custom displays on non page/post templates to have pages of particular types served via a randomly installed custom display or activate only one and have it used to show that template consistently.
Configurable navigation bars of various types
- Multi page navigation bars ( numeric or text )
- Next / Previous post navigation bars
- Ancestor navigation bars
- Child page navigation bars

See the general look of The Privateer

This site is running the privateer theme.
The home page is using the Store Home 2 Column Custom display.
The Store Home 2 Column Custom display is using the Product Showcase Single Post Custom Display
The 404 page is using a custom 404 Not Found display. You can see an example here.
The Privateer Theme page is using the Category Showcase Custom Display.

All of these will be available shortly.