That being said, the Privateer Theme update is being delayed a bit as is a new framework that I’ve put together that I call the Gypsy System.

The next Privateer update will be covering some of the following:

• Admin panel revisions to make things easier for those new to the theme
• Some minor features to provide better support for different looks
• Some fixes for minor bugs that I’ve run across recently when setting up different types of sites.

While getting that together, I’m going to also see about writing proper guides for the following:

• Using WordPress – a comprehensive user manual to cover the various functionality available
• Using HTML – Comprehensive coverage of the basic tags and css needed to build nice web pages
• The Privateer Manual – a much more comprehensive manual showing how to do all kinds of things with the theme that aren’t obvious enough.

I’ll also be getting the Gypsy System cleaned up and documented. Briefly, it is a site building system designed to allow one to quickly put up sites with various page types, specifically store type sites or other sites where information falls into logically related groups. It is not meant to be a WordPress replacement, but rather a system to build out the things that WordPress was not designed to do. To see a site using the basic Gypsy System, check out The Accessory King – Cell Phone Accessories. Unlike that site, which is a straight e-commerce site, the Gypsy System also supports off site sales, affiliate sales, and temporary sale redirects ( say you put something on e-Bay…you can have the product page redirect there until the auction is over ).

Anywise, these things won’t be starting for a week or two ( probably two knowing me ), but they are coming.

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Note: 1.0 is outdated and has a few bugs within it, but is still available to any interested in using it.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?

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.