1. One is hosted on Wordpress server (wordpress.com) like Blogger and the other is self-hosted (download and install it on your own server)

2. Normally, you download the theme in a ZIP. Unzip it and it should be in a folder, "theme-folder". Upload this folder into your /your-domain/wp-content/themes/. Then, login and go to Appearance (WP 2.7.1) and look for the theme. Click it and in the pop-up top right you'll see "Activate theme".

*Note: Wordpress.com doesn't support custom themes which you download and plan to upload later.

3. Yup, as explained above.

4. Yup again, explained above.

5. If you're on Wordpress 2.7.1, it's in the Appearance menu on the sidebar.

6. Free web hosting sucks, and if you still insist on using it, good luck looking for one.

Ever thought or tried posting/searching their support? http://www.arrastheme.com/forums/

The free support expires June 30, 2009 though.

Have you tried searching their forum if someone had asked the same question?

Or, did you only create a new topic?

Anyway, according to their theme page it's widget supported but maybe only supporting Wordpress default widgets. Therefore, is there a specific plugin you're using with widget capability and you're trying to get it to work in Arrass?

After viewing, reading, observing and findings, I've noticed we've a number of want to be (not wannabe) Wordpress theme designers in Malaysia. But I'd like to have a serious discussion about wordpress theme development.

Goldy, make this a new topic if you think it should be later.

My discussion is about building commercial Wordpress themes. Which means it's either customized per client OR made-to-sell.

1. Do you create custom Wordpress themes from scratch (design, XHTML, etc)? OR, modify an existing theme?

2. Currently, do you sell the themes you have created?

3. Are the themes you are selling, custom or modified?

4. Personally, what is your opinion about designers who sell modified themes who were works of someone else?

5. What do you believe is the best method(s) to address the issue of designers who are selling modified themes or non-original works?

As mentioned, this is a serious discussion about a soon to be problem. And it's best to find a prevention, if ultimately a cure can't be found.

This post has been edited by etsuko: May 30 2009, 03:44 PM

You've to learn to write a custom function normally added to functions.php. The function will later also add an option into the Appearance so a user who downloads the theme may only enter the necessary (username/API key) to activate twitter and delicious.

Look for a photoblog theme. Generally optimized for 1024 x 768 resolutions.

Plugins always do better with screenshots.

I've been using WordTwit. Had earlier problems but it's already resolved by the team. Love it because I can sync it to my Bit.ly account.

I heard TwitterFeed is handy too but haven't gotten around trying it.

How do you maintain the line breaks for the image description?



I managed to pull it out, but it seems Wordpress (as usual) ignores the line breaks even when you hit Return in there.

Yup. That worked. Never thought of using HTML in there.

@sunsuron, thanks for the advice.

The domain name is recognition and credibility. For a business, you register it so that people know it's a tangible item. Just like any business in Malaysia, if your business is registered, it gives you some weight which the customer notes. If you're an unregistered business, the customer may be worried you'll run off with their money.

If you're using Wordpress.com, there's an optional add-on where they help you register a domain name.

On a personal note, registering a domain name for your personal use is an investment. Plus, it's a deterrent in case in the future someone decides to turn your name into a scam/phishing/porno website. LOL!

And as mentioned by another forumer, hosting your own blog means the data is with you.

Hope this answers your question.

For a photography based website, here's what you must know:

1. Get a hosting with a company that understands WordPress - website and system will be optimized accordingly, less headaches

2. Pick a light theme - Astra, OceanWP, Page Builder Framework

3. Choose a layout which emphasizes the visuals - free option has some appropriate ones to start with

4. If you want a more flexible gallery, check out plugins like WP Modula, Envira Gallery, FooGallery or NextGen.

5. Install and activate an image optimization plugin like; ShortPixel or TinyPNG

6. Install and activate a plugin like; Flying Images, to lazy load the images and serve them via CDN (in short it's to speed up the load time for your website)

7. Enable gzip compression (if you're using cPanel)

8. Install a caching plugin like Litespeed Cache (if server supports) or WP Fastest Cache or Simple Cache


Keep your photo filesizes less than 200kb. Width of 1400px is more than sufficient - 1920px is pushing it. If you really can't tahan and need higher resolution images, you may want to consider having WP Retina installed.

More than 60% of Internet users browse on their smartphones now, compared to the desktop. The ones who still do it from their desktop are either because of their profession, or an age group who is more comfortable on larger screens.

I would also recommend uploading the photos to your website, than embedding from Flickr. Because each Flickr embed creates a request and the more requests you need to serve, the slower your website will end up loading.

Lastly, you do not need to upload all your photos from Flickr. You should be highlighting your best works - that's a marketing tip for you.


I hope this has helped and wishing you all the best.

This post has been edited by etsuko: Feb 25 2020, 11:20 AM