It’s safe to say that right about now most of my daily readers notice that I have a new Thesis theme installed on my blog, the easy way for them to tell is because my custom header and custom background are no where to be found, instead your looking at the very stale Extreme John.
I wanted to make a quick post for those of you that have never been to my blog before in order to explain that things are somewhat of a train wreck and probably will be until I figure out what we are going to do about getting my old theme in here or just having Dawn come up with a new design. As plain and boring as it might look at the current moment you should probably subscribe to my rss feed anyway, once you look around you will love the place.
Now getting back to my daily readers or maybe some of the good people that follow me on Twitter, I have been ripping through Serradinho trying to learn as much as I can about Thesis and I will tell you, George has some of the best resources I have ever seen and honestly is the only thing that has kept me sane while I try to figure Thesis out.
I like the idea of Thesis but I really can’t stand not having a simple soultion to putting my previous site design header and BG into place, I will have a full review of Thesis once I am done with this transformation from my previous theme to my current boring Thesis theme and hopefully into the near future when my shit is back to normal. ;) I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday, I have been trying to watch the Jets get beat down by Miami again while I work on the Thesis theme. Hardly a joy.
P.s. Don’t worry I didn’t forget to take pictures of everyone in their Halloween costumes, I managed to fit that in while trying to do 100 other things.
Cole Stan (2)
KyAus @ Those.Tips (2)
SafariDave (2)
{ 107 comments… read them below or add one }
Sorry to hear about the blog trouble – I kinda like the really clean look, but the header doesn’t quite match the word “Extreme.”
Definitely hope the Thesis theme helps out with SEO and ads and all the rest – sometimes it doesn’t matter how things look, if the backend improves dramatically.
ashok´s last blog ..Jefferson’s Epitaph, Education and the Enlightenment Republic
@ashok, I wouldn’t feel complete without some kind of design so of course thats one of the most important things to me. It holds me back from functioning because I continue to screw with it, over and over and over and over… Yeah, you get it.
@Extreme John, It’s Monday, 6:10 pm on the East Coast – the blog looks awesome, love the more serious font on the sidebar. I do have to say the comment field is out of proportion: typing this comment, the font appears to be 24 point font or something. Also, in your logo, “business reviews” and the rest of the small print is scrunched against your site name.
Generally speaking, the look is much cleaner. Hope the redesign is going well.
ashok´s last blog ..Briefly Noted: Plato’s “Menexenus”
@ashok, thank you for taking the time to write me a nice worklist
I appreciate that, I am aware of the header and how to fix it, intend on doing so tomorrow.
The comment thing is pretty weird, Im not even sure I know where to start on that problem.
Ohhh, so you did switch to Thesis after all. As I said, your blog right now looks very, very clean, hehe Good luck in tweaking it and don’t forget to bring in those Halloween pics, hopefully more Hula Girls…
DiTesco´s last blog ..Thanksgiving Giveaway – The $1.500 Bonanza
@DiTesco, no worries I wont forget the pictures any time soon, they are VERY hot. As for the blog yes I went with Thesis I want it on our business blogs so EJ becomes the guinea pig.
Can’t wait to see the finished product!
Mike from Daily Shot Of Coffee´s last blog ..Fresh Brews: Coffee Careers, Video Games And More
@Mike from Daily Shot Of Coffee, makes two of us.
Comment test?
Mike from Daily Shot Of Coffee´s last blog ..Fresh Brews: Coffee Careers, Video Games And More
Clean and lean doesn’t really fit, does it? I like the Extreme in your face Look of before.
Anyways, it is the content that keeps us coming back. The important part has not changed.
Keith@Norman Rockwell Art´s last blog ..Oct 26, Norman Rockwell Museum: Making Vacations Memorable
@Keith@Norman Rockwell Art, I go through my phases of lean and clean and this isn’t one of those times. I need in your face.
I agree with Keith…I come here for the content and the constant updates
It was weird cuz your blog wasn’t loading this morning, only the header was showing up…I thought my browser was messed or something. Hope you sort it out, don’t stress.
Can’t wait for the Halloween pics either ;)
Alan @ Glass Pipes´s last blog ..CS just died…
@Alan @ Glass Pipes, ahhh thank you, you helped me confirm if in fact I had screwed it up earlier in the day or later in the day. Now I know it was in fact nice and early.
Good luck and can’t wait for the new design of your blog. Greg Ellison
Greg Ellison´s last blog ..My Parents Got A New Puppy
so you are one of many people that have a problem with thesis themes . it’s normal , i found lot of people have a problem with their themes . the reason i visit your blog is because the quality of your post , i love when you share about girl and ufc… it’s great
EarningStep´s last blog ..Now you can make money with myblog2day – new and simple affiliate program
Looks good to me. Maybe I am looking at after you figured out the design but i am seeing the usual header and footer design. I can not wait to read your review as I will be making the Thesis purchase in about a month.
Tycoon Blogger@Make Money Blogging´s last blog ..“Sunday’s Best” Top Blog Posts – week ending 11/1/2009
@Tycoon Blogger@Make Money Blogging, I can already say that it’s a good move for any blogger, however it does require some serious attention and learning when you first get going.
It will get better. Thesis has some pretty solid engineering behind it.
Big gotcha: Thesis lays out in ems instead of pixels. I understand why, but ALL graphics are measured in pixels, not ems. It’s rope through a hole, no more, no less, just puts the onconvenience off somewhere else.
Dave Doolin | Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..Big Shakeout Coming in MMO Blogosphere – You ready for it?
You’ve made a good choice by moving to Thesis bro. I’m sure you still have a lot of customization to do. I just upgraded mine to Thesis 1.6 and the upgrade process was easier than I thought !
Anyway, your footer breaks in IE8. Good luck in customizing !
Roseli A. Bakar´s last blog ..List of Wordpress Thesis Theme Tutorials, Tips and Hacks
@Roseli A. Bakar, thank you Roseli I appreciate it and I am sure your right, I think once I get a little more CSS knowledge going it will make this much easier.
Thank you on the IE tip, I haven’t viewed my site in IE in probably three years (mistake), so that’s a big help thank you.
Wow John its really great to see you on thesis…I think you should have started customizing thesis your localhost and then put it out online…
Compute Live´s last blog ..Firefox 4.0 mockup for Linux
@Compute Live, well I was customizing it behind the scenes and using a certain plugin to be able to do that where it didn’t effect the normal site view.
That back fired when the plugin decided to effect the main page as well so it forced me with no choice but to put it live, the pressure makes me work harder ;)
@Extreme John,
Wow..Thats bad luck..
I love to work under pressure…:wink:
Compute Live´s last blog ..Firefox 4.0 mockup for Linux
As far as I have heard Thesis is one of the best wordpress themes. Anyway good luck with your customization
John Samuel ´s last blog ..Create a Free Logo for your Website
Also I would like to recommend you to use No self pingback wordpress plugin. Or disable pingbacks for all the posts. A commentator has to scroll a lot to reach the comments section.
John Samuel´s last blog ..Create a Free Logo for your Website
@John Samuel, thank you for commenting John and thank you for the tip. I do have that plugin installed, another plugin went haywire and caused the pinbacks to show in the trackbacks anyway, I noticed it way too late last night to get it resolved now it should be fine.
It’s actually looking pretty good around here mate.. Kinda crisp and clean (if somewhat lacking in the personality we’ve come to expect from you). Anyway, hope you get things sorted out to your satisfaction soon
Hard Rocking South African@Music Judge´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at
@Hard Rocking South African@Music Judge, haha thanks bro! It seems to be coming along pretty good now, it helped that I had somewhat of a free day yesterday to give it the extra loving it needed.
I am pretty confident with what I have learned so far that there will be a little more “personality” oooozzzzing out of this place before the day is over. Well at least my fingers are crossed.
Hi, i am a first-timer on your Blog.What can i say, i like it.I like clear words.The other thing is, that you made me curious how your original template looked like.Is it possible you post an image or something ? Just to get an impression.Of course you can say visit my blog regularly until you see the original image again
….. and you have good chances 
Cheers
WB
WebBanshee´s last blog ..Games For Windows Xlive.dll Crash
@WebBanshee, once I figure out where my search box went I will find the post that announced the new design when it was released a few months back.
I will post the link in a little bit
@Extreme John, ok, thanks man
I have checked it with WayBackMachine, but this shows no design elements.
WebBanshee´s last blog ..Games For Windows Xlive.dll Crash
@WebBanshee, the design hasn’t really been around long enough for Wayback to grab it so I can see why it’s not in there. As soon as the search box is back up I will get a link posted.
Hi, i am a first timer on your Blog.What can i say, i like the it.I like clear words.The other thing is, that you made me corious how your original template looked like.Is it possible you post an image or something ? Just to get an impression.Of course you can say visit my blog regularly until you see the original image again
….. and you have good chances 
WebBanshee´s last blog ..Games For Windows Xlive.dll Crash
@WebBanshee, Maybe, WayBackMachine could help you in this. Google about it to know more..
Typhoon´s last blog ..Happy PageRank Day ;)
@Typhoon,
, but they store mainly plaintext.
thx for the help.I didn’t know this exists.Very cool
WebBanshee´s last blog ..Games For Windows Xlive.dll Crash
Hey there John, the blog does indeed look crisp and is quick to load, but I do miss your previous theme, I’ve been thinking of changing my theme for ages, but just never got round to it…
Karen@Blazing Minds´s last blog ..Who’s the Band – The Peach Tree
@Karen@Blazing Minds, my old theme will be back in action or should I say a new theme will be back in action at some point hopefully today, a lot of it will depend on Dawn and his ability to create what I want
There’s nothing wrong with a little re-design here and there Karen, it freshens your mind and opens up creativity
@Extreme John, looking gooooood, nice to see the grey line not showing up in your banner and the background fading out from the banner, very nice
Karen @ Blazing Minds´s last blog ..WordPress Plugins used for my Weekly and Monthly Stats
@Karen @ Blazing Minds, thank you Karen that took a little bit of figuring out to resolve that problem. I kind of caused it on my own though.
Ah if your having a problem with thesis send it over this way I will “handle” it for you
Dude everything is working fine you have a few minor tweaks what you worrying about Willis 
Although it alot bigger sort of like that vigilance I used it all in good proportion on this end via FF.There is a white bar through the header as you know
Looks cool nice ;) thanks
Dude your on the 1 yard line
I had my boy Blogger Bill stumble it for ya to Christian it and linked to it in my post
To all your success have an awesome day
thanks
John Sullivan´s last blog ..What’s your passion ?
@John Sullivan, you are too good to me bro and I might just take you up on some of this hints and tips about how to fix things. One of the things will be getting that efn white line out of the header, not even sure why it’s there to be honest. It came out of nowehere too, good times.
I appreciate the Stumble love brother and be ready for that late night HEEEELLLPPPP phone call. Haha.
I was wondering whether when you will change your theme to Thesis. And here we are, but it’s not that bad John.. your blog looks pretty neat and clean. But some customization needs to be done, well good luck with that.
And also waiting for the Halloween pics
Nehh´s last blog ..Ashley Greene Kellan Lutz Halloween party bash!
@Nehh, don’t worry I won’t be forgetting the Halloween pictures by any means, I have like 20 girls waiting somewhat patiently for me to get them done. Of course they need to by copyright tagged first, once thats done than I can get rolling on that project.
@Extreme John, No worries take your time John, you have lot on your mind right now. Well I have posted tons of Celebrity Halloween pics, check them out. I’m sure you will like it
Nehh´s last blog ..Kim Kardashian: Busty Princess Jasmine
@Nehh, oh there is no doubt that I will like them. I plan on doing some commenting tonight, even if it kills me.
Yes this theme is much cleaner but its not you John, its not you.
ZXT´s last blog ..Sunday’s Babe of the Week
@ZXT, are you saying that I am dirty Z?
Just kidding, I agree man I like having a little more of a custom look to my blogs so as clean as this might be it’s still bugging me.
Not to mention if I am going to use Thesis on my business sites it’s going to need to be able to allow for a little more custom header work.
It’s looking nice right now but with few missing things like your Twitter Follow me badge near the header is not linking to your twitter profile.
Typhoon´s last blog ..Happy PageRank Day ;) 
The new frontpage featured article in that black box is really looking fantastic.
@Typhoon, Hey It looks like, you also have to add the twitter ID box in this comment box..The plugin right now is giving output automatically to old commentators twitter profile but new commentators may not be able to use that feature.
Typhoon´s last blog ..Happy PageRank Day ;)
@Typhoon, oh and thank you for the tip on the Twitter username situation, I completley overlooked that.
@Typhoon, thank you I appreciate the kind words, it’s like Christmas to me I had to stay up and play with it until like 2:30 in the morning, of course the minute I woke up yesterday I was on it too. Figure about 18hrs of Thesis yesterday haha.
As for the Twitter image not being linked I just wanted to throw the header in there so it at least had a reminder of what it looked like around here before, I would assume the new design won’t have the Twitter badge there any longer once the design is changed up.
Hi John,
Firstly Congratulations !!!!!
EJ is dressed up with Thesis wp theme.Thesis is one of the best Wordpress theme thats why professional bloggers like it.
It has many wonderful features.
Don’t worry your new theme will be more attractive than older one.
Surender Sharma´s last blog ..Wordpress Plugin Compatibility Beta Integrated With WP Plugin Directory
@Surender Sharma, thank you I am just as excited about it as you are, once we tweak it out a little bit I will be more excited
@Extreme John,
John don’t worry about Thesis.
I’ll help you a lot as you want.
Surender Sharma´s last blog ..Wordpress Plugin Compatibility Beta Integrated With WP Plugin Directory
@Surender Sharma, thank you I greatly appreciate that.
Why would you chnage your blog theme? I like the one you have now!!!
@JOSEGREGORIO, the thought wasn’t to change the actual design theme as it was to install the new Thesis theme with the old design style, however that is becoming more of a challenge than we anticipated because my other design had some pretty customized sections to it.
If you liked the old design you will like the new one better once it’s in place
Well I liked ur previous theme but thesis also look kewl. You need to work more on the background colors and image to make it look more attractive. Good job. It looks good overall.
Ricky´s last blog ..15 Portable Web Browsers For Windows Users
@Ricky, thats exactly what we are working on (as I type this) right now.
@Extreme John,
Now the theme looks more prominent. I am jealous of ur new design. Your sidebar is really kewl. I really like the new design.
Ricky´s last blog ..Google Analytics For Mobile-New Google Lab Feature
Hi there John,
I will be sending you an email via your contact page with details I think will help you
Let me know if I can help you, contact me via my contact page.
BTW, thanks for the link love. I like to think I’m good, trying to update my blog now (fat footer).
George Serradinho´s last blog ..Thesis Tutorial – Full Width Header and Menu
@George Serradinho, hey thank you for taking the time to email those tips George I appreciate the kind words and support.
I have been all over your blog the last three days, if your traffic is up it’s just me going through your blog with a fine tooth comb ;)
By the end of today I should have a better idea of what areas I might need to beg for some help in, that line going through my header is going to be a challenge, or at least it’s measuring up to be at the moment.
Hey your blog is looking nice.
I know what is the importance of Thesis theme.I can say it the theme of God.
Use it like your way.Get from it like your wish.
Young Habits´s last blog ..Wordpress Plugin Compatibility Beta Integrated With WP Plugin Directory
@Young Habits, wow those are some big words for Thesis theme, I am sure once I settle in I will be just as passionate about it. Thank you for commenting
John,
I have tried the Thesis theme myself…it definitely gets heavily promoted. However, the whole concepts of “hooks” and how “easy” they are left me baffled at first.
You do get use to it though…just takes awhile.
–Brad
Brad@Christmas Store Online´s last blog ..Family Christmas Games: Scrabble Diamond Anniversary Edition
@Brad@Christmas Store Online, hey Brad thank you for commenting.
It is def. promoted heavily thats for sure, it’s less than a full day of playing with it so far and I am really starting to get a feel for the CSS angle as well as the hooks. The hooks don’t really scare me because I have been dealing with hooks on my indoor tanning forum for years with vBulletin.
I will say it’s no overnight thing thats for sure.
No worry everything will be fine soon, John. A big welcome to Thesis family and if you got any questions, don’t hesitate to twitter me.
Jacob Yap´s last blog ..12 Ways to Optimize Wordpress Blog for Google
@Jacob Yap, I appreciate your help Jacob, especially when you jumped on Twitter yesterday and calmed me down with some excellent tips.
One thing I know for sure is that Thesis webmasters seem very willing to help other Thesis webmasters, very classy.
Well, it’s 2 months later and I think your theme looks great. You can safely say that the custom header does look pretty extreme! I like how customizable the Thesis theme is but I haven’t yet had the time to play with my own blog that much. I’ll definitely have to check out Serradinho and try to learn all that stuff. -Jason
@Jason@Des Moines Movers, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and I appreciate the kind words. All though it’s not two months later it’s still not complete, I can’t wait until it’s done and as much as I like my current header a change will be taking place there soon enough I’m sure.
Oops, it’s not 2 months later it’s only 1 day later! my bad, I got confused with the dates for some reason
But it looks like you did figure out how to make your cool header go up there.
@Jason@Des Moines Movers, thanks to the help of my designer and some excellent tutorials around the web we did get the header up there. As for the time frame, no problem I do it myself. I just finished calling November, October for pretty much the last two weeks of October.
on me
Love the new look…it’s very smooth and everything fits really good together.
Alan @ Glass Pipes´s last blog ..CS just died…
@Alan @ Glass Pipes, thank you Alan, it’s a work in progress thats for sure. Every turn there’s another change I want to do.
Change is good!?! That’s easy to say after all the tweeking is done right? Oh the frustration, I feel your pain. Good Luck!
This weekends Football games were off the chain. Did you see Favre deliver a smack down in GreenBay..Suweeeeet!
Ms. Freeman´s last blog ..About My About Page
@Ms. Freeman, haha yeah I saw Farve lay it down in Green Bay, I knew that was happening.
As for the tweaking it’s getting to the part where it’s fun, still want some changes but close.
Wow a new thesis theme, I’m going to see your new design for your blog John, it’s not perfect right now. Between, Serradinho is good in customizing thesis theme, he helped me a lot in my theme too, so why not your hire him to design for you, it saves a lot of your time, but it’s good to learn new thing yourself, it depends on how you think.
My blog is poor in design too, still in the progress to make it perfect. Sometimes Thesis theme is difficult to be customized though, but take your time John, you can do it.
Lee Ka Hoong@Make Money Online´s last blog ..Huzzer Blog Commenting Contest Win Up To $600!
@Lee Ka Hoong@Make Money Online, we are still working on some of the fine tuning, I have considered hiring George for some of the heavy duty customizations. If I get in a jam I will be giving Doug a call, all though I prefer to learn things so I can share them, and of course know more
What issues are you currently seeing since you mentioned it wasn’t perfect yet so that I can address them?
@Extreme John, Hmm, I just feel that your sidebar doesn’t look as unique as the previous 1, and the sidebar title “Random Pictures” overlap the bar. I think you’re working on the design of your blog, right? Perhaps you can publish another poll post to ask for everyone’s opinion after changing your design. :D
Anyway, your blog still look cool John!
Regards,
Lee
Lee Ka Hoong@Make Money Online´s last blog ..Huzzer Blog Commenting Contest Win Up To $600!
@Lee Ka Hoong@Make Money Online, thank you Lee. Yes we are still working on the blog, the sidebar is one of the final steps and will be completed tomorrow morning. All though I still might want to do more with it but the new one is hot.
I like the poll idea.
@Lee Ka Hoong@Make Money Online,
thanks for the mention for hire, although I would help John like i help you. I don’t think I can charge him, he is to nice
George Serradinho´s last blog ..Newest WordPress Plugins 05/11
I was going to recommend Serradinho to you but you already mentioned it
By the way there is a plugin, I think its Thesis Open Hook plugin. Do add it if you are not yet using it. It makes customizing Thesis easier.
Kurt Avish´s last blog ..20 Free Best Linux Wallpapers
@Kurt Avish, hey Kurt thank you I am currently using Thesis Open Hook all though I am still trying to figure out what custimazations I can actually put into the hook system instead of having it in the customs_functions.php and custom.css file.
Thank you for the tip Kurt I appreciate it.
Finally you got into thesis affair.
BlogrPro´s last blog ..What’s new in BlogrPro?
I like your blog theme.. don’t change it.
@Samantha Edwards, well thank you. It won’t be changing much from how you see it now.
Looks like you’ve already come a long way with the customization and putting some images etc. on – it looks good and still very clean I think.
And yes, Serradinho has tons of great Thesis articles, definitely worth a visit – I learned a thing or two from over there as well.
Anywho, good luck with further customization and let me know if there’s anything I can do to help, I might not have an answer to everything, but I might have for just that one thing you can’t figure out
Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..The Solution To All Your Problems… Or What? Mr. Madu, African Medium
@Klaus @ TechPatio, thank you Klaus I appreciate that, I have a few things that are starting to get on my nerves if I don’t get them by tomorrow I will be sending out the distress signal.
Wowww, this is a huge change John. I hope that it is worthless because changing themes is a nightmare.
@Asswass, You said it brother! I have been trying to make small changes to my blog and I wanna pull my hair out. Searching through php is not fun when all you know is html/css. But John’s blog looks awesome now, very professional.
@alan @ glass pipes, I appreciate the kind words it does still have some issues though and a few more areas for customizing.
I am also trying to take some decent notes of what and how I did it so I can explain it on here and share the blogs that helped me.
In firefox the design is coming along nicely.
It’s looking well stitched together now. The header and the sidebar are looking much better.
In Internet explorer though, the header and background are gone like you said.
Keep at it.
Blaine Bullman´s last blog ..The First “Content King” Contest Is Coming
@Blaine Bullman, someone else told me that earlier today, I will try to figure out whats causing that issue next. Thank you Blaine.
It was tough for a day or so, but the new look really works! Good move.
Keith@Norman Rockwell Art´s last blog ..Oct 26, Norman Rockwell Museum: Making Vacations Memorable
@Keith@Norman Rockwell Art, yeah man it was rough for the first few days and of course because I have no patience it never seems fast enough. I appreciate the feedback and hopefully once it’s complete everyone will be comfortable with it.
Actually I’m still trying to learn to load pictures
My fiancee says she will give me Facebook lessons. I have some really interesting photos to upload. If I had much modesty, I would consider some of them embarrassing.
Keith@Norman Rockwell Art´s last blog ..Oct 26, Norman Rockwell Museum: Making Vacations Memorable
@Keith@Norman Rockwell Art, upload them to your wordpress blog or to your Facebook account or to a server? Maybe I can help.
Oops, looks like I accidentally hit the back button, before I posted that last one, sorry It’s on the wrong page!
I do like the bottom of page navigation, John. It’s easier than going back to the home page and finding the next post. Constant improvement!
Keith@Norman Rockwell Art´s last blog ..Oct 26, Norman Rockwell Museum: Making Vacations Memorable
@Keith@Norman Rockwell Art, haha it’s no problem it just gives me more to read, haha.
Hopefully when all is said and done it will be an improvement for everyone.
Thesis is the best seo themes but i think bad design
Raden Beletz´s last blog ..Lowongan Kerja Lulusan SMA SMU SMK SMEA SLTA November Desember 2009
@Raden Beletz, haha you don’t like the design huh? Well hey it’s not for everyone so hopefully you will get use to it, if not sorry
I don’t understand the appeal to the Thesis theme. Although I can see how it is nice to customize things from the admin screen. The extra code needed to create it and the theme within a theme stuff makes it all overly complicated in my opinion. I’ve learned a great deal about php and themes and Wordpress by just changing other themes to match what I want IN THE CODE!
Scott@Louisville Photo Booth Rental´s last blog ..Welcome
yes Thesis is the best seo theme and hey its not bad design but looks very neat and clean with its simplicity. I am also using it on my few blogs with some tweaks and am loving it
George is one of the best Thesis developer I have came across.. I;m sure he can give you much needed helping hand here… Hire him and you will be happy to have him on the board
Harsh Agrawal´s last blog ..How to Access phpmyadmin in any Web Hosting
Shit man, I could have warned you about Thesis, if you had only asked .
Never mind, with the latest update it is better than what it was, but I still reckon the Theme I use on Wassupblog is way better.
Sire@WassupBlog´s last blog ..The Child Of God
Oh, it seems the nested comments plugin isn’t working all that well. My comment seems mixed up with the previous commentator and only appeared after refreshing the page.
Sire@WassupBlog´s last blog ..Three Ways To Increase Your Ad Space Earnings
I didn’t notice you’re using a thesis theme. It looks the same as the previous one.