Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
I
Figure 3.3
Google Voice
Daily is a bit
clunky.
Should You Change Your Theme with CSS?
You can customize the theme in use by your current blog using CSS. (Cascading Style Sheets are an
offspring of HTML, the original language of web pages. CSS allows you to change your web page in
a more organized and structured way than HTML ever could.) However, to modify CSS in the
WordPress.com environment is an extra-cost add-on, for which the current charge is about $15
per year.
Should you do this? If you're skilled in both CSS and actual design—meaning, you can create a
decent look, and have the technical skills necessary to implement it—then yes, the CSS upgrade is a
good deal. You get all the advantages of WordPress.com plus, for a low price, a custom look as well.
Ironically, the CSS upgrade is also good if your CSS skills are very limited, and there's a theme you
like that has just one or two elements in it that you can't stand. You can make the minor tweaks to
fix the theme, or get someone else to help you, and have a theme you love and all the advantages
of WordPress.com for a low cost. (Though paying $15 per year just to, for example, get rid of a
banana might seem a bit annoying.)
See Chapter 12, “The WordPress Toolkit: Themes,” for information on making small changes to
themes using CSS.
If you want to make more extensive changes, though, or have new ideas for what a theme can do
or be like, but don't have strong skills in both CSS and graphic design, you're probably better off
using the WordPress software available from WordPress.org.
