Numerous themes are available from WordPress -- free and those with a
price tag -- which you can use or adapt to create a magazine-style look
and function for your website. Primarily, there’s a lot more going on
with these themes because you’re posting more than just a blog, an
“about” page and archives. Many themes provide enough customization to
fit your concept of what an online magazine style should be.
Instructions
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1
Think out what you want to put
on your site. If your concept of a magazine style focuses on photo
display, look for themes that allow posting of large images against
dramatic backgrounds. If you want a more newsy approach, select themes
with two or three columns, even four, that showcase multiple categories.
A simple background that doesn’t get in the way of the news works best.
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2
Use themes with dark backgrounds
to make images standout in photo-style magazine layouts. It doesn’t
have to be black. Using a deep blue or a subdued red with a main column
of white for content and images works well. Avoid bright colors for
backgrounds. Some themes let photos bleed off the light or white main
column into dark frames, effective for creating a stark, minimalist
theme. Avoid graphic elements with frills. You want the design kept
simple to let the photos provide the graphic impact. Keep text to a
minimum, and leave plenty of space around the photos, or white space as
it’s called in print. One main column and a side bar for links are all
you need.
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3
Select themes with white or
light backgrounds where text will appear when creating a news-style
magazine theme. Reverse text – light text on dark backgrounds – is
harder to read for anything but short items such as a quote box. No
matter what you’re writing or collecting news items on, you want
highlights from several categories on the theme’s home page, requiring
several columns. The highlights for categories should allow you to place
small photos for stories mentioned. On pages that hold the complete
story, the theme should allow placement of larger photos.
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4
Customize the themes as needed
to fit your plan. Select themes with a custom header image if you want
your banner to contain a logo or graphic image that brands your online
magazine. Photo-style magazines, however, can do well with just a name
and no image that conflicts with the content photos. Choose a theme
that’s very flexible, letting you adjust as you go along. You may start
out with a two-column news-style theme, but later find that switching to
three columns better fits what you need to do.
