What Theme Would you Suggest & Design Tips

[gwmac]

I started my blog only a short while ago. Although new to WordPress I have been using RapidWeaver for many years on some other sites. I will be the first to admit that I am no graphic designer nor am I am good with site design and layouts. I have heard great things about Genesis and think I am ready to make the move.

I started this thread with the hope that I can get some suggestions for Themes. So far News Pro looks good. I can't afford to buy more than one theme at the moment. I didn't start my blog as a money making venture, more of an outlet for my addiction and need to write. Having said that I am not averse to revenue from Adsense either to help pay hosting and other website fees.

Although my site is called Georgia Watchdog, I have a variety of interests from cooking, travel, technology, animal welfare, you name it. I write about pretty much anything that interest me that day. I am currently using a free theme called Magazine Basic. It allows for 3 columns. I honestly don't know if this design looks too busy or not. I don't want to overload my visitors but not sure what needs to be moved or simply deleted. I chose 3 column simply because I wasn't able to include all I wanted in widget areas with a 2 column layout.

The reason I am considering Genesis with a theme is to gain a bit more flexibility. Also the updates and support would be nice. Especially in the top and bottom areas of a page. It would be nice for example to have a main menu above my header image and sub-menu below header or even inside the image itself to save space. The site search in the top right is something I have also considered.

Then I could move some less used info into the footer area. I am not dissatisfied with my current theme except for few issues as well as the inability to easily adjust the left and right widget bar areas to make them narrower to make more room for the article text. But no updates in a while so worried my theme might be abandoned for any future updates.

Sorry for the long post, I suppose I would just like to take my blog to that next level and make it look cleaner, more modern, and more professional. I would appreciate any advice on some themes you might recommend for a site like mine with Genesis framework.

If you also have any other design or any other tips those are also welcome. I am the first to admit I suck at site design and also have zero artistic talent. I also have dyslexia which is not just limited to text which can be a problem since I sometimes don't see things the way other people do. What may appear fine to me might look backwards or odd to other people. It also makes editing my articles a real PITA and time consuming but I am used to that. Just need to get some feedback from people with some site design expertise who don't have dyslexia.

If you need any more info about plug-ins I use or anything else let me know. Thanks in advance for any theme suggestions and site design/layout tips as well.

http://gwmac.com

[DTHkelly]

Start here:

Genesis Explained: The Genesis Theme Framework

Advice for website designer moving to WordPress

Have you looked at free Genesis childthemes?
http://www.rickrduncan.com/free-genesis-child-themes

With 1 childtheme to start, consider Cobalt App's Dynamik:

Dynamik Website Builder vs. Genesis Extender

I recommend Magazine Pro over News Pro if you will be using third party custom post types.

[gwmac]

Thanks. Lots of good info. When I have time to sit down I will go though all of that. Magazine Pro was also my other choice as well. Looks like I have a lot to learn.

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