Thesis Theme Is Just Not Flexible Enough
I did a post a little while back called My First Impression Of The Thesis Theme in which I outlined my disappointment in the theme itself. Whilst is was better than the majority of themes around it didn’t live up to expectations for one simple reason, that reason being, as far as I was concerned, it didn’t do what it said it would.
Not a coder? Not a problem. The Thesis option panels allow you to command your site with ease, while Thesis does all of the heavy lifting behind the scenes. You’ve never had this much control over your site before, and this is precisely what makes Thesis indispensable to critical webmasters all over the globe
After reading that I bought the theme thinking that now I would finally have complete control over how my blog would look. Now don’t get me wrong it did give me a lot more control than a lot of other themes, but as far as being a complete ‘plug and play’ package I found it sorely lacking. Naturally if you are a bit of a geek and like playing around with codes and things you can do a lot more with Thesis than other themes, but I, like a lot of other bloggers out there, am completely clueless when it comes to coding and I need a theme that is almost completely mouse driven. I need a truly flexible theme.
Well, I searched far and wide until finally I found what I consider to be the ultimate theme, the FlexSqueeze Theme! Once installed you simply go to the Theme Option page and follow all the instructions. You can change almost every facet of the theme from the width of the theme to the width of your post content to your sidebars. The following is just some of the things that you can do with this theme.
- It’s very own image up-loader! Any image you want to incorporate into your new theme can be uploaded easily into the theme’s own image directory.
- Add AdSense with ease! Easily insert AdSense ads in 5 different locations with point-and-click ease from the theme options page!
- New Built In Squeeze Page Capability! The theme comes with ’squeeze page’ template that you can easily adapt to make it your very own professional looking Squeeze Page. This can make your affiliates sales go through the roof. This is a sample of the generic squeeze page template that I’ve posted on my Blogsire Blog.
- Custom Headers! Choose from the custom headers or upload your own.
- Threaded Comments Actually Work! Theme is WordPress 2.7 threaded comment ready, just activate it from the admin panel.
- Very Own Color Picker! There is no need to know any of the color
codes as it comes with it’s own color picker. Just select the option you want to change and then with total mouse control you can choose the color of your choice. Even after you choose your global theme color you can manipulate it even more to suit your needs. Change the background color or image, the sidebar color, the color of your links, titles, honestly there are a whole lot of choices available
Honestly I could go on and on, but there are so many choices it would take way more time than I have available and my wife would drag me out by my ear lobes if I spend too much longer in this room. The thing is that this theme does it all, and if you have multiple blogs, just like yours truly, the FlexSqueeze Theme will make sure that every blog has it’s own uniqueness so you will no longer have to have multiple themes. Just have a look at the following blogs to see what I mean.
SBizzTech, BlogSire, Well Blog Me, Photos2Blog, Top Software Online, Scenic Adelaide and my latest blog Top Sexual Aids. The changes could have been even more dramatic but I haven’t had the time to truly try all the features. You may notice though that you can choose from different search boxes as well as RSS icons. You may also notice that the header and footer are displaying the same affiliates. You can either display the special header or footer complete with your own affiliate links or you can go to the widget section of your dashboard to select whatever plugins you want to display. Yep, you heard right, with this theme you can install plugins into 5 diferent areas, the two sidebars, the footer, feature top, and top sidebar.
If there is something that you want to know about the capabilities of the FlexSqueeze Theme just leave a comment and I will see what I can find.
Oh, I almost forgot, how much will it cost? The cost factor is another area where it beats the Thesis Theme hands down. With Thesis you are looking at either the personal or developers option which will cost you $89 or $164 respectively. Now compare that with the FlexSqueeze Theme.
- The single use version which normally sells for $69.99 is on special till the end of March for only $49.99
- The multi use version is only $129.99. This is the package that I opted for
- The developer version at $299.99 is for those who may have clients that they develop blogs for and has the potential to make them some serious money as according to the author;
The developer version of FlexSqueeze allows you to build client sites using FlexSqueeze and charge them for it! How cool is that? If you’re a web designer with a need for custom client blogs, there is no theme in the world that allows you to build a faster blog than FlexSqueeze!
Sorry, if I you think I am frothing at the mouth at the moment, but honestly it’s not often that I get hold of an affiliate that I am truly exited about, and believe me, once you try the FlexSqueeze Theme there is no looking back.
I highly recommend you to get your FlexSqueeze copy today!
Tagged with: Affiliate • Theme • Thesis
Filed under: Making Money • Reviews
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Pretty neat, Sire. Maybe when I get older I’ll think about purchasing a customizable theme, but right now, I’ll stick with what I have. But this does look nice indeed, as do the others.
Mitch´s Last blog post..Some Random Thoughts
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Sire Reply:
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:21 am
Gee Mitch, I reckon at our age we don’t want to wait until we get any older.
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Mitch Reply:
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:42 am
Well, I was saying that kind of tongue in cheek, but the truth is that right now I’d rather concentrate on content rather than working on changing themes around.
Mitch´s Last blog post..Is Alexa Relevant Again?
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Sire Reply:
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:51 am
Yep, content should always come first Mitch, and you have no shortage of that, that’s for sure.
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Ben Pei from Make Money Online Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 3:40 am
Hmm Mitch, there are actually real cheap and good custom themes these days. Take time to find them!
Ben Pei´s Last blog post..Ben Pei’s No Brainer Blog Contest
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Mitch Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 6:36 am
Time is a luxury I don’t have all that much of, Ben, except for writing posts.
Mitch´s Last blog post..Where My Traffic Comes From
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Hugo Santos Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 7:11 am
which are very time consuming
Hugo Santos´s Last blog post..9 things you should know about forex trading
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I think you are not the only person that had trouble with the Thesis Theme.
It also seemed like so many blogs were using it yet, they all looked the same. Maybe because they could not customize it very easily.
Seeing the brick wall here just makes me want to get my spray paint. LOL!
Sheryl Loch´s Last blog post..I Do Not Digg You Anymore
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Sire Reply:
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:25 am
I think that a lot of people out there thought, just like I did, that it would work straight out of the box. The thing is not too many people are going to say that they wasted their money and so they are more likely to rave about what a good buy it was rather than let everybody know how disappointed they are.
As for the wall, perhaps I can arrange something if you can show me some of your graffiti masterpieces.
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Hey Sire,
I recently changed my theme (again) too. I’ve paid for a few themes over the years, and have also used some free ones. I’d say it’s pretty much hit or miss as to whether you get more/better when you pay. That being said, I do like to play around with the code and the CSS myself, but I can definitely see having as many theme options as possible done right from the control panel being a “unique selling position”.
Keep havin FuN!
Todd
Success with Todd´s Last blog post..Less Than 2 Weeks Remaining In Hawaii
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Sire Reply:
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:41 am
Hey Todd. I’m probably not as good as you playing around with code and CSS, as for me it’s sort of trial and error until I get it right, so for me I found this theme to be a real time saver as well as allowing me to change things whenever I want as easily as the click of a mouse.
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Ben Pei from Make Money Online Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 3:42 am
Sire, let me know if you need alittle help! =)
Ben Pei´s Last blog post..Ben Pei’s No Brainer Blog Contest
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Sire Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 3:45 am
Not with this theme Ben, it almost tweaks itself.
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Man i am so glad for you. It seems like you found a way to focus more on your content. I really like the way this guy has coded this. It seems very good. I haven’t tried Thesis (yet) but i intend on doing it. But, you know me. There has to be some fooling around with the code so i can have some fun :P Nice change by the way!
stratosg´s Last blog post..TweepMe: Good or bad?
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Sire Reply:
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:45 am
Forget Thesis Stratos, FlexSqueeze is a hell of a lot better.
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I’ll stick to free blogs in the mean time. I’m still able to write what I want to say, and until that is denied me I don’t mind much. You’re a technoblogger Sire, and good on you!
Cheers
Peter
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As long as you’re happy with them Peter, there is nothing wrong with free blogs. I find them a little limiting, but that is just me.
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Looks real good here Sire! Very nice, a major upgrade to the Ikarus theme! I’m interested to see what kind of impact if has on your earnings?
The Almost Millionaire´s Last blog post..How I Shaved $30,000 From My Family Budget
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Sire Reply:
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Actually Brandon, as I had already upgraded my other sites a few weeks ago, and I am not sure if it is related or not, but my Adsense earnings for this month is already up 50%. I can safely say that this is the best money I’ve spent on the Net in a long, long while.
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
That is incredible. For some reason on my browser your adsense section at the bottom of this page show as a 404 Error? Does it look that way for you today?
The Almost Millionaire´s Last blog post..How I Shaved $30,000 From My Family Budget
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Nope, she looks good to me mate.
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I like the new theme :-)
Thesis is NOT as easy to use as it leads you to believe. You can customize as much as you want if you understand CSS and hooks. But your average blogger does not know those things and doesn’t want to. And it’s true – most Thesis sites end up looking much like the rest.
I do like Thesis – I just think it’s customization is designed toward developers rather than the average user.
Kim Woodbridge´s Last blog post..(Anti) Social-Lists 3/22/09
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I hated thesis, to be honest, because of the “hooks.” Having to learn a whole new way of coding? No thanks. I’m a designer and so i like the process I use to make and modify themes. The price tag was a hefty “investment” though, but the theme does have nice typography, so there’s something I gained from it.
The flexibility theme looks pretty cool. Kind of a lot of information and areas, but I like it better than thesis.
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@ Corey & Kim – Yeah, I almost freaked when I found out that I had to learn hooks and stuff in order to get something more out of Thesis, especially as it wasn’t what they led me to believe when I read all the hype on their website. I’ve even noticed at the forums that the only people getting something out of it were those who were already pretty handy with coding and stuff, and as far as I’m concerned that is a minority.
The FlexSqueeze theme on the other hand rocks. No coding knowledge required at all.
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Keith Davis from public speaking Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Hi Sire
I always liked the look of Thesis and people rave about its built in SEO but now you’ve mentioned “having to learn hooks” I’m having second thoughts.
I don’t mind a bit of CSS manipulation but hooks?
Keith Davis@public speaking´s last blog ..A helping hand…
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Sire Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Yeah I know, you’d think they’d mention that wouldn’t you. They have made some improvements since this post but I still reckon FlexSqueeze is a lot better.
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Wow, thought I was on the wrong blog when the page loaded up. What a change the site looks great and much more spacious. It kind of defeats the object of having software that doesn’t work for your needs, so its good that you have found a solution. Do that guarantee the software to be compatible with future versions of WordPress as they are released or do you have to pay to upgrade the software?
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 12:33 am
As far as I know the author is always upgrading. This theme is the next step up from his flexibility theme. All I had to do was install the new theme and it automatically read the configuration and updated all the options.
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Definitely like the new theme, Sire. Cleaner look and easy to follow. I think a lot of the hype over Thesis (which I’m sure is very good) has to do with blogs wanting to get a little affiliate cash. Most that sung the praises of it had a 125 button on their sites. It’s actually an affiliate praise that I like though as the blogger is using the product. That means something.
Gennaro´s Last blog post..First Western Tourists Visit Iraq
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 12:36 am
You are so right Gennaro. I’ve seen the same badge on so many blogs that don’t even run the Theme. You would think that if they thought so highly of it they would use it themselves.
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Nice choice, Sire. Honestly, this one is much better than the previous one. The last design kinda sucked too much attention away from the content. Finally, you did it!
Yan
Yan´s Last blog post..You’re either Remarkable or Invisible
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Sire Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 4:35 am
Thanks Yan, as much as I liked the last one, I like this one so much better, especially as it offers so much potential.
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I’ve always relied on free themes but guess what?I literally just purchased the Thesis theme a few days ago and am loving it. Looks like I found my #1 affiliate product for the year.
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 12:40 am
Good on you Jerry, I’m glad you are happy with your purchase. How are you handling the Hooks and CSS manipulations? I suppose your are an old hand at playing around with codes?
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Much much better buddy, I like it!
I’m currently having my theme “upgraded”, but I will definitely keep this in mind. :)
Dennis Edell´s Last blog post..3 Secrets to Writing for the Search Engines
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Ben Pei from Make Money Online Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 3:42 am
What theme are you changing to? You have a good one actually dude..
Ben Pei´s Last blog post..Ben Pei’s No Brainer Blog Contest
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Sire Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 4:33 am
Thanks Dennis, that really means a lot to me mate.
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Nice Sire! When I first open your homepage I was like “Am I in the right blog?”. Good choice, I really like this than the previous one.
Regard Thesis I have never really used it before so I can’t really say much on it however from what I have read and heard seems like a great theme.
Salwa´s Last blog post..Why “Nofollow” Tags Won’t Work!
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Sire Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 4:13 am
LOL, a bit of a shock to the system was it Salwa. I’m glad you like the theme. I find it so much better than Thesis, I only wish I found it earlier.
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Wow, and I mean wow, I like the new layout on this site. I’ve been thinking about revamping my site (again) and have been looking at premium themes. I go to the galleries for the theme sites to see who they think has done the best customization. The Thesis themes were ok, but just not quite right. I’ll definitely be looking into this one. Thanks for sharing the things you like about it… it helps!
~ Kristi
Kikolani´s Last blog post..Tennis Practice Photos
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 12:47 am
Hi Kristi, I’m glad you like it. I’ve gone through a lot of free themes and when I first bought Thesis I thought I had finally found the one that would last for eternity. It didn’t work out that way, but I knew that the right theme would come along if I persevered enough, and I was right. If you do choose the theme I’m sure you won’t regret it.
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I’m just sick of hearing about Thesis.
I can’t fire up twitter without a dozen Internet Marketing gurus trying to ram it down my throat.
Enough already!
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 12:58 am
Gee Adam, does that mean you don’t want me to do a plethora of tweets on FlexSqueeze?
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Whoa Sire I, like Salwa thought I landed on the wrong page. This looks fantastic! I just love the new look!
In terms of themes, I am lucky I guess that I do not have to worry about them as my husband custom makes ours pretty much, so I have nothing to offer in terms of comments as to what theme is good or not…
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
And they say that men are useless
Seriously, I’m glad that you like it and that you have a hubby who takes an interest in your blogging.
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I really like Thesis. I like the flexibility (yes, I agree, there are limitations), but I like the fact there is a forum that supports the theme. If what I want to do cannot be done, usually there is someone in the Thesis forum with a workaround.
Colleen ;)
Colleen´s Last blog post..Kennewick, Richland, West Richland, and Pasco Washington Relocation
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Sire Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I never said it was bad Colleen, just that it didn’t live up to all the hype. If they had told me that I needed to know CSS and HOOKS to get full functionality from the theme I would have put that money towards something else.
As for a forum, Ryan has that organized as well.
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I use thesis over on paunchiness.com and think it works pretty well. I hacked a theme called modularity-lite together for the BMW site and it works pretty well. I don’t think there’s a perfect theme out there but I do like Thesis a lot.
I guess the trick is that I am a coder and can tweak stuff. Still its pretty good out of the box.
James D´s Last blog post..Taylor Finds Lost Creek Road on His XChallenge
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Sire Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 3:21 am
Thesis is OK, but David you just have to believe me when I tell you that Flexisqueeze is so much better. There is no need to hack anything unless you want it to do something out of the ordinary. As far as your normal configuration goes it is a snap, and no matter how many blogs you have you can individualize it so that every one of them is different.
BTW, I like your BMW site.
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Philip Barron Reply:
March 31st, 2009 at 3:14 pm
There is no need to hack anything unless you want it to do something out of the ordinary.
You say this about Flexsqueeze, but you could just as easily make the same excuse for Thesis. Anyone who wants to truly customize a site will quickly run up against the limits of any theme’s push-button functionality – and then you have to start tweaking code.
If Flexsqueeze is the theme for you, then excellent. But I think that any claims that it ‘does it all’ sounds like the kind of hype you’re decrying with regard to Thesis.
Philip Barron´s Last blog post..On the way to April 20 (Support Your Local Newspaper Day)
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Sire Reply:
March 31st, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Actually Phillip I did say
I also did not say that it did everything, just that it offered a lot more than Thesis, and that is the truth.
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Flex Squeeze is really a good theme. I Often bumped sites talking about this theme (also about the Thesis one). Well, I personally think both of it can make good things for a blog.
Ron´s Last blog post..Tnomeralc Web Design Toys
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Sire Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:01 am
They both have their good points. Thesis is great for those with more coding knowledge and FlexSqueeze is great for everyone else
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Ron from Cavite Blog Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:28 am
Hmm, But I am much more into the Thesis theme even though I don’t have much coding or php knowledge. It was easy to understand and tweak what ever we like. Thanks for the point Sire.
Ron´s Last blog post..Tnomeralc Web Design Toys
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Sire Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:41 am
No worries Ron, but having actually used both themes, and yes it is a personal opinion, I still stand by FlexSqueeze. Sure it may not be for everybody but I am sure that anyone who tries it will never look back.
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Ron from Cavite Blog Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:59 am
I am feeling that I want to try this. I just figured out that it has limitless possibilities. Hehe
Thanks for the comment by the way.
I am hoping not to look back. :)
Ron´s Last blog post..Tejeros Convention In General Trias
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Sire Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:17 am
No worries Ron. It’s part of my commenting policy, I always reciprocate, or at least I always try to.
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The worst thing any designer/marketer can do is get people’s hopes to high. It’s good to praise the product but it should be at least partially true. You can’t just make stuff up as you go and then sell product that does nothing it’s supposed to. Especialy if you’re missing the most important feature – the one you based the big part of campaign on.
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Sire Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:13 am
It’s not that they lied as much as they led people to believe the product would do more than it really does. Thesis is still a very good theme, I just believe that FlexSqueeze is so much better. I’m not just saying that because I get a portion of each sale as I am also affiliated with Thesis and I never promoted them other than to have a the affiliate link embedded in a post. I think there may have been one post in which I raved about some very good aspects of it.
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Not been a fan of Thesis, do have to say I like this better then the old design. Just released a new design myself. I used the FREE Theme Hybrid and like it.
Michael´s Last blog post..10 Reasons Why You Should Leave Blog Comments
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Sire Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:14 am
That’s cool Michael. I must admit that the ‘free’ theme I used before this one was one of my favorites.
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Michael from TheBloggerSource Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:51 am
I came very close to using (paying for) Thesis cause I could not find a good enough free theme. Gotta be honest with you though, the brick backgrounds not working for me.
Michael´s Last blog post..10 Reasons Why You Should Leave Blog Comments
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Sire Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:11 am
I can easily change it if you like, just but me a beer or something
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Does the FlexSqueeze Theme use that same “hook” system that the Thesis theme does? Call me geeky, but I’d actually rather be able to dig into the code by hand.
spot´s Last blog post..Skype Comes to the iPhone
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Nope, no need to know hook or any other geeky code to work out this theme. If you want to tweak it some more then I’m sure there are geeks that can get it to do remarkable things, but the majority of folks, like myself, just want something easy that we can quickly set up so that we can get on with the serious job of blogging.
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Yes, yes, content is king. I do think that a site needs some design aspect to appeal to reader visually. So, am I the only one that feels the need to try something other than WP – Thesis included. I’m pretty happy with the Joomla Template that I picked up… for free (my favorite price)
Ds Fly Man´s Last blog post..The Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear Fly
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Sire Reply:
April 7th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Hey Fly Man, I can’t comment on Joomla as I have never tried it, but most people use Wordpress, including the great ProBlogger because it is so functional and all the free add ons. There are also thousands of free templates. I’ve used free templates for many years but decided I needed something more and so I upgraded and have not looked back since. Thanks for your comment.
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Indeed content is a king. I quit using joomla because of themes incompatible I use wordpress in my others blogs. Wordpress is no problem the true open source and free software company.
Ruel B. Papio´s Last blog post..The real friendship in hectic capiznon bloggers 2009
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I hear you Ruel and I’m with you all the way in regards to Wordpress, but I hear that joomla has a good following so there must be something to it that appeals to people.
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Dennis Edell Reply:
April 8th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Way back when, I looked into it. Joomla is actually a LOT more powerful in many aspects the deeper you get into it…the thing is, you practically need a masters degree to see the full potential. lol
Dennis Edell´s Last blog post..9 Qualities You Should Find In A Good Web Designer
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Sire Reply:
April 9th, 2009 at 1:14 am
Well that leaves me out, which is cool because I really like Wordpress, especially now that it is so easy to work with.
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Hi Sire,
I know how hard it could be to do some coding, I am not very good at it. I even need some help for the basic coding. Right now I am getting a new customized theme but done by a friend that knows how to do some real coding.
But I have found several themes that are very customizables even for myself, lol.
This new theme looks pretty fine to me. I guess the pink it is temporary due to the easter time, is in it?
BTW, thanks to visit my blog.
Luis
Luis´s Last blog post..The First Day of My Freedom
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Sire Reply:
April 8th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Hi Luis, I take it you don;t like pink?
No worries mate, like you said it’s only for the Easter season. It’s good you have someone to help you with your theme but unfortunately we don’t all have that luxury.
I can usually work my way around a theme but I know most people are completely loss when tweaking is required and this theme makes it really easy.
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Wow very Pink.
Does this mean you have been busy getting in touch with your feminine side or just getting ready for Easter. I think you have found a truly flexible template.
Have a great Easter hope you get plenty of Chocolate eggs.
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Sire Reply:
April 11th, 2009 at 12:47 am
Now there is an interesting thought, me having a feminine side? Lucky for me it’s only going to be pink for a week.
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Thyanks, I have been looking for an alternative to thesis as well. This might be another option! Cheers
Tim´s Last blog post..Get Traffic From Forums By Not Being A Loser
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Sire Reply:
April 11th, 2009 at 12:56 am
Hi Tim, there certainly are many options for themes. When you do find one that you like perhaps you could come back and tell us which one you chose and why you picked that one.
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I hadn’t heard of the FlexSqueeze theme before, but your praises caused me to look it up. I have to say, your description of it was a much better sales factor than their site! You handled the features, whereas when I looked at their site I thought “slimy salespitch”. Well done!
Andrea Hill´s Last blog post..What’s the deal with “Crowdsourcing”?
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Sire Reply:
April 12th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Thanks Andrea, coming from you that means a whole lot. I reckon I was pretty lucky that I didn’t rave on anymore than I did otherwise the post may have come across as a sales pitch as well. Just goes to show you gotta know when to shut up.
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Sire,
I understand where you’re coming from. I too, struggled with Thesis out of the box which I purchased a while back before it really took off. Anyhow, yes, I did have some rough times but I learned through those hardships, and the practice of forcing myself to learn basic CSS has really paid off. Now, a year or so later, I’ve learned more than I’d originally thought I would.
But you’re right, for some- time is of the essence and they can’t afford to mess around with those things. Thesis is flexible, but to a certain degree, the more you know (skills), the more you can control and personalize. It’s not for everyone, but I’m glad I kept with it because it was a learning opportunity for me. Far from perfect, but in my case, it was worth the investment. Thanks for sharing,
-Mig
Miguel Wickert´s Last blog post..10 Definitions on Being a Successful Blogger
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Sire Reply:
April 12th, 2009 at 7:36 am
I’m glad Miguel that Thesis had such a positive effect on you. If I had the time I could possibly have gone that route as well, but time for me is a luxury and I much prefer to do other more productive things with it. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
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Hi, I’m hoping you can answer a question for me: I am really tempted to buy FlexSqueeze, but am not sure if what I really need is their Flexibility 2 product. I just want to blog and have a few content pages. I’m not looking to sell lots of stuff, which is mostly what the FlexSqueeze ad seems to focus on, making me unsure if it’s the right product for me. Is Flex 2 better suited if I’m just looking for a great theme for blogging? Thanks for any light you can shed on this topic. I just want to make sure I buy the right product!
Thanks,
Tracy
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Sire Reply:
April 15th, 2009 at 1:14 am
Tracy, I am not sure what you mean by ‘a few content pages’. If by that you mean the use of some ‘Squeeze pages’, a sample of which you can see here, then Flexsqueeze is the one for you.
If you just want a good flexible theme and don’t mind all the links at the bottom then Flexibility will serve you well. I hope that was of help to you.
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Tracy Simmons Reply:
April 15th, 2009 at 4:34 am
No, I meant just some static pages, not the Flexsqueeze type. Someone else recommended I try Flexibility 2 and if I like it, then I can upgrade to Flexsqueeze, so I think that’s where I will start. I’ll buy through your affiliate link if I go that way :). Thanks for your help!
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Sire Reply:
April 15th, 2009 at 4:44 am
In regards to static pages then I agree that Flexibility will do the trick. I actually started off with Flexibility a progressed to Flexsqueeze once I established that it did all that I wanted it to.
Once you get your blog up and running don’t forget to pop in and leave a link so that we can all drop in for read and comment or two.
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This qualifies as a learning experience for me. I had never heard of the term Squeeze page before. I looked it up on Wikipedia. I am on line all day everyday so it just goes to show there is always something new to learn. That why I love blogs!
Boris´s Last blog post..SEO Doesn’t Take Forever Or At Least Not For Me!
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Actually Boris, it wasn’t all that long ago that I actually learned what a squeeze page was. Thanks for your comment.
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Nice design! I have personally not used WP Thesis, but I changed recently to the Cutline 2.2 theme.Very simple and professional looking.
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Sire Reply:
April 17th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Just so you know Tom, this them is Flexsqueeze and not Thesis.
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The site looks real good so far. Keep you content updated and I will continue to read.
Thanks for sharing.
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Sire Reply:
April 18th, 2009 at 6:38 am
No worries Mike, content is my middle name.
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Than will you please tell me why so many people are talking about this theme. As if they are not able to provide that much freedom.
Seems to me that now you are not approving comments as well.
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Sire Reply:
April 20th, 2009 at 1:39 am
Which theme are you referring to, Thesis or Flexsqueeze.
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Nice layout, really brings in readers. and I’m enjoying the customizable theme.
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I’m glad you like it John.
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I really like your layout.. I like how everything has it’s place – I like being organised. If you feel like it needs a change, you can also change the colour – the benefits of it being customisable
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Sire Reply:
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Thanks Lena, and yes I can change everything from the color of my links to the color of the text. I can even play with the font.
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I bought the product yesterday, and haven’t had a chance to use it, but with 6 blogs going I am sure I will find a use for it shortly. I was sold as well when I didn’t have to code anything. I am not that technical.
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Matt, believe me you are going to love it, especially as you can use the same theme for all you blogs and yet give them their own individual look.
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Very good theme. Don’t you think it is costly?
Nihar´s Last blog post..Find Friends on Social Networking sites using Identity
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Sire Reply:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:46 am
Actually I think it is very reasonable, especially when you consider how easy it is to use. I reckon it’s paid for itself many times over when you take into account all the time it has saved me by not having to know coding.
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While Thesis is not the pipe dream or the perfect solution… as a person with limited code skills I have found it to be way more “flexible” than undocumented, unspoorted free themes.
Brett Borders´s Last blog post..How to Get Recognized in Social Media
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Sire Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
That is true Brett and I don’t think that I have said anything to dispute that. I’m just saying that I have found something better that is more suited to people who do not have the skills to play around with the code to get the theme to do what they want. The fact that I purchased this them and use it on all my blogs, bar 1, shows how much I love it.
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Hi,
I’ve heard a lot about the Thesis Theme and how SEO freindly it is that I almost bought it. I’m actually using the Flexx Theme by Ithemes and it’s also very cutomizable. It’s funny how all these themes have similar names.
First time on this blog. Great info – thanks,
Luca
Luca Di Nicola´s Last blog post..How to Use Twitter for Blog Traffic
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I must say I’m really surprised that you were disappointed with Thesis. I’m loving it and recommend it to all my friends. I’ll take a look at FlexSqueeze but I’d be surprised if I’d be converted. Thanks for the review!
Rick´s Last blog post..What is a Dynamic Virtual Host?
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Sire Reply:
April 29th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I’m not trying to convert you at all Rick. If you are happy with Thesis and have already paid for it, which obviously you have, why buy another theme.
The thing for me is that I have so many blogs and I wanted them all to run on the same theme and yet I wanted them to be different. That is why I only bought the single license Thesis theme so I could test it out before upgrading to the multi version. Like stated previously I was expecting it to work right out of the box and that I didn’t have to ply with the coding at all. Unfortunately it wasn’t the case and so the search for a better, easier theme.
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Will try out FlexSqueeze. I use Hybrid with various Child Themes on various sites. I’m a huge fan of Hybrid due to its flecibility. FlexSqueeze certainly seems worth a test run!
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Sire Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 2:03 am
Gary, there’s no harm in taking the old theme for a test run, that’s for sure, as long as you remember to come back and tell us how she went.
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Sire,
Coincidentally I was reading up on Thesis and Flexsqueeze and here I’m reading both of them here. I’ll have to say I like the Flexsqueeze more since I’m an absolute idiot when it comes to tinkering with codes on my blog. Remember I once hacked my own blog doing so. I first heard about them from Yan since he has them. I missed the Mar promotion. Any coupon code given out for Flexsqueeze.
Peter
Peter´s Last blog post..Top 7 Tips To Free Affiliate Programs Success
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Sire Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:11 am
FlexSqueeze is already cheaper than Thesis Peter, and I as far as I know there are no coupons. Sorry mate.
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I’m surprised there isn’t more comments on this post Sire. For the novice (yup, we’re novices), Thesis offers all sorts of flexibility!
Colleen´s Last blog post..Lease to Own Houses
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Sire Reply:
May 4th, 2009 at 12:12 am
Gee I reckon I am going to have to read my own post, because it’s supposed to be promoting Flexsqueeze, not Thesis, because it is more flexible than Thesis and perfect for the novices and code incompetent bloggers such as myself.
Sire´s Last blog post..The Truth About The Acai Berry Emails You’ve Been Getting
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I’m not sure but I believe Colleen is disagreeing with you regarding Thesis. It is a confusing comment, though. (no offense Colleen)
Regarding your post, the truth hurts. I mean, for me. I was so pumped up about Thesis before I realized it was over my head. I’m having a hard time admitting I may have been wrong. I thought it was going to be the answer to all my prayers. Since paying for Thesis, naturally I’d like for it to work for me.
But, I’m with you Sire, I’m having the most difficult time trying to use Thesis. After several months I still have a horrible navigation bar and only yesterday I finally figured out (by dumb luck) how to get a little color on the backround. (big woo!)
It’s possible, that once understanding a few things about their hooks or whatever(?) it may be nice to have. In all fairness I’ve been busy writing articles for my site and have not read the entire “users guide” just yet, either. And not only am I new to Thesis, but this is my first website/blog, and my first time using Wordpress, too. (my site is really a website I’m just using WP as my platform due to all I’m hearing about being “Google friendly” etc..
But really, it does feel like you need to be a rocket scientist to work with Thesis. Hmmm,
I’ll need some time to think about it before asking for a refund, if I can’t get thesis to work very soon. If that happens, I’ll be back to get flexsqueeze through you.
Thanks for listening.
MirzaLou
MirzaLou´s Last blog post..Teak Benches Are The Ultimate In Luxury
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Sire Reply:
May 4th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Mirza, thanks for being so honest, as most people will not admit they made the wrong choice and will instead defend their purchase.
I hope you can sort it all out, because if you do there will be an immense sense of satisfaction. I personally don’t have the time which is why I just had to find something easier to use.
I left a comment on your blog, and I must ask about your WP setup as it seems most of the posts are pages and not individual posts?
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Thanks for the comment on my site, er I mean blog. hehe
If you are serious about a patio set for your home, I’d be happy to help or answer any question you may have. I use to work as a general contractor re-building old homes for quite a few years. Now I’m trying to build websites. go figure!
Anyway… I have 2 sites. Both on WP. But the other one I had someone help me set it up. (it’s actually a IM site) I changed my address so you can see it, if you like. I got it through the Plug-in-Profit Site. You may have heard of them. I’ve learned a few things but I’m still pretty green. If you know what I mean.
As for my patio site (the one I spend more time on) well, it all started when when I read a free ebook (pdf file) “Thesis Small Business Website”
After reading that ebook, I now write my articles as post. But my Home page is set up as a static page. I disabled comments because I wasn’t really trying to start a blog. I love blogs, but not sure I’m ready start one. (although, after your comment, I enabled the comments again. I just hated to keep seeing 0 comments at the end of each post)
Writing the articles is tough enough. Maybe with a little more experience I will start blogging one day.
It looks like you have quite a few blogs. I’m trying to figure out how you are keeping up. It takes me a week sometimes to write 1 article. Yikes!
Feel free to email me if you have any suggestions for me.
Thanks!
MirzaLou´s Last blog post..Building One Way Links To Your Site (Part I)
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Sire Reply:
May 4th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
It’s all good as long as you are keeping yourself busy, although I reckon there would be more money in re-building old homes than websites.
No sweat about the comment on your blog, I like to think of it as the courteous thing to do, to reciprocate, where possible, all the comments left on this blog.
In regards to the patio furniture, there are quite a few companies in Australia dealing with all sorts of furniture and it seems the trend is going away from timber to more modern looking material with either glass or plastic tops. I prefer the timber but I will leave it up to the wife as I figure looks a more important to her so I may as well make her happy.
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Yes, it’s all good. I’m having fun regardless..Thesis or no Thesis, money or no money.
I didn’t mean to hijack your blog post here. Looking back, I guess I should keep it short & sweet.(oops)
If I decide to switch themes I’ll be sure to come back here for the link.
Thanks again for you kind words! And if your wife decides to shop online for patio furniture… you know where to send her:)
MirzaLou´s Last blog post..Teak Benches Are The Ultimate In Luxury
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I wish I read this post a day back at-least. I could have provided a link back to your post. I agree with you completely about thesis, now need to check out FlexSqueeze.
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Hey Raju, if I had known of your necessity I would have come over personally and told you all about Flexsqueeze
As for the link back, well it’s never too late mate. 
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I have thesis but have not implemented it yet. It is way over my head. Your little quote from the thesis website is what sold me but clearly that is BS. You cannot do much at all with thesis if you don’t know how to code.
PS if I buy FlexSqueeze I will certainly do it through your site. I’m checking it out now.
Ned Carey´s Last blog post..Review of Multifamily Millions by Dave Lindahl
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Sire Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 2:56 am
That is so true Bob, and the only ones that stand by that claim is the techies who understand how it all works. Others have had to painstakingly learn how it works, or like you an me look for something better.
I think it’s only fitting that I use it as my Load Of Bullshit blog’s theme.
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I wonder what you thoughts are now with the upgrades Thesis has put out since the writing of this blog.
Colleen@Kennewick Homes´s last blog ..Kennewick WA Homes for Sale
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Sire Reply:
June 15th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Hey Colleen, better but still no cigar as far as I am concerned. Flexsqueeze allows me to do all that Thesis does and more, as far as customizing the look and feel of the blog, and all from it’s setting page and without having to know hooks and stuff. Have you seen the video I made that shows how easy it is to select between theme settings?
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Colleen from Kennewick Homes Reply:
June 15th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Yeah, I hear ya on the hooks thing. I like the newest upgrade, however, what really has us drawn to Thesis is the forum support. We know just enough technically about this stuff to get ourselves in trouble, so having a forum to ask questions and solve problems is nice.
Colleen@Kennewick Homes´s last blog ..Kennewick WA Homes for Sale
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Sire Reply:
June 15th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
FlexSqueeze has one as well, but I’ve hardly had to use it. As to the Thesis support, there are still unresolved issues that I am waiting on.
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Am I glad I found this site. I was seriously considering investing in Thesis. I wouln’t know code from potato chips! So I thought Thesis would be perfect.
I am now going to look at FlexSqueeze and see (hope)if it is a better fit for me.
thanks for the post
PotatoChef´s last blog ..Food In Cuba
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Sire Reply:
June 27th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Well PotatoChef, from someone who uses both themes I think I can safely say that Flexsqueeze is a whole lot easier to use and I don’t think you will be disappointed if you decide to go that way.
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Thanks for posting about Flex Squeeze. I’ll check it out. Thesis does not live up to its copy. I wish I had saved my ducketts.
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No worries Simone, I just felt that people should know how Thesis, while it’s a good theme, is not as flexible as they say it is.
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Ned from Baltimore Investing Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Subtle correction. It is as flexible as they say it is. It is just not near as easy to use as they say it is. You can not use that flexibility without knowing how to code.
Ned@Baltimore Investing´s last blog ..Review of Multifamily Millions by Dave Lindahl
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Sire Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Yep, that is sort of what I meant Ned, but you said it a whole lot better.
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I haven’t tried any of both themes yet but if I were to go for one, I think you sound convincing enough for me to go after the FlexSqueeze.
Uncle Che@AZ Blogging Tips´s last blog ..Microkids Related Posts – Best WordPress Related Posts Plugin
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Sire Reply:
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Well, as having tried both I reckon that would be the right choice.
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I’m a Thesis user and more over I’m a bad coder… Infact I hate coding…
I won’t argue on Which is the best theme here , but all I can say looking at my stats after using Thesis, things has changed a lot, like my PR, bounce rate and direct advertisement.
Coming back to felxSqueeze theme, I like this theme though I will prefer it only when I will be creating any MMO blogs…
Harsh Agrawal´s last blog ..Dreamhost Offering Free Google Adwords Credit
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Sire Reply:
July 28th, 2009 at 2:35 am
That’s great Harsh, I believe I also stated in one of my Stats posts how things have improved on my blog after changing to FlexSqueeze. However, this post is comparing the ease of use rather than the SEO properties of the themes.
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I do agree with you Sire, Thesis is not for people who want a almost-completed wordpress themes. When I first bought it, I thought it was easy customized but I spent more than a day to customize the themes to the design I want, but I’m still in the customization progress. It needs a lot of coding works.
But overall, I still like the theme since I’ve already bought it. :D
Regards,
Lee
Lee Ka Hoong´s last blog ..Professional Web Graphic Banner Design
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Sire Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:24 am
I know all about Thesis Lee because I also purchased it. I’m actually running my Load Of Bullshit blog on Thesis
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Thesis sounds good because the person behind it is incredibly masterful in words; a copywriting guru. That’s why it’s so famous.
Isaac | GoBlogger´s last blog ..The Secrets of Unique Blogging Voice
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Actually Isaac, I think that is only partly true. What made it really famous is that people like Darren Rowse got behind it and promoted the hell out of it.
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I’ve always been fascinated with Premium themes and why they cost so much. I’d probably get one when I start making enough money online to cover the costs.
In the mean time, I’m quite comfortable messing around with my free theme though I’ve to pay back by linking to the theme sponsors ;)
Udegbunam Chukwudi@Work Online Nigeria´s last blog ..Free Blog Hosting and Nigerian URL Shortener Launched
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Sire Reply:
February 15th, 2010 at 1:54 am
No worries Udegbunam Chukwudi, I used free themes for ages before I decided to go for a paid theme, and this one is definitely one of the better ones.
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Flexsqueeze is brilliant – so easy to use and customise; you do not have to be a geek to make it work. Thesis is very geeky. Also support on the Flexsqueeze forum is great too.
For magazine style blogs I use Mimbo – another great theme.
Bill@Help with Debt´s last blog ..Wealth and Success with a Millionaire Mindset
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Sire Reply:
February 19th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Haven’t heard of Mimbo Bill, but I’m so happy with FlexSqueeze I don’t think I will be switching anytime soon.
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Canvas by WooThemes is on it’s way to being one of the most flexible themes for wordpress. It’s just come out and v2 will be soon with added functionality. It’s amazing what someone with little knowledge in coding could do it with. It rocks out a bunch of features that are super annoying to attempt with thesis still.
I’ll have a sweet review soon on it totally because I think some people should know about it.
Scott Webb´s last blog ..WooThemes WooNav Trumps Pagemash
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Sire Reply:
February 20th, 2010 at 1:05 am
No worries Scott, although I’m more than happy with FlexSqueeze there’s no reason why people shouldn’t have a choice.
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Sire,
Very interesting exchange here. I guess since I already paid for Thesis I will do something with it and see how far it takes me. I will definitely keep Flexsqueeze in mind for upgrading the main blog though.
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Sire Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:34 am
Yeah, I paid for Thesis as well, and not wanting to see good money go to waste I use it on my Load of Bullshit blog
Sire´s last blog ..Membership Drive For Where Bloggers Meet
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In the FlexSqueeze Theme, if we add the adsense ads, is it compatible ? and does it easily accessible to all.
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Sire Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 7:13 am
I’m not sure what you mean, but if you’re wanting to know whether you can ad adsense ads FlexSqueeze, naturally the answer is yes.
Sire´s last blog ..About Money And Blogs updated Mon Mar 1 2010 11:48 pm CST
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Hi Sire, Thanks for your prompt feedback. surely will check out that url for more details. :-)
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Sire Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 7:30 am
No worries Evelyn. I reckon that means I made the right assumption.
The Theme actually as Adsense built into it. You just need to add the required code and enable the parts of the theme where you want adsense to appear.
Sire´s last blog ..About Money And Blogs updated Mon Mar 1 2010 11:48 pm CST
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