Larry Levenson
Those are definitely great ideas. It’s something I’ve toyed around with in my themes. My only problem with it is that we’re assuming that we have a header, navigation, or even a sidebar. OK. So, that may be a bit of a stretch.

I actually like the idea of using page templates to control where the sidebar goes too.

Wayne Luke
I actually agree and disagree that custom write panels are needed.

First, the panels already exist — custom fields input boxes. Extremely simple to use. However, the documentation should clearly point this out.

Depending on the theme, custom write panels could be added. If there are a lot of custom fields that could be used, a custom write panel would be nice. If there are only one or two, it might be overkill.

I’ve actually built them into my next theme though, which I’ll be releasing by this weekend. Maybe you can give it a go and let me know what you think.

The Revolution2 theme series make this mistake. They look nice and have nice features but they don’t tell you what the custom fields that you need are nor are they included in the 6 lines of documentation included with the themes. I guess its to try and force frustrated users to purchase the support service though they’ll probably just find another theme.

Also if a theme has code to show certain categories in different columns, it needs options to fill that in.

These just make it easier for non-developers to use the theme and for developers to roll out sites quicker.

I’d save lots of time with this feature!

Thanks, Justin!

Separated content with separated css with a tabbed navigation. I really don’t know if it’s even possible but i guess that would be awesome…

I may not be clear but it would be like a tabbed sidebar plugin but for the whole content, with the choice in the admin section. Like the options theme in fact but with several front page…

: )

Adding a visible way for users to subscribe is a must.

Kim
Could you elaborate a bit about the archive list? Are you referring to any type of archive? Maybe a simple solution with a shortcode would do the trick. I’m interested in hearing more about this.

Andrew
A menu system would be great. I too often find myself explaining how to customize menus to users.

I’m always riding the fence on whether to implement a menu system or not though. From the theme settings page I’ve seen for the Thesis theme, it looks like it has a great menu system built in.

monkeymartin
Yeah, menus are tough. Also, check out the wp_list_pages() function. With most themes, you’ll end up having to edit that until we get something better implemented.

J Mehmett
More menus. Maybe some of y’all are hinting at something.

I was actually checking out a built-in function for WordPress that handles pagination the other day. I found it because I was looking at how the new comments paging functionality in 2.7 works. I might have something like this in line in the future.

Mitchell Allen
Sounds like a cool feature. Now I want a mood ring.

Well, I’m not sure what I’d do with it myself. Do we have any plugin developers that want to take on the project?

Jane
I think most of the time, designers forget that most theme users probably don’t know how to add a header image because it’s so simple for us. I only have one theme with a feature to upload a header image. I’ll have to check out a couple of the themes you mentioned to see how they’ve implemented it.

Magneto
All right, we have another vote for SEO!

I think the image gallery features will continue to get better. We at least have the ability to upload multiple images and use the [gallery] shortcode now. Since reading your idea, I just got a new idea for a Coppermine-esque WordPress theme.

Out of the thousands of WP themes (millions?), about 15% of them are ones I think are really good and functional out of the box — but about 10% of those either have no picture header, or one that requires extensive knowledge to change. I think designers forget that not all bloggers are computer geeks. Some of us are just writers or photographers who have a blog, and want the ability to make it look like our own, and unique.

Suppose I were writing about a controversial new WordPress plugin that some people viewed as a violation of their privacy. The opening paragraph would be displayed, along with the mood ring, which has little buttons to select how that paragraph affected the reader (shock, outrage, bemusement, intrigued or ROFL). Depending on the reaction, the reader is treated to a continuation that is tailored accordingly.

This is not some parlor trick employed by Internet marketers to fetch a segment of the page from a database and render it “below the folder”.
No, the mood ring relies on the writer’s ability to see all viewpoints and merge them into a seamless post in such a way that, no matter which reaction was selected, the reader will come away with a sense of having gained a deeper appreciation for the subject matter. In fact, each post will have mood ring options that reflect the writer’s goal (in order of increasing difficulty:
1. Magnify the selected mood
2. Neutralize the selected mood
3. Reverse the mood
4. Conditional alteration depending on mood (Make outraged readers positively seething, while wiping the grins off of amused readers’ faces)

With this feature, all of my posts would be winners, getting link love and accolades in the blogosphere.
Of course, this could be abused, as I could monetize the website with the crappiest products and STILL make a ton of money. And let’s not get started on the possibility of ruining a good company’s reputation with a well-planned flame post.

Cheers,

Mitch