Image by Thiru Murugan There are some obvious dangers to using a template, like malicious coding and such, but there is another, not so obvious danger. What if your template causes your blog to vanish into the blogosphere? What if it makes you boring?
The very best looking template in the world is the very worst template you can use, because everyone else is already using it. If your blog does not stand out from the dozens of others in your niche, how will your readers remember you? And if they do not remember you, why will they come back?
The key to successfully using a template is to make it your own. The great thing about a template is that the bulk of the work is already done, but the finishing touches are still up to you. You need to make enough adjustments to make your version clearly distinguishable from the original.
Case In Point – The Copyblogger Theme
Copyblogger is an extremely popular online writing tips site. It had a great theme which exemplified the simple style so many bloggers enjoy. When Copyblogger upgraded to a more advanced theme to suit their ever-growing site, Chris Pearson released the original theme for all to use. It was elegant, simple, and free. Thousands downloaded it.
With the theme downloaded, you have two options as to how you will use it. You can either upload it straight out-of-the-box, like JawJab have done, or you could make it your own, like Kristarella has done. Which of the two blogs are you going to remember? Which one has secured your attention by going that extra mile?
Customising Doesn’t Have to be Hard
There is a reason you are using a template; someone else has done the design work for you. The object of making the template unique is not to redesign it altogether, but to merely edit it. In the case of Kristarella, the huge individualism that she has pulled off consisted entirely of changing just the header and footer. In the same way, you can break the mould of your template with a few quick tweaks, such as:
- Chaning the color scheme. Many templates consist of black text on a white background. The color scheme is created by the hyperlink colors, and a few background colors. A simple find & replace would turn the the original template into a brand new one.
- Alternating header images. Other templates rely largely on their header images to distinguish them. If you can find a unique header, you have a unique blog. Consider what John Chow did with the 2 car image on his old theme.
- Varying excerpts. Many themes are made to use an excerpt on their homepage. By changing the length of this excerpt by a paragraph of two, or by adding an image to your posts, you will be surprised at the difference.
- Adding widgets and plugins. If all else fails, the content itself can help separate your design. Choosing a graphical aid, such as a Gravatar for your post author, or a MyBlogLog widget in the sidebar can often give the uniqueness you need
If you are more accomplished with coding, you could attempt a more advanced technique. For instance, if the sidebar is on the right, why not put it on the left? Provided you leave the original credits in the footer, there’s no limit to what you can do with WordPress templates.
Customising the design is the most important aspect of standing out to a first-time visitor. However, to appear unique to a regular visitor, you will have to dig a little deeper. Paying for a unique design may not always be an option, but even some basic changes to the default messages can go a long way.
Do you use a template on your blog, and what have you done to make it your own?
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David Airey (55 comments)27 August 07
Kristarella has done a great job with her customisation. I fully agree that even the smallest adjustment should be made to a public theme download.
If you’ve been reading blogs for any length of time, you’ll easily spot those ’straight from the box’ designs.
BeachBum (2 comments)27 August 07
I change things around every month on my popular sites/blogs. Not changing your design is like writing books and always using the same cover. Variety is the spice of life. Nice writing, I will be back.
BeachBum
tandy (1 comments)16 January 10
That was about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. You basically said “It’s like writing all these books and not changing the cover, which makes it all for naught!” Ever heard “dont judge a book by its cover” before? Yeah. Moron.
Michael Martin (1286 comments)27 August 07
David – I agree. There are some themes that just come up time and time again. It’s a credit to the original designers, but not so much to the new owners.
BeachBum – Sounds like you keep your blog nice and fresh.
And thanks – Hope to see you around then!
Connor Wilson (8 comments)27 August 07
Great article. Cutline, for example is another hugely popular Chris Pearson theme, featured on WP.com like Copyblogger and is used in its default state excessively.
My site uses Cutline, an dI even based Blogtrepreneur.com off of it. I doubt any could tell without looking in the source code if I didn’t credit Pearson. There are some distinctive features though, like the comments and the post meta however.
Michael Martin (1286 comments)27 August 07
Hey Connor – Cutline is another great example. There are a few tell-tale signs on most Cutline blogs, like you mentioned, but very few people are going to notice those.
The only way you’d recognise Cutline on your blog is the credits. It’s been massively modified, and looks great. Well done.
David (15 comments)19 January 10
Hello..Please could u tell me what is the colour of the blue paint? how did u make this..please let me know..thank you so much !!:))
Mommy Zabs (45 comments)27 August 07
Yes, I have made MANY variations of K2, I have had 4 variations of my own and sold 3, On some I had sidebars next to each other, some i kept content in the middle. I love learning to tweak a good theme. That way i know it is designed well for the search engines and the code is pretty solid, but I still can be creative with it. I ditch the k2 main font on all of mine just because it is so common in k2. The fonts i use aren’t UNCOMMON especially considering we don’t have much to choose from, but they aren’t the default k2 font… so that helps.
Michael Martin (1286 comments)27 August 07
You’ve tweaked K2 a huge amount Mommy Zabs, and I’ve seen some of themes you’re selling. They look great.
And thanks for sharing the tip on fonts. That’s another great adjustment that is very easy to do.
a clever cookie (1 comments)27 August 07
I agree that modifying the template is very, very important.
I personally am a web developer/designer, so you know me, I have to make my own logo and have fun creating the design.
I use WordPress, because I don’t have time to make my own blogging tool right now, and I must say that their code and CSS is definitely sub par.
Anyhow, I am going to subscribe to this blog and Blogroll it along with Copyblogger.
Please note I’ve barely scratched the surface on my blog design, but I wanted to get something basic up so that I could start linking people to my articles.
Cheers! Love the design.
Jonathan Franzone (4 comments)27 August 07
Excellent article! Thank you so much for stating what most good designers and programmers in the blogosphere know. Of course my problem is that I just don’t have enough time to devote to customization. lol I’ve been working on my own custom theme for about 2 months now, but only in short bursts when I have time. With that in mind the quickest bang for buck is probably the header image swap as you mentioned.
Thanks again, and I appreciate you stopping by my blog.
Michael Martin (1286 comments)27 August 07
Hey Clever Cookie,
Your blog’s design seems to be off to a good start. I love the logo, and the rest of the design is nice and clean. It will be a good basis to build some more advanced touches into. Let me know what you can come up with when you have it done. Good luck!
And thanks – I’m glad you liked this blog. Hope to talk to ya in a few more comments then!
Michael Martin (1286 comments)27 August 07
Hi Jonathon,
It will be worth the time in the end (Although I do also like the theme you’re already using!). I spent forever in the preparation before launching this blog. There is a point where you can spend too long, but there is also a point where you can spend too little time. Trying to find the right balance can be difficult.
And no problem – I’ll get that syntax highlighter up and running soon… I hope.
Mohsin | Blogging Bits (1 comments)27 August 07
Yep, one doesnt necessarily have to invest money in a new template. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how to customise a template to one’s liking.
But people hardly get off their bums to customise a template
kristarella (141 comments)28 August 07
Thanks for the mention Michael
Connor, your template is an awesome customisation.
I find one of the most useful things when working with themes and trying to customise things is having Apache, mySQL and PHP installed on your own computer. MAMP for Mac and WAMP for Windows are easy ways to have a server and Wordpress installed on your computer. That way time constraints and being connected to the internet aren’t limiting factors and you don’t have the freak-out factor when you break something!
pablopabla (50 comments)28 August 07
You forgot to mention the immense pleasure of customising your template to one of its kind in the world
Michael Martin (1286 comments)28 August 07
Mohsin – That’s the best part about being lazy!
kristarella – Great advice. I use a program called easyPHP to do the same on my computer. It’s much faster to update things locally, and I don’t have to use Wordpress’s template editor!
pablopabla – Hehe – I like to keep that a little “in secret” between designers. People would never pay us to design if they realised how much we enjoyed it!
Marco Ruelicke.net (43 comments)29 August 07
I had the Wordpress Kubrick Default theme on my blog for a while, only modified the background, the header image and some minor things to make to my website design. A few days ago I then decided to completely drop my homepage, use my blog as my “homepage”, creating a really unique design for my blog, based on the old homepage design and as I as on it also reconsidering my intentions on what I do with my blog.
So I come to the conclusion that creating an own template, even if it is “just” a heavily modified standard template, is quite handy, especially when you want to start more or less from zero.
Great article, subscribed to you and added you to my blogroll
P.S: I hope I didn’t get off topic now, as these thoughts came as I read and wrote my comment…
Michael Martin (1286 comments)29 August 07
Hey Marco – Your blog’s design looks really good. It’s completely unique, and I love the header image. Taking the time to stand out like that is well worthwhile!
And thanks – Glad you liked the article. Hope to talk to ya again!
DPeach (1 comments)2 September 07
One thing I have enjoyed about the HTML and CSS knowledge that I gained back in the days before blogging became popular is that it makes modifying a theme so much easier. I have a couple of blogs where I have highly modified the theme, and others where I have done little things that make all the difference.
Just knowing how to change the font size/color/type can really set your blog apart.
Michael Martin (1286 comments)2 September 07
That knowledge is always valuable DPeach. It is something that every blogger would benefit from.
You’re right that even having basic knowledge of font colors and such is a huge plus. The little adjustments are all it takes to make a theme look different.
Suzie Cheel (4 comments)3 September 07
Thank you for posting your tip at Problogger. I am about to change themes and thinking about using cutline, so this is not only timely but so useful. I also think now it is time to learn some css
kristarella (141 comments)3 September 07
Suzie – Cutline is a great theme and Chris Pearson (who made it) is a great designer/coder. Definitely a time to learn some CSS!
I highly recommend this W3C page for CSS, I usually go straight to the index (link at the top of the page) and find what I want alphabetically. Most CSS is named in a way that makes sense, e.g. ‘font’, ‘background’, ‘border’ and ‘text-align’. You could also search that page for stuff you’ve seen in a css file that you’re not sure about.
Also check out the Cutline How To page for some great tips, especially random headers – you could have several different headers relating to you or your blog title. These tips about posting with Cutline shows you some of the stuff that Michael has been talking about on this blog, but specifically for Cutline (with the way that Chris has styled it).
Haha – can you tell I’m a Chris-Pearson-theme fan? Also a CSS fan! Hope those links didn’t strangle Michael’s (do people call you Mike, or do you prefer we stick with Michael?) spam filter. Good luck!
JennyHow (1 comments)4 September 07
I created a header, changed the color theme and move the links around. I feel it is more ‘me’ now somehow and i feel good blogging on it.
Michael Martin (1286 comments)4 September 07
Suzie – I’m glad to hear it. And I’m sure some of Kristarella’s link will help you out if you decide to try CSS!
Kristarella – Thanks for sharing that, and lol, I prefer Michael. (That’s not to say that people never simply assume that I’m called Mike though.
)
Jenny – That’s good. If your blog design can show your personality, then mission accomplished.
Thiru (3 comments)8 September 07
Great, it is easy to do this little customisations and takes only few hrs – but gives a unique visual appeal. Thanks for using my Unique image
Michael Martin (1286 comments)8 September 07
Hey Thiru! I loved your image (Though I snipped off one of the people, sorry! xD ). Thanks for licensing it under Creative Commons.
And I’m glad you found the article useful.
James Mann (3 comments)9 September 07
Thanks for the great post Michael.
I am always tweaking my blogs but never seem to be totally satisfied.
I think so many people create a blog but have no idea where to start making changes. I have a few clients that now have blogs but they would only dream of making changes if they didn’t have me to do it for them.
Your post is definitely worth a good Stumble because I Like It.
Michael Martin (1286 comments)9 September 07
Thanks for the stumble James.
You’ll never be completely satisfied with your own blog. With a client, you can be more objective and it’s easier to realise when you really have done good work.
With your own blog though, you’re too critical, and will always find flaws! I know that that is definitely the case here at PBD. xD
Mattheous (4 comments)11 February 08
Extremely helpful article!I use the Scribe template, since I’m on Blogger.I’m trying to make it as unique as possible. If anyone has any tips, let me know.
caTcode (1 comments)27 May 08
I always want to customize my blogs theme, but everytime time i change the code on my blog, my blog become disaster.. maybe better for me become user only..
Campodiez (3 comments)26 June 08
Great post, and you are absolutely right. I’m currently using the Grid Focus Public theme, and I modified it. I added a header image, and did some other customizations. This makes my blog different from the other blogs using this theme.
Alex (9 comments)13 July 08
I agree with an author, but an unicity is done by blog only knowable and memorized, but does not do him popular. It is necessary not to forget that main is a presence of interesting information. Interesting blog, can look standard and to be popular.
Atoz (1 comments)11 August 08
Thank you for your articale. But i think What about columns change?
roger (1 comments)24 August 08
I am using a theme by courtney tuttle. How to change the headers to give it a unique look.
thanks.
dinu (9 comments)4 September 08
Very true
I am editing copyblogger these days ..
Andy (5 comments)10 September 08
Good article. It’s inspiring to see actual examples.
I’ve done some pretty significant design changes on the StudioPress Theme. I’d love to hear what you think.
dinu (9 comments)25 September 08
Almost done
can you check it and give lil feedback may be ? 
small hosting (1 comments)28 September 08
What do you think the relationship between unique design and blog revenue? I think simple design usually has more revenue.
Michael Martin (1286 comments)28 September 08
Small Hosting,
If you puts ads into a simple design, then they draw a lot more attention. I think that works well up to a point.
If you only have light advertising (Like a blog with 125×125 ads), then that’s fine.
But if you’re putting in a lot of advertising, then the ads stand out way too much. They make the site look cluttered, and it’s too clear that the blogger is only interested in their money. The design is no longer simple, it’s just messy.
Each situation is different though, so if possible, it’s always worth experimenting with ads. You never can be sure what will work best.
Eddie Gear (2 comments)30 October 08
Nice post, Thanks for sharing. I’m in the process of creating my own blog template and this helps by providing some good insight on customizing blogs.
Trini (1 comments)5 November 08
GR8!
DEVI (2 comments)22 November 08
Thanks for the valuable ideas.
john - laptop (8 comments)27 November 08
i agree with your opinon. thank you for this post. very intresting. i like it.
replica phones (3 comments)30 December 08
i used baidu template
replica phones (3 comments)30 December 08
OK, thanks very much
Jessica Karels (1 comments)30 January 09
Great article – I used the tweaking process as a refresher course for CSS, and a crash course into how to how WordPress Templates function.
Supermance (5 comments)11 February 09
im using free template for my personal blog and premium theme for my business blog … but after read this article i want to make my own theme , thx !
Orica (1 comments)5 March 09
That’s amazing. Thanks for sharing and I’m going to practice.
Anup (1 comments)21 April 09
Thanks for nice article
Paul (10 comments)25 April 09
Most my blog themes are based on free and open source templates, it is a lot easier than design the templates from ground up.
ali (5 comments)25 April 09
hjk
baloot (11 comments)17 May 09
i think copyblogger is using Thesis theme from DIYThemes.com.
am i rite? lol
my blog also using Thesis theme. and i love it…
baloot’s Latest Post: Belajar Adobe Photoshop Photo Effects Tutorial: Cara-cara Menukarkan Gambar Girlfriend Anda Kepada Vampire
Michael Martin (1286 comments)17 May 09
He half-owns Thesis so I really hope so!
baloot (11 comments)18 May 09
Yeah.. half owns…
Maybe.. but i don’t know.. Haha..
In every post made by him, he promote Thesis theme and tell everyone he is using Thesis theme. thats why i bought Thesis theme..
I really love Thesis.. Fall in love with it mate.. Hee..
Anyway, why don’t u write Thesis tutorial too? I’d love to read from you too Micheal Martin..
baloot’s Latest Post: Reezluz Goes Wild. Jom Baca Post Terpilih Di Blog Reezluv (Info Bisnes, Grafik dan Teknologi)
Michael Martin (1286 comments)19 May 09
That sounds like a good idea. I’ll have to look around at more Thesis posts online and see what hasn’t been written about too much.
Sonia (1 comments)22 June 09
wow lol
argun (1 comments)26 June 09
WOW….! i like your posts
Stefani bush (6 comments)14 July 09
thx hey if you like to vote then go to my lates page of my blog.
Stefani bush (6 comments)14 July 09
hey you are nice hey witch is your fav post of this is it
Stefani bush (6 comments)14 July 09
Hey blogers this is ity is one of many episodes.
so what is with britnay spears , i mean she stared out tiny then meiduiem then big.
then
FLUSH! if you reading brinty spears …wait…. she can not read lol
Stefani bush (6 comments)14 July 09
hey blogers this is it is my first blog of many hey please vote for how is best miley cyrus
or wa wa wa brinty spears.
thank you see you next time on THIS IS IT!
Stefani bush (6 comments)14 July 09
hey if you like ice age you have missed ice age dawn of the dinasor! aw man it was totally awsome!
Stefani bush (6 comments)14 July 09
this is it for today
see
you
next
time on……………………………………………………………….THIS IS IT!
Keith Davis (51 comments)4 August 09
Good point, who wants to be boring.
Problem is… some of the themes are perfect and if you start to change them, they don’t look so good. Whoever designed them, got them right first time.
I’m thinking that a premium theme will have less people using it so it will stand out more.
The other thing is to add great graphics… take a look at Flickr… there are some real stunners and lots of them are free to use.
Something for any blog or website and worth spending some time finding just the right image.
Mandy | Business Cards (9 comments)27 August 09
I have just come across this site and I have to say that its informative and interesting with great content.
Themes, they either make or break a site and we all know that we don’t want to be boring.
Jacques | Web Design (5 comments)31 August 09
WordPress is a phenomenal offering, and the participation of its enthusiastic followers in creating themes and plugins, coupled to the ongoing development & improvement of the basic WordPress framework by its creators has created a true juggernaut that will go down in the pages of history.
The plethora of available themes, allied to the regular release of new ones by various developers, designers & enthusiasts does ensure a great diversity, but if you’re looking at using a very popular theme is does make good sense to go the extra mile in disguising the theme a bit. Keeping it fresh for recurring visitors is another challenge, and finding the right balance between tweaking your theme and providing compelling content is key here.
badot inside (1 comments)11 September 09
unique template make many people interesting to come back…nice tips…I’ll do it to my new blog, thanks
music dot net (1 comments)14 September 09
Its an good idea.. some of the theme are not perfect to the blog. May be i can do that to my new blog..
Thanks for the info..
lynnscott (20 comments)28 September 09
Hi..good post…I have just found this site….and it is full of information….I thank you for the tips on the template…..I have some clients that have been hit badly by the recession… now I can look at the Market to do a face lift on their Site…..and it is affordable…the clients…that can still spend…they will always want their own template….Jacques…thanks for all your info….Thanks..
Jaganmangat (2 comments)30 September 09
I have read your article . . . .it was good . . . .,but these days competition is very high little changes to the templates doesnot work . . . .if you want traffic . . .your content should be clean . . . . . .what the users need these days is instant downloads . . .they just want . . .click download . . .click . . .dowload . . .,at the end i want to say that there should be an article for downloader to teach them how to download . . .when they r asked for verification code,they shud verify it ,instead of leaving that website nd switching to other . . . .
Jaganmangat (2 comments)30 September 09
I have read your article . . . .it was good . . . .,but these days competition is very high little changes to the templates doesnot work . . . .if you want traffic . . .your content should be clean . . . . . .what the users need these days is instant downloads . . .they just want . . .click download . . .click . . .dowload . . .,at the end i want to say that there should be an article for downloader to teach them how to download . . .when they r asked for verification code,they shud verify it ,instead of leaving that website nd switching to other . . . . . .
Aasif (1 comments)26 October 09
nice but enough
Anna (3 comments)11 December 09
here is another tip for a unique blog: a easy tutorial on how to make your blog theme change depending on the users weather and daytime…. http://www.reigndesign.com/blo.....asy-steps/
Seedbox Hosting (1 comments)15 December 09
I agree make your website unique or vistors will no stay for more than 5 seconds.
http://euroseomarketing.blogspot.com/ (1 comments)11 January 10
thx for all this helpfull informations