Category Archives: Basic Maths

Basic Maths Now for WordPress.com

I have some great news for those interested in using Basic Maths, the WordPress theme that I developed with Allan Cole. Where previously the theme required that users run their own instances of the WordPress publishing system on their own server — still a daunting task for most people — starting today, that’s no longer the case.

As just announced, users of the hosted blogging service WordPress.com can now purchase Basic Maths as a premium theme, complete with support direct from the WP Theme Team, for US$75. No more server administration or tricky technical hurdles; WordPress.com now lets you install this theme quickly and easily and with no fuss. This has been the number one query that Allan and I have gotten from the public since we first launched Basic Maths in November of 2009, so we’ve very happy that now it’s easier than ever to get up and running with our creation. Get started with it in the WordPress.com Theme Showcase.

Of course, users who prefer to run WordPress on their own can still purchase the theme direct from us for just US$45. Get your copy or find out more over at the Basic Maths site.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who took part in last week’s Basic Maths sale, in which all of the proceeds went to disaster relief in Japan. We managed to raise over US$1,500, an amazing sum. I’m incredibly grateful that people were able to contribute and that we were able to help in some small way.

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Basic Maths for Japan

Basic Maths for JapanA very brief announcement: starting today, Basic Maths, the WordPress theme that I developed with Allan Cole, is on sale for US$30. Even better, all proceeds from this sale will go to benefit disaster relief in Japan via The Red Cross. So now’s your chance to get a hold of this awesome, grid-based blog theme for one-third off the normal price of US$45 while also doing a bit of good for the unfortunate victims of Japan’s recent earthquake. The sale runs through 27 Mar. Get your copy here and tell a friend.

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Basic Maths Post-Xmas Sale Starts Today

Last year my friend Allan Cole and I decided to put Basic Maths, our Subtraction.com-based theme for WordPress, on sale for the week right after Christmas. We figured it would be a nice opportunity for people who might have had the week off of work and were thinking about overhauling their blogs to get their hands on our theme for a third-off the normal pricing. The response was unexpectedly strong — who knew so many folks would have blogging on their minds during the quietest week of the year — and so this holiday season, with a new update recently released, we’ve decided to do it again: Basic Maths is on sale through the last day of the year for 33% off the regular price, bringing it down to just US$30. If you haven’t already got your copy — and remember, the new version includes a terrific mobile-friendly version of the blog theme — here’s your chance to get a great deal. But hurry, it only runs for a few days and we won’t put it on sale again for at least another year. Click here to read more or buy a copy.

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Basic Maths Updated

Over a year ago my friend Allan Cole and I released Basic Maths, our theme for WordPress, which was an instant hit. This week we’re releasing a new update — Basic Maths 1.1.

This new version includes a slew of significant enhancements, including: full compatibility with WordPress 3.0, easier logo customization, improved CSS support for embedded video, smarter conditional logic for widgets and article-to-article navigation and more. Read more about it or buy your copy at the official site.

Maybe the coolest part of Basic Maths 1.1 is the brand new, iPhone-friendly view. Any user viewing a site running this newest version of our theme will see a mobile-optimized presentation of the exact same content. As a blog publisher, the only configuration you have to do is — nothing. It all happens automatically.

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Adding Up Basic Maths

Since last November’s release of Basic Maths — the commercially-available, Subtraction.com-based theme for WordPress that I designed and developed with Allan Cole — I’ve been asked from time to time by friends and acquaintances how well it’s fared. My answer is usually that sales have been healthy but not spectacular, that I’m satisfied with the revenue that the theme has brought in, but also that it’s hardly enough for me to quit my day job.

As soon as I started having these conversations I began to realize that very few people really have a sense of what makes for a successful commercial theme, at least not numbers-wise. This included me, too, especially at the outset of my foray into the market, when my most specific ambition was basically ‘to sell a lot.’ Now with a little bit of experience under my belt, I certainly have a better idea of how to define success, but it’s based exclusively on my own personal experiences selling Basic Maths, with the benefit of very little if any intelligence from other commercial theme developers.

With that in mind, I decided early on that, when I had a sufficient amount of sales data logged, I’d try and share it so that others might benefit from it. Basic Maths was released on 14 Nov of last year, so there’s just over four months of records available to me; not a tremendous amount, but certainly enough to draw some early lessons regarding how theme sales work.

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Basic Maths on Sale This Week

When Allan Cole and I released our WordPress theme back in November, we set the price slightly lower than we originally intended, in order to make it as affordable as possible straight out of the gate. But the response was so great that we ended up just leaving it there at US$45 — until now. As a sort of holiday special, Basic Maths is on sale through the last day of the year for 33% off the regular price, bringing it down to just US$30. That’s a terrific deal for a one of the very finest blog themes around on any platform. If you haven’t already got your copy, here’s your chance to get a great deal on it. Click here to buy.

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Really Basic Maths

It should be obvious to most readers of this blog that Basic Maths, the WordPress theme that Allan Cole and I released recently (and available here), is a direct descendant of the overall look and feel of Subtraction.com. There’s a good reason for this: over the years, I’ve been asked countless times by others if they can use the Subtraction.com ‘theme,’ even though none existed — even if it did, I would have been inclined to say no, wanting to preserve its uniqueness for myself. So when I sat down to design Basic Maths, the aim was to create something that would satisfy this desire to have something Subtraction.com-like in the marketplace — not a clone, but a reinterpretation. As reinterpretations go, it’s pretty straightforward, I think. Nevertheless, I thought it would be interesting to showcase some of the steps in its design evolution, and how I arrived at the theme as it stands today.

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Introducing Basic Maths, a Theme for WordPress

Things that have been keeping me from blogging: raising a brand new baby, having grown-up time with my girlfriend, walking my dog, holding down a day job and, now finally revealed: working on Basic Maths, a brand new theme for WordPress that I designed with my friend Allan Cole.

After months of plugging away at in during whatever free time we’ve been able to find, we’re finally releasing it into the wild today, to coincide with WordCampNYC 2009. (In fact, I’m heading over to that conference later today, and Allan will be speaking there early this afternoon, so if you’re there, be sure to say hello.) It’s available right now for purchase at this link — for a limited time only, it costs just US$45, which is less than half the price of other, far less awesome WordPress themes, if you ask me.

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