Last week WordPress theme builders Graph Paper Press released their first dedicated photoblogging theme, Retouch. It addresses a lot of the needs of photobloggers, especially those coming from the fading photoblogging platform PixelPost, such as correctly placed navigation; drop-down info, exif and comments; an organised Archive page; logo and menu on the same line to reduce vertical space wastage.
It also adds an HTML5-based gallery slider so that you can upload a few photos in a set instead of just one image; being HTML5, the slider works on modern touchscreen devices. Personally I think photoblogs benefit from just one image a day so it’s unlikely I’ll use this feature but it’s certainly nice to have if you’re less bound by such self-imposed ‘rules’.
Unfortunately for me, however, the graphical design of the theme seems to aimed at the less professional, less stylistically discerning photoblogger…
GPP’s themes are usually rather elegantly styled and highly customisable, but this one feels peculiarly like the lovechild of Fisher Price and whoever it was at Apple that turned iCal and Address Book into the skeuomorphic eyesores they are in OS X Lion, fake leather-and-stitching included.
(Messrs Jobs and Forstall, please stand up!)
Unfortunately it seems to have little of GPP’s usual customisation functionality, so you’re kind of stuck with it.
Despair not!
The good news is that this is just the free ‘beginner’ version (the first hit is always free…); in their forums they revealed that a more fully featured ‘pro’ version is in the wings being completed, which will come with minimal black or white designs, the ability to turn off those footer widgets, and hopefully the usual Custom CSS feature.
Art design aside, Retouch has the essential photoblogging functionality I need; all that stands in the way of me switching from PixelPost to WordPress is the release of their pro version.
If you visit Graph Paper Press via my referral link and go on to purchase a theme I’ll get a small kickback: http://graphpaperpress.com/?ref=358
