Anyone looking for a great magazine wordpress theme should check out the Revolution Pro Media theme. This theme is built for online magazines and other media related sites, so it is very efficient and 2.0 ready. It is a simple two-column theme that comes widget ready, and customizable so you can change the fonts, colours, layouts, and anything else design related to suit your needs.  

It’s perfect because the homepage has a place for featured tabs, videos, photos, and thumbnail images, which complements magazine editorial features. It’s very reader friendly, and comes with an e mail and RSS link in the top header so that readers can easily mark the pages if they don’t have time to read them right that minute.

The top header also features a “comments” link along with a search engine so readers can easily navigate the page. The double header is reader friendly because it allows you to easily manage a wide variety of sections, so that readers don’t have to search the whole site to find what they are looking for. Advertisers will also be happy with this theme because it allows space to place ads in the sidebar.

 

Having trouble saving money for that next vacation, or your dream home? Stop fretting and start saving with TakaraTomy’s  Bomb Bank ($29.99 @ thinkgeek.com). This explosive spin on your traditional piggy bank forces you to save, or face the consequences of its wrath. Depending on the settings, you have to put coins in every one to three days. Forget to put them in, and it will explode your savings all over the place. But don’t worry, you can always put it back together, and once you do, you probably won’t forget again. This bank even turns into a hot potato like game you can play with other couples. You each take a turn putting money in, and whoever puts in the money when it explodes wins it. You won’t have any trouble hosting game nights with this new toy.

On a positive note, I created a twitter account today and even managed to put a feed to it on my page, which is pretty easy, but I’m still happy cuz  I’m new to all of this and didn’t even know what this stuff was before!

                                                   

The season of spring is upon us. What better time is there to indulge yourself in the luxury of fashion? Take a stroll through Greektown and spoil yourself from one or many of the boutiques—lose yourself in the relaxed, stylish, and friendly atmosphere of the Danforth. 

Is your boyfriend’s blazer your closet staple? Not gaga for Goth, but crazy for colour? Is your jewellery box overflowing with oversized accessories? If any of these statements describe you, this is your season to be a fashionista! The 2008 Milan Fashion Week unveiled the top trends for spring: leading the pack, men-inspired suits and silhouettes for women coupled with colour, colour and more colour strutting down the runways. Perennial favourites like the cinched belt were back, as were graphic inspired fabrics and bold baubles. One might think that heading to chic Bloor Street or hitting trendy Queen are the go-to Toronto locations to recreate the runway looks; however, the Danforth, with its eclectic array of boutiques, offers some amazing choices that don’t require a couture budget. 

The first store we hit: Studio Labiri at 548 Danforth Ave. Just 3 years old, and already accredited by Toronto Life, Now Magazine, and Fashion, its modern setup with airy white walls and hot pink accents leave you feeling like you’ve just stepped into a Manhattan boutique. Mary Labiri lines her walls with beautiful fabrics made by the hottest designers. We couldn’t resist Sweetface’s (JLO and Andy Hilfigers higher end line of clothing) modern twist on the classic tuxedo suit. The fitted jacket comes adjourned with a multi-layered belt, while the pants are a trendy pencil fit. Our winners for the undershirts were Malene and Line’s cream-colored tops. The first is a jersey fitted tank with black tassels, and the second is dreamy cashmere with black beading—both equally fab to complete this springs hottest look. To add another twist to your wardrobe, try pairing some True Religion jeans, a favourite among all the top celebs including Jessica Simpson, with your blazer. They also carry James jeans and Odyn, both of which are supposed to have amazing slimming powers. For  those of you who want to bring out their inner goddess, Emmy Lauridsen names each of her Odyn jeans after gods from Nordic mythology, which come detailed on their silk label. Whether your price range is $99 or $500, the fashionista in you will definitely find something at Studio Labiri.             
 

If you’re more of a posh girl  than a Simpson,  you’ll love five0seven located at 496 Danforth Avenue, which is brimming with all of Victoria Beckham’s latest styles of Rock N Republics. This cozy store will leave your head spinning from the large selection of trends they fill up their narrow space with. For your tux jacket, we love the classic made by Tiger of Sweden, a staple menswear name in any fashion-conscious closet—Beware, your boyfriends will be jealous. For the single ladies, leave the jacket open with ONLY’s graphic stiletto tee and the men will be flocking. To top it off, add some of the jewelry they have sitting in case under the cash, or grab a stylish hat from the display beside it. Whether your style is casual, dressy, or a mix, you’ll love this fashion packed store and the prices too, which can range anywhere from $45 to $239 to shine into spring.    

If you’re a girl on a budget, like most of us students are, but still want to keep up with the latest look, try hitting Alchemy at 323 Danforth. This bohemian style shop with the wind chimes ringing,and the incense filling your nose, will make you feel right at home;even better, you can put the whole look together for about $100. Here the top brand is Fabi—the jackets are beautiful and the embellishedpocket jeans are always in style. For your accessories, they have beautiful hand made scarves and pashminas from Thailand, and a wide variety of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings in all shapes and sizes—you definitely won’t want to leave this store.

Parade, 261 Danforth Avenue, reminiscent of a downtown loft, has high ceilings, exposed brick, and soft studio lighting. Chinese lanterns dangle above, and an air of stillness hangs in the air. Scattered throughout the store arespiritual books on enlightenment, adding an ethereal quality to theatmosphere. The salesperson, an attractive, chic, raven-haired woman,whose look could be at home in an upscale lounge, sits behind thecounter. Stretch tuxedo jackets by mega-designer Michael Kors, wideleg pants by Final Touch and embellished tops by D.E.P.T. were our picks for the tuxedo-look. Cropped lemon-lime tweed jackets filled theseasons punchy colour requirements and CC Skye inspired gold and leather oversize bracelets rounded up our favourites. 

Our last stop, Bodyblue is a treasure trove of brand names. Dark and cavernous, its wooden floors echo the wooden shelves lining the walls.The jazzy sound of Joss Stone trickled through the speakers as we hunted for the latest in runway-inspired looks. Located at 201 Danforth Ave, with another store at 724 Queen West, Bodyblue carries many of-the-moment names in fashion. For the menswear inspired woman’s apparel, we found Citrine blazers and trousers and graphic tees by Diesel and Element. A rack of belts is available to satisfy your waist-cinching needs and rows of multi-coloured, multi-sized bangles sit atop the counter to finish of any look. 

Whether you’re a fashionista, or a modernista; looking for a trend fix or classic pieces that never go out of style; want to delve into luxury or pinch your pennies, the Danforth is the place to go. These hot stores filled with this season’s lavish fabrics will leave you feeling like the princess you are; so go ahead, splurge a little and get a lot of quality for a small price and a closet worthy of awe.

Today I successfully added a statcounter to my site, yay! Even though my new theme (I changed today) comes with one as a widget, I wanted to see if I could add one on my own, and Im very excited it worked…I’ll keep you updated on my journey.

Trish

Flare Magazine

Magazine Website Analysis 

Cosmopolitan:

§          Has social book marking tools: My Yahoo and XML at bottom of home page

§          Has a “Bedroom blog”, “Joe Hottie’s Dating blog”,  “30-Day blogs”, “Celeb Gossip blog”and “The Making of a Cosmo Girl blog”with Email, print, RSS, save to daily Cosmo, and share at top and bottom of article. Can “post a comment” to the blog but you need to sign in to do so.

§          Features “Cosmo Celebrity TV” where every day you can watch a new video about celebrity gossip.

§          Can sign up to get Cosmo newsletters e-mailed to you.

§          Has “Cosmo Community” where you can engage in posts on a message board and create your own profile, but need to sign in.

§          Can download wallpapers, free e cards, contests, and play games.

§          Feature sponsored links on each page as well as ads and subscription offers

§          Have a form for readers to fill out with their input on the website

§          Search engine at top of page

In terms of set up and availability, all of the social and participatory media features are easily accessible from each page you go on. Cosmo puts links on each page for certain blogs, message boards, etc that fit with the material in the department you are in. For readers of the online magazine it is very valuable because it saves them the time of having to search all the pages to find the features. For the advertisers, it is valuable because they feature sponsored links, ads, and subscription offers for their magazine and others on each page which may encourage readers to purchase their products or visit their websites. As for the publisher and editorial staff, the interaction that the many media features offer their readers is beneficial because the pages and features are easy to navigate which will keep both their readers and advertisers happy.

Fashion

§          Has “Web exclusives” sidebar on home page listing all of the web features

§          Has videos for fashion and beauty

§          Has 7 blogs to choose from: “Talk is Chic”, “The Styled West”, “Fashion File insider”, “Beyond The Hills”, “The Fashionable Life”, “Fashion Lovelies”, and “Fashion’s Sundance Diary”. Don’t have to sign in to post, but it is a moderated forum, so post must be approved before posted.

§          Can get free newsletters e mailed to your inbox daily

§          Only features “send to a friend”, “print”, or “comment” options with each article

§          Has contests you can enter online and a shop finder to find local stores.

§          Contains links to other websites, Ads, and subscription offers

§          Search engine at top of page

This magazine is not set up as well as Cosmo in terms of Web 2.0 features. While they have many participatory media options, they do not have any social book marking tools. I think that this lack of book marking tools takes away from the rest of the web 2.0 features and weakens its overall appeal. While it is still attractive to readers for the easy navigation around the site and quick access to web features on the home page, they do not take into account that the readers may want to bookmark the articles to read later. This may also take away from advertisers who would want a web 2.0 magazine to have all of the basics. However, they do feature ads, web links, and subscription offers to their magazine on all of their pages, which would be attractive to advertisers. Potential advertisers would also find value in the fact that they offer a shop finder, which locates stores they feature in their magazine for readers. I think that the editorial staff and publisher would benefit more from both readers and potential advertisers if they added more participatory features.

Macleans

§          Has search and advanced search option at top of page

§          Has “National Affairs”, “Culture”, and “Education” blogs easily accessible at top and bottom of page

§          Has RSS feature and logo for each blog

§          Also features RSS and logo at top of page for magazine link

§          Has photo, audio, and video multimedia functions easily accessible at top and bottom of page

§          Has forums at top and bottom of page

§          Ads are placed on top and right side of page, do not pop up like other mags

§          Features a job finder section

§          Has a scholarship database

§          Has a comments section

§          Has subscriber services at top of page, easy to find, can read back issues

§          At bottom of each article has print, email and write a letter to the editor options

§          Share options at end of each article: Digg this, del.icio.us, share on facebook, Stumble it, Seed Newsvine, and Technorati links with recognizable icons.

I think that Macleans is the most advanced web 2.0 magazine of the three. The readers will love the clean set up of all of the pages and easy access to all of their features. Macleans also features the most sharing and bookmaking tools, which is important to a lot of readers. The only thing that may make it better is if they placed these tools under the headline as well as at the bottom of the article. Advertisers will see the value of all of their web features, and want to place ads with them. The only thing advertisers may not like is that the ads are neatly arranged only at the top and right side of the page, and they may want to have huge pop up ads or larger adds to grab reader’s attention. In terms of keeping the readers happy though I believe that the editors and publisher have arranged the layout nicely for the readers the way the ads are placed.

This is my first post, and I am still unsure about how to do a lot of things with my blog, so please be patient with me.  I have spent hours today setting up my own delicious and trying to add it to the site, but I think I did it wrong since it doesn’t display the logo and only brings you to the homepage lol. Ohwell, I’ll keep trying, watching the videos, and reading, reading, and reading some more until I have mastered this web 2.0 stuff!