Tumblr Theme Design

This is the best tutorial ever about how Tumblr themes are designed.  I highly encourage you to watch all 4 hours of it.

Tumblr Theme Customization

In my previous post I gave some tuts+ and lynda.com recommendations for html, css, and jquery tutorials.

When you watch these tutorials you should pay attention to the tools that are used.  You don’t need Dreamweaver to customize your tumblr theme.  One of the most useful tools is firebug, and I highly recommend using it to customize your tumblr theme.

Can you copy what I did at SonomaMarketing.net to customize your Tumblr description section?

You never know what piece of html, css, or javascript you are going to want to grab and use on your website.  For example, I used this tutorial to customize my Dr-Horo.com top navigation menu.

Next week in Marketing Research

This is you chance to make you theme look how you want it to look.

Try using the firefox extension/add-on firebug to customize the html, css, and javascript of your theme.

Next week we are going to learn how to integrate your website with Google, social media, and more.

I learn marketing skills by subscribing to Lynda.com (free 1 day pass), I stay current with developers and designers by subscribing to Tuts+, and I recommend reading Digging Into WordPress.

Want to start a website? I buy domain names at GoDaddy.com, I host my WordPress websites at MediaTemple.net, and I like working with TwoFiveMedia.

Great job getting WordPress installed and Google Apps going this semester.

Digging into WordPress v3 was recently released!  Please make sure you’re using the new version of the ebook.

Digging into WordPress has a great introduction to WordPress in chapters 1 and 2. After reading this introduction, you will want to figure out how to access your WordPress files via FTP (with FireFTP via Firefox, or with a FTP program of your choice on your own computer).

Even though it is possible to install a new WordPress theme without FTPing, you want to get comfortable FTPing new themes to your wp-content > themes folder, because you will be FTPing again later in the semester when you start to customize the html, css, and javascript of your theme.

Free WordPress Themes

Try Googling around to see if you can find a WordPress theme blog post like this one.

Can you find another website like this one dedicated to free WordPress themes?

If you find several themes you like then save them.

Paid WordPress Themes

I’ve used Themeforest, because you can get a great theme for  relatively little.  TheGlobalWineIndustry.com‘s theme cost $17.  I’ve never asked for support and I’ve never returned for theme updates.

I know people who are happy with WooThemes, but you have to buy a minimum of 3 themes for $70.  With WooThemes you get free theme updates for life and there is support in case you need to call someone for help.

See if you can google around and find a paid WordPress theme blog post like this one.

Next week in Promotion Management

How are all these WordPress themes created?  It’s a three-step process involving Photoshop, then html/css/javascript, then WordPress php.

Next week we’ll take a closer look at the first part of this process.

If you’re having fun with this web design stuff, then check out the lynda.com html and css tutorials.  There are also great beginner html and css tutorials at Tuts+.  Be sure to get firebug and learn how to use firebug!

If you are ready for a change then check out lynda.com’s Photoshop tutorials.  CS4 is in the lab computers, and CS5 is the current version.

I learn marketing skills by subscribing to Lynda.com (free 1 day pass), I stay current with developers and designers by subscribing to Tuts+, and I recommend reading Digging Into WordPress.

Want to start a website? I buy domain names at GoDaddy.com, I host my WordPress websites at MediaTemple.net, and I like working with TwoFiveMedia.

I hope all of you called your host last week in order to get WordPress installed.

Part 1

Part 2

Get a Gmail account

This is easy.  You should have an @gmail.com email address.

Google Apps Standard Edition email

This is tricky.  You should have an info@yourdomain.com address.

Subdomains

Don’t really worry about this, but you should know what the difference between a subdomain and a subdirectory is.

It looks more permanent/solid if you use subdomains.  Subdomains are also good ways to forward links to social media accounts.

Would you rather attend 2010.sf.wordcamp.org or wordcamp.org/cool-event-in-sf?

Would you be more likely to click on facebook.drho.ro or drho.ro/please-be-my-facebook-friend?

Password management

How do you manage your passwords?  iGoogle Bookmarks?  1Password?

Backing up your data to a cloud

How do you back up your data?

Apple’s iDisk and .mac suck compare to dropbox.

Next week in Promotion Management

Find a WordPress theme to hack this Semester!  There are lots of great free WordPress themes, but if you are going to keep your website after this semester you might want to buy a theme.

See if you can find an html5 WordPress theme!  html5 is so hot right now.  Here is a great lynda.com tutorial on html5 and web design, but we’re going to focus more on Photoshop and graphic design in the beginning of this semester before we get into web design.  If web design isn’t really your thing then start a Deke McClelland One-on-One series!

I learn marketing skills by subscribing to Lynda.com (free 1 day pass), I stay current with developers and designers by subscribing to Tuts+, and I recommend reading Digging Into WordPress.

Want to start a website? I buy domain names at GoDaddy.com, I host my WordPress websites at MediaTemple.net, and I like working with TwoFiveMedia.

Last week was a tough one…so this week will be an easy one, I hope.

You are going to hacking your tumblr theme to pieces this semester in marketing research!  Once you make custom changes to your tumblr theme, you can’t switch tumblr themes without redoing your custom changes (save you work!).

Therefore, it is important that you pick a theme that you like NOW.

Free Tumblr Themes

To make my SonomaMarketing.net theme I hacked the default tumblr theme.

If you are not going to invest a lot of time and effort into your tumblr website this semester, then there are a lot of great free themes that you can use this semester.  Try to avoid flash.

Paid Tumblr Themes

I bought my dr-horo.com tumblr theme from themeforest.

But, this was back in the Dark Ages before tumblr started selling premium themes.  It’s cool how you can look for themes from popular theme sellers like WooThemes.

If you are going to invest a lot of time and effort into your tumblr website this semester and can afford it, then I recommend buying a premium theme.

If you can find an html 5 tumblr theme that would be sweet, and it would make me jealous.  Cool stuff is happening with html5 right now.

Learn Tumblr’s Interface

Try writing some posts and clicking on buttons whose function you don’t understand.  Ask the person sitting next to you if they will be your follower.

Next week in marketing research

If you have questions about last class please don’t wait to get help.

If this week was too slow for you, then start to brush up on your html (tuts+), css (tuts+), and jQuery (tuts+)/JavaScript (tuts+) (in that order).  Lynda.com has great beginner video tutorials on web design, html5, css, and jQuery as well.

If you don’t have access to Lynda.com or tuts+, check out the resources at W3Schools.  I used W3Schools to learn a lot of this stuff, and I still use it as a reference source.

Next week we are going to learn how tumblr themes are designed (tuts+), and the better you understand html, css, and JavaScript, the easier it will be for you to follow along.

More on firebug (tuts+) next week…

I learn marketing skills by subscribing to Lynda.com (free 1 day pass), I stay current with developers and designers by subscribing to Tuts+, and I recommend reading Digging Into WordPress.

Want to start a website? I buy domain names at GoDaddy.com, I host my WordPress websites at MediaTemple.net, and I like working with TwoFiveMedia.

Get ready for Marketing Research Fall 2010!

My bio and contact info.

To teach you how to conduct marketing research, I’m going to introduce you to web design with Tumblr, introduce you to graphic design and .pdf publishing with Illustrator/InDesign, and introduce you to video editing with iMovie.

No textbook!!!  I’m not a big fan of marketing textbooks.

There are so many great marketing education resources other than textbooks. Video tutorials: lectures from the pros, written tutorials: weekly homework assignments, ebooks: guidebooks, books and videos: conceptual entertainment, blogs: current topics, websites: references.

I have used all of the following teaching materials and I subscribe to all of these marketing education resources (and some wine blogs).

Teaching materials:

Marketing Research with Tumblr ebook, by me (free). Read this now so that you know what is going to be covered this semester.

A domain name ($10/year)

A Lynda.com subscription ($25 or $37.50/month, free 1 day trial)

A Tuts+ subscription ($9/month)

$10 + $25*4 + 9*4 = $146

Software Requirements:

Adobe Illustrator (CS4 for mac is in the labs, CS5 was recently released)

Apple iMovie (’08 is in the labs, ’09 is the current version)

Text editor (free)

Class Schedule:

Wednesdays: Computer lab days.  Work on your website, follow a tutorial, etc.

Mondays: Lecture days.  Class discussion, Q&A, review a blog post, watch a video, etc.

Tumblr and Google Apps

I’m excited to see what you learn about your Tumblr website this semester!

Week 1′s assignment is to get your Tumblr website and Google Apps email setup.

#1: Buy a domain name.  The blogs like to give tips about buying domain names.

#2: Create a Tumblr account, and point your domain’s A-record to tumblr.

#3: Create a gmail account (you@gmail.com).

#4: Create a google Apps Standard Edition account (you@yourdomainname.com).  You will have to customize your domain’s CNAME and MX records.

#5: Get your google Apps Standard Edition email via gmail.

#6: Tell all your facebook friends about your cool new domain name.

I learn marketing skills by subscribing to Lynda.com (free 1 day pass), I stay current with developers and designers by subscribing to Tuts+, and I recommend reading Digging Into WordPress.

Want to start a website? I buy domain names at GoDaddy.com, I host my WordPress websites at MediaTemple.net, and I like working with TwoFiveMedia.

Get ready for Promotion Management Fall 2010!

My bio and contact info.

To help you become more media savvy, I’m going to introduce you to web design with the WordPress content management system, introduce you to graphic design with Photoshop, and introduce you to video editing with iMovie.

Knowing how to create content, manage content, and distribute content will help you with all aspects of the promotional mix in the future.

No textbook this semester!!!  I’m not a big fan of marketing textbooks.

There are so many great marketing education resources other than textbooks. Video tutorials: lectures from the pros, written tutorials: weekly homework assignments, ebooks: guidebooks, books and videos: conceptual entertainment, blogs: current topics, websites: references.

I have used all of these materials and I subscribe to all of these marketing education resources (and some wine blogs).

Teaching materials:

Promotion Management with WordPress ebook, by me (free).  Read this now so that you know what is going to be covered this semester.

A domain name ($10/year)

Website hosting ($10/month)

Digging Into WordPress, by Chris Coyier and Jeff Starr ($27 .pdf)

A Lynda.com subscription ($25 or $37.50/month, free 1 day trial)

A Tuts+ subscription ($9/month).

$10 + $10*4 + $27 + $25*4 + 9*4 = $213

Video tutorials: Lectures from the pros

Written tutorials: Weekly assignments

ebooks: Guidebooks

Books and videos: Conceptual entertainment

Blogs: Current topics

Websites: References

Software Requirements:

Adobe Photoshop (CS4 for mac is in the labs, CS5 is the current version)

Apple iMovie (’08 is in the labs, ’09 is the current version)

Text editor (free)

FTP program (free)

Class Schedule:

Wednesdays: Computer lab days.  Work on your website, follow a tutorial, etc.

Mondays: Lecture days.  Class discussion, Q&A, review a blog post, watch a video, etc.

Installing WordPress

I’m excited to see what you promote with your WordPress website this semester!

Week 1′s assignment is to Install WordPress.

#1: Buy a domain name.  The blogs like to give tips about buying domain names.

#2: Buy hosting.

#3: Read Chapters 1 and 2 of Digging Into WordPress.

#4: If you are feeling daring, try manually installing WordPress.

#5: If you are already overwhelmed, call you host and have them guide you through installing WordPress with their shortcut/wizard/application.

#6: Tell all your facebook friends about your WordPress awesomeness.

I learn marketing skills by subscribing to Lynda.com (free 1 day pass), I stay current with developers and designers by subscribing to Tuts+, and I recommend reading Digging Into WordPress.

Want to start a website? I buy domain names at GoDaddy.com, I host my WordPress websites at MediaTemple.net, and I like working with TwoFiveMedia.

I got excited about 6 months ago when I saw a job posting for Northwestern’s Medill school looking for educators with marketing 2.awesome skills.

Why does that matter for you?  Because 99.9% of you aren’t going to attend Northwestern to learn cutting edge content creation, content management, and content distribution skills, god has given us some great alternatives.  You don’t have to take the GMAT/GRE and then hope that you are deemed worthy of paying tuition at a school to get started.

Some exciting stuff is happening right now in the online education/tutorial world.  Do you think that online education/tutorials can become smart, like Pandora Radio?

With Google Reader, Adobe CS5, a Tuts+ $9/month subscription, and a $37.50/month Lynda.com subscription, these are the resources I use to learn innovative, creative, resonant, and measurement marketing skills:

Marketing Innovation

Marketers need to learn new computer languages in order to be cutting edge, have breakthrough ideas, etc.

Books like Get Back In The Box discuss the importance of understanding systems from the ground up.  For marketers to be innovative in today’s digital world, this means learning languages like html, css, JavaScript, etc.

Nettuts+, http://feeds.feedburner.com/nettuts

Digging Into WordPress, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/DiggingIntoWordpress, Buy the book!

CSS-Tricks, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/CssTricks

Lynda.com

Marketing Creativity

Marketers need to know to create designs, symbols, images, icons, videos, aesthetics etc.

Books like Buying In discuss the power of brands.

Psdtuts+, http://feeds.feedburner.com/psdtuts

Vectortuts+, http://feeds.feedburner.com/vectortuts

Aetuts+, http://feeds.feedburner.com/aetuts

Smashing Magazine, http://rss1.smashingmagazine.com/feed/

Six Revisions, http://feeds.feedburner.com/SixRevisions

Lynda.com, You have to check out the Deke McClelland Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator CS4 and CS5 tutorials!

Marketing Resonance

Marketers need to be in touch with the ethos, zeitgeist, culture, generation, collective, etc.

Books like How Brands Become Icons discuss the importance of understanding how marketing messages resonate with an audience.

I should probably be reading more consumer culture blogs, but murketing.com is the only one of these blogs I read.

Measurement

Marketers need to measure the success/failure of their efforts.

SEO Moz, http://feeds.feedburner.com/seomoz

SEO Book, http://www.seobook.com/feeds.shtml

Lynda.com

I learn marketing skills by subscribing to Lynda.com (free 1 day pass), I stay current with developers and designers by subscribing to Tuts+, and I recommend reading Digging Into WordPress.

Want to start a website? I buy domain names at GoDaddy.com, I host my WordPress websites at MediaTemple.net, and I like working with TwoFiveMedia.

Every morning I use Google Reader to read the RSS feeds of wine blogs and marketing/developer/designer blogs.

My favorite wine blogs are those that talk about or demonstrate innovation and creativity in the wine world.  I’m less concerned about wine reviews, event promotions, and winery promotions (not to say that there isn’t innovation and creativity in these areas).

The 2010 Wine Blog Award that went to “Best Industry/Business Wine Blog” went to GoodGrape, and it was well-deserved.

GoodGrape also won the 2010 Wine Blog Award for “Best Wine Blog Graphics, Photography, & Presentation”.  I think Wine Library TV has a cooler design–there are some cool hover effects, the video quality is good, the videos have a cool animation intro.

Maybe one of YOU will buy a cool WordPress theme and some custom graphics and get a nominated for a 2011 Wine Blog Award winner next year…

I’d like to review some of the wine industry/business blogs and websites I’ve followed over the past couple of years.  I look forward to following some of the new wine blogs I discovered at the 2010 Wine Bloggers’ Conference!

Wine business/industry blogs I subscribe to

Steve Heimoff, http://steveheimoff.com/?feed=rss2

1WineDude, http://feeds.feedburner.com/1winedude

Caveman Wines, http://feeds.feedburner.com/CavemanWines

Dirty South Wine, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/typepad/dirtysouthwine/my_weblog

Dr. Vino, http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/GuSC

Fermentation, http://feeds.feedburner.com/FermentationTheDailyWineBlog

GoodGrape, http://feeds.feedburner.com/GoodGrapeAWineManifesto

MOVI, http://www.movi.cl/feed/

PinotBlogger, http://feeds.feedburner.com/Pinotblogger

Serious About Wine, http://feeds.feedburner.com/SeriousAboutWine

Winery Website Report, http://blog.winerywebsitereport.com/atom.xml

Think Wine Marketing, http://thinkwinemarketing.wordpress.com/feed/

Vin 65, http://feeds.feedburner.com/Vin65

Vinography, http://www.vinography.com/index.xml

Vintank, http://www.vintank.com/feed/

VinTuba, http://blog.vintuba.com/feed/

Wine Biz Radio, http://winebizradio.com/feed/

Wine Library TV, http://feeds.feedburner.com/WinelibraryTv

I think these are all men who write these blogs.  Which female wine industry/business bloggers do I need to follow?

Anybody know of a good Argentinian wine blog?

Good job to everyone using FeedBurner!

Wine business/industry blogs I would subscribe to if they generated full rss feeds or category-specific full feeds

Mutineer Magazine, (is there a way to subscribe to just the wine category?)

Palate Press, (is there a way to subscribe to just wine industry/business posts?)

Decanter News, http://feeds.feedburner.com/wwwdecantercomfeedsrssnewsxml (partial feed)

Wine Spectator News, http://www.winespectator.com/rss/rss?t=news (partial feed)

Wine Industry Insight, http://wineindustryinsight.com/?feed=rss (partial feed)

Wine Business, no RSS

Vineyard and Winery Management Magazine, no RSS

Wines and Vines, no RSS

Wines of Argentina, no RSS, come to Argentina with me in January 2011 through Sonoma State!

Other cool wine websites

In a previous post I talked about some cool wine website designs.

Maybe in my next post I’ll list the marketing, designer, and developer blogs I read every morning…

I learn marketing skills by subscribing to Lynda.com (free 1 day pass), I stay current with developers and designers by subscribing to Tuts+, and I recommend reading Digging Into WordPress.

Want to start a website? I buy domain names at GoDaddy.com, I host my WordPress websites at MediaTemple.net, and I like working with TwoFiveMedia.

Can you tell the difference between these two (1, 2) wine bottle illustrations?

What’s that?  They both suck?  I know, but you have to start somewhere…

If you answered that one was created in Photoshop and that the other was created in Illustrator, then you are the big winner.

Which one do you think made the better wine bottle?  Unfortunately, you have to learn both Illustrator and Photoshop to do design work in the real world.

There are sweet tutorials for how to design 3D packaging at Psdtuts and at Vectortuts in Illustrator and Photoshop, but the best stuff costs $9 a month to get the premium tutorials.  I know, paying $9/month sucks, but you get the .psd and .ai source files, which is great.

With Photoshop and Illustrator art files you can do some sweet things with Adobe After effects too!

Adobe Photoshop Packaging Tutorials

How to use Photoshop to make a branded soda bottle.

The dodge and burn tools make it easy to do highlights and the brush tool makes it easy to draw flowers (on the cap).

Adobe Illustrator Packaging Tutorials

How to use Illustrator’s 3D Effects to make a branded milk bottle. With half a bottle outline you can rotate a bottle into 3D shape quickly.

How to make a branded 3D snack pack without using Illustrators 3D effects.  The envelope distort tool is cool, but it can be painful drawing highlights all over a 3D object.

Want to study Argentina’s Wine Industry in Argentina in January 2011 through Sonoma State?  Join the class facebook group.  A new WordPress 3.0/HTML5/CSS3 website will be up in a month or so at TheGlobalWineIndustry.com!

I learn marketing skills by subscribing to Lynda.com (free 1 day pass), I stay current with developers and designers by subscribing to Tuts+, and I recommend reading Digging Into WordPress.

Want to start a website? I buy domain names at GoDaddy.com, I host my WordPress websites at MediaTemple.net, and I like working with TwoFiveMedia.

School’s out for Summer, which means its conference time for marketing academics.  I’m excited to go to the North American Wine Bloggers’ Conference for the third time June 24-27.  I’ll be on the lookout for how cool websites and multimedia content (Adobe CS5 content, HTML 5 websites, CSS 3 integration, jQuery, WordPress plugins) are being used by wine marketing/media/pr people.  I’ll write about the coolest things I see after the conference.

I hope that the 3rd Wine Bloggers’ Conference is as motivating as the first two, but it’s going to be tough for the Wine Bloggers’ Conference to compete with WordCamp.  Either way, this conference will be way more fun than marketing and wine academic conferences I’ve been to.

The Wine Bloggers’ Conference

The past two conferences have been very motivating and tons of fun.  The sessions at these conferences have been helpful and interesting.  The creative/innovative bloggers and media/marketing people are fun to talk to about interesting stuff.

In 2008 my takeaway was to start a WordPress blog and to get on Twitter.  Digging Into WordPress and spending time on the Twitter has helped me with that.

In 2009 my takeaway was to do more video.  iShowU HD screencasting software and a blip.tv pro account have helped me with that.

In 2010+ I want to learn Adobe CS5, HTML 5, CSS 3, jQuery, and WordPress 3.0.  I’ve got a Lynda.com and Tuts+ subscription and am ready to cover these topics in my Fall 2010 semester promotion management and marketing research classes!

Marketing Academic Conferences

The sessions at these conferences consist of presentations of correlation, ANOVA, and regression analyses.  People at these conferences talk about the politics of the marketing academic journal peer/editorial review process.

Wine Business and Marketing Education Conferences

I’ve enjoyed going to an academic wine conference and going to the Marketing Educators’ Conference, but these conferences have not motivated me to do what the Wine Bloggers’ Conference has motivated me to do.

WordCamp 2010 SF

I wonder what conference would be the most inspirational to go to in order to focus on learning Adobe CS5, HTML 5, CSS 3, jQuery, WordPress 3.0.  It was cool going to WordCamp SF 2010.

I learn marketing skills by subscribing to Lynda.com (free 1 day pass), I stay current with developers and designers by subscribing to Tuts+, and I recommend reading Digging Into WordPress.

Want to start a website? I buy domain names at GoDaddy.com, I host my WordPress websites at MediaTemple.net, and I like working with TwoFiveMedia.