Bespoke theming for WordPress Arcade sites

Date: 12th March 2009 at 7:00 pm | Filed under: blog, portfolio, themes | Author: Sam Burdge | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

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Screenshots from the new Loopy Pursuits Arcade Site.

I have recently entered the world of Arade Website webmastering and, being the WordPress geek I clearly am, have chosen WP as the management sytem to drive my arcade sites. I have developed two new plugins WP Games Embed (released) and WP Mochi (so far unreleased) and launched my first arcade site Zap Gamez.

In the past I have had a fair few jobs designing custom / bespoke themes for WordPress blogs and for sites that use WP more as a CMS. These jobs are where most of my plugins originate from, adding custom features to sites when no existing plugin is available to achieve the same functionality.

My most recent custom theme is for the arcade site Loopy Pursuits, for which the games content is also driven by my two plugins WP Games Embed & WP Mochi. The theme is incredibly simple - no sidebar or nav bar as such, 3 basic layouts - Home page, Category/Tag/Search results page & single page view where the game itself is displayed. Apart from the formatting of the comments there is nothing about the theme which suggests it is wordpress. No 'recent posts','blogroll' or 'tag cloud' or any other content that could be associated with standard WP blog design.

The theme incorporates google advertising interspersed with the content. My approach to google advertising with arcade sites is to use predominantly image ads as gaming is very visual, and image ads seem to sit better within a very image based site layout. I also use the standard approach of identifying key placements for ads, sometimes referred to as 'Hot Spots', which are normally adjacent to key areas of the page, such as navigation, main content (i.e. the game), etc.

During the development of Loopy Pursuits the WP Mochi Plugin has come a lot closer to releaseability. It still lacks an options page which it would definitely need, but it now incorporates the Mochi Leaderboard (score board) using the Mochi Publisher Bridge, it also now has the ability to add entire directories of games automatically too!

If you are interested in getting a custom design for your WordPress blog, or if you want an arcade website set up, or if you are trying to do something different / unusual with WordPress please feel free to get in touch. I would be happy to provide a quote for any such jobs. I have been working with WordPress since version 1.2 and have set up many WP blogs in that time, I have never used a theme by someone else, custom built is the only way for me!

4 Responses to “Bespoke theming for WordPress Arcade sites”

  • Comment by العاب
    Date: April 4th, 2009 at 11:16 am

    look at my site
    its an arcade power by wordpress

  • Comment by GameGag
    Date: June 8th, 2009 at 11:18 pm

    Wow what a great looking theams, please keep up your innovative touch.

  • Comment by EnjoySilk
    Date: September 18th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    It’s so beautiful theme!

  • Comment by Frank
    Date: January 9th, 2010 at 2:13 am

    Great theme. My site looks great with this. Thanks

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Matthewmaran.com - Website Update

Date: 11th March 2009 at 12:39 pm | Filed under: portfolio | Author: Sam Burdge | Tags: , ,

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The latest site to be powered by the new Admin76 Content Management System is www.matthewmaran.com. Matthew Maran is an award winning wildlife photographer, so his site really put the gallery management feature of Admin76 to the test.

Following the design of the original website (with a few minor changes to the layout) I implimented the Admin76 system throughout the site allowing easy management of all text and image content.

The other main addition to the site is the soundtrack. Each page plays a random background noise - birdsong, seashore, crickets etc.

Check it out: www.matthewmaran.com

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