Design for greymatter site?

December 10, 2003 8:46 AM

I'm not sure how this will go over, but I figured I'd ask. I've grown out of my livejournal and am looking to set up something using greymatter. I have the web space, and decided how I will focus my writing. The only problem now is the design. [more inside]

The blog will be about the stories that come up being a new mother, as well as the tips, tricks, and resources I come across about kids. But being a new mother I don't have the a lot of time to sit down and put together outside of the default design that is greymatter, or a lot of money to have someone breeze in and put it together for me. So I went hunting through google for greymatter templates, hoping to find linkware templates or cheap shareware templates to suit my needs. Very frustrating.

There aren't a lot of templates that don't have me wincing at the colors or navigation. Things baby/child focused are horribly cutesy. Plus most of these designs come with bells and whistles (little buttons and preset names for your journal) that I have no interest in, yet would be forced to use per the user agreement because the designer thinks they're so adorable and match.

Now for the actual question. Does anyone know of a site with decent greymatter templates that are free or dirt cheap, and won't leave me with the desire to gouge out my eyeballs with my mouse? Or does anyone know someone willing to put something simple together for just the credit link I can offer?

posted by FunkyHelix to computers & internet (13 comments total)

There are some nice (simple but good-looking) designs at http://www.mizdos.com/miz/mizdos.php which I've recommended to people in the past. They're not configured for Greymatter (or any CMS) but the HTML is marked with comments like "Place your MovableType/Blogger/Greymatter code Here", so you could get it set up reasonably quickly.
posted by Aaorn at 9:03 AM on December 10, 2003

Why do you want to use Greymatter? If I am not mistaken, Noah's stopped working on it. Wouldn't it be better to use Movable Type?
posted by riffola at 9:04 AM on December 10, 2003

You may also want to consider using Nucleus, it is hands down, the easiest to install and is completely free.
posted by jonah at 9:15 AM on December 10, 2003

again, consider openSourceWebDesign
posted by Hackworth at 9:47 AM on December 10, 2003

Hear, hear on the use of Movable Type/some other CMS. Not that Grey Matter is useless, but it seems like an unwise decision to switch to a product that is not being actively developed and/or supported by the creator. Especially when there are so many alternatives out there.
posted by me3dia at 10:11 AM on December 10, 2003

Generally I've heard MT is rather time consuming to set up. Greymatter is HTML, yes? I at least some handle on how that works.
posted by FunkyHelix at 10:47 AM on December 10, 2003

If you have trouble installing MT, which you shouldn't because there's way too many people who have done it, and have posted it about it in forums, and on their blogs, you can have it installed by Six Apart for a small price.
posted by riffola at 11:02 AM on December 10, 2003

Having started with GM and switched to MT, let me tell you MT is the way to go.
posted by Orange Goblin at 11:14 AM on December 10, 2003

I've also heard that Greymatter is no longer being maintained, and as such, might not be a good CMS to go with.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:02 PM on December 10, 2003

Okay. Thanks for the help with the decision with what to use.
posted by FunkyHelix at 1:39 PM on December 10, 2003

If you're worried about installation, check out TypePad, which is a hosted MT flavor -- sort of like blogspot for Blogger. TypePad is actually a bit more robust than MT, and just as customizable.
posted by me3dia at 1:40 PM on December 10, 2003

TypePad is rather expensive for a luxury right now. Perhaps something for me to keep in mind for later.
posted by FunkyHelix at 1:47 PM on December 10, 2003

Greymatter is no longer being supported by a number of hosts, because there are some security issues with it. (Verve Hosting and GNS Hosting are no longer allowing new installs and old installs had to be patched or were disabled.) It's definitely worth looking into Movable Type (as easy to install, IME) or another CMS. Some hosts have "push button" installation of B2 and pMachine via the Control Panel, which is also something to investigate.

As for your design, we'd be more than glad to help you out over at BlogBarter.
posted by Dreama at 1:43 AM on December 11, 2003