Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with theme

Online anonymous random drawing.

curse — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:24:42 -0800

Can I draw names from a hat online, have each submission be unknown to the other participants in the drawing, and have the selection be emailed to all participants? Each year we do a gift exchange in my family (see last year's.) We usually each write down an idea for a theme, and put it into a hat, and have someone draw out the theme.

This year we haven't done a good job getting everyone together in the same room to do this, so I though maybe doing this online would be an option.

The way I see it working is someone goes to a website, and enters in all the email addresses of the participants.

Each participant gets a message or can visit a link to the drawing and use their email address to enter a theme suggestion for the drawing.

Once all participants have submitted their suggestion, one of the items is picked and emailed to all participants, and is listed on the site.

I just haven't found any luck finding somewhere that does this. There are a bunch of sites dedicated to handling gift exchanges (or secret Santas or other variants) but I can't tell if any of them do this kind of theme selection.

Identify a TV documentary (1990s) about life in the jungle (audio clip)

wivy — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 15:03:02 -0800

My father and I watched a documentary on TV in the 90s (likely TVO in Canada, possibly a National Geographic production?). It was about a boy named Ali who lived in the jungle with his father. It showed their daily life, how they hunted for food, etc. One scene I clearly remember is the father teaching the son how to create poison darts using toads. I believe the title was "Ali's Jungle", but I can't find any references to it on the internet. My dad and I really enjoyed the theme song, which was hummed by the father as he played a thumb piano. Here is a recording my father made at the time: Theme Song Any help identifying this show would be appreciated!

Help me create a useful gallery site with WordPress?

humph — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 09:31:17 -0800

I've not used WordPress for quite some time and the recent release of 3.5 with its new ways of handling media has me somewhat confuddled. Say I created a gallery site about footwear. I'd regularly be posting lots of pictures of shoes, boots, sandals, etc..

Posts would be categorised under Shoes, Boots, Sandals, etc. but would also have specific tags - I would really love to have the ability to click on a post tag (e.g. 'gold buckle' or 'low heel') and have a gallery created containing images with that specific tag.

Is there a (free or cheap!) theme, plugin, article that will help me do this?

R is for... really cool gift that begins with R?

booksherpa — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 21:18:20 -0800

I need to buy a few small gifts that begin with the letter R for a family gift exchange. My budget is $20, the potential recipients range from an 18 year old college freshman to a 70 year old. My family in general has a wacky sense of humor, are fun and silly, like music, and will be appreciative of cleverness in the execution of the theme even if the gift(s) don't have much function or practical purpose, though I don't want the gifts to be completely useless. One thought I've had is buying 20 "R" things at a dollar store, but I'm not sure I could come up with 20. I don't know why I'm so stumped on what to get. Help!

Help choose a WordPress theme for a simple, 365-post photo blog.

cribcage — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:56:40 -0800

Please help me to choose a WordPress theme for my (second) daily photo blog. My problem is that I want something so plain and simple that I'll probably have to pay for it, but the paid themes are complex and difficult for me to decipher. The content will be 365 posts and an archive gallery, presented as simply as possible. My ideal website would be really simple. Upon loading the page, I would like the current day's photo to display with minimal distraction—maybe just the blog's name along with that photo's date and a one- or two-sentence caption. There should also be an equally unobtrusive way to open an archive gallery, which would just be a single page of images. If you click on an image, you would again see just that image (now full-sized) with minimal distraction (blog name, photo date, brief caption).

In other words, each daily post would be just one photo with a little else as possible. The blog's front page would display just one such post at a time. You could activate a textless gallery, just a big collection of photos (similar to the Expression WordPress theme), to browse and open previous days' posts.

That's all I need. This is purely an art project. There will be no ads, I don't need a biography page or contact info, and I don't need hierarchies for different categories of posts. The archive gallery will eventually consist of 365 different photos, and then the blog will end. (Bonus points if I can then make the gallery the blog's front page.)

I have been browsing WordPress themes, and the selection seems huge. But the more overwhelming problem is that when I narrow down to a few themes that I think might fit (Expression, Fashion9, HQ Photography Responsive, etc.) it's really difficult for me to distinguish between them because I'm not conversant. Paid themes offer a lot of power and customizing, which I'm sure is why most people pay for them, but as an HTML dummy I'm having trouble cutting through all that to figure out how to buy one theme that will accomplish my goal. My approach would have been to try them one-by-one, trial and error.

I'd appreciate any help from suggested themes, tips on how to customize a theme to achieve what I'm looking for, or general advice on how to distinguish between some of the features that exist given what I'm looking to accomplish. Thanks in advance!

Hosting a Chappy Chanukka Party

anya32 — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:49:21 -0800

[Chappy Chanukkah party]: Lots of latkes. Now I need help with music and games. We're throwing a chanukkah gathering for our friends. We're making latkes and our friends are pot lucking the rest of the food. We will have 10-12 adults and 4-5 kids, all under 5. Thoughts for fun games for kids? A fun (not cheesy) soundtrack? Special treats to have around? (We already have gelt and colorful dreidels to play with). Decorations?

Thanks!

"Companion themes" for Tumblr and WordPress?

OneMonkeysUncle — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:28:42 -0800

Is there (a) such a thing as "companion themes" for WordPress and Tumblr and, if so, (2) where do I find them...? Yeah, so, my new personal project is about writing, not design (which is where all the time goes that I think I should be spending writing...) I want to collate images from Tumblr blogs onto my own Tumblr blog, then write about (some of?) the images and post it on a WordPress blog that's parked at my personal URL. Since I can't go all designery and both platforms are theme-based, I'm wondering if anyone's seen what I'll call "companion themes," for lack of a better term: themes that are adapted for the specific features of each platform, but that share at least a common aesthetic, if not full UI.

Ideas for Vampire Dinner Party

rainbowbrite — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 10:31:40 -0800

Ideas for a vampire-themed dinner party I'm planning a vampire-themed dinner party with some friends around Halloween, and would love all your ideas for menu, music, decorations, etc. I will be covering the food costs for 8ish people, so something at least semi-budget friendly would be ideal. So far, I'm thinking: red wine, something with lots of garlic, maybe a dessert involving blood oranges? But I'd love specific recipe ideas plus other 'atmosphere' ideas.

Note: This party won't be related to a specific book/movie, so menu items specific to True Blood, Twilight, etc. aren't as helpful (and that's most of what I've found online). Think more old-school Dracula in terms of the intended style.

Wordpress theme for software blog

southof40 — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:22:26 -0800

Seeking recommendations for a "look what I've done" type Wordpress blog theme in the area of software development. Help me filter the Niagara of wordpress themes ! I've got a blog on which I write about software techniques and knowledge. The purpose of the blog is to demonstrate to future employers that I know something about what I'm doing and also to provide helpful hints to others.

I'd like a new theme which accommodates two, seemingly contradictory, desires !

I'd like to display source code in the best manner possible in particular using as much screen width as is available.

I'd like it work well on smartphone screen sizes (as in responsive web design - don't care if it looks different on my wristwatch as long as it's readable)

More generally

* Must look reasonably utilitarian and professional - not glossy !
* Reasonably complete - don't want to hack around the css/html myself (or at least not very much).
* search engine friendly
* Don't mind paying (but don't mind not paying either)

How can I edit this Wordpress theme?

FuckingAwesome — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 07:08:40 -0800

How can I edit this wordpress theme? Hi everyone,

I want to use this Wordpress theme as the basis for a website, although I'd like to change a few things, specifically...

1) I'd like the main feed to be significantly wider (at least 640px)

2) Option to remove the left hand column

3) Change the height / dimensions of the preview thumbnail images on the main page to be

4) The ability to customise or use my own "sharing" buttons for Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Any help would be much appreciated. And yes, I have already got the Custom CSS option on Wordpress.

Thanks

Cookie Dough + Cheesecake = ?

Chorus — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 05:28:29 -0800

I need to create a cookie dough cheesecake with an American theme - help? So, a group of friends and I have created a 'Cheesecake Club' where we meet on a monthly basis and each bring along a cheesecake based around a specific theme. ~~We then get to sit around and eat five cheesecakes~~. August's theme was 'Indulgence' and I made a truly kick-ass baked white chocolate and Baileys cheesecake. However, September's theme is 'American' and I'm a little stuck.

I have a perfect biscuit base, on top of which I am adding a 1/2 inch layer of home-made (egg free) chocolate chip cookie dough that is just perfection. This layer doesn't really 'bake' and remains fudge-y and unf and guh.

Now, for the topping... I'm thinking something very light and creamy and perhaps even a little bland to balance the stodgy base/cookie dough. I have an ordinary, baked cheesecake recipe which is plain enough, but has quite a bit of lemon zest. I am unsure whether lemon would complement my cookie dough, or just be kinda too sour and weird? Replace lemon with vanilla? Having the topping flecked with vanilla seeds might be nice.

I've tried to think of other complementary combinations for the topping: a white chocolate chip (or is that too much chocolate chip-ness going on and finding 'bits' in the creamy part of a cheesecake is ick?). I've heard of adding egg whites to lighten things up. I was also thinking an 'ice-cream' type topping, but wouldn't know how to work that - add lots of cream and icing sugar to the cream cheese? Someone is already doing a blueberry pie cheesecake and another is making a Mississippi mud cheesecake, so I plan to really own the cookie dough element. Plus, 'cookie dough ice-cream cheesecake' sounds pretty amazing.

Googling 'cookie dough cheesecake' seems to focus more on having the cookie dough in balls or as an adornment/afterthought, rather than as a layer in the cake. So if anybody has any ideas at all, I'd be more than grateful!

How long will it take me to learn Wordpress and create/implement a theme?

Grafix — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 10:47:11 -0800

I am fairly new to Wordpress. Will I be able turn wireframes I design into a useable theme for a somewhat-complex website in 3-4 weeks? I am trying to decide whether to take a freelance job recommended to me by a friend. It would be a redesign of an existing business website, which is already in Wordpress and currently has a custom theme. I am a designer and have worked on website design and production before, although I have never done a website in Wordpress. I do have some books on it, and I would like to learn to use it, since it seems like a valuable skill to have. The people who would be hiring me know that I am not very experienced in this area, but are willing to work with me if I think I can complete the project satisfactorily.

So my questions is, can I essentially teach myself enough Wordpress to turn a design into a useable theme in less than a month? I am generally a fast learner, but I am very hesitant to take this job if I will not be able to deliver good results in that time frame.

Also, since they already have a custom theme and the changes they want are cosmetic, not structural, would it be acceptable to make a child theme from their existing theme and start from there? Or is that impossible/inefficient/pretty much copyright infringement? The design would be completely different (well, unless the clients tell me otherwise), but would it still be easier to 'start' with their current design?

I would like to take this job, both for the money and the potential learning experience, but I will absolutely not if it seems like I cannot complete it to my standards in a timely manner. There are pages and widgets and menus and a blog and I am just worried I will screw something up with my lack of experience.

Strategy for removing hardcoded links from a Wordpress theme?

radiocontrolled — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 03:36:32 -0800

Strategy for removing hardcoded links from a Wordpress theme? I have a Wordpress site installed in a subfolder: test.com/dev which I will soon be moving to live.

The problem I am having is that in my theme folder, in some of my templates there are hardcoded URLs (e.g. in my header and some other template files), so when I move the site those links will be broken.

What's a good strategy for fixing this issue before I move the site from dev to live? Should I recursively search and replace the theme directory to remove hardcoded links when my site move is imminent?

Is there another strategy I should try?

Many thanks

Another question in a long series of me not understanding PHP

codacorolla — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:40:03 -0800

Continuing Wordpress help filter: trying to append a certain word to the end of each title of the posts on my blog. Issue complicated slightly by this being a child theme, details inside... OK, so I'm using the Buddypress plugin, with the theme Frisco, which is a child of the default BP theme. I need to append the word "test" to the end of each post title, so if the title of a post was Foo, then I'd like for it to automatically be Foo Test when viewed on the front page.

Advice I've gotten from other people suggest that this can be modified by going in to single.php, finding the place where wordpress is calling the title of the post (the "php the_title();" function) and writing in "test" in plain HTML next to this, so in the current theme it's right here (with the full single.php file at that link). Every time I try to modify this, the changes don't show up on my site. I've tried editing the parent theme directly (a bad idea, I know) and putting a copy of the single.php file in to the child theme's directory. Neither one works.

Am I going about this the wrong way? Do I have the right idea and the wrong execution? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Buying a good theme

codacorolla — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 09:24:35 -0800

I'm currently shopping for pay themes for a Wordpress blog. A lot of theme websites have previews for their themes, but are rather limited in their implementation. Are there good review/forum sites for themes that aren't SEO backwash, or is there an effective search method to find sites that use a particular theme? As I've mentioned in previous questions about this I need a Buddypress enabled theme.

Tile importing + baby clothing = ?

rachaelfaith — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 17:28:47 -0800

Can you help me come up with some cute ideas for a customized onesie or other baby gift, having to do with tile? So, this is probably a bit weird, but my supervisor (who I'm very close with) is starting maternity leave on Monday. We work at a close-knit tile importing company and because we're almost a family there, I wanted to make some cute tile-themed onesies or other paintable/customizable gifts.

I've painted onesies before (wash-safe, nontoxic paint) and I'm pretty confident I can have them all done in one evening, maybe three to 5 total, but I need ideas of what to paint on them.

I'm definitely doing a teeny version of our work shirts. Here are some other keywords to help; I can either paint images or text or some combination:

-tile
-porcelain
-ceramic
-installation
-grout
-renovation
-mosaic
-stone
-pallets
-importing
-shipments

If I can't come up with anything good, I can do cute, standard baby stuff, but I'd love to go with this theme.

Thanks in advance!

Wordpress Theme Work

codacorolla — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 09:50:28 -0800

I'm new to PHP and Wordpress development, but have experience working with HTML, CSS, Javascript, and XML. I'm currently building a Wordpress theme for a project and I'm feeling a little out of my depth. What is a good starting point for doing theme work? The specifics of the project are that we're using Wordpress as more of a CMS for a community of writers than as a straight-up blog. We're also working off of the BuddyPress framework.

There are two specific features that I'm looking to incorporate in to the site:

A simplified posting screen,

and a good way to promote posts to the front page.

Are there any existing plug-ins that accomplish these tasks and would also be compatible with BuddyPress? If not, then what would be a good starting point to work on these goals?

A few of the BuddyPress optimized themes get sort of close to what I'm looking for in terms of design, but they're also all freemium models, and I'm not sure about the wisdom of using a shareware theme for the site. How easy is it to modify an existing theme, and does this cause further problems when a new version of Word/Buddy press is released?

Both Wordpress and BuddyPress are set in stone in terms of the project, so not using them isn't really an option.

Wordpress Workflow

codacorolla — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:24:33 -0800

I'm designing a custom Wordpress theme as part of a project. In addition to the typical Wordpress install, there's also going to be a social media plug-in on top of it (which has already been picked out and installed by another member of the project). This is the most complicated bit of web development that I've done, so I'm curious: what sort of workflow should I set up to make things easy on myself? I feel like I should set up a development environment on my system instead of trying to do things live on the server, so which development environment would be the best? I've Googled around for it, but I'm not really sure what to look for. Is it best to get one set up specifically for Wordpress, or are there better general purpose PHP IDEs?

Children's albums with a theme.

surfgator — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:52:34 -0800

Help me find children's music albums that tells a story or has a theme. We love listening to music with our 2-year-old. So far, Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie's Sing Along and Laurie Berkner's Rocketship Run have been the biggest hits for everyone because they sort of tell a simple story or have a theme throughout the album. I am looking for more of the same type of thing.

How can I better identify and understand "theme" and "subtext" (and "motif"?) in stories and not just take them (as I tend to) as a plot or a bunch of things that happen.

Anonymous — Sat, 05 May 2012 12:54:39 -0800

How can I better identify and understand "theme" and "subtext" (and "motif"?) in stories and not just take them (as I tend to) as a plot or a bunch of things that happen. I know this is a bit vague and varies from film to film and book to book, but I've just never been that good at identifying theme and subtext in stories. I often find that I enjoy a story as a series of events while its themes end up not so much going right over my head as they just don't register at all. Then later I will read a review or a critique and realize there was so much going on below the surface that I completely missed.

IS this even something that can be helped? Id like to get better at this if for no other reason than to enrich my experience with stories.

70s Game Show Theme Music

dopeydad — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:25:47 -0800

What 70s game show used Henry Mancini's "March of the Cue Balls" as its theme music? The game show in question was on TV when I was a child living in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, Canada, so it may have been a Canadian production. It probably aired on CBC, because I think that was the only channel available to us at that time. The music is the only thing I remember about the show. This YouTube commenter says that he was on a "high school quiz show" that used the song as its theme, so that's probably the one I'm looking for, but he doesn't mention the show's title.

doink doink

theodolite — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:02:14 -0800

TV shows that used thematically remixed/covered versions of their theme songs for particular episodes. The first two seasons of Sons of Anarchy used this pretty terrible song in the intro sequence. For part of the third season, which takes place in Ireland, they used this remixed version with bodhrans and flutes and shit, as if to say, Hey, look, now we're in Ireland! What other shows have done this?

I know The Wire, for example, had a different musician cover the theme song for each season, and Weeds had a different cover every (?) episode (I've only seen a couple of them) but I'm not aware of any thematic significance to those versions.

Ideas for hosting a very merry birthday party.

ialwayscryatendings — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:59:38 -0800

I'm looking for ideas to host a great Alice in Wonderland-themed potluck golden 30th birthday party. Hello all,

I normally don't do too much for my birthday, but this is a big one. I had an Alice in Wonderland party about 5 years ago that was great; afterwards I had the feeling that if we really went all out it could be the best themed party of all time, and now I want to make that happen (with your help, of course). Here is what I know so far:

*My plan is for people to come over around mid-afternoon (teatime), and for it to go into the evening. Not too late because it's a Sunday.
*My place is the upper level of a duplex house. We have a backyard, and I am hoping the unusually warm weather will hold enough to spend a lot of time outside.
* I am inviting both family and friends, and there will be kids there.
*My grandma is making a cake, so dessert is taken care of.
*It will be a potluck.
*It will be a costume party. I am going as Alice.
*It is also my 30th birthday, and my golden birthday.
*I am getting a bouncy castle (unfortunately, I can't find any shaped like a mushroom or anything Alice-like. If you have recommendations for Minneapolis, please let me know...).

I am looking for your ideas on:
*Foods. It will be a potluck, but I want to give some ideas so that it will vaguely fit the theme. My inclination right now is to go towards "tea party" foods, but I want to make sure we have filling food, too. I want to provide some kind of main course, so ideas for that are welcome. Some things I have thought of are small cakes labeled "eat me, tarts, and mushroom-based dishes. I will create a Google doc where people can sign up for appetizer, side dish, dessert etc, to try to make sure we get a variety of things.

*Drinks. Any ideas for drinks that will fit the theme are welcome. Someone mentioned Magic Hat beer to me, as an example, and we are also looking for kid-friendly drinks too.

*Decor. I will set up a croquet set in the yard, and have plastic flamingos to use as clubs. I have thought of decorating flowers with eyes in the yard. I have giant novelty cards that people can wear or we can put around. I am trying to borrow my work's projector to play various versions of the movie on the side of the house. I want to go all out in decorating, so ideas for both inside and outside would be great.

*Costumes. Any more obscure characters I can recommend to party-goers at a loss?

*Activities and Additional tie-ins with the books/films. Any ways we can tie in quotes from the book or strengthen the theme that I haven't mentioned. Maybe a Caucus Race or Lobster Quadrille? Any ideas on tying the (Facebook/email) invitation to the theme?

I have seen some past questions that were focused on costumes, but nothing on the whole package. Also, if you have ideas for tying the Alice theme with golden 30th birthday, that would be sweet.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

How to Display Images Correctly Using Cargo Theme?

amicamentis — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:46:46 -0800

How can I get the Cargo theme (Tumblr) to display full-size images on the main page? I am missing something, in settings or preferences, that would enable me to do this. I am only interested in posting images, and when they are displaying on the main page they are a magnified portion of what they should be. They only look normal when clicked. It is similar to what is going on in this blog (sample: not self-linking) - the actual images are larger than what is shown in the tiles.

I run this theme on another blog which shows the images correctly. I have since forgotten how I did that. What am I missing?

Identify this theme from the new Upstairs, Downstairs series?

gentle — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 03:40:34 -0800

The new Upstairs, Downstairs series on BBC uses a particular piece of theme music composed by Carl Davis. The theme sounds like it's based on a traditional English folk ballad, like something Vaughan Williams might have rearranged. Of course, it could be an original composition, but if it's based on an existing work I would love to know. Here is a snatch (MP3 format) from a scene in season 2 episode 4.