Photog is a free Thesis Skin you can use to instantly turn your Thesis WordPress Theme powered site into a photoblog. All of the Thesis Sharp customizations are contained inside of the custom folder so no core Thesis files need to be touched.

Features include rounded corners for the post box and image frame, a widgetized header area for banner ads or social media icons, and CSS stlying for optional Rating and Sharing plugins. A second navigation menu has also been added for Photo categories.

Download and Installation

Download the skin files which contain the two custom files (custom.css and custom_functions.php) and a few background images. Backup your current custom files if you’ve got any customizations you want to save and then upload all the skin files to your custom folder. The social media icons I’ve included in the widgetized header area on the demo can be downloaded for free from Dry Icons. Of course you can use your own social media icons or choose a banner image for the header area or disable it completely.

To replicate the look of this skin here on the demo page, ensure that your using the page framework and that your outer page padding is set to zero in the Thesis Options panel. In the Thesis Design Panel, I’m using the 1 column layout at a width of 900px and all the photos have been re-sized to a width of 800px. Feel free to experiment with different layout and image widths, but these are the settings I have used to create the look you see here on the demo page. I’ve also disabled the feed link from showing in the primary nav menu since I’ve included a RSS Icon in the widgetized header area.

I’m using two plugins on the demo page that are optional but have already been styled in the custom.css file for this skin. They are the GD Star Rating plugin which I thought would be a nice way for visitors to rate your photographs and the Add to Any: Share/Bookmark/Email Button plugin to allow visitors to share your photographs on their favorite social media site.

Customization Tips and Skin Updates

The skin is still a work in progress. I’ll be posting frequent updates to the skin as I make improvements and add new features so make sure you subscribe to the newsletter or follow me on twitter to get notified when updates are posted.

I’ll also be adding some customization tutorials and videos to show you how to use the skin to its fullest, so again make sure you subscribe or follow me to get updated on the latest Thesis Photog news.

Feedback, Support, and Spreading the Word

If you like this free Thesis Skin, I’d love to hear about it. Just drop a comment here or Connect with Me on Twitter and let me know what you think. I love meeting new people, so please do leave a comment or get in touch! If you need help with anything Thesis Sharp related, let me know and I’ll be glad to help.

And if you would like to see more free Thesis Skins, please take a minute and help me spread the word and as long as there is an interest, I’ll keep the free skins coming. Here’s how you can help.

1 Minute is all it takes

• ReTweet this post on twitter using the button at the top of this post.
• Use the Share/Save button at the bottom of this post to submit it to your favorite Social Networking site.

If you Really like Thesis Photog consider

• Writing a short Thesis Photog review post on your blog with a link back to this site
• Hiring Me to customize your Thesis Site

Running Thesis Photog on your Site?

If you’re running this skin on your site, I’d love to know about it and take a peek. Just leave a comment with your address here so we all can admire!

Sunset as we passed a island on our Eastern Caribbean cruise in January 2007.

The lake at Brown County State Park in Indiana. Taken on a perfect fall day in October.

Closeup of Bailey, our Westie, in the living room.