Version 1.2.6

From first day of public release, WordPress has been my blogging solution of choice. It's elegant, easy to use and supported by a great development community.

However, I feel that the design bundled with WordPress by default, leaves something to be desired. It seems to lack the finesse, usability and elegance found throughout the rest of the WordPress system.

This theme — code-named Kubrick (after the late Stanley Kubrick) — is my attempt at providing a more stylish platform, with which you can launch your blog. I have done my utmost to create a theme which is simple to setup and use, while remaining powerful and versatile.

— Michael Heilemann

Requirements

A few things need to be in order for you to use this theme:

1. WordPress 1.2 — This theme was designed for use with WordPress 1.2. As new versions are released, I will update any problems that might arise. Version numbers follow those of WordPress, with the last number indicating the current edition of the Kubrick theme.
2. CSS, XHTML and PHP — I'd recommend that you know at least a smidgen CSS, XHTML and PHP. I have done all I can to make sure things work out of the box, but there are countless factors I can't foresee, and so it might be necessary that you're able to make the necessary adjustments. If you are in doubt about something, please feel free to contact me.

Updateing From Kubrick v1.2.4

If you are using a version of Kubrick v1.2.4, you'll have to delete a few files before you install this new version. If you are using a clean WordPress 1.2 install, you can skip this section and go straight to 'installation'.

This is because the old Kubrick 'strong-armed' your server into doing what it needed, where this version instead goes around it instead.

First off, delete .htaccess. If you still want to use rewriting (which I suggest), go to Admin -> Options -> Permalinks and follow the instruction, just like you normally would, when installing WordPress. Kubrick no longer needs its own rewrite rules.

This are the files you'll have to delete: 404.php, archivespage.php, index.php, kubrick.css, permalink.php, search.php, wp-comments.php and the kubrick directory.

Installation

When the above requirements have been met, it's time to 'install' the thing. But before we go ahead with that, Backup your files!

I mean it!

1. Upload — Unzip and upload the files from the archive to the root of your WordPress installation, making sure to preserve the directory structure.

2. ...

3. Profit!

Files

These are the main files:

• Index — Used exclusively for the frontpage, unless you failed to setup the '.htaccess' file properly, in which case it is used for the entire site. This is the only page with a sidebar.
• kubrick-searchform.php — Kubrick uses a search form in a few different places. To make sure that a change to the form propagates across all those places automatically, it's kept in an external file.
• wp-layout.css — This is where mostly all the styling information is kept. The only exception, is anything that has to do with images. Which you'll find in the index.php file.
• wp-comments.php — All stuff pertaining to how the comments are displayed and interacted with, is stored in this file.

Customizing

While it is, of course my intention with this theme, to give you a quick and dirty way of setting up a fairly good looking, but rather impersonal blog. I have also included the Photoshop template and set it up in such a way that, even if you're not a Photoshop know-it-all, it is entirely straightforward to change the graphics.

This is how you go about it:

1. Open — Open the 'Kubrick Template.psd' file with Photoshop.
2. Change — Change whatever you want, such as for instance the background color
3. Save — Go to File » Save For Web. Press Save when the dialog appears. Choose a place to save it, and voilá.
4. Upload — Photoshop has now created a directory called 'images', where you saved the images. Upload this directory to the root of your WordPress installation, overwriting the files already there.

It is an exceptionally simple procedure, and I hope it will allow you to personalize your blog, even if you don't have previous experience with Photoshop.

Also, while the default setup is without a header image, I have left a few examples of header images within the file. If you want a personal header image, simply paste it into the 'Header' layer-folder, and it will automatically be matted by the layer-folder's alpha channel (you may have to move and/or resize the pasted layer).

There are two different header styles in the Photoshop file. One has a white rounded border, the other stretches all the way to the edge.

Once that's done, simply follow the above point-by-point procedure again.

Personal Header Drop-In — If you don't want to play around with Photoshop, but you would still like a personal header of some sort, you can do the following:

1. Size — Make sure your image is 760px x 200px or more.
2. Name — Save it as a JPEG, and name it personalheader.jpg.
3. Upload — Upload it to the /images/ directory.

And that should be that... It should now show up on your site.

Payback

There are only two things that I ask of you, if you want to use this theme.

• First of all, I would like it if you preserve my name in the footer. Once you start making substantial changes, I leave it up to your own judgment to decide when you feel you can omit it, at which point I hope you will leave in my name in the CSS file.
• A conditional comment loads up a small Firefox button on the sidebar, which in turn links to getfirefox.com. It only does so in Internet Explorer, and I hope that I can persuade you to also preserve this little piece of code, or at least something similar to it.

I am not going to police these things, but I hope that you won't mind doing me these small favors.

Final Thoughts

At the time of writing this, I have done all I can to make the design as smart as possible. It should scale as far down as 800x600, and work in Internet Explorer 6.0, Internet Explorer 5.2 (Mac), FireFox 0.9, Safari 1.2 and OmniWeb 5.

If you find rendering errors, be it text that is too small to be readable, or div's that're off by a pixel or more, Please contact me.

If you feel that I am deserving, why not help me fill up my PayPal account or empty out my Amazon.co.uk wishlist? Paypal donations will go toward bandwidth expenses and flowers for my girlfriend, who has had to endure this blogging fling for quite some time now.

Version History

v1.2.6

• Internet Explorer 5.5 Fix: wp-layout.css - body - text-align: center;
• Internet Explorer 5.5 Fix: wp-layout.css - #page - text-align: left;
• Print layout fix: index.php - line 12 - added: media="screen"
• Search security fix (from WordPress 1.2.1): index.php - line 293 - changed $s to htmlentities($s)
• Search security fix (from WordPress 1.2.1): kubricksearchform.php - line 2 - changed $s to htmlentities($s)
• Returning commentators: Made comment form in wp-comments.php remember returning commentators, removing unnecessary form clutter for them. Please be aware, that it currently relies on JavaScript, and does not check for support. If you need to include this in a current setup, then you can copy everything between the opening and closing form tags.

v1.2.5

Entire template has been rewritten from the ground up. It now no longer uses different files for different purposes, but instead runs everything through index.php. This makes it possible to use Kubrick on Internet Information Servers, where the old version only worked on Apache servers.

Photoshop Template has also been changed a bit, making it look a bit more generic, and hopefully more 'fresh'.

v1.2.4

• Fixed trackback URI problem.
• Fixed .htaccess for easier use with subdir installations (read the readme for instructions).
• Fixed (hopefully) comment problems.
• Bundling conversions of Dunstan's cool time code.
• Fixed search problems.
• Fixed archive page title.
• Made readme instructions somewhat clearer.

v1.2.3

• Fixed RSS feed links in the footer (though I'm sure I've got a lot of unwilling subscribers now; Doh!)
• Fixed comments showing up in the archives
• Fixed wp-images reference in kubrick.css
• Fixed problems with 404 page
• Moved 404.php from /kubrick/ to the root
• Changed the PHP include paths, to easier accommodate people who aren't using the root of the their server as their blog
• Moved all image using CSS code to include-head.php, so it's easier to setup Kubrick for use in a WordPress installation, which isn't in the root of the server
• Link icons (showing a small arrow on links that point to a place other than your blog), are now working out of the box. The CSS code has been moved from kubrick.css to kubrick/include-head.php
• Zip file now unpacks to /kubrick/, making it easier for some of you to handle.
• Fixed a few minor redundant pieces of PHP and CSS

My Mind is Going...

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you."

In case you are wondering, I chose the codename of Kubrick, because I find him to be one of the most visionary artists of modern time. As his films, this theme is slightly cold and austere, requiring effort for it to become the personal experience that it has the potential to be.

Happy blogging.