Its always refreshing to take the theme and then mod it and mold it until so it does new things that it didn’t before. In fact DrawPj.com doesn’t really have any ads at all, it’s an online art course site, but still HeatMap Theme was up for the job!

Over the next few weeks I’ll do some posts about some of the tweaks I’ve made to construct DrawPj.com. Some of them may well make it into future versions of the theme as permanent features.

Anyway, hop on over to DrawPj.com and have a look, and, if you are a subscribed Heatmap Insider member and you want the inside skinny on anything that I’ve done there, then do drop me a line.

Oh BTW, the client is very happy with it. The client also happens to be my wife. Phew!

I was excited to hear about this through the HeatMap Insider grapevine, so I grabbed a copy for myself and lo and behold, there is HeatMap Theme right on video 4, being SEO’d to the max by Sean. Cool!

If an SEO heavyweight like Sean is happy to use HeatMap Theme then we must be doing something right here

Being a Guru of course he added a few little tweaks of his own to the theme which are quite interesting, so naturally I’ve added them to the latest beta version of HeatMap Theme so that Insider Members can give them a go for themselves.

I must admit I did initially buy the video series just to get a look at the starring role my theme was playing, but you know what? The content in Firestorm SEO is actually very very good… and I don’t just say that  just because HeatMap Theme is in it!

UPDATE: Sean just personally posted this very nice message on the Warrior Forum about HeatMap Theme…

“Heatmap has recently become one of my favorite templates for SEO so well done on the excellent job you did on that theme and I cannot recommend it enough to my students as a great basis for their efforts.”

Thanks very much Sean!

My FireStorm SEO review

I’m usually reasonably skeptical about the gee-whizzery of SEO and Internet Marketing Courses, but this series is so professionally put together and packed full of useful tips, that I’m very happy to recommend it here.

There’s 7 videos in total, covering different aspects of Seans SEO methods. My favourite of course was video 4 which tells you how to set up Seans favourite SEO plugins. Its  always great to get that ‘over-the-shoulder’ look at how a Guru does his thing.

I also really liked video 2 which re-reminded me of all the SEO things I need to be doing with my own sites. He talks in the context of finding niches to fill, but I was immediately able to relate it to improving how my existing sites perform in their niches.

Sean also includes some extra useful resources and a zip file containing his fave WordPress SEO plugins. Its a pretty comprehensive package.

If you are starting out with WordPress, SEO or internet marketing and want to get an excellent primer in keyword research,  finding niches and setting up your WordPress blog so that it really rocks SEO-wise then this is probably an excellent buy for you. At $67 its pretty cheap too I’d say.

It also makes an excellent accompaniment to a HeatMap Insider Membership!

Anyway, I’m impressed. Two thumbs up from Mappy Mapster! Check it for yourself.

• Firestorm SEO by Sean Donahoe

This is great news for everyone who has yearned for more control over exactly what pages, categories and links are shown on the Heatmap Drop Down menus.

So if you have a yearning for more control (muhaha!) and you are still rocking the free download HeatMap Version 2.5.4 then its time to head over to the HeatMap Theme Store and get yourself a membership.

Custom drop down menu power can now be yours!

Version 3.0.5a beta allows both the pages nav bar and the categories nav bar to be fully customised using the new WordPress 3.0 menu manager. You can still use the old menu system too if you prefer your drop down menus to be automatically generated.

So, WordPress 3.0 beta testers start your engines! Custom WordPress dropdown menus are here!

As ever, the beta is available from the Heatmap Insider Beta Downloads area.

Whats new?

There’s a new addition to the HeatMap Theme options page which allows you to switch on support for the new menu manager (thus ensuring that the new menus are backward compatible with the ones you already have). At this time the menu manager only works for the Pages Nav Bar.

The new beta is available in the HeatMap Insider Forum Beta Downloads area.

This release brings a couple of extra useful goodies which HeatMapsters have been asking for in the shape of two new page/post templates which allow you to…

• Switch off the ads and/or auto thumbnails images when using the WordPress Gallery feature in pages or posts

• Turn off the auto thumbnail images when you are manually inserting images into pages or posts

These nifty little templates help to keep your blog formatting stay just as lovely as it should whenever you are using images in your pages and posts.

HeatMap Theme has just celebrated its 250th member, so if you are using the free download version, loving your HeatMap Theme and would like to take advantage of the latest and greatest theme updates direct from HeatMapster HQ then we invite you to jump aboard and join our happy band!

Just check out as per usual in the store to take advantage of this offer. You’ll find the 3 year membership option on the sign up page as an option.

Oh, and for those who are not Paypal members we now have a ‘pay direct via credit card option’ courtesy of Moneybookers.

Already a HeatMap Insider? Don’t worry, you haven’t missed out. Just PM me in the forum if you would like to extend your membership and we’ll organise it so you can pay the additional $35 to top up your membership to 3 years.

HeatMap Theme requires WordPress version 2.9 upwards.

Make sure you are running the latest WordPress version before installing HeatMap Theme.

Happy Heatmapstering!

Post Thumbnails

StuartWider.com gets the Thumbnail Feature makeover!

Its now super easy to add thumbnails and images to your posts and pages using the Post Thumbnails feature. Just set the thumbnail image in your WordPress Post Editor and the image will automatically be sized and included in your Recent Posts Plus sidebar Widget, pages or posts. You can also choose to automatically align these images left or right from the HeatMap Theme options page (this is feature only available in 3.0.2).

You can see this feature in full effect on stuartwider.com.

Hide either post details or the comments count (or both!)

Some Heatmapsters wanted more from the Hide Post Details Feature that was introduced in 3.0.1 and now you’ve got it. You now have the option to hide the post details (eg categories, tags, date, author etc) but still have the comment count showing!

Again you can see this in full effect on stuartwider.com. Note the neat looking comment count where normally the full post details would appear on the home page under each post.

Bugs Eradicated

Child Themes now correctly pull their favicon from the child theme itself.

Compatability

Please make sure you are running WordPress version 2.9 and upwards.

Support and Extra Goodies

The supported version of HeatMap Theme version 3.0.2 is available from the HeatMap Insider Forum.

Visit the HeatMap Theme Store

• HeatMap Theme is about to pass 24,000 downloads on the WordPress Free Theme Repository.
• We’ve just welcomed our 200th paid member on the HeatMap Insider Forum.
• There are now more than 1100 posts on the forum contain useful hints, tips, customisations and general HeatMap Theme advice.

That’s a whole lotta HeatMapstering!

Another highlight of the past few months is that HeatMap Theme is  now listed in the WordPress commercial themes directory (which was one of our ambitions – now fulfilled!)

So its onwards and upwards for Mappy Mapster and the HeatMap Theme!

Many thanks to everyone who has sent their kind words of encouragement, support and praise. They are very much appreciated.

See you on the Inside… the HeatMap Insider Forum that is!