Here, you can download some of the templates I've used on my own weblog in a format that you can use on your own Movable Type, Blogger or Wordpress blog. There isn't much here yet but I'll be adding some more over the coming weeks and months - to stay up-to-date, why not subscribe to the Atom or RSS feeds?
All templates are released under Creative Commons licenses so you are free to modify them as you wish.
A new template, loosely based on BlueFade but re-worked to use a more column-like design. This was first introduced onto this site at the end of February 2004, and makes use of CSS rollovers to create a rather nice navigation menu. Despite its name, IcyBlue is available in a range of colour schemes, including feminine pink.
Note that there are two versions for Movable Type - 1.13 and 1.21 beta. 1.2 beta is recommended but may contain bugs - if you want something potentially more reliable, stick with 1.13. 1.2x versions for Blogger and Wordpress are on the way.
This template is derived from the look of the ODP Weblog that I designed last year. The green was used to match in with the colours of the ODP, and coupled with the text effects applied to the posts titles gives the template a classy look.
This is a reworking of BlueFade with a more classical look by using serif fonts for headings. This was the look used on this site between around October 2003 and February 2004. It has the same features as BlueFade Remix, but adopts a different feel.
A modification of the Bluefade template to include date headers, a new search box in the top-right of the screen and basic breadcrumb navigation. There are two MT versions of this template - if you put your posts into categories, the 'Category' version is best for you, otherwise download the 'non-Category' version. Wordpress users need only download the main Wordpress distribution.
The original Bluefade template, as used on this site during the summer of 2003 and the first template I ever released. By using mostly sans-serif fonts, it offers a modern feel, while blocks of colour allow for stronger visual separation of entries while being pale enough to be easy on the eye.
Note: IcyBlue is almost exactly the same as the live templates I'm using now - please use that unless you really know what you're doing!
You can view the template files as used on this site in this folder. Bear in mind, however, that these are 'live' and likely to change without warning. These are for Movable Type only.
This is yet another beta of IcyBlue 1.2x. This features a big change, which is attribute compatibility with Michael Heilemann’s Kubrick theme. All of the template and CSS files have changed.
The change will mean that integration will be easier for Wordpress users when I eventually get around to releasing a Wordpress version - this will probably be once the Movable Type version comes out of beta.
There is also a bug fix relating to the links on some page where I’d used the wrong template tag.
I’ve released a second beta of IcyBlue 1.2x which fixes some bugs found in the first release. If you’ve been beta-testing the template then please update if you want to avoid your pages looking rather odd when someone trackbacks you.
As before, please let me know if there are any problems.
On an unrelated note, I’m installing a nightly build of Wordpress 1.5 for test purposes. It’s therefore likely that the next version of the IcyBlue template for Wordpress will use the new Themes support, which should make for easier installation.
I’ve released a beta version of IcyBlue 1.2, a new version of IcyBlue which incorporates various evolutionary changes that I have made to my own weblog over the past 9 months. Most of the changes are in the stylesheet, the index page and the individual entry pages, and the template versions offered here will now more closely match this site.
This is, however, a beta release because I need people to check if everything is working okay - the changes were made by back-porting the new code into the existing templates, which may have caused some hiccups. If all is well, I will release this properly in a couple of weeks time, along with beta versions of the equivalent Wordpress and Blogger templates.
Treat this as a new Year present from me :)
Raffaello Tesi just sent me an updated version of his unofficial port of IcyBlue to Pivot. If you have the first beta you may want to upgrade. Thanks, Raffaello!
There’s now a beta version of IcyBlue available for Pivot, a PHP-based blogging system. It’s not by me but by Raffaello Tesi - full details are here.
Les appears to be working on IcyBlue for ExpressionEngine but I’m not sure of his progress. If you want to port any of these templates to other platforms, feel free.
This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
By browsing this site, you agree to the Terms of Usage.