Thesis Skins are the realization of over 5 years of dedication to a single cause: Providing you with optimized, beautiful, and customizable designs that you can use without sacrificing any mission-critical functionality or having to learn a new system (as is the case when you switch from one WordPress theme to another).
On that note, today is a banner day here at DIYthemes because we are releasing the first official add-on for Thesis. It’s called the Promo Skin, and it’s the initial offering in our premium designers’ series. (These Skins are collaborations between top designers and Thesis creator Chris Pearson.)
Designed by Thesis expert Nina Cross, Promo is informed by years of freelance work and common requests from people just like you. The result is a Skin that has everything you need to build an audience, promote yourself, and look like a pro in the process.
Let’s look at some of the ways you can use Promo to improve your site immediately:
Indispensable Promo Skin Features
Note: You may want to open the Promo Skin demo [edit: link removed] in another window while you read the rest of this post.
For example, Promo contains a header promo bar that you can use to draw your visitors’ attention to important, time-sensitive content. We use this strategy here at DIYthemes, and it’s an easy way to drive traffic to places where your visitors can take action.
Next, Promo comes with social media profile icon links, which provide you with an easy way to link to the various social media profiles relative to you. With default locations in the header, footer, and sidebar, you’ll be able to place your profile links in areas where your visitors can see ’em.
Which social media sites are supported? Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, and even your RSS feed.
(So far, people are LOVING this. I know you’re gonna dig the icon links.)
In her freelance work, Nina receives similar requests from clients for certain types of functionality. Her most often-requested item is a tabbed posts box, where you can link to recent posts, popular posts, and even hand-picked posts from your blog.
Needless to say, she has hooked you up with this awesome—and customizable!—feature in the Promo Skin. Look for it in the sidebar.
In addition, Promo supports a business or personal logo in the header via Thesis’ simple header image interface. Better still, your logo is guaranteed to look great on all devices because of our attention to detail in responsive views.
And naturally, the Promo Skin features a meticulously optimized, responsive design.
We go to great lengths to ensure that your site looks fantastic on all types of devices so you don’t have to. After all, your job is to build an audience and promote yourself; it’s our job to worry about the technical details of your website!
Simple, Breathtaking Design Options
When Nina first sent me Promo, I was blown away by how awesome the color scheme picker is on this Skin. The design uses more colors than either the Classic Responsive or Social Triggers Skins, and the results that come from using the Thesis ColorScale tool are truly remarkable.
With the ColorScale tool, you’re just one click away from 246 different color schemes, and each of these resulting color schemes can be tweaked to infinity. You can create unlimited potential combinations in just a few clicks (and from the comfort of Thesis’ simple design options page).
Watch the video below for a 2-minute look at the color customization possibilities:
The thing I like the most about this is that anyone who uses Promo can easily create a unique color scheme that suits them.
Once upon a time, people complained because they thought so many Thesis sites looked alike. Thanks to Thesis 2’s revolutionary design controls, those complaints began to wither away.
And now that Promo is here, those days are long gone. Infinite customization is at your fingertips, and you can create a unique look for your site in just a few clicks.
Also, Promo contains simplified layout and font controls that are designed around the items people tend to change the most.
For example, you can change column widths, column orientation (content on the left or right), and the general font settings from the comfort of the design options. You can even tweak your nav menu and sidebar settings if you really want to go for a custom look.
Of course, Thesis will adjust your design according to the settings you choose, so your resulting typography and layout will always be pixel-perfect. (It’s kind of our thing.)
Detailed Documentation to Help You Hit the Ground Running
After you’ve installed Promo, you can have a look at the Promo Skin documentation for a detailed look at the new features and how to implement them on your site.
Everything is point-and-click, and regardless of your skill level, you’ll be up and running within about 5 minutes.
Oh, and although I didn’t mention it earlier, the Promo Skin also supports our Email Signup Form Boxes (MailChimp and AWeber for now, with more to come soon). And if you’re using a different email campaign provider, we can help you integrate the forms into your site in just a few minutes.
Seriously, we’ve thought of everything đŸ˜€