HemingwayEx
HemingwayEx update: 04/29/08, v1.1 released
HemingwayEx update: 07/14/07, v1.0 release
Ever since I first installed the Hemingway theme on my wordpress blog, I have been a big fan of it. I love tinkering with it and every now and then I keep adding something new or changing something here or there in the theme. I have finally decided to make my modifications available to others for download as well.
So, I introduce HemingwayEx, a simple extension of Hemingway theme for Wordpress blogs. I have tried to keep the original essence of the Hemingway theme and added some new features and fixed some small issues. This theme comes with an options page and is widgetized.
HemingwayEx 1.1 works on Wordpress 2.3 or later.
Features
Here are some of the main features of HemingwayEx:
- Widgetized: This theme can be used with / without widgets. By setting an option, you can select whether you want to use the original blocks system of Hemingway themes or use widget enabled sidebars. Note: If you do select to use widgets, you are going to have some issues setting up the sidebars as wordpress’s widgets page is not optimized for more than 3-4 sidebars.
- Options Page: You can goto Presentation -> HemingwayEx Options and set various options that give you more control over how the theme works for you.
- Font Size: I have had some people complain about the small size of the theme. Though I like it and I have kept it same, I have provided a simple javascript tool that can be used to increase/decrease the font size of the theme. It is located just below the search form.
- User Styles: The theme allows user to easily modify the theme’s CSS to their liking. It also comes packaged with a CSS named White which can be used to invert the colors of this theme. I will be adding more such CSS files in the future.
- IMHO, comments are handled in a very nice manner. I love the comment numbering and you can have them displayed in ascending / descending order.
- Updates Notification: You will get automatic update notification in HemingwayEx Options page when a new update is out.
- Dynamic Slidebar: Just like the Hemingway Bottombar, I have added a HemingwayEx Slidebar that gets displayed when the user clicks on an ‘Open Navigation’ button.
- Support (sort of): I have set up a forum for you to ask questions and report bugs. I will try and take care of issues time permitting.
- XHTML validated
Screenshots
Click thumbnails below to view larger screenshots:
Latest version: 1.1
Release Notes for HemingwayEx v1.1
Changes
- Fixed CSS issues here and there. The look and feel should be a little bit better now
- Added option to enable/disable the sidebars
- Added option to enable/disable the font resizer
- Added option to enable/disable the post navigation
- Added option to turn on/off the excerpt on home page
- (Hopefully) fixed the update notification mechanism
- Did some SEO optimizations
- Added support for Related Posts plugin. You just need to download and activate the plugin.
- Removed the inbuilt Asides support
- Tried to internationalize the theme. I would appreciate it if someone could try and localize it.
- Started using WP’s in-built support for Tags instead of UTW tags.
For more details, please have a look at the differences between source code for v1.0 and v1.1.
Testing
I have tested this theme with Wordpress 2.3+ and Wordpress 2.5+. I used Firefox (version 2x, 3x on Ubuntu/Windows/Mac OS X), IE (5/6/7 on Windows), Safari (Mac OS X) and Opera (Windows). It seems to be working fine.
Demo
You can see latest version of HemingwayEx in action here.
Download
Download HemingwayEx v1.1.
Installation
Installation is very simple. Just download the zip file and upload the ‘hemingwayEx’ folder to themes folder in your Wordpress installation. Goto the Admin Menu -> Presentation -> Themes and select the theme.
Once installed, you can go into Presentation -> HemingwayEx Options and customize the theme further to your liking.
Upgrading
If you are upgrading, you will need to reset/uninstall the previous version of HemingwayEx first. If you don’t you might find the display mixed up. Here are the steps you should follow:
- Goto HemingwayEx Options page and note down you settings.
- Now upload the new files for HemingwayEx theme.
- Click reset button at the bottom of the HemingwayEx options page.
- Refresh the HemingwayEx Options page and set the options to what they were before. Also, set more options if new settings have been made available.
Donations
If you liked HemingwayEx and have found it helpful, consider supporting it. If nothing else, how about buying me a beer/coffee?
Questions / Issues / Bugs / FAQs
In past, I have been asked a lot of questions on how to customize the theme and how to fix some issue that have cropped up here and there. It was all being done mainly via comments left at this page, but now I have set up a forum to take care of this. Please goto the forum to ask questions, report bugs or issues and leave comments. I will not be answering questions left here as a comment anymore.
Older versions
Go to HemingwayEx (Previous releases) page to get older versions of HemingwayEx theme along with pseudo release notes.
Disclaimer
Please note that even after spending quite some time on this theme, I have little experience with PHP. I mostly play around with it and learn as I code. I have been using this theme on my site for sometime now and I have not had any problems, but if some issue does come up, please don’t hold me responsible. I would like to know about the bugs that could be fixed and some other features that could be added, and I would work on it, time permitting.

