After an entertaining new name contest, the makers of Frugal have essentially renamed the theme to Catalyst. This premium WordPress theme is better than ever!

Personally (and selfishly), I didn’t mind leaving the Frugal name as is since I ranked very high for it.  However, I must admit that Catalyst does have a better ring to it.

As many of you know, I’m not a fan of promoting things that I have no experience with. Although Free Blog Help doesn’t currently use Frugal/Catalyst, I used it prior to this version. Moreover, I still use Frugal/Catalyst on one of my other sites and absolutely love it. I have no intention of switching over to anything else.

Catalyst Theme: What’s in it for me?

I know, there are many premium themes out there, most of which offer something comparable. I’m not sure how tech savvy you are or how valuable your time is but I can honestly tell you that this theme has saved me countless hours. It’s just that extremely user-friendly!

For under $100, you’re getting a state-of-the-art theme. Look at what you’re actually getting!

• Catalyst Theme, the Dynamik Child Theme & 22 Dynamic Skins
• Use on an Unlimited number of your sites & client sites
• Access to the Members-only Catalyst Support Forum
• Free updates for Life

Not bad, right? Oh, and did I mention the amazing video instructions on how to do just about anything as an admin?

I’ve been using Catalyst’s predecessor, Frugal, for almost two years. The Catalyst WordPress theme has come a long way and continues to get better. You can make your site look so customized it’s not even funny. If you’re tired of the same look that other WP premium themes offer, this is your chance to stand out with minimal effort! You have 22 skins to start off with but if you’re really creative, you can continue to fine-tune until you have something that is entirely unique. After all, you have over 600 no-coding design options before you even think about messing with code tweaks!

And if you have multiple sites, this is really no-brainer buying decision since Catalyst is the same price regardless of how many sites you want to use it for.

Anyway, I can’t really do Catalyst justice with just a few words. Please click on my Catalyst affiliate link and check it out for yourself. You also get a 30 money back guarantee so there’s no risk in giving the Catalyst WP theme a try.

Oh, and read my affiliate disclosure if you want.

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Believe it or not, Frugal has just celebrated its first birthday. It seems like Frugal has been around much longer since the theme has made such a big splash in the WP theme community. Those of you who have been with me for a while know that I’ve been a Frugal theme fan from the beginning. In fact, this site used to be on a Frugal theme and I still use Frugal for another site of mine.

I’m not a product-pusher like many other MMO blogs but I don’t mind putting my stamp on a product, service, or person I believe in. In this case, Frugal meets all three.

The last time I mentioned Frugal was when Frugal 3.0 was released around Thanksgiving last year. Earlier this month, the Frugal team announced its latest version, Frugal 3.5, and it’s pretty amazing. Take a look at the updates:

• Rearrangable Admin Page Option Boxes: The same flexibility and power you’ve come to expect in the options of your Frugal-based sites has been brought home to the admin interface. Each box of option sets is now draggable & sortable, collapsible & expandable. You can organize your admin pages however you want, with your essential options always visible and at the top of the page. The best part is, Frugal automatically remembers how you leave everything, and it will be there waiting for you no matter what browser or computer you log in from.

• Frugal Theme Admin Menu has moved ‘Above the Fold’: With 3.5, we’ve decided to carve some space out for ourselves between ‘Comments’ and ‘Appearance’ in the WordPress Admin Sidebar. Not only does this save users on lower-resolution screens from needing to scroll down to see the menu, but it’s a subtle way of demonstrating that, with this release of Frugal 3.5, we’re on our way to the top!

• WordPress 3.0 Compatibility: We’ve done extensive testing to ensure that Frugal is ahead of the game and ready for the upcoming release of WordPress 3.0. As WordPress evolves from a simple blogging platform to a robust Content Management System, Frugal continues to give you maximum control over your site. The most exciting new WP 3.0 feature, in our opinion, is the fully customizable Navigation Bar. Once you upgrade to WP 3.0, all you need to do to enable the new navbar on your Frugal sites is to flip a switch.

• WordPress MU / 3.0 Multi-User Enabled: Another exciting aspect of WP 3.0 is that the WP Crew has folded WP-MU into Core. Frugal has worked with WP-MU for quite some time, but we’re pleased to see that this feature is going mainstream. We’ve done some testing with Frugal and WP 3.0 Multi-User, and have been highly impressed. If you manage a multi-user site, by enabling Frugal and setting the Dynamic Styles to PHP mode you can let each and every sub-site have its own appearance with just one installation of Frugal! This is a perfect use for skins from our skin store. You can get thousands of unique looks with a single theme.

• Refined image inputs: With Frugal 3.5, we’ve removed the need to type in the names of your uploaded images into the options pages by hand, and replaced the old textfields with drop-down menus showing all available images. This should prove to be a big timesaver — no more “Did I call that file bg-header.png or header-bg.jpg?”

And that’s just some of the new stuff. Let’s not forget that Frugal:

• Has over 600 custom options
• Has built in SEO
• Is designed for developers and non-developers

I don’t endorse too many products and Frugal is the only theme I promote. I’m not saying there aren’t other great premium themes (Thesis, WooThemes, etc…) but personally, I really love Frugal.

Anyway, go check out some of the examples of what others have done with Frugal. I’m always amazed at how creative some of those are. Of course, I would prefer if you use my Frugal affiliate link.

Oh, and let me remind you that I used the word affiliate, which means I may get compensated. Don’t let that stop you since I’ve been writing about Frugal way before I was even an affiliate. Go get Frugal 3.5 today!

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With so many blog “experts” out there, how can you tell the difference between really useful information and dated, irrelevant hype?

There are some of us who have been blogging or running our own sites for years and the best endorsement is what other bloggers have to say about our sites, our content, and our products.

That said, I’ve been a fan of Daniel Scocco from dailyblogtips.com for a while now. I’ve frequented his site regularly and have also participated in his most recent group writing project with my 10 free killer WordPress themes article last year. He successfully runs one of the top blogging/MMO blogs out there (under 5k Alexa ranking!) and there’s a lot we can learn from his experience.

What you may not know is that Daniel wrote a making money with blogs ebook and it’s one of the most useful blogging tools out there. It’s like someone took the vast making money and blogging content from all over cyberspace and created a concise package that can be used by anyone. The best part is that it’s FREE!

Honestly, when I say it can benefit anyone, I mean anyone. Blog beginners will have a field day, saving hundreds of hours by not having to scour the internet for information, much of which isn’t even good. More advanced bloggers will be able to either pick up a few tips and tricks or simply reinforce what they’re currently doing. And if you’re a MMO blogger, you’ll also pick up lots of great ideas for your own content.

So if you haven’t downloaded Daniel’s ebook, what are you waiting for? I did it a many moons ago and I still open it up for a quick read every now and then. I’m sure that you, too, will find it’s a valuable resource in your blogging reference library.

If you’ve already read it, I’d love to see a brief review of what you think.

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Now that you have your domain and web hosting secure, a great blog design doesn’t always have to cost you a bundle. Sure, paying for a theme has its benefits like good support, increased probability of a good back-end, and typically fewer clones. But for bloggers who are strapped for cash these days, there are many free WordPress themes that can do the trick. Besides, whether you pay for a theme or not, you’ll still have to do some level of customization to really stand out anyway.

Below are 10 of my favorite free WordPress themes in 2009 in no particular order. I stuck with bloggers’ themes only but trust me, I still had a hard time narrowing them down!

Which do you like? Do you have any themes to add to the list?

Bueno

BlackPower

Freemium

Blue Rooster

Audry

Magaling

Versatility Lite

OneRoom

Mainstream

WildDreams

BTW, this is my entry to Daniel Scosso’s Group Writing Project. I suggest you participate as well.

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How many times have you changed your theme already? Changing themes to shake things up occasionally is good. Changing themes because you’re fickle is not good.

When we first venture out in the blog world, we might try a handful of themes right away. Then as momentum builds, most bloggers lock down what they have for a while. After 90-120 days, it’s time to re-evaluate again. Obviously, as the site grows, its needs also grow.

I loved my frugal theme (and I’m keeping it for two of my other sites) but honestly Free Blog Help is ready for a makeover. So when I woke up this morning, I suddenly had the urge to hunt down a new theme and customize the heck out of it. After several hours of fine-tuning…voila!

Here’s the problem: I’m not sure I absolutely love it! I mean, I like it a lot but I can’t say I’m in love. Maybe it’ll grow on me, maybe not.

In the meantime, I want to know what you liked about my old site and what you like about this current theme. No feedback is too harsh (or too kind)!

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As many of you know, I’m a frugal theme guy. I use it on several of my sites and I think it’s an awesome theme.

How many times have you seen someone promote a theme when they’ve never used it themselves? Nothing wrong with that but if you really want to know the details from an actual user, I’m here to tell you that I love frugal. So if you’re looking for a new theme, I would definitely consider frugal as an option.

As I mentioned a few months ago, frugal has a clean look that loads fast and is easy to configure. It’s really like pushing the blog easy button.

Right now, Eric Hamm is running a weekend special. Frugal is 20% off from now through Monday, November 30 (midnight EST).

So head over there, read about some of the new features, watch the video on how it works, and browse the gallery of what other folks have done with frugal. You owe it to yourself to at least take a peek.

Go to frugaltheme.com now!

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Since I’ve had this site up and running, the most common question I get is what theme I’m using. There are so many themes to chose from, from free to several thousands of dollars; admittedly, the decision can be overwhelming. Throw in the fact that some of us are new to blogging and really aren’t developers, making the decision to actually pay for a theme can be a scary thing.

How much time can I afford to waste on trying themes? The free themes will look like everyone else’s, why would I want that? If I pay for a theme and I don’t know how to use it, how will I tell my wife/boyfriend/my conscience? Those are just a few questions that constantly swirl in your head until you finally choose that theme.

When I made my switch from Blogger to WordPress, the first thing I had to do was decide on a new theme. I wanted a theme with a clean look that loaded fast and was easy to configure. Although I can do some coding, I prefer not to because (a) I’m not particularly the best at it and (b) I’d rather spend my time writing content and optimizing my site.

During the first few days, I experimented with several themes but didn’t fall in love with any of them — until I stumbled upon frugal theme! Don’t let the name fool you. Whether you’re fresh from the blognip farm or looking for a new solution for your existing blog, a frugal theme can provide tremendous value.

It’s not for everyone but if you want an uncluttered looking site that is supported well (thanks Eric Hamm!), frugal theme is one worth looking into. In fact, don’t just use freebloghelp.com as an example, look at other frugal sites to really see the potential. You’ll find others have really taken the theme to another level with their creative designs. Just head over to frugal themes and click on Gallery. You’ll not only see great looking blog sites but you’ll also find that some people are using it for their non-blog sites, essentially using it as a content management system (CMS) for their websites.

Right now, you actually get both the frugal Premium and frugal Professional themes for one price, $79. Who knows how long Eric will leave the combo price up for. If you haven’t decided on a theme yet, do a little research on how much other themes cost. Many paid themes are also under $100 but the admin modules are lacking. Sure, the end product looks great…if you know what you’re doing. You won’t have that problem with frugal. Before you buy, just look at the video tutorials in the support area to see how easy the admin functions are. I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Using a frugal theme is like pushing the blogging Easy Button.

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