OMG I feel like the guy in The Hurt Locker trying to pick out a cereal!

I checked again and no download button.

I saw the editor but there is no way to click on the certain widget area and then copy and paste what you want there. It looks like you have to figure out the area on the page in the html in order to change it. When you say simple text editor, it may be simple to you but never had to use one before. So I would have to know how to structure the change and type it in to the editor in just the right place to get a simple widget?

Very good links you provided about the minima. I like the stretch version.

I checked again and no download button.

The download button for the template is found here, from your WP dashboard:
Appearance > Add New Themes > Upload >

Or, before you select upload, locate the theme you want at ‘Add New Themes’

I saw the editor but there is no way to click on the certain widget area and then copy and paste what you want there.

If you want to use the widgets similar to how you use them with Blogger, go to this in your WP Dashboard:
Appearance > Widgets > then select from the widgets from the ‘Available Widgets’ area. For example, select, ‘Text’ and then move it to the sidebar area, footer area etc. Then add what you want into the widget. Is that what you’re asking?

The shadow box looks like the simpliest looking. I guess I could try installing it and playing around with it. I think blogger really faked me out since I thought if I can figure this out in a day or two how hard can wp be? Wrong. I will attempt this but instead of spending so much time making busy templates how about making some basic ones that can be easily customized like blogger? If it turns out to be like reinventing the wheel I think maybe I should go back to blogger. My main concern was that with blogger your domain name is longer and less likely to get anywhere in the rankings. But the more I read I think that if you have a good name and good content, link with like sites, get your self on some sort of directories and update content at least weekly if not daily then you will maybe be the same as having the site hosted by bluehost??? I do think to make this worthwhile it has to be user friendly and not take up too much time just trying to get it going and updating it. Blogger made it fun in a way. I was looking for other things to add to it. But with wp I would be kind of cringing at the thought of having to dig deep to find the answers to how to add something. I am sure it is keeping lots of folks employed making templetes and helping folks out of website nightmare.

Ok inspired you have inspired me here goes.

My main concern was that with blogger your domain name is longer and less likely to get anywhere in the rankings.

You have two choices, secondgradereading:

If you stay with Blogger, you can convert your existing blogspot blog into a custom domain, using blogger. Blogger will do a permanent redirect from your existing blogspot url to your own domain. If you decide to do that, I can provide you some info to walk you through.

However, even with your own domain using the Blogger platform, you do not have the infinite possibilities with Blogger as you will with WordPress. WordPress is by far more difficult than Blogger because you also have to maintain a cpanel, database, use an ftp etc., but learning those things again gives you greater flexibility. The old saying applies, “Good things take time.” when you’re learning a new platform. ??

Well I found Shadowbox and installed it. The color choices are like a handful of color sets. I found Shadow Box options and I just don’t see any picture options for the widgets in either the default theme or shadowbox. There must be it just wants you to dig more for it I guess. I know I have read the possibilities are infinate with wp but I am not seeing them in the theme options.

I am not sure if redirecting folks from blogger account to my own domain would help me in rankings at all. Wouldn’t there really be a disconnect with the search engines as far as rankings? Unless you already had a following that would follow but my blogger account is only one week old and not set up completely yet. I think the search engines look at the domain name and they look at content and links you have for ranking. What site would they rank?

I don’t think this will not be a big commercial site but I would like to attract folks to it. Maybe it could be? So having folks be able to find the site is important. Can I do that with blogger? Will the rankings be harder to affect with blogger than with wp/bluehost? If they are equal as far as setting it up to attract visitors the same number of folks then blogger wins hands down for me. Is the shorter domain name and the utilities like SEO or linking with others the same or better with wp?

2) Also like the idea where I can make it feel more personal and that is why I like the minima so that folks will feel like it is more of a personal connection with personal blog like surroundings. The content should stand out, not all the designs. I use color and fonts and layout to make it easy to find things. Not too busy.

I know infinate possibilities is a good thing but I think sometimes it is overwhelming that is why I titled my post about the soldier who gets back and has so many choices of cereal he can’t make a decision. I want such a basic thing and I don’t even see it at wp and that has me confused if they are not even addressing that they what else are they avoiding? Here their biggest competitor uses a very popular template and they aren’t even providing one like it.

I am willing to learn up to a point and at this point I have no idea where that point is with this. Will this be another linux nightmare or will it be just learning a bit more to get desired results?

I have geek leanings but not super geek by any means. I do all the clean installs, replacing hardware, flashed the bios way back when even my instructors hadn’t. I can tear down the box and put it back before most. With blogger I could find so many places for an answer on something but here I am not so sure. Finding a basic template was not that successful.

Is there a good site that I should check out?

As far as the link to themeclubhouse there was no install at that link. I did search for it online through wp but the theme plastiques didn’t pull up. That is why I think they want me to buy the pdf for 27.00 to create it on my own.

I see where there are wp theme generators. Does anyone know of a good one? Maybe I could set up a basic page with generator and then ad plug ins that would allow me to add more things to the site.

I know I have read the possibilities are infinate with wp but I am not seeing them in the theme options.

That depends on the theme you choose. You can experiment with many themes from your dashboard. Esmi suggested the theme, “Atahualpa”, which may give you more of the options you’re looking for.
https://www.ads-software.com/extend/themes/atahualpa

my blogger account is only one week old

Don’t worry about doing any redirects from that blog because a blog only one week old isn’t going to benefit you for a redirect, mainly because it’s on a subdomain of Bloggers. You could simply write a new post on it and include a link to your new blog, going to your own domain with your new blog.

Will the rankings be harder to affect with blogger than with wp/bluehost? If they are equal as far as setting it up to attract visitors the same number of folks then blogger wins hands down for me. Is the shorter domain name and the utilities like SEO or linking with others the same or better with wp?

With WP on your own domain you will have far more control for seo than with Blogger. With Blogger you would have to do quite a few hacks with your template for better seo, but even then you still can’t control other things that impact seo with Blogger because you can’t access everything as you can with WP.

Here their biggest competitor uses a very popular template and they aren’t even providing one like it.

Template possibilities with WordPress are far greater, and with little effort, if you select the right template that is easiest for you to work with. Again, try something like Atahualpa. But, it’s not the only one that provides ways to tweak it.

Is there a good site that I should check out?

If you really want to learn WordPress, search through the various support articles etc. for starters.
https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Main_Page

Your a gem I will see what I can learn by tomorrow.

Inspired to write I think I will take you up on any help you can give me on my blogger accounts. I spent more hours trying to get wordpress configured right but it only got worse. I spent time googling for answers but I found so many posts that were not answered. I also found links on wp that the code writers are not maintaining. So all in all I think wordpress reminds me of linux. Lots of free code for the taking but not much support on many levels. If google owns blogger.com then my guess is they will be continually adding more functions and maybe a way for better ranking since they are a search site. I see you have a blogger site about blogger.com that I shall check out closer. Thanks again. Goodbye WordPress and Bluehost.

Hi Secondgradereading,

It’s good that you at least took the time to experiment with WordPress! See you around in the blogosphere!