A major factor for the success of the Thesis Theme is the look and the great typography. It has a certain cleanliness and elegance to it that when you look at a blog running on Thesis in it’s default form, you can’t help but feel a little refreshed. Many other premium Themes too follow this procedure in their designs but somehow or rather do not exhibit the same kind of cleanliness that the Thesis displays.
There are then amatuer designers who looks to the Thesis as an inspiration when coming up with a new Theme and I think there are quite a few that bears some resemblance to the Thesis Theme in the free market. One that might be worth a look is the is the one by Marc Beneteau of The WordPress Academy.
Knowing my obsession with the Thesis Theme, Marc emailed me today to see if I would be interested to take a look at his creation of a Thesis look alike based on the very popular Atahualpa Theme. I came away very impressed at his creation. It is not just a css mod like the one I did for the 2 Column Neoclassical Theme. It’s a complete re-design of the Atahualpa.
For those who have not seen or used this Theme, it is one of the better free WordPress Themes available along with the Thematic Theme. Both are premium standard but free Themes. The configuration options for both these themes can be said to be on par or even exceeds some paid Premium Themes.
The re-designed version of the Atahualpa does bear the look of a Thesis theme but like I said, it lacks that certain special feel of the real thing. Maybe it’s just me but it does not give me that “I am looking at a Thesis” kind of feeling.
It takes some technical know how to use the the Theme. You will first have to install the original Atahualpa Theme then change the settings in your WordPress database via the PhpMyAdmin using an sql file provided by Marc. I doubt many would want to go through the trouble of messing with their database just to install a Theme, no matter how much they like it. One small mistake and you might end up losing everything you have worked for all these years.
Nevertheless, it is a good effort by Marc and if you are very familiar and used to using PhpMYadmin and WordPress database, you can take this free Thesis lookalike for a spin. If you are not, then you will be much better of spending some money and buying yourself the original Thesis Theme.
I still find that Neo Theme better looking and I think people should use more Verdana and less of whatever else they are using, it just looks better
The only reason I can’t stand Thesis and Lookalikes is : Everyone is using them
It’s like u r jumping from the same blog to the same blog but different niche
Many just like the simplistic and clean look i guess. Me, I prefer some colors to brighten up things a bit.
Ofc who doesn’t like clean and simplistic, but uniqueness is an important part don’t u think?
At least, some of them should play a little with tittle fonts and stuff, leaving it all default seems just too lazy.
Chris Pearson is such a bully, and I have read how he bullied you here in your own blog. Concerning his pride of the so called “rights” please read our discussion here: http://www.haslo.ch/blog/wordpress-themes-have-to-be-gpl-thesis-etc/
I love Thesis, but after reading his bully, I decided to look for another one. Then I found Frugal…. Very similar in the looks and functionality. Stop promoting Thesis, go for frugal…
Or better, go for Atahualpa and do some customization to have the looks of Thesis or Frugal.
By the way Costa, what nationality are you? You look like a Filipino. If you are, then I am more on your side. If not, I’m still on your side with this issue. Will never buy thesis now that I have known what kind of person is Chris. I am a fan of his designs… But that guy really sucks. He’s arrogant!
Hi Vince, I am your next door neighbor, literally.
From Malaysia.
Yes, If you have visited just 2 days ago, I am still on the Thesis. What you are looking at now is the Frugal Theme. My Latest post describes my change.