Recently I wrote about premium responsive themes, which are themes that will adjust to the size of the device on which they are being displayed. As mobile devices are becoming used more and more this is going to increase in importance.

Here are a collection of free responsive themes.

The Themes

Yoko

Responsive Twenty-Ten

SimpleMarket

Flexible

Foghorn

Skeleton

Ari

Bonpress

iTheme2

Constellation

Renova

Whiteboard

Meerkats

photo credit: sfajane

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

13 Free Responsive WordPress Themes

Last year I wrote about how you can create a free contact form for your custom Facebook page using Response-o-matic. Now, I am going to explain how you can do something similar using North Social Contact, which can also be used as a form on your website and for a email campaign.

North Social has a number of Facebook applications, such as Sweepstakes, for running a contest. Other than North Contact, none of these applications are not free. You have a choice of pricing plans, which are the cost per month and have different levels of service. The monthly fee, however, gives you access to ALL of their applications for one Facebook page. If you need to use the apps for more than one page, each page will need it’s own separate account.

North Contact, however, is free.

Instructions

1. Create an account.
2. Once logged in, click on the Lists and Subscribers tab and then click on the big link that says Create your first subscriber list.
3. Give the list a name and then select the list type; Single Opt-in or Confirmed Opt-in. Click on the Next button.
   
4. Click on the small link that says ‘Add a subscribe form to your site’.
5. There will be two default fields; Name and Email. You can add more fields by clicking on the add more fields link. Keep in mind that the fields can not be reordered via this interface so you should add them in the order you would like them to appear. You can move them around in the code but the .csv export of the contacts will have the fields in this same order.
6. Currently, when this contact form is used on a Facebook page, fields can not be set to required or optional. This can only be done when the form is used on a website. Here are the instruction for adding form validation and required fields. I have noticed, however, that if the email address is not filled out when submitting the form that the entry will not be added to the list of subscribers.
7. Once you have created all of your fields, click on the ‘Generate the Code’ button.
8. You will be given the choice of three different types of code to choose from; Basic Formatting, CSS Based and Table.
   
9. Copy the code and paste it on the html or php page you have made for your Facebook iframe application.
10. If you’ve added custom fields, you will need to go back to the main Lists and Subscribers screen, select the name of the list, and then click on the link on the right that says Create a Subscribe Form. I had some trouble locating this the first time I used North Social.
11. You may want to add and change the styling for the form so it matches the look of your custom page.
12. The default North Social “thank you for signing” up page does not fit within the width of the facebook page so you may want to upload a thank you page or direct people to a thank you message on your website. Click on the Lists and Subscribers tab, click on the name of your list, and then on the right click on Customize Landing pages. Fill out the field ‘Subscribe Confirmation Page’. In my example below, I did not make a thank you page but left it at the default thank you so you can see how it doesn’t fit and why it isn’t a good idea to use it. In this area you can also set up an auto-responder email for people who have signed up. This would be a good place to include a link to a coupon or a free ebook if you are giving away something to all subscribers.
13. Here is a very bare-bones example of a contact form on a Facebook tab using North Social.

If you already use a newsletter service like Constant Contact or MailChimp, you are better off using their subscription forms. But, if you are looking for a free and minimal contact form solution, North Contact might be a good solution.

photo credit: shironekoeuro

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

Create a Free Facebook Page Contact Form with North Contact

I like Christmas. I like Winter, snow and the decorations. Plus, it’s my youngest brother’s birthday :-)

I’ve collected a lot of Christmas WordPress Themes at my Holiday WordPress Themes site.

Screenshots of the themes are listed below and you can view and download them at my other site.

photo credit: jon_a_ross

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

Free Christmas WordPress Themes

This week I have cats, cauliflower, getting paid, and the cost of free.

Start wearing purple!

• Why Cats Suck at Social Media – Funny!
• Cauliflower Pie, A Very Yummy Fall Treat ~ Susan Hollingsworth – I got a cauliflower in my CSA box this week and am going to make this recipe. I don’t have a green one but I still think it’s going to be delicious.
• Mean Girl Bullying Trickles Down to Grade School – The most disturbing this about this is the parents who do nothing or actively encourage this behavior.
• What Monsanto’s fall from grace reveals about the GMO seed industry – I can’t say I’m upset about Monsanto earning less money – they are one of my most despised corporations.
• The real cost of free – A well written article by Cory Doctorow about the cost of free, copyright, and DRM.
• Book Giveaway – Be Thrifty: How To Live Better With Less – A book giveaway. You have until Tues. 10/26 to enter.
• The Simple Tricks Experts Use to Always Get Paid For Their Time – A link to this article was left in my comments. It’s excellent and offers great advice on how to handle the questions that we are asked.
• How to Pet a Kitty – More fun from The Oatmeal.
• Start Wearing Purple
  

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

(Anti) Social Lists 10/24/10

It isn’t exactly easy to integrate a website’s contact with Facebook but many people want to collect customer or visitor data via a contact form.

Fortunately, Response-o-matic has created an online tool that makes form creation and integration a snap. Here I will show you how to do this.

About

Response-o-matic has free and paid versions. The free version will allow you to create one form and doesn’t include too many extras. The free version also contains an ad. You may want to use the paid version if you have an issue with that. All accounts, however, have the form data stored on their server and is stored on their servers for 6 months. You will receive an email with each form submission but if you want to export the data to a csv file to import into a spreadsheet or database, you will have to upgrade to one of the paid versions.

What To Do

1. Create an account
2. You will be sent a confirmation email. Click on the link in the email to confirm the account.
3. You will immediately be taken to the form builder page.
   
4. Start creating the fields you want to include in your form. The form starts you with name and email, which you can keep, delete or move to a new location in the form.
5. Creating new fields is done on a question/answer model. For example, to create a new field click on the Ask a Question button and then select a question type. By question types they mean a text field, check boxes, radio buttons, etc.
   
   In this example, I will create a drop down box for favorite types of videogames.

6. Set whether the field is required and save. Continue until you have created all of the fields that you want. You can always edit the form later, if you want to add or remove a field.
7. Click the Save and Continue to Step 2 button.
8. In Step 2 you can set the Form Options. You can have a page that the user returns to after filling out the form. This can be back to the facebook wall, your website, or a thank you page that you have made on your server. A thank you page would probably be best but in this example I’m going to direct the users to my website.
9. You can also set whether you want to receive an email when there is a new form submission.
   
10. Click the Save and Continue to Step 3 button.
11. On the next page you will have the block of code for your form that you can add to a custom tab on Facebook or to your website.
12. You can see a quick example on the demo tab of my Facebook fan page.
13. Of course, you will want to style the form to match the design on your custom fan page tab.
14. Logging into your Response-o-matic account will show you the form submissions.

Do you think this is useful? I like the idea and it is easy to use but there do seem to be limits to the free version. For example, I would prefer to not have ads and I would like to export the user data. And if someone has a need for managing a lot of user data they are probably already using something like Aweber or Constant Contact, which already provides html code for forms that can be used on a custom Facebook fan page. If you wanted to add a quick and easy contact form, and didn’t mind dealing with the data manually and the ads this solution would just fine.

If you would like to hire me to assist in creating a contact form and styling it, please contact me.

photo credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

How to Create a Simple Contact Form for a Facebook Fan Page

I get A LOT of requests for assistance. While I prefer that people ask for help with a topic in an article I’ve already written and leave a comment, I am not adverse to people emailing me or filling out the contact form. Calling for free help, however, is pushing it.

Some say that I shouldn’t offer any free assistance but I disagree. People have answered my questions and helped me out, especially Jeff Starr and Stratos. When I first contacted Jeff Starr, however, it was about an article he had written – I didn’t just ask him random questions and expect him to answer. I was also very grateful and thanked him repeatedly. And Stratos helps me out quite a bit and, although he doesn’t want me to, I frequently pay him. And someone that you answer a quick question for might become a paying customer.

But, here’s the deal. There needs to be limits, respect and patience. And here’s an example of what not to do.

Questions and email requests for free assistance are not my top priority. Surprisingly, I need to do the work that I’m getting paid for first. Shocking, huh? I need to earn a living and I have client deadlines that I need to meet. But, I do attempt to answer every email even if it’s to say, “I’m sorry but that is complicated request. You can hire me blah, blah, blah.” I gather the emails and block out a time to reply. And this isn’t every day but I don’t think I’ve let more than three business days go by without replying. And, you know, considering I’m actually working here and I’m a single parent, that’s pretty damn good.

What Not to Do

Here’s an example of a help request that I received recently.

1. Around noon I received an email asking a question about Facebook. I glanced at it quickly, saw that it wasn’t something that could be done on Facebook, and decided to answer it later.
2. Less than two hours later, I received an voice mail from the individual that sent the email. Apparently, requests for free assistance should be answered in less than two hours …? I screen most of my calls. I answer calls from current clients and calls that have been scheduled. But when I’m working with code I can’t break stride and start talking on the phone. And there are a lot of people who will stay on the phone way too long – I don’t have time for that.
3. I couldn’t believe this individual had called. I can see calling if days had gone by without an answer but if I had sent an email to someone asking for assistance and didn’t receive a response, I would assume the person was too busy and I highly doubt that I would have called. Also, this question was about Facebook. I have numerous Facebook articles and the question could have been left in the comments – I answer the comments EVERY DAY except not always on the weekend. I also have a Facebook fan page, which is a great place to ask questions. One reason is that if I’m not available there is a really good chance that another member of the community will answer the question – it happens all the time!
4. So, I was super annoyed and decided I needed to get rid of this person. I sent back an email saying that what she needed wasn’t possible on Facebook. I also politely mentioned that I was very busy with my clients and normally couldn’t reply to requests that quickly.
5. She immediately replied back and thanked me (you wouldn’t believe how many people don’t say thanks when you take the time to answer their questions) and then asked if I could refer her to a “Facebook expert” since I was unable to answer the question.
6. At this point I was beyond annoyed – I was pissed and I should have just ignored the email but I wrote back and said, “Unfortunately, I am not a referral service for Facebook experts. If there is something that you would like done and it’s possible to do it on Facebook, feel free to inquire about my consulting services. My rate is $50/hr.”
7. And guess what? I haven’t heard back ;-)

My Own Fault

This is just one example. Part of this is my own fault. I try to be kind and helpful and I understand what it’s like to be stuck and need assistance. The difference, however, is I’m not pushy about it and am never insulting. I have also not taken the time to write up an FAQ and policy. After I finish this article, that will be next on my to-do list. I don’t have high hopes that it will be read but I can send the link to people instead of fussing with them. It will tell how to ask for help and deal with off topic questions in the article comments (they won’t be answered anymore).

Of course, I have regular clients who ask me questions all the time. But they don’t harass me and they PAY me. So there’s a difference and I answer them as fast as I can.

And if someone takes the time to answer a question, write back and THANK them. It makes a really big difference.

I linked to this article in Sunday’s (Anti) Social Lists but decided to include it here as well. It is about the 3 types of people who will work for you for free.

photo credit: D3 San Francisco

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

How to Not Ask For WordPress or Facebook Help

I seem to excel at winning contests for things I already own!

Recently I won a free Studiopress Theme from a contest held on WPBeginner. I already own the themes so I asked if I could pass it on in another contest and was told that I could. Yay!

Any of the Genesis Framework + 1 Child Theme are available. This is worth $79.95!

This offer isn’t for one of the classic themes.

This giveaway is part of my one year anniversary week of specials so all you have to do to enter is leave a comment with a valid email address. If you want to tweet about it or share it on Facebook, that would be awesome, but it isn’t required.

Some of the available themes to choose from are:

This contest will run for 1 week and end on May 12, 2010.

Enjoy!

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

Studiopress Theme Giveaway – Awesome Themes for WordPress

I am pleased to announce a giveaway of any three premium themes from Templatic. That’s right three free premium themes!!!

There are so many great themes to choose from that I don’t know how you are going to decide which three that you want.

Here is a sampling of some of the quality themes that you will be able to select.

So, I’m sure you want to know how to win. Well, here’s what you need to do.

Tweet the following:

Win three premium #WordPress themes from @templatic http://bit.ly/4SFZ8i Enter here http://wp.me/pEXgJ-23c via @kwbridge

After sending the tweet copy it into the comments below so I can verify the tweet and enter you in the contest.

The contest will run for 1 week and end on April 28, 2010. The winner will be randomly selected and notified via email. Please leave a correct email address with your comment so I can notify you.

A very special thanks goes to Bhavesh for offering this wonderful giveaway.

Enjoy!

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

Giveaway – Win Any Three WordPress Themes from Templatic

Since Monday was World Water Day, I wanted to do a roundup of WordPress themes featuring water but, surprisingly, I could only locate a handful that weren’t completely hideous.

And since I LOVE coffee and you need water to make it, I decided to do a post featuring WordPress coffee themes instead.

Below are 14 of the best ones that I found. Enjoy!

Niukita

Desk Mess Mirrored

CoffeeSpot

Caffeine

Coffee Stained

Dovetail

Coffee and Cream

Coffee Desk

Cup o Joe

Morning Coffee

Bloggers Cafe

Coffee Cup

Coffee Desk

Coffee Time

photo credit: bitzcelt

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

14 Free WordPress Coffee Themes

The Facebook interface isn’t too bad.

The biggest issue I have with it is that Facebook changes it too often. As soon as you get used to where settings and features are located, they are moved.

I don’t know about you but since the last update, I keep moving my mouse to the left for the home page and to the right for search. I’m sure I will get used to it but I am losing precious seconds of my time ;-)

Here are 7 WordPress themes that have a Facebook like layout (old and new).

Facebook Layout

Smells Like Facebook

Facebooked

WordPress Facebook Theme

Facebook Lover

FacebookWP

Fesbuk

photo credit: Bryan Veloso

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

7 Free Facebook Themes for WordPress