Feedback and possible bugs

Hi,

I’ve been using this theme for a couple of weeks now. I really like it, it works great for my site, which is basically a glorified blog. I’d like to offer a little bit of feedback and report a couple of possible bugs I’ve come across while using it.

I like the overall layout and design of this theme. I switched over from Blog Magazine, which seems to have been abandoned by its developer. BlogArise feels and looks (imo) like a sleeker, cleaner version of Blog Magazine. I had to make a bunch of my own modifications to Blog Magazine to make it meet my needs, but with BlogArise I only had to make minimal changes, mostly with superficial things like color. The customization options in the free version are pretty good, and from I understand the Pro version has even more options.

The layout is clean without coming across as too professional, which is a good thing. Many of the similar WordPress templates I looked at came across as stiff, sterile, and uptight, like I was looking at a lawyer’s blog or something. BlogArise has the look and feel of a blogger who doesn’t take themselves too seriously and just wants you to enjoy the content. It looks “fun”, for lack of a better word. The developer also has several other themes that are similar to BlogArise but with some differences in appearance, and those looked pretty nice too. My second choice after BlogArise would have been Blogus, which while it looks slightly less “fun” also doesn’t look too sterile and uptight. I’d recommend it if you find BlogArise too festive for your needs.

I also liked the news ticker at the top. I ended up not using it for my own site, but others will definitely find it useful. I almost feel bad for not using it, and I may try to find a use for it in the future.

However, I did come across a few issues using the theme.

I was going to mention that author pictures weren’t displaying, but it seems someone else beat me to it, and you quickly fixed that issue in version 0.35. Kudos for being so responsive.

I’m finding that the index page is showing that articles have 0 comments even when they do have them. I use Disqus to handle my comments, so I’m assuming you just haven’t implemented the necessary integration for the plugin. Will this be implemented in a future release?

I also found that larger images were going outside of the margins in mobile browsers. I was able to resolve this with the following line of code:

img {
max-width:100%;
height:auto;
}

I was using Chrome on mobile when I encountered the issue.

I also had a strange issue involving fonts. I’m not entirely sure if the theme is at fault here, or if it was something I did at some point and didn’t realize (if it’s on my end I have no idea what I could have possibly done), but I figure I’ll include it here anyway just in case it is something with the theme.

Upon switching over to BlogArise, I discovered that many of my posts had random sections changed to a smaller font. When I say random, I mean it was completely at random with no seeming logic or pattern behind it. Paragraphs would change from size 12 font to size 11 mid-paragraph, then return to size 12 one or two paragraphs later. It wasn’t in every post, and for some reason the issue only occurred in posts dated 2023. This is why I’m not 100% certain it wasn’t my fault. I just know that the font sizes were fine when I used my previous theme. Interestingly enough, switching back to the previous theme showed the fonts had shrunk in the editor. I’ve never heard of a WordPress theme causing something like this, but the devs may want to at least look into it and see if it really is something on their end. I fixed the issue myself by manually editing the affected posts, and so far the issue hasn’t reoccurred.

All in all, this is a great theme. I may even consider paying for the Pro version just to support the devs. I see it’s still relatively new, just over 6 months old. It has the potential to become a powerful and indispensable addition to the ever-growing catalogue of WordPress themes, and I look forward to seeing what the devs do with it going forward.

The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]