Heeeyahhhh! Arrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhh   BLLLEEEEeeaahhh....................Ok, I am now 2 full days, (starting at 5:00 am the first day, 6:30 am the second) tearing into Wordpress. Jesus F'n Keeeeriiiist!! Themes, plugins, headers, "formats not allowed", widgets that don't appear when they should, plugins that sort of work...sometimes, plugins that never work...until....

But I am learning, and I will prevail! Wordpress is pretty incredible, I have to admit. Come hell or high water, I WILL have a new website soon! I think my old website knows that it's days are numbered, and it is kind of sad. We've been together for over ten years. But, ten years is a very long time in computer years, so the technology that built my old website is very outdated, even though Hostbaby (my current host) just revamped and updated almost everything they offer.

Anyway, other than blowing off a little steam, I also wanted to ask if anyone knows of any really good Wordpress themes that are geared for musicians? I have tried Twenty 11, (the current default theme) Paraclub, Suffusion, and several others. Suffusion has a lot of good points, but it has issues with widgets. Paraclub has too much fluff to wade through, and I am having a hard time finding any theme that will allow me to upload a custom header that includes both an image and text.     (I was using "Gimp" and an old version of "Microsoft Picture It" to build custom headers. The Wordpress themes I have tried so far hates them both!)

So, John, I'm hoping that you remember what Wordpress theme was used to build your website, because a lot of what I am trying to do seems to work on your site!  I'm also open to anything anybody else has to offer related to wordpress!

Oh yeah, one more thing.....Steve, I haven't used the IV kit yet, but I think I may have a few bald spots on my head!

Hey Steve, thanks for the reply!

Here's some of the problems I'm having:

Whenever I try to upload anything I've done with Gimp or Picture It, I get a message stating that those types of formats are not allowed for security reasons. I made a custom header with a photo and text, but I finally just decided to do away with a custom header. My name does appear at the top of the page, and I was able to put a photo in with my first blog under where the header should have been.

I want my site to look like a website, not a blog. I don't want everything to have a space for people to comment on, show the time and date that each entry was written, show the words "permalink" "uncatagorized" "edit" and "add comments" above each post. 

There seems to be a lot of junk in the widget areas that I can't get rid of that came with the theme: Catagories, links, archives etc.

At one point, I had my Aweber webform installed in the sidebar, but somehow it disappeared. I know how to grab the HTML from Aweber, but I can't seem to find the proper widget section to re-install it.

And…….I would prefer to not have a hangover tomorrow, but after 2 days of this, it might happen!

OK, here is my current problem, and it seems consistant no matter what theme I use.

Using Johns website as an example: At the top of the page is what appears to be a header with Johns name. Below that is a directory to other pages on the website. I'm now having only minor glitches getting any of this done with my website, and they are usually easy to fix. I can also get any widgets I need placed in various places, mostly on the right side of the page. Now for the problem area…

Still using Johns page as an example, directly below the directory to other pages, is an area with a photo of John and text stating "The official website of John Oszajca". This appears to be a permanet part of the page, and directly below this section is where the blog section starts.

Every wordpress theme that I have tried treats everything below the main header as a blog. This wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that any new blog entries show up at the top of the blog section, and move the previous post down one level. Is there anyway to keep the first blog post always on top, or better yet, insert some sort of "sub header" with a photo and text just above the blog area?

This is about the only thing that is holding me back at the moment. I have tried tons of themes, and if I can find a way to fix this, I will probably stay with the theme "Suffusion", as Steve has suggested.

Also Steve....I was trying to upload a header I made using Gimp as a "XCF" file, so I'll bet that was the problem. I'll  convert it and try again, even though I probably won't stay with that header I originaly made. Good to know though, thanks!

So, to put it simply, I would like my home page to be: Header, page directory, sub header, blog, with widgets in a right side sidebar. 2nd choice would be Header, subheader, blog, with page directory on left, widgets on right.

Aahhh, Ok! So a Static page always remains the same? But that would mean I couldn't also have a blog on the lower half of the page?  I will definitely look into what you suggested and try it out. Your suggestions have been very  helpful so far!

You may have already solved a big part of my problem already though. By converting my header that I made with Gimp from a XCF file to a PNG file as you suggested, I was able to upload it. I also found out how to make the header much larger, so I can do away with my first preference of header, page directory, subheader, blog. With the larger header I am able to include a pretty good sized photo and my name, so I can do away with the sub header idea and just go with header, directory, blog. 

My site is not ready to go public yet, but if you want to see how it looks so far go to http://test.gregparkemusic.com The header and blog posts are something I just threw up there and will be re-done for the final version.

Thanks so much Steve. I would definitely be shopping for a hair piece, and be extremely hungover without your help! You too, John!