Theme Review

WordPress is one of the biggest game changing platforms to hit the Internet since the concept of websites itself. Though with all of the strengths of the platform, it does have it's weaknesses. One of the primary weaknesses is that platform renders user interfaces that look "templated" and "bloggy". When it comes to the needs of photographers and videographers, this can be a point of contention.

Based on this problem space, we went out to review video themes for WordPress that stood out. Why video based themes? It is simple. Video places the biggest strain on web developers in terms of balancing user experience with compatibility and other platform limitations. This coupled with the constraints of a content management platform create some significant challenges.

Our review of the market place resulted in us only finding a handful of themes that got the job done correctly. Functionality that all of these featured included: playback of multiple formats across all browsers and platforms, ease of use for both uploading and embedding video content, viral and social capabilities, and last catchy designs that complemented both video and still shot renderings.

Video is the next big thing to take over the Internet. Well, one could say that this has already taken place as the growth rates for online video watching jump triple digit every year. Thus, I should alter my statement to say that video is the next big thing to hit the blogosphere. I guess we should call that video blogging!

In the end, platforms like WP are essential to bloggers and having themes that are designed to maximize video is a crucial part of the equation.

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