Statistics have long shown that rotating your advertising or affiliate banners can decrease advertising blindness and increase clicks.   More clicks makes bloggers happy and advertisers happy!

A few months ago I wrote a post about the Got Banners WordPress plugin, which is a simple WordPress plugin that was designed to allow you to rotate banners in a set location.  What it does not do is allow you to rotate multiple banners without displaying them all, meaning you can’t rotate 8 banners within 4 posts, etc.

I’ve been waiting for a suitable replacement and I believe yesterday I may have found what I was looking for.   What I’m talking about is a new free WordPress plugin by MaxBlogPress called Max Banner Ads.

To get an idea what this plugin is about, you really need to click over and check out the video demonstration that comes with it, but I will attempt to explain it here.   Max Banner Ads sort of works like the Shylock AdSense WordPress plugin in that it requires no code hacking.  You actually control your advertisements from the WordPress dashboard.

Max Banner Ads allows you to rotate several banners in a single spot or multiple spots, and you can choose from several locations, including your header, sidebar (using widgets), footer, or even within your posts.   Want to place it only in the second post?  You can do that as well!

As I mentioned above, this plugin is actually being released for free by the author, but he does ask that you write a quick review or at least mention it on your blog.   Considering the potential value of this plugin, I think that is more than fair.

[Check out the Max Banner Ads WordPress Plugin]

About a month ago, I sent a call out to the WordPress community requesting that more themes be released that by default include slots for 125×125 banners. They are all the rage, yet it seems that few designers took the time to optimize their themes for these banners. Common sense says that if there is very little supply but a lot of demand, the people that fill the demand will find success.

In looking at the recent trends with newly released themes over this past month, it seems that bloggers have really responded and there is now a wide variety of WordPress themes available for download. I decided there are finally enough of them now that I can throw together a gallery of WordPress themes that allow for 125×125 banners. Enjoy!

2-Column Themes

Slick Blue Theme (Advertising Ready, SEO Friendly)

Source | Download | Demo

PassionDuo Theme (3 Colors)

Green: Demo | Download, Red: Demo | Download, Blue: Demo | Download

WP Freemium Theme

Source | Download

Dark Zen Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Maggo Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Green Tech Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Blue Sensation Theme

Source | Download | Demo

3-Column Themes

iPhone Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Padangan Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Black and White Theme (SEO Friendly, Optimized for AdSense)

Source | Download | Demo

WP-Polaroid Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Firebug Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Simple Red Theme (Supports 125×125 banners)

Source | Download (Requires free registration) | Demo

True Blue Theme (Supports 125×125 banners)

Source | Download (Requires free registration) | Demo

Blue Block Theme

Source | Download | Demo

WP Premiere Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Magazine-Style Themes

Structure Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Forte Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Mag on Wood Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Know of one we missed? Contact us or let us know in the comments below!

When it comes to WordPress 2-column themes, people seem to fall into one of two categories: left sidebar or right sidebar.   Which do you prefer?

I’m not sure which is better, but in browsing through my 2-column WordPress theme gallery, one of the first things you’ll notice is that theme designers seem to prefer releasing themes with a right sidebar.   Is this a coincidence or do theme authors find that they get more downloads with a right sidebar?

I couldn’t tell you for sure, but I know that most “A-list” bloggers use 2-column themes with the sidebar on the right, so I suspect that this has something to do with the trend.  I know from my personal experiences that I prefer a right sidebar because I feel it looks better and creates a much more friendly experience for readers.

David of CyberCoder argues that people that have advertising on their websites should use a left sidebar for their 2-column theme.   His argument is that heat maps show that people read from left to right and your advertisements are more likely to get noticed on the left side.  While this is probably true, most advertising these days seems to be moving away from PPC advertising and more towards direct advertisements.   This is why the few theme designers that offer 125×125 banner slots on their themes are getting a ton of downloads.

So, what do you think?  Why do you prefer to use a 2-column theme?

This site has been up for about a week now and things are starting to come into place.   Now that I’ve established some content and good references, I’d like to open up this blog to advertising opportunities.

If you are interested in promoting your blog, product, or service, you can now purchase a link at the top of my sidebar for only $15.00 a month through Text Link Ads.   You can also now purchase a link on individual posts if you would like.

If you’d prefer to purchase a link directly through me, you can check out details on my Advertise page, then Contact me directly.

One of the things that separates WordPress from other blogging software out there is the fact that it is open source, and the benefits that go along with being open source. If you aren’t very good at coding, or good with PHP in particular, then the WordPress community has come to the rescue with WordPress plugins, which will allow just about anyone to easily add additional functionality to their blog. With the free WordPress plugins that various authors write and contribute from around the globe, WordPress has gained a lot of flexibility, causing it to be more attractive to potential bloggers.

As this site is dedicated to WordPress, I thought it would be a good idea to have a featured post dedicated to the best WordPress plugins available. This post is a constant work in progress, and will continue to be updated as I feature more plugins on this website. After each plugin, you should find a quick description, as well as a link to the full review. I have also broken the plugins down into categories for easy reference.

Premium WordPress Plugins

- Advertising -

• OIO Publisher - Complete plugin that removes all hassle for bloggers who manage advertising. Automates banners, text links, paid reviews, and collects the money for you. [Full Review]

- Affiliates -

• WP Affiliate Pro - Allows you to manage your affiliate links from within your WordPress dashboard. Also allows you to mask links and a number of other features. [Full Review]
• WP Ninja Affiliate - Similar to WP Affiliate Pro plugin, but provides some additional features including  multiple keywords and caching. [Full Review]

- SEO -

• WP SEO Sniper - Extreme SEO plugin designed to give people conscious of SEO full control over their blogs from the WordPress dashboard. Significant upgrade to the All-in-One SEO Pack plugin. [Full Review]

Free WordPress Plugins

- Admin Tools -

• Author Exposed - Adds a full featured display of the authors profile. Great for multi-author blogs. [Full Review]
• Fluency Admin - Improves the look of your WordPress Dashboard (WordPress 2.5+ Only) [Full Review]
• Gamer’s Pack - Makes your blog viewable using the Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, and PSP gaming systems. [Full Review]
• GoCodes - Easily create redirects from your WordPress Dashboard that point anywhere. Great for hiding affiliate links. [Full Review]
• Google Sitemap - Creates a fully-compliant sitemap for search engines. [Full Review]
• In Series - Allows you to easily group a series of posts into a series. [Full Review]
• No Self Ping - Prevents your blog from sending Pingbacks internally to your other posts. [Full Review]
• WP-o-Matic - Allows users to collect feeds and auto-generate posts on your blog. [Full Review]
• WP Sticky - Allows users to feature a post at the top of their homepage for a day or permanently. [Full Review]
• WP-Super Cache - Creates a cache of your posts to avoid server load. Great for surviving a Digg. [Full Review]

- Advertising -

• Got Banners - Plugin allows you to randomize your advertising banners. Ideal for 125×125 banners. [Full Review]
• Max Banner Ads - Plugin that lets you control your advertising from the WordPress dashboard.  Also allows you to rotate multiple advertisements in a single spot.  [Full Review]
• Show125 - Plugin that specializes in managing your 125×125 block advertisements. [Full Review]
• Shylock AdSense - Allows you to easily insert Google AdSense code into your WordPress blog. [Full Review]

- Comments -

• MyAvatars - Automatically inserts the commentators MyBlogLog avatar next to their comment using the e-mail address provided. If unavailable, it will attempt to pull the bloggers Gravatar. [Full Review]
• Show Top Commentators - Allows you to display your top commentators automatically in a place of your choosing. Great for encouraging comments. [Full Review]
• Smilies Themer - Plugin that offers a variety of smilies styles to place in the comments section of your blog. [Full Review]
• Subscribe to Comments - Allows readers to receive e-mail notifications when a follow up comment is left. [Full Review]

- Domaining -

• Domain Name Portfolio - This plugin automatically creates a page in WordPress that domainers can use to display their domain portfolio. Everything is controlled from the dashboard. [Full Review]

- Downloads -

• Download Manager - Plugin that allows you to manage your downloads from the WordPress dashboard.  [Full Review]

- Feeds -

• Add Related Posts To Your Feed - Will automatically add related posts to your blog’s feed. [Full Review]
• FeedCount - Allows you to display a numerical version of your Feedburner feed count without using the Feedburner chicklet. [Full Review]
• Feed Footer - Allows you to use HTML to add a custom footer to your blog’s feed. Plugin also supports randomizing up to 10 different footers. [Full Review]
• RSS Footer - Basic plugin that allows you to easily add copyright notice, etc. [Full Review]

- Forums -

• RS Discuss - Plugin that allows you to easily integrate a forum into your existing WordPress blog. [Full Review]

- Maintenance -

• WordPress Automatic Upgrade - Allows you to easily upgrade your WordPress installation to the latest version. [Full Review]

- Miscellaneous -

• BlogRush Click Maximizer - Assists you in creating a customized BlogRush feed to display the post of your choice. [Full Review]
• BreadCrumb Navigation XT - Allows you to provide your readers with additional blog navigation. [Full Review]
• Get Firefox Banner - Shows a banner to IE6 and IE7 web browser users recommending they switch to Firefox. Great for blogs whose theme is optimized for Firefox. [Full Review]
• Popularity Contest - Monitors your website traffic and gives you reports on your popular posts. Plugin is fully customizable allowing you to set the values used to calculate your posts popularity. [Full Review]
• WP-eCommerce - Plugin that allows you to create an online shop on your WordPress blog [Full Review]
• WP-Submission - Creates a submission page then places all submissions into a post draft. Ideal for group writing projects. [Full Review]

- Related Posts -

• Related Posts - Uses keywords in your post URL’s to display a designated number of related posts. [Full Review]

- SEO -

• All-in-One SEO Pack - The Ultimate SEO WordPress plugin. Allows you to set your homepage meta information and automatically generate custom meta information for your individual posts. [Full Review]
• Permalink Redirect - Creates a 301 Redirect to avoid duplicate content penalties with search engines. Also includes a Feedburner redirect. [Full Review]

- Tags -

• Betting Tags Manager - Allows you to better manage your tags, as well as convert your categories to tags. [Full Review]
• Recommended Tags - Looks at your post’s content and recommends tags. Includes additional features. [Full Review]

- WordPress 2.3 -

• Technorati Links - Restores the Technorati incoming links feature that was removed from WordPress 2.3. [Full Review]