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Introducing the “TV.Elements” WordPress Theme
The TV.Elements WordPress theme is the latest addition to my Video centric theme collection, bringing an entirely new element to the way you browse and interact with video on a website. This theme was built around video and specifically designed for higher resolution services such as Vimeo, Blip.TV and several others, but is also flexible enough to handle videos of any size up to 640px wide.
It’s All About The Video
You can see a fully functional demo at the link below to get a better idea of what this theme can do for you. The navigation (to the right of each video) displays the latest videos on your site in a carousel that eliminates page loading between each set. Select a category from the drop down menu to browse all video, or simply select any video in the list to read more or comment.
View the TV.Elements Theme Demo…
Posting is Simple
Posting videos using TV.Elements is as simple as copying the embed code from the source site and pasting it into a field. As you can see from my demo, I have tested this theme with videos from several sources including Blip.TV, Flickr, MetaCafe, MySpace, Veoh, Viddler, Vimeo and YouTube. But I can pretty much guarantee that any embeddable video should work with the TV.Elements theme. You can also embed your own hosted FLV files (please see included usage instructions).
Other Features
The TV.Elements theme has a total of 5 unique sidebars, all of which can be configured separately using the standard WordPress widget interface. Social links for each video are automatically populated and made available by clicking the “share” button beside each video. An embed code field is automatically populated which allows your users to copy and embed videos on their sites by click the “embed” button beside each video.
Installation and Usage
Upon purchase and download, you will most likely will want some direction on how to install and use the TV.Elements theme. Please refer to the “Setup and Usage” pdf document included with your theme package. I have linked a live version of this document here for your reference.
Requirements, Limitations and Unknowns
The TV.Elements theme has been tested on WordPress versions 2.3 and 2.5 ONLY. Any limitations or problems with using this theme on anything below 2.3 are unknown and unsupported. The TV.Elements theme has been tested and is fully compatible with the more popular web browsers including FireFox, IE 6/7 and Safari. Any limitations or problems caused by other browsers are unknown and unsupported. Please leave credit where credit is due. In other words, DO NOT remove the WPelements.com reference found within the theme footer unless you have purchased the multi site license. Please note that any 3rd party plugins you use, modifications or additions you make to the theme files that cause issues with TV.Elements are unsupported.
TV.Elements Theme - Single Site License ($50.00)
The TV.Elements Single Site License gives you the right to use TV.Elements on one single website. You can also modify the theme as per your requirements, but you must leave the “wpelements.com” footer link in tact. Any future upgrades or revisions to this theme will be free of charge for anyone that has purchased the original TV.Elements theme.
TV.Elements Theme - Multi Site License ($125.00)
The TV.Elements Multi Site License gives you the right to use TV.Elements on a as many sites as you like. You can modify the theme as per your requirements, including removing the footer link. Any future upgrades or revisions to this theme will be free of charge for anyone that has purchased the original TV.Elements theme.
May 8th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Egads that is beautiful!!!
May 8th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Great work Jason. I will not buy this one right now, because i’m working on the Video Elements, but i will use it soon for a new project.
Keep up the good work buddy!
Paulo F.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Great job on the new theme. I have a question for you, for the rare occasion that I may want to post a “regular” blog, how would that look? Can you put a sample on the live demo site for us to see?
Thanks!
May 8th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Eric… This theme is PURELY for the video blogger. You can post pages in standard format, but regular posts will look like a video post.
May 8th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
I understand this is purely video, but I though i would ask anyways: does the theme support audio files as well? like songs
May 8th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
awesome love it
May 8th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
The category drop down menu would not stay or display the list whenever I select a video to preview. I have to select the drop down menu to view the clips again on every video being clicked on. Is it a bug or the way it will be more work for every viewer to see the list of clips?
May 8th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Another request for the theme to collapse another selection on left side for embed or share. It should preview one a time instead showing other selections to push down the content itself.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Jed… The category drop down menu works as designed. There is no bug there. Also, the embed and share areas work as designed as well. To be honest, I don’t quite understand either of your questions.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Jason, another great theme. I’ve been tinkering all night since you launched it - gotta sleep now. It performs well and looks distinctive. I think it looks better the more material you have in the site, though I’m not yet happy with the way the widgets fit in the sidebar. But that I think is a Wordpress issue rather than anything to do with the theme and I’m sure a further tinkering with the CSS and text insetting will solve that.
So OK Jason… when’s the hulu theme coming out?!
May 8th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Great Job Jason, this is very slick and at half the price of Quommunicate’s offering! Amazing! Keeping your prices down is definitely the way to corner the premium theme market. Small Potato of the now defunct WPDesginer knew that and it worked for him.
To reitererate an unaswered question about TV Elements that I asked in your them preview post, would this theme work using photos instead of video for the main content? So that when you clicked on the photo you’d be taken to the single.php for that particluar post?
I’d appreciate any input on this as it will determine whether or not I purchase the theme.
Thanks a lot.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:03 am
The first view with light color is better!
May 9th, 2008 at 12:48 am
Nice! - perhaps the best looking theme yourve made!
good stuff!
May 9th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Uhm…. Great job Jason!!!! I tought it was a 25$ theme…
So, ok I will buy it next days… time to collect money
May 9th, 2008 at 4:23 am
WOW, great job jason! it looks amazing!
May 9th, 2008 at 5:34 am
Jason,
When you select a category then it shows different clips. Click one of them then the page refresh and the list of the videos disappeared so I have to select a category again again when I click on each video to watch. Try it yourself…
Whenever I select a category then it should stay when I click any videos under the same category until I select another category.
Quo video theme is much easier to navigate around the video clips than this theme because I do not want to select a category every time I click to watch a video. Don’t tell me it is only me that I can see it as a problem
May 9th, 2008 at 5:39 am
Steven… The Hulu theme is right around the corner, right after I release my next FREE theme.
AndrewE… I don’t see why not. You might need to remove some of the aspects of the theme that don’t to photos, but other than that, all you would have to do is put an image tag in where you would otherwise put the video embed code.
Lyubo… I think you are thinking of another theme entirely (hulu inspired) which is still in the works.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Jed… When you select a category, it lists the videos in that category with the first one featured. Then when you select a video from the list it brings you to the single post page (same as any other wordpress theme). This is as designed and is the same as any other theme I have made. For instance, when you browse a category on wpelements.com you see all the posts in that category, then when you select one particular post, you are taken to the single post page. Again… this is not a bug, but at least I understand now what you are looking for. I will keep this in mind and integrate a “related videos” list within single post pages in the next revision of the theme. Of course, as always, revisions are free for anyone that purchased the original theme.
May 9th, 2008 at 6:25 am
How long before we ll see the revisions on the category issue? I am ready to roll out with your new theme but I need to see it fixed to stay with the list of category instead select it every time. I cant buy it now until its fixed.
I think I prefer a Hulu concept that show the clips instead on right side of the player. Keep up the good work! I guess I ll continue to work with my current setup for videos until you release HULU or the category fix. Thanks!
May 9th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Jed… You have to give me a few days at least. But again, I have to say that I don’t consider your opinion as an “issue” or “bug”. The theme works as designed, but as promised, I will integrate the related videos list on single post pages and post an update as soon as I am finished.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Jason I think the theme works great!
It does what it was designed for..
Cant wait for you next free theme.. I have a feeling I will be using that one for my site
May 9th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Hi Jason
slightly off topic but rather than clicking on everyones comment links to see what they’ve done with your themes then finding out that link is not using any of your themes is it possible you start some kind of gallery of sites using wpelements themes.
ps copy of the trailerflick theme?
May 9th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I second that idea! It would be awesome to have a little gallery of the designs created from your themes!
May 9th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Not a bad idea… I will definitely look into that.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Hi Jason,
Great theme, already bought it. I think Jed has a point. When you have 40 clips in one category and your guest wants to watch clips 35-38 he should click 9 times every time, it’s to many clicks.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Hi, will you be adding an affiliates link for this theme at all??
May 10th, 2008 at 5:49 am
I need a modification that: A category and its alt category for example; Rock/Metallica. User must have a chance to select firstly Rock then select Rock artist to Rock artist’s videos.
Also every artist’s video must have artist info under player.
Could you do it for me for this theme? If u will do these mods, i’ll pay for them and buy theme.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:33 am
This is a great addition to my site. I’m using it more as an add on. I almost purchased Quomm’s Video theme, then I came here looking to compare it to your other video theme, then I saw this was out. I like it better and for half the cost… you can’t beat it! I’m still playing and tweaking, and importing content, but It’s up and running at least. Beautfiul addition to my site. Thank you
May 10th, 2008 at 8:59 am
@Greg… I will be integrating and releasing an update for related videos on single post pages next week.
@Matt… Yes, I will update the affiliate program next week.
@Nick… Glad you like the theme. Thanks.
May 10th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Andrew - great looking site you have, nicely done..:-) But this may have to go down in the pantheon of great market share commentary:
“Keeping your prices down is definitely the way to corner the premium theme market. Small Potato of the now defunct WPDesginer knew that and it worked for him.”
I think I understand the point you were trying to make, but if you re-read that a few times…it’s a very funny point on pricing themes properly…;-)
(I know SP sold the site for lots of money, but still..:-)
May 10th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Irh, I disagree. It is a good way to price themes. It’s not about how much you get per unit, it’s about how much you get period. If you have a sueprior product and price it lower, your going to sell way more. Would you rather get 100 a theme and sell 50, or get 50 a theme and sell 500? If the cost is lower more people will buy, they will feel safer buying it, and in the end, the designer makes more money.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
how did he sell that site for 66,000 ..i took a look at the themes..they look pretty standard to me..nothing special
May 10th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
@Miles… In my opinion, the sale wasn’t really about the theme’s, more the dedicated user base that SP built over the 2 some odd years. You have to figure that 2 years of work building a community is worth at least 66K, but it’s too bad that the new owner has dropped the ball.
May 11th, 2008 at 6:48 am
hmm yeh i think i prefer your themes jason
as for the price elasticity thing thats true..
the lower the price the more yourll sell and potentially the more money yourll make…
Theres also a rumour going around that a few wp developers are going to release all their premium themes free but charge for additional help and updates…
Whats your views on this jason?
May 11th, 2008 at 9:44 am
TVElements up and running on my site now!
Still working on a few things, but it look nice.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Jason, can you look at an issue I am having?
Under SHARE, The twitter button adds two “http”. Look at the link Twitter is giving on your live demo.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:11 am
can revver.com videos be use?
can you please check?
May 11th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Revver videos work.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
@Nikky… Any embedable video will work with this theme.
@Eric… Thanks for the heads up on the twitter linkage. I will get that fixed and release a patch.
May 12th, 2008 at 4:51 am
@Dean
Where did you hear this at?
May 12th, 2008 at 4:58 am
@ Eric
the guy from blogohblog
May 12th, 2008 at 7:11 am
I like!!!!
Can’not write chinese??
May 12th, 2008 at 7:57 am
@ Dean
I wouldn’t hold your breath… But you never know
May 12th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Hi!
I think the theme is awesome, and is just what im seeking. If i buy it, can i make a complete translation of the theme to the spanish?
please send me a email with the answer.
regards!!!
May 12th, 2008 at 11:03 am
@Gonz…. I don’t have a problem with you translating the theme as long as you DO NOT re-distribute it afterward.
May 12th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Jason: I think I may have found something else.
If you take a look at my main site by clicking on my name I have the TAG CLOUD widget.
Try clicking on any tag. The page will reload with the URL changing, but stays with the index page.
Can you look into this?
May 12th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
@Eric… The theme was not designed with tags in mind… In other words the main loop was built in a very non-standard manner which enables the theme to look and function in a very specific way.
Either way, I will look into creating a tags template patch for the theme that will allow you to use post tags.
May 12th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
@Jason: I am not necessarily using them, I just noticed when I was playing around with different sidebar widgets.
I love the theme overall and as you can see I am now using it live as my main website.
Thank you!
May 12th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
http://revision3.com
It would be great to see this theme to work like Revision3 site. I think it could with like your VideoElement. I am going to prep it but looking forward to your updates for latest videos, etc to make it a complete video CMS!
May 12th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Jason:
suggestion: have a web page like http://www.wpelements.com/demos/ where there is a drop down where we can select each theme….and we can navigate from one theme demo to another theme demo without to the main site and searching for the old posts
I find myself swifting back and forth and searching your site to pull up past themes to check out the demo comparing theme to see which one I should buy…
May 12th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
@Miles… Thanks for the suggestion. I will keep that in mind.
@Jed… I will take a look at some of the revision3 site features and see what I can integrate within my next Hulu inspired theme.
@Eric… Great job on your site. I like the subtle changes.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Maybe you could stay focus on TV.Elements to improve it more with related/recent videos. Revision3 is not much different but you can easily combine VideoElement with TV.Elements together.
Keep it up!
May 12th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Ok… Jason… I’ve been waiting for a theme like this for over a year. A few quick questions…
Does is support third party plugins like MyBlogLog and Profilactic (lifestream)?
It looks like the background image can be changed, can i change other colors, etc in css?
Is there a character/word limit of text to be shown below the video? For our web show, we like to post the entire transcript.
Again… outstanding work!
May 12th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Jason,
Did you use some of the concept from http://www.moblogic.tv/ ? Your script is pretty close to what moblogic can do!
May 12th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
@Todd Earwood… The theme has not been testes with any third party plugins, so I can’t answer you question as to MyBlogLog and others. To answer your second question, there actually is no background image used in the theme. Everything is styled through CSS. To answer your final question, There is no limit as to the amount of text you can show below a video (an entire transcripts would work just as well as a single paragraph).
May 12th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
@Jed… The functionality of Moblogic was definitely an inspiration for the buttons on the side of each video. As far as your question goes concerning combining functionality of TV.Elements and other themes… I don’t think I will be doing much of that. I realize that TV.Elements might not be for everyone, but the entire concept behind this theme was to keep it simple and elegant which I think I have accomplished. I still plan on integrating the related video functionality, but that will be about it.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:04 am
I love Moblogic.tv layout ! I saw a plugin called Related Posts Thumbnail and I am testing it to see if it works well. It depends on keyword/tag to preview the related videos. I ll post it here if it works or not.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:05 am
Oh by the way, TV.Elements come with archive.php or category.php in the package this time? It wasnt available in VideoElements that restricted me to have different template per category.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:36 am
thanks, it will look awesome in my spanish site.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:53 am
Jason thanks for the quick reply. Since there isn’t a background img and everything is in the CSS, I assume I can change it to not be so dark?
May 13th, 2008 at 6:30 am
Jason, good work i like this theme very much. It will be great if in the sigle post video to add related video.
May 13th, 2008 at 8:01 am
@Todd… Yes, after you buy the theme you can change the colors to whatever you want using CSS.
May 13th, 2008 at 8:03 am
@Jason: Do you know how I can remove extra lines below the footer? I can’t find what code is used for that.
May 13th, 2008 at 8:19 am
@Eric… Not sure why you would want to remove the footer padding at the bottom, but all you have to do is find #footer in the CSS and change to padding element to: padding:10px 0 0 0;
May 13th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
@ Nick -
While I appreciate your cogent thoughts on market share distribution - I think you sort of missed the point a wee bit in the comment -
There is a slender shred of irony in a post that commends someone’s pricing model and starts with ” now defunct”.
That was all. No need to think too deeply, Nick - the baseballs are flying.