Ever since the launch of WordPress 2.5, everyone is excited about new ideas for themes, as well as the new ownership of WPDesigner.com!

These are some exciting developments, and I am getting excited about the future of my blogging life - including getting a new theme for this site. I have tried to keep my content and appearance fresh, but I am ready for some changes that will help me feel like I’m getting a good return on my blogging investment.

There have been some serious setbacks with this site, including loosing my archives to a twitchy finger, gaining a Google PageRank of 4 and watching it drop to ZERO.

But, it is almost the middle of 2008 and it is time to claim my destiny!

I’m looking for an affordable theme designer who is willing to work with me to create a new identity for this site as I work toward improving my site’s brand.

Of course, a new theme should have plugin compatibility and have a fresh, timeless look that is appealing to my core audience. Even if we tweak an existing theme, I want it to feel personalized and more unique than the average theme.

Leave your suggestions for designers and themers in the comments or send me an email.

UPDATE: I kept looking and looking and found this theme, the Mandigo theme by tom, which has enough pink to make me happy as well as widget support - no more hand coding for me (I hope!) . Okay, that theme was really bothering me and I just had to switch back to old faithful. However, keep the comments and suggestions coming, and I will do a roundup in a few weeks. ~ Ellie

There’s nothing more annoying to some of your website visitors than a plain Jane 404 error page.

It is very easy in WordPress to create a customized 404 page for your site, which will help visitors locate the information they are looking for and keep them on your page longer!

Most themes come with a 404 page as part of the theme set, so from this point, I will assume you already have a 404 page in your theme. For more information on how to create a 404 page, visit the WordPress Codex.

Below is a screenshot of what you will see when you first go to Presentation > Theme Editor and click on “404″ or “404.php”.

Take note of the h2 heading in the code. You can edit the text within the h2 heading and add more information below that.

For my customized 404 page, I added the code for my most recent posts and code for my most popular posts, since I have the Popularity Contest installed.

You can add any information you want, add pictures or even have a contact form on your 404 page, so visitors can contact you and let you know what they were looking for! Be sure to save frequently and test your page to see how it displays and functions. Visit my custom 404 page and see how it works!

It is up to you on how to create your customized 404 page. Send us links to yours!

This post covers step 54 of 101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger.

It took a lot longer than I anticipated, but thepinkc - the ultimate Geek Girl - is back!

We switched hosts in the last week to BlueHost. The move was pretty easy, although I did loose a few settings for plugins and a couple of logos

While the site is back up - and with a new look, expect to see a few changes over the next few weeks - new logos, color theme, etc. If you see any bugs, please send me an email.

Stay tuned for a double dose of Geek Girl and WordPress Wednesdays - my gift to you for being patient with the downtime!