Web Backgrounds
When I started my first blog I used the free hosting and themes offered by WordPress. I absolutely love and recommend WordPress. It is fabulous, easy, feature filled and well supported. However, I have found it increasingly difficult to find themes that look different, artistic, original or inspiring for the free hosted by WordPress sites. It seems that if you are enjoying free hosting, you must use one of a limited number of, well, mostly unimaginative themes. To help solve this problem for those of you with free blogs through WordPress, I have started to make some FREE lovely backgrounds that will add some zing to your blogs. We can’t all afford to be buying domain names and paying for webhosting, right? I know I couldn’t in the beginning. Oh, and if you do have a self-hosted WordPress site and you want to use my backgrounds, please do!
Below you will find the first in what I intend to be a growing list of free downloads of my backgrounds. I hope you like them.
PLEASE NOTE: These are NOT Themes, they are backgrounds only.
Instructions
Install any WordPress free theme of your choice, although preferably the one recommended by each background, from the selection under Dashboard/Appearance/Themes. Make sure the chosen theme allows you to change the background of your blog. This option will be displayed under Dashboard/Appearance. Warning: I only guarantee the backgrounds will work with the theme stated by each background. You are free to try it with others but it may not ‘fit’ the same.
Unzip the Background you have downloaded from here. Inside you will see a Screen Shot of how your Blog will look; A jpg file of the background and a PSD file. The jpg file is ready to use and the name of your blog will show as per the theme you have chosen. If you wish to use your own font/colour for your blog heading, open the PSD file in Photoshop and change the font and colour, and of course the actual title (wording) of the heading. Save as a jpg when finished.
Go to Dashboard/Appearance/Background and browse for your new background, upload. Change the other settings to suit your requirements, save and then view your new awesome looking site! If you have used your own font and colour for the heading, you may need to go to Dashboard/Settings/General and make sure you leave the blog title field blank so that it wont show on top of your new photoshopped one.
Hidden Forest
This warm forest background works best with the Koi theme by Nick La.
Beautiful New Zealand Series, 3
This background of the New Zealand High Country works with the new WordPress theme called TwentyEleven.
Beautiful New Zealand Series, 4
This beautiful New Zealand background works with the new WordPress default theme called TwentyEleven.
Kiwiana 1
Because finding New Zealand themed themes has been impossible, I have made some Kiwi backgrounds to use instead. This one should work fine on both widescreen and normal monitors and with the Koi theme by Nick La.
Kiwiana 2
Another Kiwiana background. Should work fine with both widescreen and normal monitors. Works best with the Koi theme by Nick La.
Beautiful New Zealand Series, 1
My first background in a series showing scenes of New Zealand. It is designed for widescreen monitors and works with the Koi theme by Nick La.
Beautiful New Zealand Series, 2
The second in my series of backgrounds showing scenes of our beautiful country. It works best on widescreen monitors and with the Koi theme by Nick La.
Joy
The Joy background is made for widescreen monitors and works with the Koi theme by Nick La.
Dolphin
The Dolphin background is designed for wide screen monitors, but would also look good on a normal width one, and works with the Koi theme by Nick La
Fence
The Fence background is designed to be used on both widescreen and normal width monitors. It works well with the Koi theme by Nick La and comes in two colours.
Rusty Wall
The Rusty Wall background is for those of you who, like me, like a look with real character. Grunge is one phase I’ll never ‘grow out’ of! You will need to change your posts font colour to white for it to be seen on this background. Rusty Wall is suitable for both widescreen and normal width monitors and works with the theme Koi by Nick La.
