CrankMama - WordPress Blog Design ~ Lisa Sabin-Wilson

I think Rachael, Elizabeth, Jessica and I have one word to sum this project up now that it’s done: WHEW!! I worked with those three ladies for the launch of the new CrankMama blog. We’ve all decided to break open a bottle of champagne the next time I’m in the Seattle area…

This project was a bit different than some of the others I’ve done. This time around, the fine folks who run the CrankMama blog worked with their own graphic designer: Jessica Renner from Studio Hatch to create the creative elements for the site. Jessica provided me with the PSD (Photoshop file) with the necessary graphic and framework for the site. I was able to take that PSD and create their blog template - all primed and ready for WordPress, using the WordPress template files and some custom CSS that I coded for their site.

This project was an import from Typepad to WordPress. The CrankMama gals decided to host their new WordPress blog with us at Blogs About Hosting. The first step was to create the design and templates for them - which I set up on my own development domain so they could view all the changes and updates along the way. Weeks of communication ensued while we fine tuned the design and all of the elements included in the blog templates.

Once everything was done 100% to their satisfaction, they signed up for their hosting account and we prepared for the Typepad to WordPress transition. I installed WordPress on their new account, and installed the WordPress custom theme. After that, I performed the export of all of the data in their Typepad blog - which includes all of the posts, categories, comments and trackbacks that existed in their Typepad blog. Using the built in importer in WordPress - I then imported all of that data into their new WordPress blog.

The very last step was for them to edit their DNS information for their domain so that it pointed to their new account on our servers. Once they did that - we have a finished product with what you now can see on their site at CrankMama.

What is a CrankMama, anyways? From the CrankMama site :

CrankMama is you on a good/bad day…the day when your funny might be a little limp but still hanging on. She’s your sassy hip girlfriend, the babe with the one-liners, who can really hit it,-even in comfortable clothes. She’s your desire to be a mother and still be yourself, to love your kids passionately, without succumbing to the Frump.

Fun!

I had a wonderful time working with these three ladies on the CrankMama project - I wish them the BEST of luck with their new project and just know they’re going to love working with WordPress!