If you haven’t heard yet, yes, WordPress 2.6 is out! Go download it now!

Here’s an overview of the new features:

One nice theme-related feature in the latest version is the ability to preview themes without actually applying them, so look forward to that.

To everyone who’s celebrating the 4th of July today, this theme just might suit your occasion.

This month’s free theme from Performancing is called Story Theme and is created by Design Disease.

It’s a three column design with the content on the far left, followed by two sidebars. The color scheme uses a subtle mix of tans, oranges and browns to provide great texture and depth for your blog.

You can preview and download the theme at Performancing.

We recently had a design overhaul for Study Driving, formerly a personal site of mine, which Splashpress Media acquired. As with a host of other blogs in the network, Study Driving was redesigned by my fellow contributor here, Ia Lucero.

When we were conceptualizing the design, I was initially thinking of something with lots of red, to symbolize that speed look (usually attributed to driving). But I let Ia have a free hand at what she would do with the site.

And so the result: something bold, but in a subdued kind of way. Presenting the new Study Driving:

It’s bold because of the use of the stylized automobile on the header. And the use of the checkered pattern reminds one of either a checkered flag or carbon fibre–of course, both associated with motorsports.

The site is subdued, meanwhile, because of the heavy use of monochrome–black, white and grey all over. There are several colored items, but the majority of the site is in shades of grey.

I know the trend these days is for big, bold typefaces in bright colors over a white (or very light) backdrop. But it seems that dark background sites are having a comeback.

David Peralty has just posted about the recently-released Cutline version 1.3.

Remember that Archive link in the header of every installation? I have since removed it, making sure to use WordPress’ built-in page listing code, so top level pages will be displayed automatically rather than having to edit the theme.

I have also taken some advice given freely to me by Gabriel Radic on his Timbru blog, so if you like the changes, please thank him.

There are no more italics in the blockquotes, I have added some text to the 404 page, so that non-web savvy users understand where they are, and I have removed the comments link from the index page meta-data line. I have also changed the meta-data line to use a san-serif font to be easier to read.

I have also checked the theme for WordPress 2.5 compatibility and haven’t been able to replicate any issues that others have mentioned.

Even with Cutline 2.xx, I think the first version is still as popular as ever. If you’re not familiar with Cutline, then better check it out. It’s what we consider a platform rather than simply a WordPress theme.

We’ve been receiving complaints of login problems lately, so we did a few fixes here and there, and the problem is fixed. Thing is, FreeWordPressThemes is a growing site, with a growing user base and community. So sometimes we fail to notice we’re already nearing our hosting account’s storage quota, and that usually brings up various problems, particularly in uploading new themes and sometimes even logging in.

Is it time to move up in terms of hosting? Perhaps not yet. And I don’t think a theme site would need such an upgrade. Unless we get to be very very big, that is. In that case, it’s a problem we’d be glad to have around.

So if you have other concerns, or you notice other strange things happening on the site, please feel free to drop us a line.

This month’s free WordPress theme from Performancing is One in a Million, designed by Thord Daniel Hedengren.

One in a Million is a three-column theme for WordPress featuring a fixed-width layout with a center-positioned main content column. The theme is easy on the eyes, using subdued hues and clean typefaces. The header and footer have an old world, homey feel to them, using a wallpaper-like pattern as background image.

This theme makes an impact without the need for striking colors. If you’re looking for an elegant theme, One in a Million might be for you.

You can preview and download the theme at Performancing.

ThemeShaper has launched a different kind of theme contest: The Next WordPress Default Theme. In this contest, participants are to submit ideas (instead of full-fledged themes) for what should be the next default WP theme.

It’s easy to win. Just let the community know what you think the next WordPress default theme should be like. All you have to do is leave a comment here with your great idea or ideas. Any idea is fine. You don’t need to be a theme developer, all you need is an opinion. Not enough room? Write a post on your own blog outlining your ideas (and to make sure I find it, leave a comment here with a link to your post). The three best ideas/proposals, as judged by iThemes and ThemeShaper, will be awarded the prizes. If we think they’re good ideas, you win! Simple.

The contest prizes are as follows:

Grand Prize: Your choice of 4 single-use license iThemes themes.

First Runner-up: Your choice of 2 single-use license iThemes themes.

Second Runner-up: Your choice of 1 single-use license iThemes theme.

Please note: Revolution will not be included in this offer.

The contest ends on March 24 at 10:00 PM central time. The winners will be announced on March 26.

Update (March 25, 2008): WPDesigner.com has a new owner.

WPDesigner.com, one of the most prominent sources of quality WordPress themes by Tung Do (Small Potato aka SP), is now being but up for sale. WPDesigner is such a young site (it started in 2006), with such a young designer (he’s 21 years old) to boot.

He writes that he’s come to this decision for several reasons: “I’ll be traveling abroad for the rest of this year”, “I’m at a crossroad in life”, and “I don’t like giving theme support”. The last one is a notable revelation, especially with the onset of premium paid themes that often imply support for its customers. I wonder how many theme designers are as enthusiastic about helping others, whether the theme in question is free or paid.

The release of WordPress 2.5 has been delayed by a week. Expect it to be out by March 17, 2008.