WordPress.com Connections Theme Header
by David Peralty on June 13th, 2006 
5 Comments
If you have been annoyed at the lack of customization with your WordPress.com blog, or have avoided WordPress.com because of the lack of customization you get on your site, the WordPress.com crew have been working hard to fix that, and in their latest release they added the ability to add custom headers to the Connections theme.
That’s right, custom header images. You upload an image, crop it with their online photo cropping tool, and save it.
Here’s how it works: under Presentation, select the Connections theme and go to the new Custom Header Image screen. Upload a photo with the simple form. On the next screen, use the mouse to mark out the area you want to use as your header image. (Don’t worry, the width/height ratio is fixed so the picture won’t be squeezed.) When you have it just the way you like it, hit Save. You can then change the header font color for contrast and coordination. Jumping for joy is optional.
There is a possiblilty for them to add this functionality to all themes, but they want to limit it to the Connections theme for now to squash bugs, and see how well it works for users. So now to customize your blog on WordPress.com you have widgets to move your sidebar around and add new items, as well as this new customizable header for the Connections theme. Every month there is less and less reason to have my own WordPress install.
Sounds like an awesome feature! I was wondering if someone could help a novice like myself. I downloaded and selected Connections as my theme, but I don’t see a new Custome Header Image screen anywhere. How can I use the new feature?
Well Matt, I hate to say it, but currently this is only for the WordPress.com hosted blog service, not for the downloadable WordPress.org software.
I’m glad I found the above comment post.
I’m new to WP and I was going MAD trying to work out why I couldn’t see the ‘amazing’ new buttons.
So is there any equivelant/easy way for novices who choose to host thier own WP blog to achieve these customisable headers ?
Not that I know of yet, but any feature development for WordPress.com usually makes it, eventually, to WordPress.org’s version. (for example Widgets)
Give the WordPress.com developers another 2-3 months, and I am sure the feature will be out for all of us as a plugin, though many theme authors will no doubt have to change their themes again…As a theme developer myself, I say “oi!”
Thanks David for the info. I’m still learning the product and development cycles and what-not for the WordPress product.
I suppose I should’nt be such a lazy bugger and should learn how to make / modify my own theme in the meantime. :-)