Last week’s release of the Mimbo theme for Wordpress went a bit more quickly than I’d thought, which explains why a few key issues were overlooked:

1. Using the_excerpt function for images was essentially a hack not built to last
2. Extra <p> tags were inserted along with the_excerpt, causing the site not to validate
3. The <p> tags required excess CSS workarounds to correct them
4. Because the “Lead Story” category only featured one story on the homepage, the “Read More” function didn’t work - something I overlooked in the Codex

Using custom fields had always seemed like a better option than the_excerpt, but I wasn’t sure the best way to deploy them til a suggestion from Bryan Pearson set some things straight. Long story short, the instructions in the original post now offer some explanation for using custom fields, and overall Mimbo is now cleaner and more practical. Admittedly, using custom fields to call an image is still a hack, but it’s a more elegant hack than using the_excerpt which is now freed up to do what it’s supposed to do.

In future versions of Mimbo I’d like to use the dynamic sidebar function so that the sidebar on the interior pages features additional links and modules. The reason it doesn’t currently work is because Mimbo uses a static page for the homepage (instead of index.php), thus confusing Wordpress as to where “home” actually is.

I’ve seen 15-20 Mimbo installations out there already in progress. Keep sending in feedback and feature ideas, and let me know if you run into any problems.

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