I’ve been using Artisteer (affiliate) for almost a year now (mostly for static websites), but I’ve never actually uploaded a theme to WordPress.
So after receiving many requests to do this video, I finally got a chance to upload the theme to see if the design converts nicely to a live platform.
After all, what’s the point of using Artisteer if the theme doesn’t work properly after uploading, right?
In the video below, you will see me create/modify a theme and upload it to WordPress from start to finish.
Here are the results — both the good and the bad…
Great post Lisa. I bought & use Artisteer about 2 years now. And i like it very much. I created a bunch of templates for my Blogger blogs (some i sell too). Now, i´m moving to WP and decide to go deep to create for wordpress as well, & i think it´s going pretty good. Hugs
I am an SEO, and my developer wants to build sites using artisteer. What do I need to know about artisteer for SEO. Are there any drawbacks of using artisteer vs using a theme like wootheme’s canvas or studiopress’ genesis and building out the site from there?
It scares me that the software looks so good, but artisteer.com looks like garbage and their blog is not set up correctly.
Please help.
I personally think WordPress themes look better than Artisteer’s templates. Is there any reason why he does not want to use WordPress? What made them favor Artisteer over WordPress. Just curious?
Thanks for your Article Lisa, I can learn lots about wordpress, The video is really great…
I like to create the design for the websites I make on Photoshop.
Is there a way to import my photoshop design into Artisteer?
Thanks you for video
Hi Lisa, thank you so much for the video, I learn lot from this i am new in this.
I thank you very much for this fantastic video,Lisa !
Hi Lisa, thanks for this video !
You don’t believe i tried on this software more than 30 days to create a attractive theme.
I used it cracked version and it always freeze after sometimes in XP and one solution
use Windows7 os and software will never freeze.
Theme has lots of css class but it gives a chance to create your own style in simple way.
Thank you for video
Dear Lisa,
Artisteer is paid software but we can try the trial version.
I have used the Artisteer already and it works good. Thx for sharing your though about the programm.
(this is the site made with Artisteer: http://www.tips-omaftevallen.nl)
Regards,
Ray
Thanks for such a great sharing but i think Dreamweaver is more efficient and work very well for me. And i don’t use Artisteer too much that’s why i don’t make any negative comment on Artisteer.
One can use Dreamweaver if he has sound knowledge of coding. While Artisteer can be used by novice as well as expert. A one click change design option is great.
See more tips at http://www.tipsopedia.com
Thanks
Thank you for video tips!
I have used Artisteer for several years for projects and my clients are not complaining. The themes never break and I have absolutely no problems – it only gets better and better with the new updates.
I often edit the css and code to custumize themes made with Artisteer – adding new block styles, header widget area and new page templates, and to me this is a great way to combine CSS and php coding with a great WYSIWYG editor.
Thanks for this post, Liza, I totally love to hear about others who use Artisteer for clients, – and great comments too.
Hearing artisteer for the first time !!
i am fully using wordpress!
thanks for the great info here!
am also using this freeware since from past years ago…no need to write lot of code
Thank you Lisa for your informative article. I like Artisteer software but i don’t have the money to get the software. The one available online is the trial version which is not all that okay.Please can you help me with the software and the keygen. Thanks
It’s only around $50 for the home version. Even if you’re dirt poor, you can still save up enough money to buy the software within a few weeks.
I’ve been criticized for using Artisteer. Apparently, this program is for “wannabe designers”. How do you respond to these people?
Also, how SEO friendly is Artisteer?
I’m so tired of designers criticizing people who use web tools. Who cares how you develop your site as long as you get what you want. So what do they call someone who uses WordPress and chooses a pre-designed theme? I guess that’s a problem for them too? I actually did a video response about this years ago. LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM46InxdRVE
Well, speaking of which, what’s your opinion on those who use other people’s themes and customize them; make them their own? Check out my latest video? I would love to hear your feedback, for better or for worse.
Thanks for the video tips on using artisteer themes. It helps a lot.
I think Artisteer is an amazing product, but like you mentioned about the CSS, it has its disadvantages. I figured out how to eliminate the CSS problem. Just use cleancss.com and choose from the options to make it more readable.
What a great tip!! Will try this out Jake.
I used Artisteer back in 2010. It is one of the simplest tool to create a theme for wordpress, joomla etc for all those not having any idea about css, javascript or php, html. The major problem with artisteer is – you do not have control over the placement of conditional widgets and not optimized for search engine. Am i right ?
Seeing your post in gplus reminded me to check Artisteer for updates.
I have used Artisteer for over a year and use it on most of my customers sites now that it has such awesome features.
A good tip is to create a folder for your Artisteer templates and each time you run into a really cool random design that it generates, save it with a name that you will recognize later. You can do so much and build sites so quickly with it if you plan as you go. Before you know it, you will be able to just open the folder and grab one that will fit specific site ideas.
Just my 2cents worth.
Excellent tip, Leonard!
I have never used Artisteer but it had interest me a lot since I have read this. Can we copy themes of others and modify them? Or is it a copyright infringement? Thanks for the helpful video Lisa.
-Elvira
Hi Lisa
I have not tried Artisteer as I use Dreamweaver but watching you produce the blog site its pretty fast against DW.
I think as you said though is a problem with updates. I do as you do and find a well developed theme and work with that, the updates as you said can save you hours of site down time.
What Artisteer users should do is save their theme if they gonna edit it again. I am using it to build static websites and I am very pleased with it.
Thanks for the intro to Articteer, Lisa 🙂
Thanks lisa for video I learn lot from this i am new in this.
Good video, thank you for this article!
Interesting video. I’m quite new to blogging so I try to learn as much as possible about wordpress. I’ve haven’t used Artisteer yet but maybe I could apply it to my blog.
Very good clear video. I’m a designer that doesn’t want to dip into coding so I looked at artiseer. But I find it very difficult to avoid it’s straight out of the box look and get it to do something that looks unique. Dreamweaver? I really just want to do a WYSIWYG design that I can export straight to WordPress as a theme but this seems to be a virtual impossibility. As far as I can see you either have to accept templates (customisable to varying degrees) or full out coding. Any ideas/solutions. Oh I work on a Mac; but nowadays don’t think that makes much difference.
I hear what you’re saying John. DW is definitely not a design tool. It’s more for hardcore coding and really learning the fundamentals. I think Artisteer is better for what you’re wanting to do but I do think they have gotten better with the customization options so it doesn’t look so “stock”… especially if you upload your own header.
I’ve yet to really find a tool that does drastically different designs but one thing I do like a about Dreamweaver is their basic templates are so basic you can do almost anything with them with CSS. But I understand you’re not really looking to be a coder. But knowing CSS is really the way to get what you want. I’m not a pro by any means but I know enough to get by. 🙂
Hi Lisa, thank you so much for the video. I have recently built a website using Artisteer and am now getting ready to upload. Video really helped! Thanks
Nice video! How timely, i was thinking how to change the theme on my affiliate site in a simple and easy way. Glad i found this post.thanks for the share.
Thanks for this one. it will enhance my talent and will make my work great!
I wonder why you are not using Dreamweaver for same purpose. Is there any trial verison of Artisteer? Even from your Affiliate!! It will work for me.
Just want to compare it against Dreamweaver on basic note of wp theme design
Dreamweaver doesn’t have the design features that Artisteer has. Dreamweaver’s templates are very basic and have no images. It’s best for actually learning how to code the right way. Artisteer is more for people who want design options without having to learn CSS and HTML. To me, they don’t really compare. Two different purposes completely.
I had used Artisteer on my blog as my first theme but I just dint like the theme, more especially that I couldnt get the white background.Thank you
I have been using Artisteer for three years now. Made several nice looking blogs which my clients absolutely were satisfied with.
I’m usually into wordpress, never really use artisteer. The video that you posted looks intriguing, so I will give it a try. 🙂
Hi Lisa, I also have never used Artisteer. How effective are the results from using this? Do you use anything else other than this?
Hi Andy
I also use Dreamewaver for my static site but they don’t really compare. Dreamweaver is more for learning code. Artisteer is better for design inspiration and more suited for beginners or people who aren’t interested in learning code.
Lisa – Great information. How is Instant WP working for you?? Can you develop a WP site and migrate to a live hosted environment?
Thanks for all you do!!
I kept thinking, “what if the theme breaks” while I was watching the video, hoping for a more optimistic answer as I’ve had people ask me about Artisteer but had never looked into it. I didn’t realize it did more than just WordPress.
And looks like they have a very active user forum – always a good sign.
That was amazing. I am a newly blogger and I spent most my time exploring wordpress. Thanks for sharing this with us, I could apply this in blogging.
Will have to take a look at artisteer, nice article.
I didn’t like the way Artisteer was set up a couple years ago, but I might give it a second look now.
I used Artisteer back in ’09 to build a few blogs, great products for quick and simple stuff for sure! I am sure they have come a long way since then too…
Anyway, saw this on Plus so I thought I would drop in a pester you 😉
Hey Keith,
Appreciate ya stopping by. Yeah I only bought it last year and they’ve made tremendous improvements in just that time. It’s a great tool for inspiration for non-design people like myself. lol
Love the video, just need to tell you that blah-blah-blah isn’t spelled “hgidhgdghdghdkg”, lol.
I’ve been thinking about Artisteer for awhile now, ever since you made that first review video. Sounds like this would be a pretty cool thing for those sale pages you mentioned. What ever happened to Dreamweaver? I know you used it before, is this your replacement now?
Ha ha! You got jokes. I still use Dreamweaver to manage and update 2CreateAWebSite.com and for the templates I sell so DW is very much a part of my life. 🙂
very timely Lisa. I was just exploring some custom themes for my soon to be released iphone app. this might be worth a shot based on the video. i’d like control over customization of look and feel. thanks for sharing.
Branching out into iPhone apps, huh? Very cool, Sunil!
giving it a shot Lisa. should’ve really years ago – as we all feel like that in retrospect 🙂
Hi Lisa, I have always been interested in using artisteer to build out some themes, just never looked into it properly.
I definitely like the customizable options within a theme and artisteer appears to give that option.
Thanks for the videos!
Anytime, Chris. Yes, it’s definitely a great option and they are always updating their software and adding templates. You get free updates for the first year.
Lisa, I’ve never used Artisteer. As I watched, I wondered If there’s a way to save the theme in Artisteer.
This would be a pain, but if I had already uploaded to WordPress and wanted to make code changes, couldn’t I delete the uploaded theme in WP and upload the altered “saved” version from Artisteer. This might be an alternative for someone who is “CSS” illiterate.
Yes, you absolutely can save it in Artisteer. It would be a pain, but definitely possible and a better alternative than fiddling with code.