Why Atahualpa Theme is one of the Best Free Wordpress Themes

There is Atahualpa and there themes as far as free Wordpress themes are concerned. After trying out more number of themes than the life of my blog I finally settled down with Atahualpa blissfully. It’s not as if I wasn’t aware of Atahualpa, it’s just that I didn’t find it attractive enough at first; the first impression that you get when you look at an attractive free theme was missing in Atahualpa.

So I switched from one theme to the next without finding nirvana under any one free Wordpress theme. But what was it that I really wanted. A very simple long list:

• Multiple columns with flexible widths
• Custom widgets
• Ability to add pages and categories on header
• Fool around with ad spots
• Fully customize the color scheme
• Add as many plugins as I want and still load quickly
• Easy to edit theme options
• Built-in SEO options
• Ability to post thumbnail excerpts on homepage

I never thought I could get this wish list fulfilled with a free Wordpress theme but unwilling as I was to shell out $ 30-100 on a theme, I continued my search. I tried the Twenty Ten Wordpress 3.0 theme but felt something was missing. It seemed just too minimalist for my taste. At the same time I didn’t want to lose myself in the CSS maze as I am as good a programmer as my nanny is a sprinter. So after trying out endless Wordpress themes I finally decided to give the popular free Atahualpa theme a try.

If it didn’t work out I could just switch again, as I had been doing all this while. But I was pleasantly surprised with Atahualpa. I could have a magazine like layout for my blog with a nice blue theme color, my favorite. Then I discovered that Atahualpa offered more than 200 customizable options that could keep me busy for weeks trying out different combinations. Swell!

All these options are part of a separate menu called Atahualpa Theme Options (ATO), separate from the standard theme editor with all that Java script and CSS. I could also add an Archives page easily so no need for an additional archives widget on the home page that slowed down the loading speed and added to the clutter.

The best part is Atahualpa free Wordpress theme allows up to four fully customizable columns if you need that many apart from the ability to create your own custom widget areas anywhere on the blog layout. That’s a real plus if you are looking to optimize your blog design for ads and content.

Another really useful feature of Atahualpa theme is sticky posts. Since most of us want some post to stand out from the crowd making it sticky is a good way to get more readers and comments in. And if you’re into affiliate marketing, then increased sales as well.

What this great free Wordpress theme lacks is dedicated 125X125 ad slots but if you are willing to copy paste a few lines of code in the theme editor then even this is not difficult. But if I were to choose one feature of the Atahualpa theme from the above list as the best, I wouldn’t choose any. Why? Simply because the best part about Atahualpa isn’t all the great features it comes loaded with, it’s something external which no other free Wordpress theme can boast of. Exceptional support.

Yes, the forum at Bytes for all, Atahualpa’s creators, is buzzing with activity. No help goes unanswered and each and every query is cleared to the full satisfaction of the user. Another plus is that Atahualpa is updated regularly and so bugs are always addressed in the latest release. So much for a free Wordpress theme, I think I'll donate something to those guys after all!

Which is your favorite free Wordpress theme and why?