We are rule breakers of course. This is as "UMN header/footer" as our WP sites get around here:
http://lt.umn.edu/

Every theme is different in response to some of your questions to Rachel. It has been our experience that a WP update should be tested on a dev server before making any updates live. We then test the heck out of the sites running on it before pulling the trigger live. ALSO, unless you haven't modified a themes CSS or PHP much, we NEVER update the theme once it is in use. If we want to use a newer version of the same theme we have sometimes gone as far as running an entire new installation of WP to avoid the issue of overwriting work. Some themes you can just duplicate/rename before installing, it just depends how the PHP comunicates with the database. Sort of difficult to explain the reasons unless you are familiar with how she runs under the hood.

Best of luck to all, WP is so much more flexible (in our opinion) than any current alternatives.
b.

On Dec 14, 2011, at 8:34 AM, Jeffrey Abuzzahab wrote:

> Nice and clean! I like your sites much better than my Twenty Ten mod.
> 
> Did you build the theme from the ground up? If yes:
> 
> Did you run into any problems using your own HTML? Did WP ever try looking for a div that was missing, or if you get the PHP in the right place you are good to go!
> 
> Do version upgrades to WP impact your theme?
> 
> Is the same theme used for all three sites? Is a parent-child theme method used.
> 
> This is great inspiration! I think WP is going to be a seamless part of our web systems. Thanks for sharing!
> 
> -Jeff
> 
> On Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 3:36 PM, Rachel Lam <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I've made a variation of the UofM template that we're using in CFANS.
> a couple live sites:
> http://canolaresearch.horticulture.umn.edu/
> http://enology.umn.edu/
> http://fpmdi.bbe.umn.edu/
> 
> I'm happy to talk about it with anyone who is interested.
> 
> - Rachel
> 
> On Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 3:26 PM, Jeffrey Abuzzahab <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > Hey!
> >
> > We are using Wordpress for some academic projects here, some of which will
> > be public facing.
> >
> > I modified a copy of the Twenty Ten theme to include the UofM header and
> > footer and it seems to be working alright.
> >
> > Before I finalize this for production I wondered if anyone else is working
> > in Wordpress and would be up for discussing lessons learned making a UofM
> > theme.
> >
> > Keep the css separate, unique ways to make a parent theme... etc.
> >
> > I think it will be a fun discussion!
> >
> > -Jeff
> --
> Rachel Lam
> Information Technology Professional
> College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
> 101 Coffey Hall
> 1420 Eckles Ave
> University of Minnesota
> St. Paul, MN 55108
> Phone: 612-624-3619
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Jeffrey Faruk Abuzzahab
> Web and Multimedia Lead
> College of Education & Human Development
> Tel: 612-624-6034 | E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> 
> Can't get a hold of me?
> Contact the web team at [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
>