You guys all know I love Headway and work with them, too. I use it to design all my clients’ sites (here’s the latest). Many of you already use and love Headway.
So it is without apology that I am going to shill hard for Headway in this post, because if you’re not using it yet, you’re basically missing out on a lot of awesome.
And yes, I just used “awesome” as a noun.
On November 25, Headway 3.0 (affiliate links in this post) will be released. People are already going gaga over what they’ve seen from videos of it in action from the beta testers. Headway 3.0 is a total website design tool. Theme frameworks? Those are so 2011. 
But with this new release will come some changes to pricing and service packages.
If you get Headway now, before November 25, you will be locked in for life at the old pricing and service packages.
In other words, the price is going up and subscription-based services are coming online. If you wait to get Headway until November 25, you will pay more for it and for some service packages there will be an annual fee.
This is not unprecedented or uncalled-for. Many of our well-meaning internet marketing friends have long felt we’ve been leaving money on the table. Headway could have easily priced itself higher long ago or implemented subscription services sooner because both the product and the support were so awesome that nobody would blink. Well, that may be true, but when we first took off we wanted to differentiate on the user experience, not the price. Now that the differentiating factors are clear, we’re bringing pricing in line with the experience:
- Some licenses will go up in price
- Some licenses will have an annual service component
- There will be many amazing new child themes available–some of these will be included in the higher-end plans, otherwise they will be available for purchase individually
- More custom 3rd-party blocks available for purchase are on the way
- More free blocks from the Headway team are on the way
Getting a Headway developer’s license now will grandfather you in for getting all kinds of cool stuff for free, forever, and save you money down the road. A personal license will grandfather you in for a free child theme and lifetime support.
I can’t reveal exact prices or numbers yet, but if you grab Headway now before the 25th, you’re gonna be sitting pretty, basically.
You don’t even have to do anything with Headway yet. Just get it now, then when 3.0 drops, just download the new hotness and bask in the glory of all your grandfathered goodies.
Pro tip: If you don’t have a developer’s license yet, and if there is even a faint hint that you may want to use Headway on multiple sites down the road, the smartest thing you can do is upgrade from a personal to a developer’s license before November 25.
Update: When I first published this it said “monthly” when I meant “annual” instead. I’ve now corrected the errors.
I can’t view the video in this article. When I click play nothing happens. Would like to know if the interface of the Headway software is always black with white letters. I have a hard time reading text that is whitish grey on black and the black background looks & feels oppressive. I guess you get used to it…maybe. Otherwise, it seems like a great theme and I need something like this!
Possibly you need to upgrade your Flash player. The interface is configurable in some ways to account for various monitor sizes and work preferences but changing the color scheme isn’t an option.
Hi Michael,
I have Flashplayer and I use Flashblock which identifies Flash content with a button. I actually see nothing there when I load your page and just a still frame when I click on it. I whitelisted your website to disable Flashblock and it still won’t play. However, I was able to watch it on the Vimeo website. Thanks!
betty recently posted..Why white papers?
Well that’s an odd one! But glad you were able to view it. On the Headway blog are a few more that are much more “nuts and bolts.”
http://headwaythemes.com/blog
Michael Martine recently posted..Plan Your New Website Content Strategy Using The Rule of Fives
For years I have been using Concrete5 to build and maintain websites. I have recently been giving Headway / WordPress a hard look. I am surprised to see a raise in prices with other companies nipping at their heels, but I think I will jump in with both feet and see if Headway is my new sitebuilding tool.
thanks for the heads up.
Jared
Awesome, man. You will love it. It does so many things other themes don’t even do, like let you create multiple page templates and apply them to any page you want and even export them to other Headway sites.
Michael Martine recently posted..Three Surprisingly Simple Ways to Enhance Your Creativity at Work
really greata advice…thankyou, the only problem i have is that i couldn`t see your video..what a shame
I thought it was a firefox issue, but I can’t see anything at all in IE8. You have to go to Vimeo.com to play it. In firefox you can see the still frame and the title. Just click the title of the video.
I went to Vimeo to reacquire the embed code and when I pasted it in below the first one I noticed it contained an additional variable. So, hopefully it will work better for Mozilla browsers now (Firefox).
Michael Martine recently posted..Why You Should Get Headway before November 25
“Shilling hard” is right. Whenever I have to dig this hard to find the price of something, I know it’s going to be a lot. I didn’t bother searching past the third click. What a turn-off.
Wouldn’t matter if you read the whole thing, because the price hasn’t been revealed, yet. At least you didn’t have to dig hard to leave an asinine comment. NOW you can feel turned off.
When it says the requirements are :
# PHP 5.2 or higher
# MySQL 4.0 or higher
Does that mean I need to know more than plug and play??
susie recently posted..Whatever Job You Have, Give It Your Best
Nope. Those are the programming language and database your web host uses for software like WordPress and Headway. Your web host will have that information available on their website somewhere.
If they don’t meet the requirements, it doesn’t matter how much you know about techy stuff: you could either get a different hosting package from your hosting company that is up to speed or you switch to a different hosting company that knows what they’re doing.
If you’re with a well-known and respected hosting company, these requirements will not be an issue. I would say “except for Go Daddy” but they only qualify as well-known.
I have bluehost which I am sure has that. My question is okay, I bought headway. Now what? I download it and then have to upload it to my hosting site?
susie recently posted..Whatever Job You Have, Give It Your Best
If you’re using Bluehost, you have nothing to worry about. I use them myself and their hosting is up-to-date when it comes to stuff like PHP and MySQL.
Headway installs like any theme. Before you do anything, back up your files and database.
Also, Headway will change a lot between the current version and 3.0 which will be released on Friday.
If I were you, I’d wait until Friday and then download and install the newest version of Headway. At this hour, the reason to get Headway now is to lock in the lower price and save money.
In the meantime, spend some time in the Headway member area and say hello on the forums.
Oh, and welcome to the Headway community!
great blog…thanks, personally use Concrete5 to build and maintain websites. I have recently been loking at Headway / WordPress .this may become my new sitebuilding tool!
Hi, Michael,
I got talked into DIY themes and can’t say I’m a fan. I’m still within my window to get my $$$ back from them, but I have a couple of questions I’m hoping you could answer:
1) If I change over from DIY Themes to Headway, how will my blog format, content, etc. change? Is it a pretty seamless transition, or is this going to be as big a headache as using and learning DIY Themes?
2) Is Headway more “moron-proof” than DIY Themes? I’m leery of promises of “requires no coding” because what I’ve found is that on a very basic level coding knowledge is not required, but I hit a wall pretty fast with what I can do without coding knowledge.
3) Can Headway help me make my blog more “kick-ass” than it is now? Meaning, can I add a photo background, manipulate menus, track stats, etc., without a lot of coding knowledge?
Thanks in advance for your advice, and for the free report on the “10 Tragic Blogging Mistakes…” As a newbie I appreciate it.
-Heather
3) Is there a refund policy like DIY?
If you use Headway 2.x the default blog design is very clean and plain. The proportions and spacing of elements on the page is different than Thesis.
Headway certainly does have a learning curve, because it is, essentially, a website design tool rather than just a theme. However, you can do much more in Headway without writing any code than any other theme I’ve ever seen. And when 3.0 drops it will be even moreso.
With Headway 3.0 you will be able to use image backgrounds without coding, have rounded corners and text or box shadows without coding, and so much more I will not get into here or I’ll be typing all afternoon.
Visitor analytics is not something Headway (or any theme that I know of) does. But there is a nice convenient box for you to paste in any tracking codes provided by services such as Google Analytics or what have you. These tracking codes are then automatically used on every page and post in your site.
One mistake many people make is they jump in and start messing with shit before having the slightest clue what they’re doing. Of course they mess up their sites and then cry about how Headway is bad. Headway is extremely comprehensive in what it does and deserves a glance at the documentation and tutorials before you get to work in earnest.
Having said that, our support forums are very active with capable users as well as support people. You will not have design snobs looking down their noses at you.
If pictures speak louder than words for you, google “headway video” and you’ll find tons of videos to see it in action (although all but a tiny handful will be for 2.x not 3.0).
Hope this helps.
Michael Martine recently posted..Why You Should Get Headway before November 25
Thank you, Michael. I guess I’m still on the fence about it. Need to do more research. I’m just so intimidated by the “tech” side of this endeavor when maybe, for now, I should be focusing more on target market and content.
Advice appreciated,
Heather
You’re welcome. Something else to consider: some people should not be trying to do everything themselves. Maybe you’re one of them? Consider hiring out the design. It might be one of the most worthwhile decisions/investments you make.
Michael Martine recently posted..Why You Should Get Headway before November 25
great blog…at first i had problems loading your page but was able to watch it on the Vimeo website. Thanks for the interesting help!!
I was not aware of Headway’s existence and it’s a pretty neat theme. However, and it might just be because I’m getting old, I still prefer to fine tune everything myself and have full control over SEO.
Most of the “automatic” methods I’ve tried are heavy and bloated, especially when it comes to maintenance.
That being said, it looks fantastic and the video pushes it very well.
Nicolas Bouliane recently posted..Votre site baragouine-t-il?
You’re in luck then, because Headway does not automate anything in the sense you’re describing. Especially when it comes to SEO, a practice I am very much opposed to.
Headway is a “fine tuner’s” dream come true. With 3.0 you will have more control than ever before over more page elements—all without writing code. And if you do want to write code, you can still take over the styles and hooks to your heart’s content. If you give it a look now that 3.0 has been released, I think you’ll find it worth your while.
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Oh, I think I am late to the party, just missed it. Michael, is the life time offer still valid, at the old pricing and service packages?
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Been wanting to get Headway for my blogs, why oh why did I saw this too late…I’m still not skilled with blog designing, will have to learn more.
Can you integrate adsense easily ? I am not that tech savy but this theme looks totally awesome. Btw Awesome avatar Mirage
Bleach ftw !
Dobrovski Anszieka recently posted..Kmart Printable Coupons
You can work with any number of WordPress plugins for AdSense management or use a Custom Code Block in Headway. Piece of cake.
Michael Martine recently posted..Why “Know, Like and Trust” Could be Killing Your Blog
It makes me think that Headway gave you a good experience when it comes to work ethic and dedication. I felt that Headway is something close to your heart.
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