Why do thumbnails cause so many problems?

[keyon]

I've been experimenting with themes that use some nice features -- like post thumbnails, slider images, etc.
So far nothing has worked. After digging into the problem, I've discovered that much of trouble has to do with certain 'permission" settings that are managed/controlled by my web hosting provider. Apparently HostGator is the biggest culprit in not being compatible with these kinds of themes. I've found a couple tutorials about how to approach the problem (which involves contacting your web host tech support), but the process is looking way too techie for my taste.

Geez. So much trouble just to get a thumbnail to show up or a slider to work.

Anyone else having similar problems with these kinds of themes?

[RJGonzalez]

What theme are you using, try vSlider at vibethemes dot com it has some nice features and works well for many different setups.

[Clint1]

I've been experimenting with themes that use some nice features -- like post thumbnails, slider images, etc.
So far nothing has worked. After digging into the problem, I've discovered that much of trouble has to do with certain 'permission" settings that are managed/controlled by my web hosting provider. Apparently HostGator is the biggest culprit in not being compatible with these kinds of themes. I've found a couple tutorials about how to approach the problem (which involves contacting your web host tech support), but the process is looking way too techie for my taste.

Geez. So much trouble just to get a thumbnail to show up or a slider to work.

Anyone else having similar problems with these kinds of themes?
Can you explain more exactly what you're trying to do? Are these themes the ones that are part of the HG control panel? (They are also my hosts). Have you asked them about this? They have the best support I have ever experienced.

[keyon]

Can you explain more exactly what you're trying to do?
I was just trying to find a theme with more advanced features -- like slide shows on the home page, automatic thumbnail images on posts, etc. I guess I haven't looked into the themes you refer to in the "HG control panel." I just went shopping online for something that looked good and installed it.

Maybe I wasn't doing it right, but I just couldn't get the slider set up the way they described it in their tutorial. After doing some troubleshooting, I found a lot of people pointing the finger at HG -- saying you need to contact HG to change "timthumb" permissions so that things like thumbnails and sliders work with wordpress.

I've since dropped my original theme (for several reasons), and found another theme with thumbnails and sliders that seem to work fine out of the box -- without having to make any special requests to HG. So I'm happy now.

[SnerdeyWebs]

Careful with fancy image themes etc.. if they are powered by AJAX there's no SEO and the content is ignored or missed. At least that's my understanding.. anyone?

[keyon]

Careful with fancy image themes etc...there's no SEO
Yeah, I was a little concerned about this, too. However, I've been checking the theme in one of those "what spiders see" programs, and so far everything looks good. The homepage slider I'm using appears to capture what would otherwise be a series of truncated sticky posts on the homepage, and that content seems to show up okay for the spiders. I'd like to hear more on the topic from others, though.