INTRO TO WORDPRESS:
THEMES & THEME-ING
Instructors: Gordon Seirup & Jess Quig
http://slides.com/gordonium/wp-intro-lesson-2
Theme Overview
-
Themes: files layered on top of WordPress core that modify the appearance and (sometimes) functionality of a site
- Theme examples (click for demo):
Parts of a wordpress page
Standard Page
Widgetized Page
Menu
Menu
Regular
Content
Footer Widget
Footer Widget
Footer Widget
Footer Widget
Footer
Footer
Widget
Widget
Widget
Widget
Widget
Widget
Widget
Widget
Widget
Reminder: widgets (like text boxes) live inside of widget areas (like a sidebar)
HOW TO PICK A GOOD THEME (General)
Demos will always look good, so dig deeper.
Beware of bloat!
- Themes SHOULD alter a site's appearance (within limits)
- Themes SHOULD NOT provide any significant functionality. Ex's:
- Built-in sliders
- Built-in custom post types
- Free vs Premium
- How well supported is it?
- # of sales
- Support responsiveness
- Usefulness of replies
- Latest version release date (example here)
HOW TO PICK A GOOD THEME
- Define your needs! Some things to consider:
- General look and feel
- Fonts
- Spacing
- Defined image areas
- Content-width vs screen-width
- Menu location(s)
- Available widget areas
- How does it look on mobile? (use live demo)
- Blog archive - does it look good w/ & w/o featured image?
- Single post layout
- Sidebar options (left/right/both)
- Others... ?
- General look and feel
Demo: Install & Activate New theme
Watch or follow along on your own site!
user: demo
pw: loveland.creator.space
Other THeme Types
- Drag and Drop themes
- Generally easy to use, but...
- Compare top builder options
- Frameworks
- This is what most developers use (for example, we use Genesis)
Homework
- What do you need from a theme?
- Go theme shopping
- Use theme demos
- If possible, try downloading and swapping out a couple of free themes on a practice site (but only if not live!)