intro to wordpress themes

WordPress ThemesWhat, Where... When?

What the reader sees

• The theme determines almost everything the user sees

• Layout• Fonts• Colours• Border & frames• etc

Layout

Fontshttp://wordpress.org/themes

What the admin sees

• Theme Features need to be enabled by the theme

• Wigdets• Menus• Header• Background• Featured images• Post formats

http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Features

What kinds of themes?• Plug & play

• few options

• Option themes

• many options

• Theme frameworks

• may have options, or a large API

• Child Themes

Plug & Play

• e.g., Twenty Twelve

• Menu

• Header image

• Widgets

• Background

• Featured Images

• 2 page templates

Option Themes

• e.g., Elegant Themes

• usually several styles and many options

• sliders

• featured content

http://www.elegantthemes.com

Option Themes

• e.g., WooThemes

• built on their WooFramework

http://www.woothemes.com

Theme Frameworks

• e.g., Genesis

• some options

• huge API

• lots of child themes & plugins available

http://www.studiopress.com

Child Themes

• Can usually be built on any theme

• Isolates your own changes & keeps them safe from updates

http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes