what developers need designers to know about wordpress

November 17, 2013

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INTRODUCTIONS

1. Name2. Company (if appropriate)3. WordPress background4. What you’re hoping to learn

GENERAL Q & AAsk a question provide a tip about WordPress

What Developers Need Designers

to Know about WordPress

Sallie Goetsch

Parts of a Theme

http://yoast.com/wordpress-theme-anatomy/

Why This Matters

• The templates operate independently of one another.

• Sizes and positions of these elements are not fixed in responsive themes.

• Some templates will leave out one or more of these files (e.g. full-width template with no sidebar, landing page with main content only).

Example

Desktop LayoutMobile Layout

WordPress Template Hierarchy

http://marktimemedia.com/redesigning-the-template-hierarchy/

Why This Matters

• You need a separate design for every template that the theme uses.

• At minimum, this means designing a home page, a blog index page, a single post page, and an interior page.

• Custom content types need their own single and archive page designs.

Example

Home Page Book Page Member Profile Page

Most Developers Use Frameworks

Why This Matters• The developer will be mapping your

design onto his or her preferred framework.

• Frameworks often include things like multiple layouts (e.g. right sidebar, left sidebar, no sidebar) that you’ll need to design for.

• If you find out which framework the dev uses, you can make both your jobs easier.

Example

Style Blog Post Formats• Aside• Gallery • Link• Image• Quote• Status• Video• Audio• Chat

Find out which ones your client plans to use, and

design them.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Post_Formats

Why This Matters

• If your client plans to include lots of media (video, audio, galleries, photos), you can display each kind to its best advantage

• Styling post formats with different backgrounds or icons makes your blog index more interesting.

Example

Twenty Thirteen is the classic example of post format styling. Each post format has a different background color.

Remember to Style Comments

And Comment Forms

Why This Matters

• Comments are an important WordPress function.

• They can look really dreadful if you don’t style them.

• If your client is going to use Disqus or Jetpack Comments, they’ll look different—find out.

Understand Featured Images

https://codex.wordpress.org/Post_Thumbnails

What You Need to Decide

• Featured image size for blog index (index.php)

• Whether to show featured images on single.php and page.php

• Featured image size for home page, if different from blog index

• Whether to include a featured image header option

Examples: Featured Images

http://en.support.wordpress.com/featured-images/

This page lists ways different themes

use featured images.

Create Multiple Headers

http://wpti.ps/functions/mobile-optimized-twenty-thirteen-header-image/

Why This Matters

• Depending on the framework or parent theme, full-width headers either get cropped or shrunken

• Creating separate header images for desktop, large tablet, small tablet, and phone gives you control over mobile display.

Design a Mobile Menu

Why This Matters

• The desktop drop-down menu won’t look good on a mobile device, even if it’s responsive.

• Mega-menus are a mess on phones.

• Responsive menu plugins won’t match your design.

http://wpmu.org/how-to-create-awesome-responsive-menu/

Not All Fonts Are Created Equal

http://www.google.com/fonts

Why This Matters• Just because you have a desktop

license for a font doesn’t mean you can use it on the web.

• Google’s 629 font families are free for web and print.

• Adobe fonts are available from Typekit for an annual fee.

• Web versions of ITC and Linotype fonts (like Helvetica Neue) are expensive.

Style Hidden Elements

• Drop-down menus• Headings level 1-6• List bullets• Blockquotes• Forms• Tables• Image captions

You don’t have to show

them all in action.

A stylesheet works fine for

text elements.

Document Intended Functions

• Hover color/effect for buttons• Hover and visited color for links• Pop-up windows• Lightboxes for images and galleries• Multiple drop-down levels for menus• Anything else you click or hover over

Why This Matters

If you don’t show it or describe it, the developer will do one of two things:

–Make it up, with a possibly less-than optimal result.

–Come back and ask you, slowing down the development process and adding more work for you later.

Example

Provide Icon Libraries

Why This Matters

• The icons you show in your design may not be the only ones the client needs.

• It saves time if the developer doesn’t have to come back to you for more icons.

• When creating your own icons, make sure you include all the most popular social networks.

The Codex Is Your Friend

http://codex.wordpress.org/Site_Design_and_Layout