WordPress Themes Demystified was presented at the Melbourne WordPress Meetup in November 2014. It covers the very basics for newcomers and then digs a little deeper referencing some useful resources and tools for developers.

1. WordPress
Themes Demystified
Melbourne WordPress User Meetup
12 November 2014
Chris
Burgess
-­‐
h,p://chrisburgess.com.au
-­‐
@chrisburgess

3. Making Your Site Truly Unique - Themes
& Customisation
We will begin with a brief overview of what themes are
and what they can do for your site. Then we will move
on to cover:
• Where to find a theme
• How to determine the right theme for you (for now)
• Some gotchas to watch out for
• How to install your theme
• How to make your theme look like the demo
• Taking customisation to the next level
Topics
as
per
the
Meetup.com
agenda…

4. Dashboard > Themes

5. Where to find a theme
• WordPress Theme Directory
• Theme Developers/Vendors
• Marketplaces
• Developing Your Own

6. How to install your theme

7. Theme Details

8. How to determine the right theme for
you (for now)
• What type of website you have or need
• Themes are often tailored to a specific type of site,
keep this in mind
• Reviews and feedback
• Documentation
• Support
• Is it actively developed?

9. Some gotchas to watch out for
• Functionality
• Poorly Supported
• Widgets (if switching themes)
• Custom Post Types

10. Note on Custom Post Types

12. How to make your theme look like the
demo
• Documentation
• XML Demo Data

13. Anatomy of the WordPress Theme

14. h,p://codex.wordpress.org/images/9/96/wp-­‐template-­‐hierarchy.jpg

15. Anatomy of the WordPress Theme
• https://yoast.com/wordpress-theme-anatomy/

16. Theme Frameworks

17. WooFramework

18. Genesis

19. Gantry

20. Thesis

21. Thematic

22. Note: Some of these aren’t technically
‘frameworks’ – however they’re
popular page builder style products

23. iThemes

24. Elegant Themes/Divi

25. Headway

26. Themify

27. PageLines

28. Starter Themes

29. _s (underscores)

30. Roots

31. Quark

32. Bones

33. Marketplaces

34. ThemeForest

35. MOJO Themes

36. Taking customisation to the next level
• PHP
• HTML/CSS
• JavaScript
• WordPress
– codex.wordpress.org
– make.wordpress.org

37. Customiser Example 1

38. Customiser Example 1

39. Handy Tools

40. wptest.io

43. Theme Test Drive

44. Theme Check (plugin)

45. Theme Authenticity Checker

46. ThemeCheck.org

47. Check for TimThumb
• https://wordpress.org/plugins/timthumb-vulnerability-scanner/

48. WP-Compatibility

49. Where to next?
• WordPress Codex
– http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development
– https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/coding-standards/
– https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/coding-standards/
css/
• The #wpmelb Developer Meetup
– http://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Melbourne/

50. Thanks/Questions?
Chris Burgess
Twitter: @chrisburgess
Web: http://chrisburgess.com.au
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisburgesscomau