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How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners
- 1. How to Pick a WordPress Theme − a Guide for Beginners − with Christina Hills WordCamp Los Angeles 2016
- 2. @christinahills | #wclax Christina Hills Background: Visual Effects Artist for Film & TV Star Wars E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Jurassic Park Mars Attacks! And more…
- 3. @christinahills | #wclax Christina Hills Now: WordPress Trainer and Coach since 2008
- 4. Let’s Talk About WordPress Themes!
- 5. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Some Themes Are Simple
- 6. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Some Themes Are More Complex
- 7. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Simple vs. Complex
- 8. @christinahills | #wclax When Picking a Theme You have a Few Decisions to Make…
- 9. @christinahills | #wclax Blog Homepage or Custom Homepage ?
- 10. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax "Blog Homepage" Design
- 11. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax “Custom Homepage“ Design
- 12. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax “Custom Homepage“ Design
- 13. “Free” Themes vs. “Premium“ (Paid) Themes
- 14. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Free: WordPress Theme Directory
- 15. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Find a Free One on WordPress.org
- 16. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Evaluate the Free Theme
- 17. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Visit Theme Homepage
- 18. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax View the Demo
- 19. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Browse Their Documentation
- 20. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Evaluate How Active their Support Forum is
- 21. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Then…Install Theme Inside WordPress
- 22. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax If You Like the Free Buy Pro!
- 23. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Same Theme Different Customizations
- 24. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax How Many Widgets Does the Theme Have?
- 25. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax How Many Page Templates Does the Theme Have?
- 26. @christinahills | #wclax Are they in business? Are they selling themes? Or is this just a “fun project” from a developer who might get bored? What is the Business Model ?
- 27. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Automattic, Inc. (Official WordPress Free Themes) https://wordpress.org/themes/author/automattic
- 28. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Make Sure Your Theme is Mobile Responsive
- 30. @christinahills | #wclax Does Your Site/Theme Pass Google’s Mobile- Friendliness Test? www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly
- 31. @christinahills | #wclax WP Touch wordpress.org/plugins/wptouch/ Plugin to Make Your Theme Responsive
- 32. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax What is a Theme “Framework” ?
- 33. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Genesis Framework from StudioPress
- 34. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Explanation of a Theme Framework
- 35. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Third Party Designers on StudioPress
- 36. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Third Party Designers: Restored316
- 37. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Genesis Community on Facebook
- 38. “Child” Themes
- 39. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax What is a “Child Theme” ?
- 40. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Parent-Child Themes in Admin Dashboard
- 41. @christinahills | #wclax Why You Would Want to Use/Create a Child Theme • With a child theme, you can customize your website beyond the customization options available in the customizer without affecting the original theme • You will not lose your customizations when the parent theme updates • Creating a child theme is much easier than you think!
- 42. @christinahills | #wclax If Your Theme Company Does not Come with a Child Theme, You can make one with a Plugin!
- 43. @christinahills | #wclax https://wordpress.org/plugins/one-click-child-theme/ One-Click Child Theme Plugin
- 44. @christinahills | #wclax https://wordpress.org/plugins/child-theme-wizard/ Child Theme Wizard Plugin
- 45. @christinahills | #wclax Themes with Blank Child Theme
- 46. Page Builders
- 49. www.elegantthemes.com Divi From Elegant Themes
- 52. www.wpbeaverbuilder.com Beaver Builder Page Builder
- 53. What to Watch For
- 54. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax BEWARE: Google Results for Theme Search
- 56. @christinahills | #wclax https://wordpress.org/plugins/theme-check/ Old Theme with Errors
- 57. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax How Detect a Theme From a Website You Like: WPThemeDetector.com
- 58. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Theme Detector Website with Results
- 59. slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax Does The Theme Have a Community?
- 60. Good Website Design = Professional Pictures Easy Intuitive Layout Great Web Copy
- 61. @christinahills | #wclax Bottom Line: Go with a reputable company Look at the popularity Evaluate the theme demo Evaluate the documentation Does the theme have a community Don’t let price be the deciding factor Try it out!
- 62. This presentation will be available at: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016
- 63. Connect with Me! www.ChristinaHills.com/facebook @christinahills www.ChristinaHills.com/linkedin christina@websitecreationworkshop.com www www.WebsiteCreationWorkshop.com
Editor's Notes
- I used to make movies! I was a special effects artist for George Lucas.
- So who am I to make this promise? I am Christina Hills. I am a WordPress Coach and Teacher. I run a program called the Website Creation Workshop, where I teach non-techies how to create their website in WordPress.
- There are various ways to find a theme. - You can search for free themes from inside your Admin (same themes as WordPress.org) - You can search for free themes at WordPress.org - You can go to a reputable Theme Company - Or you can do a Google Search (not always recommended as you must trust the source) - You can get a designer to custom build a theme for you Tip: You go to the “Themes” area to find the themes you already installed (or that came by default from the web hosting company) You will see the “Active” one in the upper left and a button to “Customize” it for your own styling. Then you will see the extra installed themes you already have in your site.
- There are various ways to find a theme. - You can search for free themes from inside your Admin (same themes as WordPress.org) - You can search for free themes at WordPress.org - You can go to a reputable Theme Company - Or you can do a Google Search (not always recommended as you must trust the source) - You can get a designer to custom build a theme for you Tip: You go to the “Themes” area to find the themes you already installed (or that came by default from the web hosting company) You will see the “Active” one in the upper left and a button to “Customize” it for your own styling. Then you will see the extra installed themes you already have in your site.
- What is a theme? A theme is the look and feel of your WordPress website. It is the layout and overall color scheme and style of your site. With WordPress, your theme design is separate from your content. See here how you can change the look and feel by changing the theme. This is the same site, but the only thing that has changed is the design. Themes can also be customized so that the same theme looks different from one site to another with just some header changes and color changes. Note: Only ONE theme can be active inside your WordPress website at a time.
- 1) Do You Want your Blog on the Homepage or a Custom Homepage ?
- Sometimes the Layout of the Home Page is Specific to the Theme Sometimes there is a different layout design specifically for the home page. This is theme dependent, and will depend upon your theme. For this theme the infoway theme from http://www.thebestthemes.com/inkthemes , the interior pages follow the regular format from the previous page, but the homepage has a unique layout. Note: By Default, most themes have the “Blog” displayed on the homepage of the site, but some themes like the one above, have a special home page design.
- Sometimes the Layout of the Home Page is Specific to the Theme Sometimes there is a different layout design specifically for the home page. This is theme dependent, and will depend upon your theme. For this theme the infoway theme from http://www.thebestthemes.com/inkthemes , the interior pages follow the regular format from the previous page, but the homepage has a unique layout. Note: By Default, most themes have the “Blog” displayed on the homepage of the site, but some themes like the one above, have a special home page design.
- Sometimes the Layout of the Home Page is Specific to the Theme Sometimes there is a different layout design specifically for the home page. This is theme dependent, and will depend upon your theme. For this theme the infoway theme from http://www.thebestthemes.com/inkthemes , the interior pages follow the regular format from the previous page, but the homepage has a unique layout. Note: By Default, most themes have the “Blog” displayed on the homepage of the site, but some themes like the one above, have a special home page design.
- When Picking a Theme You ask yourself: 1) Are You Going to Use a Free, Paid, or Custom Theme?
- Search for Free Themes at WordPress.org Go to the WordPress.org Theme Directory and click on the “Themes” tab at the top These are the SAME themes that you find inside your WordPress admin. It’s just sometimes easier to search for and view these themes by going to WordPress.org in a browser. Alert: We recommend you only use Free themes while you are learning and experimenting with your website. It’s a great way to learn what you are looking for in a theme. BUT free themes don’t always come with support from the theme company. (and sometimes the developer abandons the theme). That is why the small $50-$100 investment in a premium theme is a small cost for the support you will get. Or you use a free theme to evaluate a company, and then go with their Pro version.
- Search for Free Themes at WordPress.org Go to the WordPress.org Theme Directory and click on the “Themes” tab at the top These are the SAME themes that you find inside your WordPress admin. It’s just sometimes easier to search for and view these themes by going to WordPress.org in a browser. Alert: We recommend you only use Free themes while you are learning and experimenting with your website. It’s a great way to learn what you are looking for in a theme. BUT free themes don’t always come with support from the theme company. (and sometimes the developer abandons the theme). That is why the small $50-$100 investment in a premium theme is a small cost for the support you will get. Or you use a free theme to evaluate a company, and then go with their Pro version.
- Search for Free Themes at WordPress.org Go to the WordPress.org Theme Directory and click on the “Themes” tab at the top These are the SAME themes that you find inside your WordPress admin. It’s just sometimes easier to search for and view these themes by going to WordPress.org in a browser. Alert: We recommend you only use Free themes while you are learning and experimenting with your website. It’s a great way to learn what you are looking for in a theme. BUT free themes don’t always come with support from the theme company. (and sometimes the developer abandons the theme). That is why the small $50-$100 investment in a premium theme is a small cost for the support you will get. Or you use a free theme to evaluate a company, and then go with their Pro version.
- Search for Free Themes at WordPress.org Go to the WordPress.org Theme Directory and click on the “Themes” tab at the top These are the SAME themes that you find inside your WordPress admin. It’s just sometimes easier to search for and view these themes by going to WordPress.org in a browser. Alert: We recommend you only use Free themes while you are learning and experimenting with your website. It’s a great way to learn what you are looking for in a theme. BUT free themes don’t always come with support from the theme company. (and sometimes the developer abandons the theme). That is why the small $50-$100 investment in a premium theme is a small cost for the support you will get. Or you use a free theme to evaluate a company, and then go with their Pro version.
- Simple can still be visually stunning, and unique to you!
- Here is an example of a Mobile Responsive Theme In less than 4 years it is predicted that ½ of all web traffic will be coming from wireless mobile devices. You got to have a mobile responsive website today!
- Here is an example of a Mobile Responsive Theme In less than 4 years it is predicted that ½ of all web traffic will be coming from wireless mobile devices. You got to have a mobile responsive website today!
- A “Child” theme is a subset of a theme. It’s where you would do the theme customizations for a theme so that you can leave the main theme alone. Not all theme companies use “Child” themes, it’s a philosophy of theme companies. However, you CAN take your own theme, and make it a child theme.
- A “Child” theme is a subset of a theme. It’s where you would do the theme customizations for a theme so that you can leave the main theme alone. Not all theme companies use “Child” themes, it’s a philosophy of theme companies. However, you CAN take your own theme, and make it a child theme.
- 2 plugins to allow you to easily create your own child theme. They work pretty much the same way: install and activate plugin and just follow their setup process to create a theme.
- Some themes also comes bundled with a blank child theme for you to use, right out of the box. Check your theme’s documentation to see if it’s available for your theme. https://community.theme.co/kb/how-to-setup-child-themes/
- BEWARE of Searching Google for a Theme Alert: Use caution when downloading files from the internet. Make sure you trust the site you are downloading from. Look around at the sites and check that they are active sites, and not old stale ones You can also get a designer to build a theme for you, but that would be the most expensive route to take, and not always needed for people new to WordPress. It’s better to start with a free or premium theme to learn more about what you like, before incurring the high costs of a designer. Find more themes at www.TheBestThemes.com
- Go to a site like www.wpThemeDetector.com And submit the URL of a site and it will let you know what theme it is using