Child themes, theme frameworks, starter themes … there are so many choices when beginning to build a custom theme. How do you decide where to begin? We’ll talk about how to find a good place to start depending on your skills, comfort level, and the project budget.

1. BEG, BORROW, OR STEAL?
WHERE TO BEGIN WHEN BUILDING A THEME

2. – P R O S P E C T I V E C L I E N T
“Do you do custom theme development?”

3. SOME DEFINITIONS - MY
DEFINITIONS
F I R S T …

4. • “...a drop-in code library
used to facilitate
development of a theme”
“A front-end web development
framework is simply a
collection of production
ready HTML/CSS/JavaScript
components that we can use
in our designs.”
F R A M E W O R K

5. • Requires a parent theme
Hint - many WordPress
“frameworks” are parent
themes
C H I L D T H E M E

6. • Scares the crap out of
you
Little to no CSS
S T A R T E R
T H E M E

7. – E V E R Y O N E I N T H I S R O O M
“So how do you choose?”

8. – E V E R Y D E V E L O P E R E V E R Y W H E R E
“It depends.”

9. FRAMEWORKS
PROS
• Base CSS
• Grid system
• Responsive
• Classes defined
• Typography
• Defines stuff you’d forget
about
• Broader than WordPress

10. FRAMEWORKS
CONS
• Not a stand-alone theme
• Usually included in a
theme’s functions.php file
or folders
• http://www.punkchip.com/w
hy-dont-you-use-bootstrap/

11. BOOTSTRAP
F R A M E W O R K S

12. BOOTSTRAP
• HTML, CSS, & JS
• 12-col grid
• XS, S, M, L screen sizes
• “Mobile-first” (mostly min-width)
• Media queries based on pixels
• LESS (ported to Sass)

13. BOOTSTRAP
F R A M E W O R K S

14. FOUNDATION
F R A M E W O R K S

15. FOUNDATION
• HTML, CSS, & JS
• 12-col grid
• S, M, L, XL, XXL screen sizes
• “Mobile-first” (min-widths & max-widths)
• Media queries based on ems
• Sass

16. FRAMEWORK COMPARISON
F R A M E W O R K S

17. CHILD THEME
PROS
• Quickest and easiest choice
• DO THIS rather than hack the
theme
• Parent theme can carry the
weight
• Bork the child and the parent
is OK
• Works immediately
• 80% of the work is done for
you
• Lowest cost

18. CHILD THEME
CONS
• At the mercy of the parent
theme’s code
• Quality
• Security
• Upgrades
• Compatibility
• Not the leanest strategy

19. GENESIS
P A R E N T T H E M E S

20. GENESIS
P A R E N T T H E M E S

21. JUMP START
P A R E N T T H E M E S

22. JUMP START
P A R E N T T H E M E S

23. RESPONSIVE
P A R E N T T H E M E S

24. RESPONSIVE
P A R E N T T H E M E S

25. STARTER THEME
PROS
• You control (and are
responsible for) updates
• One and done
• It’s your code
• Lean and mean code

26. STARTER THEME
CONS
• You control (and are
responsible for) updates
• You have to build the
theme
• 20% of the work is done for
you
• Most time intensive

27. _S (UNDERSCORES)
S T A R T E R T H E M E S

28. _S (UNDERSCORES)
S T A R T E R T H E M E S

29. _TK
S T A R T E R T H E M E S

30. _TK
S T A R T E R T H E M E S

31. SOME LIKE IT NEAT
S T A R T E R T H E M E S

32. SOME LIKE IT NEAT
S T A R T E R T H E M E S

33. SO HOW DO YOU
CHOOSE???

34. SO HOW DO YOU
CHOOSE???

35. QUESTIONS TO ASK
• How will it (the site /
framework / parent theme)
change?
• Upgrades?
• Redesigns?
• Improvements?
• Budget?
• Timeframe?
• What will you be asking
the site to do?
• Heavy traffic?
• Heavy database use?
• Who’s going to support
it?
• What are you comfortable
with?

36. – A N Y O N E W H O ’ S S T I L L W I T H M E
“So what do you recommend?”

37. MY ADVICE
• Research the differences
between frameworks
• Choose one parent theme
and build several child
themes on it
• When you’re ready, find a
starter theme that you like
and use it for everything

38. RIDE YOUR OWN RIDE
I N T H E E N D , Y O U H A V E T O

39. THANK
YOU!QUESTIONS?
http://www.juliekuehl.com/wcomaha-2015/
J U L I E @ J U L I E K U E H L . C O M
@ J U L I E K U E H L
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