Everything You Need to Know about WordPress Themes

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Everything You Need to
Know about WordPress
Themes
Tony Cecala

@tonycecala
What are WordPress
Themes?

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What are WordPress
Themes?
Some sites and systems use the term “layouts”
Some call them “skins”
We call them “themes”

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“WordPress themes give your
site both visual characteristics
and functionality.”

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From layout to typography, the
theme specifies the look and
feel of your site.
number of columns
fixed, fluid, responsive
typography
use and size of site "thumbnail" images
display and style of "meta" information (date, author,
categories, and tags)

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The theme speciﬁes the look
and feel of your site using
templates for data.
templates for pages
formats for blog posts
types of home pages
types of archive pages

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Some themes are free, and
others can cost several
hundred dollars.

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Where to Find Themes

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WordPress Theme Directory
https://wordpress.org/themes/
themes are free
themes are scanned for malware
themes are GPL licensed

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WordPress Theme Directory
https://wordpress.org/themes/

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Themeforest Themes

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The Ever-Present Theme
Review Site

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NOT AVAILABLE
Review Sites can be outdated.

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Wow. This looks interesting!

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Theme Sites Reviewing other
Themes

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Independent WordPress
Theme Foundries

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Independent WordPress
Theme Foundries
What is a theme foundry?
Why are they important?

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Quality
Theme
Foundries
StudioPress - Genesis
Theme Framework

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Quality
Theme
Foundries
Elegant Themes - Divi
and Theme Builder

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Quality
Theme
Foundries
Graph Paper Press -
minimalist WordPress
themes for creatives

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Quality Theme Foundries
Theme Trust
Dessign
Themify
WooThemes

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How to Select a Theme

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How do you know what
theme to choose?
3 rules for buying a theme, author, author, author
theme popularity, downloads
how popularity can mislead you
theme ratings
theme comments
theme support

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Theme Features to Look for
responsive
Google Font support
WooCommerce support
508 support
International support
Right-To-Left support

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Types of Themes
Clone Wordpress Themes
[look-alike-sites]
Free Themes
Magazine Themes
Premium Themes
Religious Themes
Responsive Themes
Shopping Cart Themes
Themes for Businesses
Themes for Personal Blogs
Themes for Pro Bloggers
Themes for Real Estate Pros
Themes For Video Bloggers
Wordpress Themes for
Artists

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Popular Themes in 2016
Divi
Avada
X
Enfold

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Theme Conﬁguration

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Theme Conﬁguration
After you've installed your theme, how do
conﬁgure it to look just the way you want?

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How do you conﬁgure a
theme?
theme options panel
customization menu
site identity (512x512
favicon support)
header
footer
sidebars
widgets
style.css
functions.php

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Child Themes
what is a child theme?
making a child theme
editing a child theme

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Why use a Child Theme?
If you modify a theme directly and it is updated, then
your modiﬁcations may be lost. By using a child theme
you will ensure that your modiﬁcations are preserved.
Using a child theme can speed up development time.
Using a child theme is a great way to learn about
WordPress theme development.
https://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes

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How to Create a Child
Theme
A child theme consists of at least one directory (the
child theme directory) and two ﬁles (style.css and
functions.php), which you will need to create:
The child theme directory
style.css
functions.php

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How to Create a Child Theme
The next step is to create your child theme's stylesheet
(style.css). The stylesheet must begin with the following
(the stylesheet header):

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How to Create a Child Theme
A couple things to note:
You will need to replace the example text with the details relevant to
your theme.
The Template line corresponds to the directory name of the parent
theme. The parent theme in our example is the Twenty Fifteen theme,
so the Template will be twentyﬁfteen. You may be working with a
different theme, so adjust accordingly.
The only required child theme ﬁle is style.css, but functions.php is
necessary to enqueue styles correctly

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Make Friends with CSS

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Making Friends with CSS
CSS governs the visual look of the site.
Mastering CSS is the key to mastering web design.
You can edit CSS in the style.css ﬁle.
You can add and overwrite CSS with plugins.
Editing CSS in the WordPress admin is possible.

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Make Friends with CSS
CSS governs the visual look of the site.
Mastering CSS is the key to mastering web design.
You can edit CSS in the style.css ﬁle.
You can add and overwrite CSS with plugins.
Editing CSS in the WordPress admin is possible.

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CSS is your friend.
Same website with and without CSS.

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CSS in the admin.
Using the Jetpack plugin.

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Adding Custom Fonts is Easy

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Advanced Theme Topics.

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Advanced Theme Topics.
Edit the theme stylesheets directly.
Edit the theme’s function.php ﬁle directly.
Edit templates for pages, posts, and archives.
Add new templates for pages, posts, and archives.
Write plugins that work with the theme settings.
Write your own theme.

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Resources
Themes 
WordPress Directory 
Elegant Themes 
StudioPress 
Graph Paper Press
Hosting 
Siteground 
WP Engine 
Hostgator
Tutorials 
WordPress.tv

@tonycecala
Thank you.
Tony Cecala,  
Digital Media Consultant
TonyCecala.com

Everything You Need to Know about WordPress Themes

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