I’m sure everyone is wondering why a web designer is using the default WordPress template. Well, I have to admit that I’m no programmer and when I get beyond xhtml/css into the land of php things get a little complicated. I’ve poked around in the default template quite a bit, and even got up the courage to try and convert another template to WordPress, but it was tougher than it seemed at first and I set it aside for the time being. What happens is that i get to the point where I need to modify, remove, or change a line of php and then all hell breaks loose.
More internet searching is in order. If anyone knows about some good (basic) tutorials for this sort of thing, I’d love to hear about them.
Technorati Tags: template, wordpress, default_template
February 21st, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Read http://www.urbangiraffe.com/themes/guides and start with the blank theme at http://www.miklb.com/blog/2005/my-site/blank-wordpress-theme/ (the site appears to be down right now).
I don’t think you’re alone in your frustration. WordPress themes are very messy, and I pulled my hair out trying to start from anything but the blank theme.
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Ade, That is very helpful. I was able to get WAMP up and running thanks to the first link.
February 23rd, 2007 at 5:16 am
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February 25th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Thanks for the “blank theme” link, that’s all it took
April 29th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Did it help you pull apart and rebuild the WordPress themes, Ian? I’m going through a similar battle with a theme I love: Hemingway. I can swap graphics around and design the hell out of the thing … but when I want to pull an action or else from another site that does something particularly well, I’m realizing that (a) knowledge of tables, etc doesn’t matter anymore really in the world of CSS; (b) that digging through the resulting pages that Sitesucker can pull down sure doesn’t seem to help much when I’m trying to build out a new WordPress theme; and (c) I really can’t stand swapping back and forth through the multiple open windows on my Mac. I think the Urban Giraffe link above might help … the book is in my cart.
May 3rd, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Ross,
It did help me to deconstruct and start over in a sense. The grunt work of cleaning up was done for me though, thanks to the blank theme that Ade mentioned in comment #1.
May 3rd, 2007 at 1:13 pm
It is tough to make the leap from tables to CSS, then also while I’m not really understanding CSS layout, reverse-engineering the WordPress theme, trying to see what does what and how while just poking around. Very backwards intuitive to figure it out.
May 3rd, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Ohh, OK. You’re right, this is tons easier with a good knowledge of CSS. If you’re just learning CSS, I wouldn’t start by redoing a wordpress theme.