Wrangling Themes: everything you need to know about WordPress themes
- 2. WRANGLING THEMES BEFORE WE BEGIN... WHAT THEME QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE?
- 3. WRANGLING THEMES What We’ll Cover Tonight... • What a theme is • Common terms and anatomy • How to pick a theme • Ways to boost themes • Beyond themes • Theme care
- 5. GENERAL ANATOMY OF A THEME Header. Logo . Navigation . Image . Sub-navigation (social media links) Hero . Slider . Jumbotron . Banner Image Breadcrumb ( Home > Services > Design) Main Content Area Content Bottom (various widgets can go here) Footer (various widgets can go here) Sidebar (various widgets can go here)
- 6. WRANGLING THEMES WHICH THEME IS THE BEST? THE RIGHT ONE FOR THE JOB
- 7. WRANGLING THEMES How to Pick A Theme • Define the site’s purpose • Define your wish list of functionality • Research similar sites • Pick themes and narrow down selection
- 8. WRANGLING THEMES Purpose Of Site Before Looks • What content will you be updating the most? • What will major pages requite content-wise? • What major areas of content will you have?
- 9. WRANGLING THEMES Make A Wish List And Prioritize • Research similar or dissimilar themes, look at functionality over aesthetic Photographer: gallery variety, contact form, minimal Blogger: combination latest posts/regular content, sidebars, sign-up forms Designer: variety of templates, layout, ultimate control • Use this as‘shopping list’to narrow down choices
- 10. WRANGLING THEMES Other Common Terms To Keep In Mind • Carousels and galleries • Light-box • Columns • Front page post form • Different page and post widths (templates) • Sticky post • Custom menu • Featured content made of pages and posts • One Page website • Featured Image Header (definitions at wordpress.com themes and look at‘filters’)
- 11. WRANGLING THEMES Places To Find Themes • WordPress.com/themes • Google“Best WordPress themes for _____” • Beware of Themeforest.net
- 13. WRANGLING THEMES What To Look For (price don’t mean nuffin) • Live demo • Many downloads • Recently updated and supports latest Core • Solid customer review, accessibly support • Lots of options in default WordPress Customizer • Responsive (demo looks correct on phone)
- 14. WRANGLING THEMES What To Avoid In A Theme • ‘Premium Bloat Themes’(themeforeset.net) • Lack of updates • Lack of evidence of support * average lifespan of a theme is 3 years.
- 16. WRANGLING THEMES Plugins That Aren’t Theme Dependent • Gallery (FooGallery/FooBox, NextGen) • Sliders (Layerslider, Revolution Slider) • Lightweight Grid Columns • Page builders (more on that in a moment) • Contact forms (Caldera, Contact Form 7, VFB)
- 17. WRANGLING THEMES Need More? Page Builders • Way to be more‘block based’, drag and drop • Look for those that let you save templates and set global parts (change one aspect and it affects every page with that component) • Can slow down a site so choose wisely • Beaver Builder, Divi, Site Origin Builder, Visual Composer, Cornerstone, iThemes
- 18. WRANGLING THEMES Go Beyond... With Frameworks! • Like a skeleton/foundation to build upon • Divi, Genesis, Bones, Underscore, GeneratePress Pro • Beaver Themer (on Beaver Theme)
- 19. WRANGLING THEMES Go Beyond... With Plugins! • Advanced Custom Fields (additional functionality/blocks into pages and posts... like price, images or filters) • Custom Post Types (add your own unique postypes!) • Read about template parts on developer.wordpress.org
- 20. WRANGLING THEMES How Can I Preview A New Theme? • Must install theme to preview, unless it’s one that’s listed at Appearance > Themes > Add New • Install on a different location (local, subdomain, other sandbox)
- 21. WRANGLING THEMES Immediately Create A Child Theme https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/resources/wordpress-child-theme-tutorial • Install immediately after installing theme • Easy to install • Do all tweaks (even customizer) on this so you know where to find errors later • Throw plugin content in here to make special changes (ie: remove cart on Woo Commerce)
- 22. WRANGLING THEMES Theme Maintenance • Regular backups of core, theme and plugins • Update when required • Always work in child theme • Familiarize with forum
- 23. Giant-Ass List of Resources LEARN MORE Lynda.com free with library card: http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/computers/classes/ elibrary.html LunchPress (every Tuesday) https://www.facebook.com/pg/eraserheaderdesign/video http://www.wpbeginner.com/category/beginners-guide/ https://www.w3schools.com/ https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/basics/tem- plate-hierarchy/ THEMES & FRAMEWORKS https://themeforest.net/category/wordpress https://my.studiopress.com/themes/genesis/ * https://generatepress.com/?ref=543 https://underscores.me https://themble.com/bones/ * http://www.elegantthemes.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate. php?id=39481_5_1_20 PLUGINS https://www.advancedcustomfields.com https://wordpress.org/plugins/custom-post-type-ui/ https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/recent-posts-wid- get-extended/ https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/conditional-widgets/ https://revolution.themepunch.com https://layerslider.kreaturamedia.com https://calderaforms.com https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7/ https://www.mailpoet.com PAGE BUILDERS *https://www.wpbeaverbuilder.com/?fla=1708 https://vc.wpbakery.com https://siteorigin.com/page-builder/ https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/lightweight-grid-col- umns/ https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/visual-form-builder/ https://ithemes.com/purchase/builder-theme/ * means my affiliate link, where I make a small % of $ if you buy the item from that link
- 24. THANKS FOLKS!