Choosing & Customizing WordPress Themes

andy christian@_andywashere andywashere.com

slides @ andywashere.com/wcchi

www.tadpole.cc

www.tadpole.cc

@_andywashere

andywashere.com

www.tadpole.cc

Agenda

‣ What is a theme?

‣ Where to find them

‣ Choosing a theme

‣ Installation & Activation

‣ Customizing/Theme Options

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What is a theme?

‣ A set of files that…

‣ Define the look of your site

‣ Layout

‣ Headers/Backgrounds

‣ Colors/Typography

‣ Menus/Widget Areas

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Free vs. Premium

‣ Free

‣ Try as many as you want

‣ Limited/no support available*

‣ Commercial/Premium

‣ Generally better support*

‣ Feature overload (sometimes)*

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Where to find themes

‣ Free

‣ WordPress Dashboard

‣ wordpress.org/themes

‣ Commercial/Premium

‣ Individual Developers/Shops

‣ Theme Marketplaces

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Developers/Shops

‣ Elegant Themes

‣ Themify.me

‣ Theme Foundry

‣ CyberChimps.com

‣ Organic Themes

‣ WooThemes

‣ StudioPress (Genesis)

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Marketplaces

‣ Theme Forest

‣ MOJO Themes

‣ Creative Market

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What to look for

‣ Visual design

‣ Support for latest WP Features

‣ Theme Options

‣ Compatibility

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What to look for

‣ Recent/frequent updates

‣ Available support

‣ Comments/reviews

‣ No extra functionality

‣ Cost/license

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A quick note about child themes

‣ They’re dependent on another

theme to function.

‣ A good way to extend/modify a

theme.

‣ Changes aren’t lost when the

original theme is updated.

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Beware!!!

Only download themes from reputable sources.

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Three ways to install

‣ Select from the Theme Browser

‣ Upload a theme ZIP file to the

WordPress dashboard

‣ Unzip and upload via FTP

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Hands On

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Thank You!