WordPress Theme Basics

Whats A Theme?

Themes control what people see on the front end of your website.

If WordPress is the engine powering your site, themes are the body of the car it drives.

More Than Just LooksThemes are responsible for:

Hiding or showing content & metadata

Creating containers to insert widgets & menus

Enabling adding functionality (often powered by plugins)

Controlled By Your Theme Number of columns

Styles & CSS

Typography

Thumbnail image placement & size

Meta information display & size

Twenty Sixteen (Default Theme) Pre-loaded when you install WordPress

Used to showcase the features of WordPress

New default theme released each year

Super useful when things go wrong

https://wordpress.org/themes

https://wordpress.org/themes

Appearance > Themes

Commercial Themes

Child Themes 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.

Source: WordPress Codex

Theme Considerations

What are you using it for?

Key functionality

Translations/multilingual considerations

Plugin compatibility

Ease of use

Responsive is not optional

Evaluating ThemesWhos the author?

Popularity/downloads

Ratings & reviews

Support

Last Updated Popularity Rating

What do users have to say about features and support?

Installing a Theme

Exercise: Play Around With Live Previews

Exercise:Install a New Theme

Activating a Theme

Customizer Lab