Advice on what would be best? Theme Customization / Development

  • mixmastermichael

    (@mixmastermichael)


    14 years, 1 month ago

    So, I have this site built entirely in HTML and CSS for my client last year but he now wants to be able to add content himself as the copy that’s on there now is going to have to be changed frequently.

    This is the URL to the HTML site: http://www.modenafinefoods.com

    Now, I have tried to have it so that the site can be managed by him using Komposer, but it was more trouble than it was worth as there was a lot of problems with it and I was afraid that he would “break things.” Therefore, I would like to use wordpress as a CMS for the site in attempts to:

    1.) Convert my site so that it will be manageable in WordPress by my client
    2.) Customize the CSS so that everything would look identical to my existing site… more or less.

    I have tried to use Joomla but find it to be very confusing so I’m considering scraping the Joomla idea and working with WordPress, as I have made a site using that CMS before and would be comfortable in installing it and getting acquainted on how to run things.

    In wordpress I’m still having the problems in Jomla in how I might be able to customize an existing “theme” so that it matches exactly to my existing site at modenafinefoods.com. I have limited exposure to PHP, but can figure things out usually (painfully).

    If it would best for me to create my own theme in wordpress, can someone please show me the right direction on how I could integrate my theme into the software?

    Can someone shed some light on what you think would be best?

    Thanks!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • huggie

    (@huggie)

    14 years, 1 month ago

    I think you’re in the perfect position to create your own theme. My usual process is as follows:

    1. Design site in graphics package
    2. Slice up and create html mockup with dummy text
    3. Split into individual wordpress template files
    4. Add WordPress template tags

    You already have step 1 and 2 done. I’ve had a look at the site and think it’s a good candidate for merging across.

    I’d start by familiarising yourself with the Anatomy of a WordPress Theme for step 3, giving you an idea of what files you’re actually going to need and then move on to WordPress Lessons for step 4.

    Thread Starter mixmastermichael

    (@mixmastermichael)

    14 years, 1 month ago

    Okay.

    I’ll try to do this by creating my own theme. This sounds like a massive undertaking to split up my existing site into wordpress template files though…

    I’ll give it a go though and come here if I have trouble.

    huggie

    (@huggie)

    14 years, 1 month ago

    It shouldn’t be too hard, just looking at your site I can already identify a clear header, sidebar, main content and navigation.

    Thread Starter mixmastermichael

    (@mixmastermichael)

    14 years, 1 month ago

    OK, I made some progress on this, but it has definitely been a little tedious.

    http://malbertdesigns.hostzi.com/?page_id=23
    compared to:
    http://modenafinefoods.com

    Now, I naturally have a few questions that would be WONDERFUL if someone could help me with:

    1.Sidebar images for the nav.
    I tried for a while to figure this out, but I don’t know how I can manually insert my image to go to the correct link, instead of the text as it is set up right now. For example, at http://malbertdesigns.hostzi.com/?page_id=23 I would like to replace the text “Acetum” so that it reflects the link with the correct image, as indicated by this page: http://modenafinefoods.com/acetum.html on the sidebar. In the sidebar code, I don’t really understand how the page titles are loaded in as they are not really listed.

    2. Another thing that has been driving me insane, is how I can delete the “pages” text listed above: brands represented.

    The HTML source code lists this as:

    • <div id=”pages-3″ class=”widget widget_pages”><h1>Pages</h1>

      But in the sidebar.php code, the “pages” part isn’t listed at all, so I’m not sure how the hell that’s showing up. here’s the php code:
      <?php wp_list_pages(‘title_li=<h1></h1>’); ?>

      Can some kind soul out there please give me a little help? The theme I modified is called “3d-realty”.

      Thank you very much.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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