Newbie ~ Customizing Themes and Design

  • Big Moose

    (@big-moose)


    15 years, 5 months ago

    So I’ve made the switch from Typepad to WordPress because of all the great things I keep reading, but I’m wrestling with the learning curve. My understanding is that lots of people buy themes so that they can easily set up multiple websites, and also to ensure that the behind-the-scenes stuff is top notch.

    I’m going to be setting up several websites eventually, but design matters. With Typepad I had fully customized everything and did my own CSS and tweaking, from the line spacing and font colors to everything else specific to design. The themes featured in Smashing Magazine’s 100 Best this year all restrict design choices.

    My question is this: I’m not an expert at website stuff and want something smooth and comfortable to work with, but how would I go about customizing a theme? Is this usually not permitted? Are the files accessible so that all I have to do is search for code and adjust the numbers?

    Thanks for any feedback you can give me …

    Big Moose

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • esmi

    (@esmi)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    Start with Theme_Development.

    Thread Starter Big Moose

    (@big-moose)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    Thanks for the link. That gives me some good insight on how WordPress is structured.

    But what about being able to tweak an existing theme? I have found a few that would work well for me, but the spacing needs to be adjusted here and there, font colors and whatnot adjusted, and other design elements changed.

    How can I do this without having to build a theme from the ground up?

    Thread Starter Big Moose

    (@big-moose)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    This is really beginning to confuse me. I feel kind of frozen in place, unsure of what to do. All I have in place is the free theme that comes with all new WP blogs. I would really welcome some links to WP bloggers and articles on how to select a sound theme and tweak the design to my needs. Thanks!

    esmi

    (@esmi)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    the spacing needs to be adjusted here and there, font colors and whatnot adjusted, and other design elements changed

    You can probably do most of that by editing the theme’s stylesheet.

    Thread Starter Big Moose

    (@big-moose)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    Big Moose here …

    I’m learning more and more as each hour passes. The developer page you linked to gave me some good insights, thanks, and I’m now better understanding that many of these themes (if not all?) are completely open to tinkering with the stylesheet. I was under the impression that they were somehow locked, because so many say things like, “Five color schemes are available and two layouts.” But if I have access to the stylesheet, then the possibilities are pretty wide open.

    The only other concern is placement of widgets and whatnots. That would involve access to the main index or whatever it’s called on WordPress. Any ideas on how to do that?

    Thanks, esmi!!

    esmi

    (@esmi)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    Pretty much any theme can be amended by editing its stylesheet. However, those themes that offer multiple layout or color options may be inserting some CSS directly into the <head></head> section – which can cause some confusion & be a little more difficult to over-ride via the stylesheet.

    The only other concern is placement of widgets and whatnots

    Widgets are most commonly found in a theme’s sidebar but the approach that is used to widgetize a sidebar can also be used to add widget-ready areas to virtually page or post template.

    By “whatnots”, I’m going to assume you’re referring to WordPress template tags – pre-existing functions that can be used to add additional functionality or change the default functionality.

    http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/ is a good Codex page to bookmark.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

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