If you are a web designer looking for information on how to design a WordPress theme, continue reading to find out the basics of getting started on how to design a WordPress theme. You can even sell a theme to make some extra money online or to use to get your name out there as a website designer for WordPress.
There are a few things you need to get started when you are learning how to design a WordPress theme. If you a re unfamiliar with web design in general and this is one of your first attempts at designing something for the web, it might be a good idea to brush up some programming basics before you get started. Learning how to design a WordPress theme is a great way you can enter into the web design industry. If you enjoy building WordPress themes you can even market them and use them to earn money online as a website designer.
First, you are going to need to start with structuring. This is the first part of building a WordPress theme and essentially serves as the building blocks of your WordPress theme. There are a few essential elements in building a layout that you will most likely need to include. For example, the header, posting area, sidebar, single page, comment box, feedback box, searching field, page menu, RSS feed and archives links and about page section. However, just because a good layout will have all of these elements, it is also important to remember not to overload the theme with too much stuff. To avoid this, it is a good idea to not display too many elements on a single page. Divide up the elements among several pages. Also, try and keep your theme color scheme consistent to avoid having too many colors and font types going on. It is one thing to choose two or three complimentary colors and fonts, but don’t overload it or it will just make the theme look messy.
Many WordPress designers will go about building all of these elements to comprise a theme in a program like Photoshop, but it is possible to do it in other programs like Dreamweaver, etc. Start with each element and construct each part of it individually before moving on to the next element. For example, fist build the header according to whichever size and length you want it to have. Add in the color and text to set the overall color scheme and font type as the rest of the blog. It is also important to keep in mind when you are first learning how to design a WordPress theme for your own site or to sell to other WordPress users, it is a good idea to make sure the theme fits the style of the blog or site. If the website is being use to sell products or promote services online, it is a good idea to stick with a theme that looks clean, sleek and professional.
When you are adding in the post box element it is a good idea to put a template text and header in the body just so you can get an idea of how the text will look when you or the blogger to use your theme finally does put real posts inside the post box. Another helpful tip to remember when you are learning how to design a WordPress theme is to keep your elements as organized as possible. It is a good idea to save each element as a PSD file separately so when you add everything together at the end, it is easy to find the elements and you don’t have to worry about rearrangement or formatting issues.
For help with any of the coding that is required to put together a WordPress design theme and the layout features of that theme, you can actually find ready-made codes online. Unless you are already a professional programmer and understand various programming languages, it might just be easier to use the coding from other websites and designers to build your own DIY WordPress theme. It is also a great way to get started if you are new to website design in general. From there, you will already have the experience with WordPress theme design and you can begin learning a programming language if you wish to get more in depth into the learning process.