Implementing Custom Backgrounds in WordPress Themes
Posted on 21st June 2023
Backgrounds are one of the first places designers look to add some flare and personality to their themes. Unfortunately, the process of adding a custom background to a WordPress theme can be a bit daunting for those new to theme development. In this article, we’ll take a look at how to add a custom background to a WordPress theme, starting with a basic understanding of how WordPress handles background images. We’ll then move on to a few methods for implementing custom backgrounds in your themes.
An Understanding of the WordPress Background Image Functionality
In WordPress, the background image is set using the background-image property of the body tag in the CSS. By default, WordPress will use the following CSS:
body.custom-background { background-image: url(“images/wc-logo.png”); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: top left; background-size: auto; }
In this CSS, the background image is set to the default WordPress logo. The image is repeated vertically and horizontally, and is positioned in the top left corner of the page. The background-size property is set to auto, which means that the image will scale to fit the container it’s in.
If you’d like to change the default image, you can do so by going to the WordPress Customizer and setting a new image under the Appearance > Background Image section.
Methods for Implementing Custom Backgrounds in WordPress Themes
Now that we have a basic understanding of how WordPress sets the background image, let’s take a look at a few methods for adding custom backgrounds to our themes.
The first method we’ll look at is the Custom Backgrounds API. This API was introduced in WordPress 3.0 and allows theme developers to register custom background settings and controls.
To add a custom background setting to your theme, you’ll need to add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file:
add_theme_support( ‘custom-background’, $args );
In this code, we’re using the add_theme_support() function to register support for the custom-background feature. We’re then passing an array of arguments to the function. These arguments are used to customize the behavior of the custom background feature.
The first argument we’re passing is the default-color. This argument sets the default color for the background. The second argument is the default-image. This argument sets the default image for the background.
Once you’ve added the code to your functions.php file, you’ll need to add the following code to your theme’s header.php file:
body.custom-background { background-image: url(); background-repeat: ; background-position: ; background-size: ; background-attachment: ; }
In this code, we’re using the get_background_image() function to check if a background image has been set. If an image has been set, we’re outputting some CSS to set the image as the background image. We’re also using the get_theme_mod() function to retrieve the values for the background repeat, position, size, and attachment settings.
The second method we’ll look at is the add_custom_background() function. This function was deprecated in WordPress 3.4 in favor of the Custom Backgrounds API.
To use this function, you’ll need to add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file:
add_custom_background();
Once you’ve added the code to your functions.php file, you’ll need to add the following code to your theme’s header.php file:
body.custom-background { background-image: url(); background-repeat: ; background-position: ; background-size: ; background-attachment: ; }
This code is identical to the code we used for the Custom Backgrounds API method. The only difference is that we’re using the add_custom_background() function instead of the add_theme_support() function.
The third method we’ll look at is the set_custom_background() function. This function was introduced in WordPress 3.4 and allows you to set the custom background programmatically.
To use this function, you’ll need to add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file:
set_custom_background( $args );
In this code, we’re using the set_custom_background() function to set the custom background. We’re passing an array of arguments to the function. These arguments are used to customize the behavior of the custom background.
The first argument we’re passing is the default-color. This argument sets the default color for the background. The second argument is the default-image. This argument sets the default image for the background.
The fourth and final method we’ll look at is the WP_Customize_Background_Image_Control class. This class was introduced in WordPress 3.4 and allows you to add a custom background image control to the WordPress Customizer.
To use this class, you’ll need to add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file:
add_action( ‘customize_register’, ‘my_theme_customize_register’ ); function my_theme_customize_register( $wp_customize ) { $wp_customize->add_control( new WP_Customize_Background_Image_Control( $wp_customize, ‘bg_image’, array( ‘label’ => __( ‘Background Image’, ‘my_theme’ ), ‘section’ => ‘colors’, ‘priority’ => 1, ) ) ); }
In this code, we’re using the add_action() function to register a new action hook. We’re then using the my_theme_customize_register() function to add a new control to the WordPress Customizer.
In this function, we’re using the WP_Customize_Background_Image_Control class to create a new background image control. We’re passing an array of arguments to the class. These arguments are used to customize the behavior of the control.
The first argument is the $wp_customize object. This object is used to add the control to the WordPress Customizer. The second argument is the id attribute for the control. The third argument is an array of settings for the control.
The label setting is used to set the label for the control. The section setting is used to set the section for the control. The priority setting is used to set the priority for the control.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve looked at four methods for adding custom backgrounds to WordPress themes. We started with a basic understanding of how WordPress handles background images. We then moved on to a few methods for implementing custom backgrounds in your themes.
If you’re new to theme development, we recommend starting with the Custom Backgrounds API. This API is the most straightforward way to add custom backgrounds to your themes. If you’re looking for more control over the custom background feature, we recommend using the WP_Customize_Background_Image_Control class.
