Getting Started with WordPress Theme Development
Posted on 18th June 2023
If you’re a web developer or designer, you’ve probably heard of WordPress. WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that powers millions of websites and blogs. It’s known for its ease of use and flexibility.
One of the reasons WordPress is so popular is because there are literally thousands of themes available for it. A WordPress theme is a collection of files that work together to create the design and functionality of a WordPress website.
If you’re interested in creating your own WordPress theme, this article will give you a brief overview of what you need to get started.
What You Need to Know Before You Start
Before you start developing a WordPress theme, it’s important to have a basic understanding of how WordPress works. If you’re not familiar with WordPress, we recommend checking out the following resources:
In addition to having a basic understanding of WordPress, there are a few other things you should know before you start developing a WordPress theme:
- WordPress themes are developed using HTML, CSS, and PHP.
- All WordPress themes must have a stylesheet (style.css) and at least one template file (index.php).
- WordPress themes can be developed using a text editor such as Sublime Text or Dreamweaver, or using a WordPress theme development tool such as Underscores (_s) or Genesis.
Getting Started with WordPress Theme Development
Now that you have a basic understanding of what’s involved in WordPress theme development, let’s take a look at how to get started.
1. Choose a Theme Development Tool
As we mentioned earlier, you can develop a WordPress theme using a text editor such as Sublime Text or Dreamweaver, or using a WordPress theme development tool such as Underscores (_s) or Genesis.
If you’re just getting started with theme development, we recommend using Underscores. Underscores is a starter theme that includes all of the files and code you need to get started.
To download Underscores, visit http://underscores.me/ and enter your theme name, author name, description, and other information. Once you’ve entered all the information, click the “Generate” button and your Underscores theme will be downloaded to your computer.
2. Create a WordPress Theme Folder
Once you’ve downloaded Underscores, you’ll need to create a WordPress theme folder. This is the folder where you’ll store all of the files for your WordPress theme.
To create a WordPress theme folder, open your FTP client and navigate to the “wp-content/themes” folder. Create a new folder and name it after your theme (e.g., “my-theme”).
Once you’ve created your WordPress theme folder, upload the Underscores files to it.
3. Activate Your Theme
Once you’ve uploaded the Underscores files to your WordPress theme folder, you can activate your theme. To do this, log in to your WordPress admin panel and go to “Appearance > Themes”. Find your theme in the list of available themes and click the “Activate” link.
4. Edit the Stylesheet
The next step is to edit the stylesheet (style.css) to add your own styles. The stylesheet is where you’ll define the look and feel of your WordPress theme.
To edit the stylesheet, open the “style.css” file in your text editor and update the following information:
- Theme name
- Theme URI
- Description
- Author
- Author URI
- Template
- Version
You can also add your own CSS styles to the stylesheet. For more information on CSS, we recommend checking out the following resources:
5. Edit the Template Files
The next step is to edit the template files (index.php, header.php, footer.php, etc.) to add your own code. The template files control the structure and content of your WordPress website.
To edit the template files, open the file in your text editor and update the code. For more information on PHP, we recommend checking out the following resources:
6. Preview Your Theme
Once you’ve edited the stylesheet and template files, you can preview your theme to see how it looks. To do this, log in to your WordPress admin panel and go to “Appearance > Themes”. Find your theme in the list of available themes and click the “Preview” link.
You can also preview your theme by visiting your website in a web browser. If you’re using a local development environment (e.g., MAMP, XAMPP, etc.), you can access your website by going to “localhost” in your web browser. If you’re using a web hosting account, you can access your website by going to your domain name (e.g., “example.com”).
7. Publish Your Theme
Once you’re happy with your theme, you can publish it to your WordPress website. To do this, log in to your WordPress admin panel and go to “Appearance > Themes”. Find your theme in the list of available themes and click the “Activate” link.
Your theme is now live on your WordPress website!
