how to choose a wordpress theme

WORDPRESSTHEMESHOW DO I CHOOSE?

Judi KnightNew Tricks

THEMES

EASY? KIND OF. . .

DEFINITIONWordPress Theme: A collection of structure and design files needed, in addition to the core WordPress files, to make a WordPress website work.

STRUCTUREThemes have files to display:• Headers / Navigation Menus• Page Templates• Blog Templates • Sidebars• Footers• And others. . .

OUT OF THE BOXWordPress comes with default themes:

Twenty-ThirteenTwenty-Fourteen

THERE ARE

Thousands of Free WordPress Themes

http://wordpress.org/extend/themes

THERE ARE

Hundreds of Premium

WordPress Themes

http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/commercial

OMG!

How Do I Choose?

OPEN SOURCE

WordPress is: Open Source

• WordPress, WordPress themes and WordPress plugins all have a General Public License.

• No one can actually own them. Anything made from the code inherits the license.

FREE OR PREMIUM

Free is free and there are some good free theme from reputable theme developers that have been around for a while.

But if you have the money, a premium theme from a reputable theme developer may be more reliable over time

FREE THEMES

2. Look for Free Themes in the WordPress Repositoryhttp://wordpress.org/extend/themes/

FREE THEME

You can choose a free theme from within your WordPress Dashboard.Go to “Appearance” then select “Theme” then “Add New”.

PREMIUM THEME

Premium Themes are best!

Find one with active support & community.

Answer questions, Updates the theme, Fixes bugs, Keeps it viable over time.

PREMIUM THEME

To find a reputable Premium Theme Vender:http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/

CUSTOM THEMES?

Usually not as good as a site customized from a really good Premium theme framework, unless you have very specific needs for your site’s functionality and resources to pay the developer to code upgrades.

CHOOSE A THEME?

Favorite Premium Companies:

-Studio Press Genesis Themes

-Woo Themes & Woo Commerce

-Organic Themes

CHOOSE A THEME? Premium Theme with Lots of OptionsCanvas by Woo ThemesHas two templates:• Magazine style template • Business style with full sliderHas Easy User defined options

THEME STYLESChoose the layout that you need.

• Blog Style • Magazine Style• Business w/ Static Home• Portfolio• One Page Scrolling• Etc. . .

BLOG STYLE

Focus Pro Theme by StudioPress.Blog entries on home page.

New Tricks uses this blog style theme with a customizedsticky post as first blog entry.

MAGAZINE STYLEMagazine Pro Theme by StudioPress

Home page features content from differentpost categories.

BUSINESS STYLEExecutive Pro Theme by StudioPress

Home page features Slider hero area and three service areas.

PORTFOLIO STYLEPortfolio Pro Theme by StudioPress

Home page features portfolio images.

ONE PAGE SCROLLBe careful with this style these since search engines see it as one page.

Your about section, services, portfolio and such do not come up as separate Google search terms since they are sections on one page.

THEME STYLES

Choose a theme with similar styling as what you want.

• Corporate look with hero image

• Artsy look and special fonts

• Sidebar elements with backgrounds or headings a certain way

• Posts displaying a certain way

• Minimalist, clean with great typography

CUSTOMIZING IS HARD

Caveat:

If you are not technical customizing a theme is tricky.

USE CHILD THEME Whether free or premium theme,

if you are customizing, use a child theme or have a custom CSS file for your customizations.

This keeps your changes from being overwritten when your theme gets upgraded.

USER-DEFINED OPTIONS

Beginners:Built-in User Defined Options,LikeThisare helpful.

Otherwise, to change design you must know css code.

CUSTOMIZED THEME

Like this.

CUSTOMIZED THEMEWoo Canvas: Plain Theme with User Options.

Canvas out of the box Customized Canvas

StudioPress’s Going GreenTheme, out of the Box

Going Green customizedhttp://cabbagetownchronicles.com

CUSTOMIZED THEME

Elegant Grunge Blog Style - free theme

Customized http://baybottomnews.com

CUSTOMIZED THEMES

CUSTOMIZED THEME

Big Feature Theme demo http://urbaneats.net

CUSTOMIZED THEME

Photocrati Theme

Photocrati Customizedhttp://alicefranklinstudion.com

NEED HELP?

WordPress Web Design, Branding and MarketingContact: Judi Knighthttp://newtricks.com

“It’s never too late!”