It seems that some of you are already trying to alter themes or create your own with another theme as it’s base. In this class you will modify a template to fit your site by altering the CSS /images and you will create your own theme from scratch. Which one you use on your site in the end will be up to you; both skills are important.
In creating your own template, I do think it is useful to have a good solid framework from which to start. I do not mind if you use a “blank” template as a starting point for this task. You may wonder which ones are the best to start with, right? These are what I would use. If you find another starter theme or template that you think is better, please let me know so I can add it.
All of these templates are written in valid XHTML and come with pointers on what ids and classes to use to write your style sheet, which, as you may have found out, is invaluable.
- WordPress: Sandbox
- Joomla: Blank template from Bulletproof Templates
- Drupal: Zen
Filed under: tips, blank theme, Drupal, Joomla, theming, wireframe, wordpress
Is this something we should begin working on now? I guess I’m on WP overload at the moment
And feeling a little lost as to where I should focus my attention first….the theme…the plugins…the content… any advice?
Nooo, we won’t start working on creating templates from scratch until Week 9 or 10! I just wanted to make available that information for those few who are already thinking about creating their own templates; I’ve seen such talk on various blogs.
It does seem a little higgelty-piggelty, but unfortunately that is almost the only way to move forward with building a site on a particular CMS until you know better how it works. This is one reason why I wanted you to create a detailed plan; to provide you with a guide so that when you get stuck or overwhelmed you can pick a new task and move forward on that. As far as the class is concerned, though, you can see what we will be working on week to week on the Assignments page.