Josh Leuze
jleuze.com
Building Better Themes
Theme Types
-Parent Themes
-Child Themes
-Starter Themes
-Frameworks
Starter Theme
-Underscores: http://underscores.me/
-Regolith: https://github.com/JLeuze/regolith
Getting Setup
-Plan ahead: Sketch, Notes, Wireframes, PSD
-Don't edit on live server in WP admin
-Do use FTP/Git
-Do use a local server LAMP stack: XXAMP, WAMP, MAMP
-Do use a code editor: Sublime Text, Notepad++, Text Wrangler
Best Practices
-Do define('WP_DEBUG', true);
-Do prefix EVERYTHING
-Do use function_exists for new functions
-Do use WP coding standards: https://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Coding_Standards
Theme Features
Theme Features
-Templates Files: Underscores markup & templates.
-CSS Styling: Basic minimalist styling.
-Responsive: Fixed max width, fluidly for tablet & mobile.
-Retina-ready: No images, only CSS & Font Awesome: http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/
Theme Features
-Mobile Friendly: Lightweight with minimal scripts & stylesheets.
-Responsive Nav: Improved mobile menu: http://responsive-nav.com/
-Highly Widgetized: Extra widget areas for end users.
Plugin Territory
Plugin Territory
-Custom Post Type
-Custom Taxonomy
-Shortcode
-Custom functionality or queries
-Functionality Plugin:
http://jleuze.com/building-your-first-functionality-plugin/
Theme Testing
Monster Widget: https://wordpress.org/plugins/monster-widget/
Theme Unit Test: https://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Unit_Test
Theme Check: https://wordpress.org/plugins/theme-check/
WordPress.org Theme Review, Required: https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/required/
Theme Evolution
-Underscores
-Regolith
-And beyond!
Go Build Some Themes!
Josh Leuze
jleuze.com