Build Your Own Wicked Wordpress Themes

Chapter 7 Theme Options

When you start distributing your theme, within a week of release it’s likely you’ll receive an email like this: “Hi, I absolutely love your theme! The attention to detail and color is simply astonishing. I have one question though: how do I change X?” Initially, you might be a little annoyed. You’ll be tempted to ask yourself: if this user thinks my theme is so great, why do they want to change it? The answer is simple—individuality.

Every person, and every business, is different. It’s entirely natural then that a website should reflect the owner’s personality and style. In this chapter, we’ll look at a number of ways of making your theme as customizable as possible, so that those users won’t have to resort to editing ...