CHAPTER 5

CHOOSING A THEME

IT IS ALWAYS a good idea to play around with other people's themes. Whether you're seeking to find a perfect theme to build upon, or just to learn more about WordPress software, is really beside the point. By trying new themes, you gain a greater understanding of how themes work and how you can address various issues.

This chapter is all about choosing new themes, what you should think about, and what you should definitely avoid.

PICKING THE RIGHT THEME

Finding themes is easy enough: tons of sites offer them for free or for a fee, and there's the wordpress.org themes directory as well. The problem is finding the right theme, that perfect one that you are looking for. This is actually a serious matter for a lot of WordPress users out there, which is why blog posts picking nice-looking themes are both popular and common. Chances are you still haven't found the perfect theme (see one interesting example in Figure 5-1). After all, design is very much a matter of personal preference, and then there's your vision for the site that you need the theme for to consider as well.

Figure 5-1: Autofocus+ is actually a paid Thematic child theme, buy it from http://fthrwght.com/autofocus

image

The fact that you're reading this book tells me that you're not afraid to get your hands dirty (with code at least). This means that you're at an advantage compared to most WordPress ...

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