WP Design Themes
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- pillhead
Am I right in thinking that you have to know PHP to do WordPress themes so that you can implement you static HTML CSS design to get thing working with the CMS in Wordpress.
- fadein110
I wouldn't say you have to know PHP but understanding how wordpress uses PHP (in the loop etc. ) will be a big help.
I don't know PHP but now use wordpress a lot for CMS and if I run into any problems there is so much help online.
It was a lot of trial and error to work it all out but now its v.easy.
- I usually use twentyten as a starting point and customise it to look like my designfadein11
- Jaline0
What fadein11 said above. Knowing some PHP will be a big help in creating your own templates and modifying any of the core files. If you don't know anything about it, maybe read up on the basics and then view WP forums for more help.
There are tutorials out there for creating templates from HTML / CSS files:
http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&…
- tymeframe0
For less complex themes, you can get around needing to know PHP.
I'd say, if you have the time, dive in and get your hands dirty. I started building Wordpress templates without any PHP knowledge. fadein11 is right. At first, there's a lot of trial and error, but it's not hard to get a handle on things.
I usually start my projects with the Sandbox theme.
http://wordpress.org/extend/them…
- brandelec0
^what everyone has said. get used to the idea of working with modules.. gives you a better understanding of how WP works
- nocomply0
What everyone had said is spot-on advice.
If you're scared of the php part, just don't worry about it at first and see how far you can get with only HTML/CSS mods. You'll be able to do quite a bit without touching any php at all.
But that being said, you really do need to know at least a little bit to get your theme to do exactly what you want it to do. Using a bit of php can help you avoid plugin overload by moving some of the basic functionality you need into your own custom theme.
TwentyTen is a good theme to start with, but I still prefer to use the old-school Sandbox (http://wordpress.org/extend/the... even though some of its features are outdated. I have my own slightly modified version of Sandbox that I use as a starting point for all of my WP builds.