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WordPress

Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points
Posted by Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points

WordPress Developer

OK so over the past year or so i have managed to get quite confident with WordPress using Themes from places like Theme Forest, But after following along the WordPress Training material I am extremely interested in leaving the premium themes alone and starting from scratch with WordPress.

Is there a 'WordPress toolkit' as such that a professional developer would stick to like frameworks or anything that can help me become a better WP Developer.

So far i'm using Wamp on a Mac Book Pro 15" Retina(I want a thunderbolt large monitor), Sublime Text 2 as my editor, Adobe Creative suite for modifying images and so on. I am confident with HTML, CSS, CSS3 and getting to grips with media queries as we speak.

I'm not a graphic designer so i do struggle with the best methods for Design. Is it an option to purchase pre-built HTML templates and then convert them into a WordPress format or is that frowned upon?

It would be great if people could comment on this post with what methods they use just so I can gauge where I am going right or wrong.

Cheers

Anthony Hind UK, Liverpool

7 Answers

Matthew McLennan
Matthew McLennan
10,315 Points
Matthew McLennan
Matthew McLennan
10,315 Points

Zac's Wordpress series covers that. You can build out a site then pull out the code and put it into the right php files. He shows you which ones to create. Helps out a lot with what I do at work.

Caroline Hagan
Caroline Hagan
12,612 Points
Caroline Hagan
Caroline Hagan
12,612 Points

Hi Anthony,

Just to answer a few of your questions before I scoot off to bed, lol

  • Every developer is different in terms of software used, workflow, framework (someone else's or their own)... it's what works best for you, and it will always change and evolve over time
  • If you are just wanting to learn to code and do the Dev side of things, it might be worth finding free or paid-for design PSDs, then coding them up from scratch.
  • If you are to sell you services then yeah, i would personally say it is frowned upon to use a theme then just whack it into Wordpress.... sometimes clients do come along with a theme they've installed and need help - that's different. Try and hone your craft and learn and teach yourself - it never happens overnight, but you'll be a better developer for it.

If you want any challenges drop me an email and I'll put you to work! haha

Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points
Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points

Thank Matthew, Caroline,

I appreciate your comments... What kind of challenges do you have Caroline :) sounds interesting

Cheers

Ant

Caroline Hagan
Caroline Hagan
12,612 Points
Caroline Hagan
Caroline Hagan
12,612 Points

I can always send you some designs that you can have a go coding if you fancy?

Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points
Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points

Yeah that would be great you sure you don't mind ??

Thanks

Ant

Caroline Hagan
Caroline Hagan
12,612 Points
Caroline Hagan
Caroline Hagan
12,612 Points

Nah, no problem at all, you got an email address I can send to?

Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points
Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points

Hi Caroline,

Hope you don't think I am being cheeky I just wondering if you had chance to get any designs for me to code up yet? ;)

I understand you may be busy

Cheers

Ant

Caroline Hagan
Caroline Hagan
12,612 Points
Caroline Hagan
Caroline Hagan
12,612 Points

Hi Anthony,

Yeah been stoved off this past week, got some large sites going live so been doing overtime!

Sent ya an email.

Zac Gordon
STAFF
Zac Gordon
Treehouse Guest Teacher
Zac Gordon
Zac Gordon
Treehouse Guest Teacher

I'd suggest trying to design a site and build it yourself, either from scratch or by creating a child theme out of the Twenty Twelve or Automatic Underscores blank developer theme.

Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points
Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points

Thanks Zac,

I am just at a bit of a blank with where to go next I have been playing with twitter bootstrap, Wordpress and want to try and get a better workflow in place but as I am self taught other than the Treehouse bits its a little blurred as to what is best method to take.

Should I build a site using bootstrap or HTML and then convert it to Wordpress Or just dive into a child theme edit?

Thanks for the suggestion

Ant