Think about what information you want to display, what you want to focus on, and how best to display it. Have a look at how other blogs lay out their content and think about what you like and don’t like about the layout (try not to focus on the design elements at this point).
For most blogs, this will consist of:
- Logo/introduction to a blog
- Main menu
- Blog posts
- Other content (photos, links, bio, music, books, archive links etc).
For this simple theme I’m making, I chose the following initial layout:
I’ll be making the footer quite large to organise some of the other content listed above.
Turning this into an XHTML/CSS template doesn’t need to be too difficult. A good place to refer to is this quick start guide where you can copy one of their templates into a text editor.
I’ve stripped this down to the bare basics, put in the different areas of my template and added in some very basic CSS to lay out the areas. This will be tweaked more later. See here » (and view the source code).
your thoughts
links for 2007-01-03 » Bloganbieter.de
[...] Wordpress Theme: Creating a layout (Step 1) | cre8d design: blog design, Wordpress themes, Drupal, Web 2.0 Think about what information you want to display, what you want to focus on, and how best to display it. Have a look at how other blogs lay out their content and think about what you like and don’t like about the layout (try not to focus on the design e (tags: howto theme Wordpress) [...]
Donna
This is fantastic Rachel! I can’t wait to start fresh for my own WP theme.
I would rather make a clean start than have to work off an existing theme and customize it. I’m looking forward to your next step!
Cheers,
Donna Vitan
donnavitan.com
Grym’s Rant » Useful resources for creating a Wordpress theme
[...] Wordpress Theme: Creating a layout (Step 1) [...]
Randa
Great info- I’m wondering if I need to know PHP to create a WordPress theme, or can I just do the design and use someone else’s PHP?
Thanks.
Adam Walker Cleaveland
and….waiting with great anticipation for part 2 please…
rachelcunliffe
Coming later today
Had unexpected guests come to stay here which got me behind on everything.
Wordpress theme: Creating a theme (Step 2) | cre8d design: blog design, Wordpress themes, Drupal, Web 2.0
[...] This is part of a series of posts on how to create a Wordpress theme. See also: Step 1 and Useful Resources. [...]
Problog Quest » Blog Archive » Beginning The Quest
[...] Learning how to create a new design template for the blog: My first step towards learning how to design with CSS was a post “Wordpress Theme: Creating A Layout (Step 1)” by Rachel from cre8ed design. And once I began things just got simpler and simpler, I will explain this in detail in the near future. [...]
AIDAN
Hi!
Fantastic info!
Aaron Harris
This Info seems powerful!
We already run a successful business but have never ventured into the area of blogging, so it’s great to read about it.
I have a question about our business and blogging…
We rent out people’s car doors as advertising space for our company…basically we send them a car door magnet with our company logo on it, then we pay people to drive around town..so they make a passive income, and we get exposure. Do you think a blog on this would work? Here is the site http://www.carmagnetbusiness.com
rachelcunliffe
A blog would be a great idea, you could talk about case studies, fun stories about things that have happened, success stories etc.
ELLA
Hi!
Looks great! Very nicely done. I will bookmark!
Lawrence
Hi! Nice site!
sohbet
thanx.
Lawrence
Your site looks great! Visit my sites, please:
Dianne
Exelent! Good work! Would you please also visit my homepage?
Glass
Great looking site so far!! I’m just starting to look around it but I love the title page! Please visit my homepage:
Lambeth
I liked this site, it’s neat. Good job! Visit my sites, please:
Vent Swap
Excellent tutorial, thank you.
Carol
Thank you for this tutorial! Excellent resource for building my own theme.
amcık
Looks great! Very nicely done. I will bookmark!
Thank you all.
kiexnkamih
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iddaa
We already run a successful business but have never ventured into the area of blogging, so it’s great to read about it.