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Cesar Vanbuskirk
6,672 PointsDo you guys tweak wordpress themes or build the layout then create it in wordpress?
I'm trying to get the hang of wordpress and I'm a little confused about this, when you guys build a site for a client that's going to be on wordpress do you just manipulate an existing theme? or design and build on as you would if you were hand coding the whole thing? It kind of feels like I'm ripping off a client if I just tweak a few things on a site an add a couple plugins? Thanks guys!
3 Answers
Raymon Oleaga
19,298 PointsThat really depends on you. I have done both, and the experience was that creating something from scratch is totally a wast of time. But again, it depends on you.
My advice is that if you want to REALLY learn the ins and outs of WP then build a couple of sites from scratch. Once you really no how to correctly make changes then you can get a template that kind of mimics what you are looking to create and customize it.
You might think you are ripping off a client but once they start changing things and adding custom functionality you will be thankful you didn't have to start from zero.
I currently use GENESIS framework for WP. Treehouse also has a great course here that explains everything.
Good luck! hope this helps clear your head a little.
Cynthia (Sunni) Freyer
828 PointsFor me, it depends on the project. For a simple low-cost site where the customer truly does not want a custom site, I simply use the most appropriate theme, tweaking a little as needed. For my own work and customer sites, I have created a custom bootstrap wordpress theme that I use as a foundation. I began modifying several different themes quite heavily but soon discovered it was simply too time-consuming to unravel someone else's work. Creating your own theme also helps you understand wordpress in a much deeper way than use of any click-and-go theme.
Cesar Vanbuskirk
6,672 PointsAwesome, thanks guys! I'll just find similar themes and go from there.