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WordPress

Lady Do While
Lady Do While
6,027 Points
Posted by Lady Do While
Lady Do While
6,027 Points

Theme vs CSS Frameworks

I have been spending a lot of time learning HTML and CSS and I know what a CSS Framework is... it sounds like a theme framework is similar, but I still don't have an understanding on how to use my knowledge of CSS and HTML into WP itself. Is a theme framework the equivalent of a CSS framework on WP?

1 Answer

Chris Hall
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Chris Hall
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Student 11,442 Points
Chris Hall
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Chris Hall
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Student 11,442 Points

With WordPress a theme is a pre-made site wide design that you can activate or deactivate at will from the control panel. Theme can be as simple as restyling the standard elements of a WP site. For instance changing the height and background of the header.php. Or complex in adding more functionality to a WP site.

Because a WP theme often changes the page markup along with the style in the CSS it is not the same as a CSS framework. Since a CSS framework create structure for page elements to follow.

Lady Do While
Lady Do While
6,027 Points
Lady Do While
Lady Do While
6,027 Points

OK, thanks. Still gotta figure out how to put all my HTML/CSS knowledge to work on WP. I feel like I learned all that code for nothing since it's all done for me on WP! (I know that;s not true, but it's what it feels like at this point.)

Chris Hall
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.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Chris Hall
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Student 11,442 Points
Chris Hall
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Chris Hall
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Student 11,442 Points

NP!

Where you'll get to use your HTML/CSS knowledge is in creating a custom theme for yourself. So that way your WP site looks, and acts how you want/need it to. For instance the standard theme lists all of your posts in order down the index page. If you would want them to show up as a grid you would need to create a wrapper div for the posts and inject the part of the WP loop that calls the title and excerpt for the posts. Those would also need style.

My suggestion for you would be to grab a sheet of a paper and come up with a basic design of a site that has a bit more than the default theme. Then go about systematically building that out starting with the index.

Oh! I overlooked the fact that themes are self contained replacements of sorts. When you make a theme, or use a theme you are using new index.php, page.php, post.php, and so on that are contained in your themes folder.