WordPress Themes

The WordPress theme system provides different ways to design and present material on your website. Use a theme on your WordPress site to:

• Add different layouts: choose static, flexible or responsive, more than one column, etc.

• Display your content anywhere you want it displayed.

• Customize your typography and design elements using CSS and add other design elements anywhere in your theme such as images, and videos.

There is a lot of confusion surrounding WordPress themes and templates, and the seemingly interchangeable terminology does nothing to help this. Put simply, themes take care of WordPress website design, and templates take care of the layout of a single page on your site.

• An XHTML page - contains the structure of the page.

• The CSS Style Sheet - holds presentation styles of your page.

• Template files - holds content by various template files.

The template files and style sheet are stored together to form your WordPress theme.
Since templates are dependant on themes; you can't install a single template, and If your theme includes templates which don't fit your expectations, you need to install a new one.

We've discussed the difference between templates and themes. Let’s consider how templates work. Each template in a standard WordPress theme is made up of three building blocks:

The first block is the header; most often this includes your site title and logos, navigation menus, and tagline.

The second block is for your content and holds posts and pages.

The last block is the footer, used for everything that goes at the bottom of your page. Footers typically consist of contact information or a navigation bar, plus any other necessary details.

Most themes want to offer more than the basic three blocks. More complex structures include a variety of other templates such as search, sidebars, and comment forms. The table below contains the types of templates you’d expect to feature in advanced WordPress themes.

To truly customize your site, WordPress lets you add templates to as many pages as you like. If you wish to build something from scratch, you may create custom templates, but this is quite advanced, and we wouldn't recommend beginners attempt this.

Themes are as much about website design as they are about navigation, and how visitors will access pages on your site. Themes are key to creating the right design and feel to your website. They set the tone of your pages and guide your user experience. Building your WordPress website starts with a theme. Begin by selecting one to display your site, add some content to promote your brand, and customize your pages to bring them to life.

It can be quite overwhelming selecting a theme from the thousands of free and paid options available. It can even seem that the more you browse, the better each looks, but, keep in mind that picking a theme is more than simply choosing the nicest looking one. Before browsing themes directories, try to narrow down your options. The best theme for your website not only suits your taste and meets the requirements of your site, but it also features SEO and mobile optimization to boost your rankings.

For a step in the right direction, we've put together a list of things you should consider before adding a theme to your WordPress site.

• Go for a theme that compliments your website content, for example, if you are setting up a blog on free speech or other social issues, a theme that improves readability goes hand in hand.

• Search for the features you need by selecting Apply Filters in the Theme Directory, and use the subject categories to narrow the results.

• Feature-wise, the layout is as important as the design. Think about it; the layout defines how your site is used. The most common layout styles are blog, magazine style, website, and photoblog. Remember your primary goal, for example, if a theme facilitates in getting new business and subscribers, it's a good theme. If your users find obstacles to reading your content or getting around your website, avoid it.

• Mobile friendly – this is a no-brainer, most WordPress themes are mobile ready to meet the vast amount of traffic generated from mobile and other handheld devices.

• WordPress is nothing without plugins. Make sure your theme supports the most popular plugins including e-commerce if your site sells goods and services.

• Multilingual ready – if you're creating a foreign language site or have plans to expand into international markets, go for a translation ready theme that supports multilingual plugins.

• Keep it simple – don't let your head be turned by complex layouts, flashy animations and such if you don't need those things. They may look good but can compromise usability and simplicity if not used correctly.

• SEO friendly – your theme plays a vital role in your sites SEO. Most WordPress developers let you know a theme is designed with SEO in mind. Make sure to check a themes blurb to confirm this.

• Theme support - check for available support. It's one thing to have a good looking theme It's another to struggle to make it look how you want with no one available to answer your questions.

• A solid indicator of a theme's quality is user reviews and ratings. Each theme in the Theme Directory includes a rating section. This area includes how many people have installed the theme. If your chosen theme is for sale on a third-party marketplace, check their customer reviews.

The Themes tab in your WordPress admin holds themes currently installed and available for you to use. The WordPress basic install includes three themes to get you started. You can switch between these, or install more from the WordPress Themes Directory.

The WordPress Themes Directory displays all official WordPress themes. These themes are checked, inspected and best of all, free to use. Use the Themes Search area to browse and preview how they will look on your site. Third party themes are similarly straightforward to install. Upload them to the Themes section of your admin area to install and activate.