Developing My First WordPress Theme
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 by MikeLTBeing that I have to start somewhere, the first thing I decided to do was develop a WordPress theme.
Over the years, I have found that the standard three column layout has worked well for me. I would use a narrow column on the left for the navigation menu (the eye tends to roam left), the content in the middle, and another column on the right for nonessential, pretty, fun stuff, or maybe even some addsense adds. This layout has a high usability benefit, meaning most web surfers know exactly what to do when they get there.
I am also a big fan of the CSS inspired “Liquid Layout”. Based on percentages, the liquid layout’s columns will expand and contract according to the resolution of the browser they are being viewed in. Why do I like this layout?
When I’m surfing around and I come to a site that is centered in my display with 2 or 3 inches of white space on either side (I have a laptop 1280×800 res) I always think: what a waste of valuable Internet real estate! Fixed width layouts are meant to display a website the same way, no matter what the resolution of the browser the site is being displayed in. Some web designers still spend a lot of time up front laying out grids, often making extensive use of tables, even though CSS can accomplish the same goals for both fixed and fluid layouts.
I’m sure it’s just me, but building tables and moving dotted lines around is one quick way to lose my attention span. I stopped using tables to lay things out early on when I started learning about Cascading Style Sheets. I do use them for charts and stuff, but not as a basis for layouts.
I know there are proponents for both sides and I would certainly welcome some discussion on the matter. For me, the glorious fluidity of a liquid layout is a caricature of the ever expanding Internet itself. It takes on a life of its own browser to browser! What do you think?
Anyway, as I was saying, I’m working on this WordPress theme, and this is it. You are looking at it!
Alright, so I’m not a brilliant graphical artist! The project is in its infancy, and I went just so far to get something up that doesn’t scare everybody away.
The template pages are the index, header, footer, and two sidebar pages, and of course there is the style sheet. In the next few posts I will be backing up a bit to show you what I learned, and how I got this far. Once we get up to speed I will develop it further.
Tags: themes, web design, web development, wordpress
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