from psd to wordpress theme: bringing designs to life
DESCRIPTION
If you want to design your first custom WordPress theme, this talk is for you. You’ve been venturing out little by little, changing some CSS here and HTML there. You’ve even created a child theme or two. But now it’s time to take things to the next level. You want something that’s all yours!You convinced your friend put together a design for you in Photoshop, and now it’s time to take the next step. How do you get that beautiful concept to translate into a living, breathing WordPress theme?That’s what we’ll cover in this action-packed presentation geared toward the curious beginner and intermediate WordPress fans.TRANSCRIPT
From PSD to WordPress Theme:Bringing designs to life
Derek Christensen
(name)
(website)
(email)
@derekdac
quora.com/Derek-Christensen
github.com/derekdac
media-spine.com
designer v developer
• most designers are not developers. there are things that look good on a poster that don't work well on a website
• walk before you run – as you start out, don’t try to be too unique
• if you’re a designer, sit with a developer for a few days to learn some of the constraints that exist
• if you’re a developer, sit with a designer for a few days to learn some of the elements of good design
considerations
• overlapping design elements• custom font• clouds cut in half• category icons in two colors• background texture overlay• only front page design provided• not sliced
slicing
• identify the elements• transparent background• slice• save for web and devices
things to remember
• you don’t have to slice everything at once• don’t slice text unless you really need to– use CSS3 @font-face instead– don’t use images for words in menus
• CSS sprites• multiple use of the same image - slice once,
reuse
layer-based slicing
• faster• flatten and combine layers• less control
building your own theme
starter/base themes
• skeleton• bones• starkers• roots• hybrid• thesis• genesis
child theme/********************************************************Theme Name: WhimTheme URI: http://whimapp.comDescription: A custom theme for Whim based on the Bones starter themeAuthor: Derek ChristensenAuthor URI: http://www.media-spine.comVersion: 1.0Tags: html5, framework, css3, developmentTemplate: bones********************************************************/
start building
• low-hanging fruit• hundreds of right ways to do it – the perfect is
the enemy of the good• study and understand the structure of your
parent theme
body {
/* Fallback if browser cannot support CSS3 gradients */ background-color: #abc5df; background-image: url("background_tall.jpg") ; background-position: top; background-repeat: repeat-x fixed; background: -webkit-gradient(radial, center center, 0, center center, 460, from(#fff), to(#abc5df)); /* Safari 4-5, Chrome 1-9 */ background: -webkit-radial-gradient(circle, #fff, #abc5df); /* Safari 5.1+, Chrome 10+ */ background: -moz-radial-gradient(circle, #fff, #abc5df); /* Firefox 3.6+ */ background: -ms-radial-gradient(circle, #fff, #abc5df); /* IE 10 */ }
footer {background-color:#394253;height:185px;margin-top:0;border-top:0;padding: 0 0 0 0;
}
#content {width: 960px;margin: 0 auto;padding: 0;
}
body:before { display: block; height: 0px; content: url(background_cloud.png); float: right;}
:before selector inserts content before the content of that element
#slideshow {background-image: url(background_skyline.png);background-position: right bottom;background-repeat: no-repeat;
}
<div id="content" class="clearfix"><div id="slideshow" class="clearfix">
<div id="iphone" class="clearfix"></div> <!-- end #iphone --><div id="text" class="clearfix"></div><!-- end #text --><div id="download" class="clearfix"></div> <!-- end #download -->
</div> <!-- end #slideshow --></div> <!-- end #content -->
#iphone{height: 575px;width: 300px;background-image: url(iphone4frame.png);background-repeat: no-repeat;float: left;
}
#text { background: transparent; height: 250px; width: 620px; color: #394253; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana; font-size: 14pt; text-decoration: none;float:right;}
#download{background-image: url(download.png);background-repeat: no-repeat;height:135px;
}
@font-face {font-family: SerifBD;src: url('serifbd.ttf');
}
h1, .h1, h2, .h2, h3, .h3 {font-family: SerifBD, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;color: #394253;
}h2, .h2 {
margin: 0 0 7px 0;}h3, .h3 {
margin: 0 0 7px 0;font-size: 14pt
}h1 a, h2 a, h3 a {
font-family: SerifBD, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;color: #394253;
}
nav[role=navigation] {}nav[role=navigation] .menu ul {
background: transparent;padding-top: 32px;
}nav[role=navigation] .menu ul li {}nav[role=navigation] .menu ul li a {
color: #394253;display: block;padding: 10px 20px;font-family: SerifBD, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana;font-size: 14pt;
}nav[role=navigation] .menu ul li a:hover {
background: #fff; -moz-border-radius: 17px;-webkit-border-radius: 17px;border-radius: 17px;
}nav[role=navigation] .menu ul li.current-menu-item a, .nav ul li.current_page_item a {
background: #fff; -moz-border-radius: 17px;-webkit-border-radius: 17px;border-radius: 17px;
}
<body <?php body_class(); ?>> <div id="container"> <header role="banner"> <div id="inner-header" class="clearfix"> <nav role="navigation" class="clearfix"> <?php bones_main_nav();?> </nav> </div> <!-- end #inner-header --> </header> <!-- end header -->
header[role=banner] { position: relative;width: 960px;margin: 0 auto;padding: 0;
}
#navigation{width: 620px;float: right;
}
<p id="logo"> <a href="<?php echo home_url(); ?>" rel="nofollow"> <img src="wp-content/themes/whim/WhimLogo.png" /> </a></p>
#logo{width: 340px;margin-bottom:0px;float:left;
}
http://whimapp.com
tools
• e-text editor (Like textmate, but for windows)• XAMPP• adobe photoshop (or gimp)• adobe illustrator (or inkscape)• firebug for firefox
web resources
• http://slideshare.net/derekdac/• http://css3please.com/• http://css-tricks.com/• http://nettuts.com/• http://stackexchange.com/• http://fontsquirrel.com/• http://yoast.com/wordpress-theme-anatomy/
questions?
(name)
(website)
(email)
http://slideshare.net/derekdac/