how to pick a wordpress theme - a guide for beginners

63
How to Pick a WordPress Theme − a Guide for Beginners − with Christina Hills WordCamp Los Angeles 2016

Upload: christina-hills

Post on 19-Feb-2017

111 views

Category:

Technology


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

How to Picka WordPress

Theme− a Guide for Beginners −

withChristina Hills

WordCamp Los Angeles 2016

Page 2: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

Christina Hills Background: Visual Effects Artist for Film & TV

Star Wars E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Jurassic Park Mars Attacks! And more…

Page 3: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

Christina Hills Now: WordPress Trainer and Coach since 2008

Page 4: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

Let’s Talk About WordPress Themes!

Page 5: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Some Themes Are Simple

Page 6: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Some Themes Are More Complex

Page 7: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Simple vs. Complex

Page 8: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

When Picking a Theme You have a Few Decisions to

Make…

Page 9: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

Blog Homepage or Custom Homepage ?

Page 10: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

"Blog Homepage" Design

Page 11: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

“Custom Homepage“ Design

Page 12: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

“Custom Homepage“ Design

Page 13: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

“Free” Themes vs.

“Premium“ (Paid) Themes

Page 14: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Free: WordPress Theme Directory

Page 15: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Find a Free One on WordPress.org

Page 16: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Evaluate the Free Theme

Page 17: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Visit Theme Homepage

Page 18: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

View the Demo

Page 19: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Browse Their Documentation

Page 20: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Evaluate How Active their Support Forum is

Page 21: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Then…Install Theme Inside WordPress

Page 22: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

If You Like the Free Buy Pro!

Page 23: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Same Theme Different Customizations

Page 24: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

How Many Widgets Does the Theme Have?

Page 25: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

How Many Page Templates Does the Theme Have?

Page 26: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

Are they in business?

Are they selling themes?

Or is this just a “fun project” from a developer who might get bored?

What is the Business Model ?

Page 27: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Automattic, Inc. (Official WordPress Free Themes)

https://wordpress.org/themes/author/automattic

Page 28: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Make Sure Your Theme is Mobile Responsive

Page 29: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

www.StudioPress.com/responsive

Page 30: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

Does Your Site/Theme Pass Google’s Mobile-Friendliness Test?

www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly

Page 31: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

WP Touchwordpress.org/plugins/wptouch/

Plugin to Make Your Theme Responsive

Page 32: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

What is a Theme “Framework” ?

Page 33: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Genesis Framework from StudioPress

Page 34: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Explanation of a Theme Framework

Page 35: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Third Party Designers on StudioPress

Page 36: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Third Party Designers: Restored316

Page 37: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Genesis Community on Facebook

Page 38: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

“Child” Themes

Page 39: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

What is a “Child Theme” ?

Page 40: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Parent-Child Themes in Admin Dashboard

Page 41: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

Why You Would Want to Use/Create a Child Theme

• With a child theme, you can customize your website beyond the customization options available in the customizer without affecting the original theme

• You will not lose your customizations when the parent theme updates

• Creating a child theme is much easier than you think!

Page 42: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

If Your Theme Company Does not Come with a Child Theme, You can make one with a

Plugin!

Page 43: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclaxhttps://wordpress.org/plugins/one-click-child-theme/

One-Click Child Theme Plugin

Page 44: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclaxhttps://wordpress.org/plugins/child-theme-wizard/

Child Theme Wizard Plugin

Page 45: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

Themes with Blank Child Theme

Page 46: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

Page Builders

Page 47: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

https://theme.co/x/

X Theme

Page 48: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

http://avada.theme-fusion.com/

Avada Theme

Page 49: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

www.elegantthemes.com

Divi From Elegant Themes

Page 50: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

https://www.elegantthemes.com/

Divi Page Builder

Page 51: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

www.wpbeaverbuilder.com

Beaver Builder

Page 52: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

www.wpbeaverbuilder.com

Beaver Builder Page Builder

Page 53: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

What to Watch For

Page 54: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

BEWARE: Google Results for Theme Search

Page 55: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclaxhttps://wordpress.org/plugins/theme-check/

Test Your Theme

Page 56: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclaxhttps://wordpress.org/plugins/theme-check/

Old Theme with Errors

Page 57: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

How Detect a Theme From a Website You Like: WPThemeDetector.com

Page 58: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Theme Detector Website with Results

Page 59: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

slides: www.christinahills.com/wclax2016@christinahills | #wclax@christinahills | #wclax

Does The Theme Have a Community?

Page 60: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

Good Website Design = Professional PicturesEasy Intuitive Layout

Great Web Copy

Page 61: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

@christinahills | #wclax

Bottom Line:

Go with a reputable company Look at the popularity Evaluate the theme demo Evaluate the documentation Does the theme have a community Don’t let price be the deciding factor Try it out!

Page 62: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

This presentation will be available at:www.christinahills.com/wclax2016

Page 63: How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

Connect with Me!

www.ChristinaHills.com/facebook

@christinahills

www.ChristinaHills.com/linkedin

[email protected]

wwwwww.WebsiteCreationWorkshop.com