Five Questions is where I talk to bloggers about their projects and some of the other things they are doing. I ask {Q}uestions, and hopefully get some {A}nswers!
{Q} Could anyone familiar with Wordpress create their own themes, or is some technical knowledge (e.g. XHTML, CSS, and PHP ) necessary?
{A} I would say some technical knowledge is necessary. The more you know, the easier it is. I learned by diving in and experimenting with XHTML and CSS. You’ll also need to know some PHP if you want to create a theme from scratch and have a LOT more control over it.
{Q} Are they any guidelines WP theme designers need to work to? Do themes need “approval” from WP?
{A} Well, not that I know of… hahaha. I don’t think Wordpress really has a big list of rules, or a department waiting to review your theme. If they did, I’m gonna guess there would be a lot less themes freely available.
{Q}This may vary from theme to theme, but what would be the most challenging aspect of creating a theme?
{A} For me, the most challenging aspect would be dealing with browser bugs… mainly Internet Explorer 6 and below. I learned recently that a fair majority of web surfers are still using IE6, so you can’t just ignore it.
{Q} Of the themes you have created is there one that has been especially favoured by WP users?
{A} Darkwater has been the most popular download so far. I made a small correction in it and went to update it on the Theme Viewer site, and mistakenly re-uploaded the theme. You aren’t supposed to do that.
I emailed them to let them know, but they never responded. So, anyway, it’s on there twice. So far it’s been downloaded over 1600 times… it’s about 3 weeks old.
{Q} There’s a lot of themes out there all with their own names! Where do you get your naming ideas form?
{A} This is probably the second most challenging aspect… something I’m dealing with right now as a matter of fact. I just try to look at the theme (colors and layout) and see what comes to mind.
I try to name themes in a way that’s at least somewhat descriptive, yet find a name that’s not already taken by another theme. I generally get a few ideas together, then do a search for those names on the Theme Viewer and see if anything comes up.
Thank you Anthony!
hi…
nice questions… my mind is liek a puzzle now… coz im trying to answer those questions inti myself… but i cant answer with a point… so, i guess i need to focus before i can answer it…
nice questions.. so productive…
cheers!
[...] interviewed me for his site, disassociated.com, in relation to my Wordpress theme development. 5 Questions: Anthony Baggett was a fun experience, especially since I had never had the pleasure of being [...]
Thanks for the opportunity, John.
In regards to question #2, a few things have changed since the interview was conducted. The WP Theme Viewer(where you can upload a theme you’ve created) will no longer accept themes that contain a sponsored link(s). Forunately, I’m not affected by this. Presently, WP is in the process of going through the themes they have to remove the sponsored ones. Until they’ve completed this process, no new themes can be uploaded.
I was going to use that template for my blog, but decided for a 2-column layout.
@Vera - glad you enjoyed the interview :)
@Anthony - thanks for the update… Sponsored links? Looks like some sort of backlink building plan to me…
@Bryce - maybe Anthony will create a two column version of Darkwater!! ;)
“maybe Anthony will create a two column version of Darkwater!!”
It wouldn’t be that difficult. If I get some requests, I just may do that!
I agree with #1. :) Great interview.
I’m pleased you found it useful Grace :)