11. Advanced Theme Development

In this chapter, we will help you to design and build a simple theme from scratch. Theme building in WordPress requires a strong knowledge of Web design, HTML/XHTML, CSS, and PHP. In other words, novice users need not apply! For designers and developers, however, building your own theme offers unparalleled flexibility and power, especially when compared to using or modifying a prebuilt theme.

WordPress has two themes installed by default, and both are excellent examples of different approaches to theme building. It’s a good idea to examine those themes to get an idea of layout and structure before digging into your own.

Anatomy of a Theme

Your theme may appear as one cohesive whole, but many different pieces go ...

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