customize blog themes

[nolimits4]

how hard are they to do?


beside css what programming languages are necessary?

[Cozy Monica]

You can do pretty much all your customization in the css file, with the exception of sometimes needing to fiddle around in the editor to move elements.

You can do it without knowing much of anything, it rocks.

[nolimits4]

so no php is required

what about adding your own pictures to the theme kinda like how perezhilton blog is

[odysseus]

It depends on the customizing you want done. Like Monica said, most can be done in the CSS. If the customization you want is more functional, and less of a design customization, then some PHP and HTML skills come in handy.

Wordpress has good documentation on how their theming system works.

Other blog platforms, I couldn't tell you much about.

[nolimits4]

i want it more functional


i hate seeing all blogs look same

shoemaker blog is one i stride to make mines indiviualize like

off to amazon to buy some php books

[balls_deep]

you don't need the php. The templates are easy to code with mostly basic html.

I'd install wp and start fucking around.

[theviking]

Originally posted by balls_deep
you don't need the php.

That's crap ... :P

You have to put the functions where you want them, and for that, you use php. You could do it without knowing anything about php (just make some searches and so on), but if you really want to make custom made wordpress themes i suggest you learn html, css and php...alongside with the wordpress excerpts.

[odysseus]

I think Balls and Viking are both correct. It really does depend on what you want wordpress to do that it's not already doing for you, that will determine the tools you need.

For some things, you really do need some php knowledge, be it something as simple as cutting and pasting the wordpress template tags, which are all php functions, but really no different to cutting and pasting any other code. Maybe you want to manipulate those tags a little bit, and need to pass parameters to them. Again not hard, but more complicated. Maybe you need to tweak a plugin. Maybe you want to write a plugin... Depending on what exactly needs to be done, you may need php in the rare instance where you can't find a theme or a plugin that does what you want.

But, wordpress is powerful enough that a lot of modifications can be done just by screwing with the HTML and CSS and seeing what happens. Wordpress does a lot of cool stuff right out of the box.

It sounds like what you want to do is more aesthetic customization, for which HTML, CSS, and a graphics editor will do you fine.

[Cozy Monica]

You need very minimal knowledge of PHP to figure out how to change things up inside a theme to add images, move major elements around, and alter layouts.

You don't need to know how to program in PHP, just how to recognize where functions begin and end and the general idea of what they might be accomplishing.

[Schoepfergeist]

I suppose with anything web related, it's always good to know a little html to make things easier, but Wordpress is about as easy as it gets. I would recommend Joomla, but the more I mess with it, the more I hate it...

You might want to dig around for some Wordpress templates with a little more customization built in, so you don't have to mess with the PHP. There's plenty of resources and plugins out there as well if you dig around. If worse comes to worse, hire yourself a designer to make your life easier.

[masterpirate]

I think it really depends on what you are trying to do. Changing colors pictures and layout can be done easily with just HTML and CSS. But heres the trick: if you don't understand PHP, and accidentally fuck things up while fooling around with the HTML, its gonna take you a very long time to get back to where you were. Yes, you can edit themes with little knowledge of HTML, CSS, and PHP.....it just isn't smart.

[balls_deep]

Originally posted by masterpirate
Yes, you can edit themes with little knowledge of HTML, CSS, and PHP.....it just isn't smart.

it's plenty smart, just save your template files so you have a backup that you can restore.

cheaper is better and it will give you a better understanding of how the coding system works.

[Cozy Monica]

I agree with balls here. You should always make a backup copy so that if you mess things up, you have an instant fix.

[nolimits4]

how you backup?

[masterpirate]

Originally posted by nolimits4
how you backup?

Just use your FTP to copy files to your local system.

[nolimits4]

thanks

[porn punk]

http://www.wpdesigner.com/2007/02/19...ss-themes-huh/

This might help you try and get the themes thing down. I got a couple things out of it myself

[nolimits4]

just what i need

save me some time of not having to read wordpess docs

thanks

[porn punk]

I wouldn't use this as a replacement for the wordpress docs, but it might help you understand all the "wp speak" a little better and some css (at least how it's handled by wordpress templates) if you don't already