WordPress is certainly one of the most important CMS platforms out there. In fact, it is more preferred than Joomla and Drupal by many web designers. WordPress can be extremely versatile and easy to manage.
Why WordPress is so attractive
The reason why WordPress is so attractive is because of the number of themes that are available. There is a theme to meet every taste and requirement. WordPress theme designers certainly are one of the most well paid professionals in the industry at the moment. Here are some prerequisites a WordPress theme designer must have:
- Knowledge of CSS and experience of using it.
- A good knowledge of HTML 5 and previous HTML versions
- An idea about colour combinations and how layouts work
- Experience of working with PHP
- Ability to integrate graphics within a WordPress theme.
These prerequisites are often enough to create a great WordPress theme. Web designers should bear in mind that a WordPress theme has some specific files that they need to concentrate on. The main files in a WordPress theme are:
- header.php: This file contains everything that a client wants at the top of the site. This needs to be attractive and functional at the same time.
- index.php: This file helps the theme to be loaded and acts as a homepage unless there is a static page. It is the core file that loads a theme.
- sidebar.php: As the name indicates, this helps a WordPress user to create sidebars that are dynamic in nature.
- archive.php: This file helps to list all teh previous blogposts chronologically. This is a very important file where one can find previous blog posts.
- footer.php: This contains everything that needs to appear at the bottom of a website.
- single.php: This file helps people to view individual posts.
- comments.php: WordPress is all about comments and interactions between the author and reader. This file helps readers to interact with the author in the comments section.
- page.php: This helps users to create pages, which are different from posts.
- search.php: This helps visitors to search for posts that were published previously based on keywords.
- 404.php: When a 404 error occurs, this PHP file loads the error page.
- style.css: All the styling of the theme is loaded on to this file.
- functions.php: This can be used to configure a theme’s core without having to edit from the start.
Certainly, designing a WordPress theme requires a lot of creative and technical knowledge. Every web design company has its favourite WordPress designer who would know how to design templates for different kinds of clients. WordPress can solve many problems that modern websites pose to web administrators. It is simple, easy to use and is open source. Moreover, WordPress themes are less expensive than a full-fledged website which costs a lot more and may not even be as dynamic as a simple WordPress theme. With all these factors in mind, WordPress themes can be great alternatives to traditional websites.