Creating a theme or Designing a theme?

CMS & WordPress
1

Basically I’m new in web designing and i have a project that requires to make a wordpress theme. Now the questions is do i have to create a theme from scratch or use the concept of parent and child theme(Using thematic framework) to provide a wordpress theme.

What is the difference between designing and creating a theme from scratch.?

Do most websites or web designers use the concept of parent-child theme and use Thematic Framework in designing their web/theme. I really like to see some examples.

When creating that also means developing and that requires learning PHP.

2

I recommend you try out this book by SitePoint: http://www.sitepoint.com/books/wordpress1/

Otherwise, there are lots of online tutorials. (I’m on my mobile right now, so can’t post some links I have collected.)

3

Hmm thanks for the answer. But what i’m really looking for are suggestion or opinions from various web designer or wordpress theme designer who have started small in the start. Where did they start.

4

Its easier to disect existing themes. That way you can test / break / and see with your own eyes what codes achieve what functions.

Failure rocks and is a great teacher.

As you move along you can use themes as STARKERS THEME to deliver the framework and you can move along adding functionality.

Also see: http://wp.tutsplus.com/articles/general/adaptive-blog-theme-session-complete/

Good luck!

5

I usually start with the default themes as a general guide, but typically build from scratch. That way, I’m working with my own styling and conventions, rather someone else’s. It’s usually easier to fix your own code if there are bugs or layout issues with a browser.

6

So basically web designers use starter themes to design there web/themes rather than creating things from scratch. Starter themes like thematic? I think i need to revise the question, it should rather be “Create a theme from scratch or use starter themes”.

The question has been bugging me on what path should i take. I’m still new to the Web Designing i have a lot questions in mind.

7

It depends.

Some use the “starter themes” simply as a reference for how to use wordpress’s PHP functions, rather then actually building on top of them.

8

It really just depends on how involved you want to be in the theme. I’ve built themes from scratch before and I’ve also built themes using starter themes that give you an overall structure to tweak to your liking.

These days, I build all of my WordPress sites using the parent/child theme relationship.

I use the Volatyl Framework for WordPress almost exclusively. If not, I use the Thesis Theme Framework.