A “learner theme” for beginners?

  • Trying to jump into WP with both feet, with reasonable HTML knowledge and limited CSS, and finding it… difficult.

    One of the major problems I’ve encountered is that I started, quite naturally, by trying to modify the “default” theme for WordPress, Kubrick. I was assuming it to be the best one for learners to start with.

    Browsing these forums, though, I can see lots of references to Kubrick as odd, or badly coded, or awkward.

    Just as a f’rinstance, I spent hours trying to figure out where the theme “calls” the kubrickbg.jpg image. I’m still trying to figure it out — I can’t find that string in style.css, or any of the other theme files. Where is it GETTING it from? It’s maddening. I wound up replacing the Kubrick image files with single white pixels just to get rid of those &^%$ lines on the side of the screen.

    *Edit: I have since found the kubrickbg references in the “header.php” file, but oddly enough they don’t turn up in Windows searches. Weird. *

    I can’t say this is BETTER than any other theme out there — I’ve started, as I said, by trying with Kubrick — but there HAVE to be better-coded, clearer themes that I could have started with, but none were presented as options in the early tutorials.

    I’ve invested a couple of days into messing with Kubrick, and the thought that my life will be much easier if I abandon it and try to build off another theme is… well, it’s frustrating.

    Has anyone considered structuring lessons around a template built expressly for teaching? Some sort of a theme for people interested in learning WordPress instead of haphazardly reading up on things and then trying to reverse-engineer Kubrick or other complex themes to figure out how these lessons apply?

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

  • I consider Kubrick a ‘cool’ theme, but not much for learning. There’s a number of features in it done to make it an interesting theme, but not so much one that can be pulled apart and learned from easily.

    The WordPress Classic theme, though not cool at all, may be better for a starter/learner theme. However, it’s been allowed to languish these past few years and lacks some useful, newer WP elements out of the box.

    A “learner’s theme” is an interesting idea. Something that includes all the important WP-specific components in a simple, clean design. Hmm…

    I think that a good theme for learning is the FastTrack theme.

    https://wpthemes.info/fast-track/

    Search for “Sandbox Theme”

    I ‘m not sure I’d consider Sandbox a learner’s theme. But for those with at least a little knowledge behind them it’s a great theme to build off of, considering its bare bone structure.

    Thread Starter mattshepherd

    (@mattshepherd)

    I will search for both themes, Sandbox and FastTrack, and thanks!

    My OP was meant in more general terms, though — as somebody new to WordPress, there’s no clear guidance in the Codex about which themes are good for beginners to learn on.

    I know WP is volunteer-driven, and things like the Codex and the lessons are probably lower on the priority list than improving the software itself. But if there was a section in the beginners part of the Codex that said “hey, you should consider installing one of the following themes before you start mucking around”, that would be great!

    Even greater would be an actual theme, as mentioned above, that’s actually intended for new learners, especially since the “default” theme is counter-intuitively NOT a good theme to learn from (or so I’m now told).

    “I know WP is volunteer-driven, and things like the Codex and the lessons are probably lower on the priority list than improving the software itself.“

    That would depend on which volunteers you’re referring to. Some of us try to keep documentation as high on that list as we can.

    I agree, a “learner theme” would be a good addition to wordpress.
    While i consider my knowledge of css, php, & html, full to advanced, it’s always easier to make modifications if you have something to follow.

    Is it here yet?

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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