typical theme features–and what I might need?

  • [ Moderator note: moved to Fixing WordPress. ]

    I’m new to wordpress and themes, and having trouble knowing where to begin with picking a theme.

    I’m making a site to market my private math tutoring business. It will be focused mostly on content such as writing and math-related diagrams, with a little bit of contact information and an “about myself”. My colors and “look” will be friendly, with some appeal to kids, but still having an elegance so that college students know they are welcome.

    A typical example of my trials and tribulations is this: I tried the Sydney theme and generated some content, then got the idea to have a front page header image that is white with a drawing of a light bulb in black and colored chalk. But Sydney seems to put a gray overlay over the header image so it can then display the site title in white text. So I can’t have an all-white background in my header image.

    So I’m not asking specifically about Sydney here, but trying to get a sense for what details, generally speaking, are chosen and handled by a theme? For instance, because I ran into this problem with Sydney, should I just give up on Sydney now and look for something that fits my expectations a little better? Or should I delve into its options and see if I can get it to work?

    Another way to put this is, how much should I typically know about my site goals and how does that help me choose a theme?

    Is my color palette important, for instance, to choosing a theme? Or is that irrelevant because any theme worth its salt can be customized anyway?

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

  • Your entire site should be mapped out in a Site Map before you even consider a theme.

    Functionality should also be outlined. Stuff like Slider on homepage, contact form…

    Remember, a theme is a starting point. EVERYTHING can be customized, changed, moved, deleted, added…

    When I started with WordPress I used Gantry theme on every site I built and customized everything so no 2 sites even had the same layout.

    I now have a single custom theme that I built from scratch. It is blank and everything is customized for every site from 1 page scrolling sites to full blown e-commerce sites.

    You are not tied to a theme’s colors, font’s backgrounds or anything. So when choosing a theme make sure it has the features/functionality you need.

    Thread Starter michaelmossey

    (@michaelmossey)

    It sounds like you are speaking from the perspective of an expert who has developed an efficient approach after completing many projects.

    I am a beginner and have many questions about how I’m going to organize my site. It’s primarily an educational site, like a book–it’s like writing a book, except that things will be linked together so pages don’t have to be read in a linear fashion. I don’t know how to produce a site map because I have much to learn about what content to include and how to organize it.

    Yet, I need a bare bones version running soon. I can’t wait to finish the content, fully fleshed out according to my big vision.

    As I learn how WordPress works, I may eventually change how I’m organizing the site, perhaps getting new ideas from the ways that information can be displayed and linked. What previously was split among three pages may become viable on one page, or vice-versa.

    You still need a basic outline of pages, what type of content will be on them and what functionality you need the site to have in order to choose a theme.

    Otherwise you will be half way into your build and find out that the theme you chose does not do what you need it to.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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