WordPress is a CMS system that uses theme files to carry out a variety of functions. Because the theme files generate dynamic content it makes more sense to think about themes in terms of functionality. That said, there are some basic elements that all WordPress themes should have regardless of added functionality, and there are some basic decisions to be made.

This article  is meant to cover theme design elements, not installation of WordPress, though if you require assistance with WP installation please select this option on the WP theme request form.

You can use the theme form to guide you through the basic theme decisions if you’d like us to design your theme. The following items describe the basic elements that all themes should include, and the couple of basic decisions to be made at the beginning. Regardless of the designer, every WordPress theme should have the following elements (or issues decided at the beginning):

1. Widget-ready Sidebar(s)

Every WordPress theme should come with a widget-ready sidebar(s). These are generally set up so that if you add widgets from your wp-admin panel they will replace the sidebar code in the theme files.

additional widget info:

If you’d like to have different sidebars on certain pages, be sure to let the designer know so that additional widget areas can be coded. Widgets-areas don’t have to be in sidebars either, they can go in headers, footers or wherever else you want to add the functionality of widgets or want to be able to easily change a picture or text that appears on many pages.

Search box

Most WordPress themes include a search box. These are generally placed in either the header or the sidebar. Unless you don’t want a search box, you should decide if it will go in the header (perhaps to the right with the logo/headline on the left), or in the sidebar.

2. Logo or Textual Site Header?

If you would like to customize your site with a logo, be sure to tell the designer what you have in mind so it can be designed and worked into the theme. If you’d prefer to have a textual heading, there are many things that can be done with CSS. The benefit of using a textual heading is that it’s tied to the Title entry in the wp-admin under Settings>General of your site, so changing the title their will change the headline text.

3. The General Header

Beyond the logo/heading issue, consider the entire header. Will it contain a search box, a main navigation area (such as page or category tabs), or a smaller set of page links? If you’re unsure, these elements can be defined during the graphic design process. If you know what you want be sure to include your instructions in your request for a theme.

4. Comments

You don’t have to decide right now if your WP theme will have comments enabled or not -you can always change that functionality under Settings>Discussion in your wp-admin panel. But make sure that your custom theme comes with a comments template (nearly all do) even if you’re not sure, in case you decide to use comments on your site.

no comments

In my opinion a good theme doesn’t say anything about comments if the comments option has not been enabled in the wp-admin panel, but many themes display some type of  “comments are currently closed” message. The default for themes we design is to not include these kinds of messages, the reasoning being: if you don’t want comments, you don’t want mentions of comments in your theme. -if you do want comments all of our themes come with styled comments templates that only appear if you have comments turned on under Settings/Discussion of your wp-admin panel.

threaded comments

This too is a setting under Settings>Discussion, but if you know that you want threaded comments be sure to make that clear with your designer (or select this in the request a theme form). Whether to use threaded comments or not is really up to the way people use your blog. If your blog generates cross-commenter discussion then threaded comments would organize replies with the original comment. This is also good for author replies.  Depending on the theme, CSS styling for threaded comments can be a bit trickier so it’s not always standard in WP themes. If you want threaded comments and/or author comments styled differently, tell your designer (select this option in your theme request).

5. Valid HTML / CSS

A good WordPress theme should be able to pass HTML and CSS validation. This is not nearly as critical as good design and basic functionality, but the general idea is that by using 100% valid markup the site is more likely to fare well in more browsers -in terms of cross-browser compatibility and future-proofing the code too. Over time the HTML / CSS validators drop outdated forms of code, so validation is a good way to make sure your site is using the most valid markup. This is pretty basic for most theme designers.

note about HTML validation with plugins

Sometimes a perfectly HTML-valid theme comes up invalid because of the extra code inserted by plugins. Oftentimes these are superficial and really don’t effect usability; sometimes they can be fixed easily and sometimes it takes modification of the plugin files. If you’re coming up with plugin related validation errors, you can send us your information and we’ll let you know what’s up with your site’s validation and propose fixes for any critical issues.

That’s really all that it takes to make a solid basic WordPress theme. If you want to read more about style and function basics, or some advanced ‘nice to have’ features, read on…