I’ve been doing a lot of Wordpress work recently, both building themes from scratch and also customizing existing themes. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been working on slowly compiling a library of resources so that I can save time by building upon existing code frameworks instead of starting each project from scratch. This has been a lot of extra work up front, but I am already starting to see benefits to my work in that I am able to streamline some of my work, and therefore make more money. So I thought that I would share some of my hardwork with those that follow me. Maybe these resources will be of great benefit to you.
Framework Package
I have put together this package of six blank themes that provide developers and Wordpress users a core theme to make custom theme creation easier, faster and more efficient. Each theme uses the latest WordPress API template tags and follows the standards set fourth in the official WordPress theme development guide at http://codex.wordpress.org as well as passing the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)’s validation tests for valid XHTML and CSS 2.1 technical specifications and standards.
Feature Summary:
- 100% Free GPL – No branding restrictions, take it, mod it, claim it as your own
- Navigating stylesheet PDF ‘cheat sheet’, know where to apply styles easily
- Fixes IE6 CSS limitations (CSS hover, focus, etc.)
- Fixes IE6 PNG limitations (PNG support, repeat pattern, etc.)
- W3C Validated XHTML 1.0
- W3C Validated CSS 2.1
In addition to being compliant with standards, the package also includes solutions and patches for maintaining compatibility with less then satisfactory non-compliant yet very popular web browsers like Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6. It is an unfortunate fact that one third of the web audience is still using IE6. However, by using my package when building your own custom theme will enable you to leverage standard and elegant CSS styling attributes such as focus, active, and arbitrary tag hover behaviors and properties. You will also be able to use PNG file formats with alpha channel transparencies to make your own custom designs pop and spring to life despite IE6’s lack of standard support for these features. Lastly, we have included a link to an external stylesheet called ie6.css to cater specifically to the still significant volume of IE6 visitors. This stylesheet can be used to correct for issues and nuances that may arise from the lack of standards in IE6 by executing stylesheet rules specific to IE6 visitors.
Basic 101
Basic 201
Basic 202
Basic 301
Basic 302
Basic 303
Complete Package
#1 by Courtny Cotten on December 9, 2009 - 7:09 pm
These are great, thanks for sharing! What about the 960 Grid System though? Generally I build my frameworks based on that structure as opposed to and arbitrary display size.
http://960.gs/
#2 by Matt Brown on December 9, 2009 - 7:12 pm
Thanks Courtney. I do use the 960 Grid sometimes, I just put these basic frameworks together to help beginners understand the basic framework of Wordpress development. If I put together a 960 framework in the future, I’ll definitely let you know.
Cheers!