Overarching questions

  • PLNR

    (@plnr)


    12 years ago

    Hi you all!

    I’m contemplating moving to WordPress, but I have a few basic questions. I have but generic knowledge about WP, so please bear with me.

    1. How transparent is it? In other words can I first design my site in HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript/Jquery an PHP and then port it to WordPress without losing or adding anything along the way?

    2. I’m assuming code is output at the end of the process, i. e., an index.php file, along with the usual assorted companions, is produced. How editable is that file? Is it “locked down” so that if you tamper with it everything stops working?

    I do thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

    Kind regards,
    PLNR

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

  • 1. Read up on Theme Development. Your HTML/CSS/JS/PHP skills will stand you in good stead, but you’ll want to know how WP themes are put together in order to save yourself some frustration. Generally speaking, WP uses very standard CSS, HTML, and JS; most of the PHP work is done by WP-specific functions, and that’s where you want some knowledge of the system.

    2. When you build out your design as a WP theme, you’re building a set of php templates; the content of your pages is generated dynamically from the database. You can do whatever you want when you’re building your php files (with the caveat that, yes, if you screw them up, you’ll break the site), but the system is designed so you never touch the theme files directly when editing the site. It’s not so much a matter of the theme files being “locked down”, as site content being a separate workflow from design.

    Does that help at all?

    Thread Starter PLNR

    (@plnr)

    @amy Hendrix (sabreuse),

    Yes, indeed it did! Thank you very much.

    However, I was dismayed at the sight of a “Follow design guidelines in Site Design and Layout. ” section.

    I am coding the site myself so that I can have absolute and meticulous control over its design. Certainly, I shall take a look at them guidelines, but are they mandatory? I have a very specific look and feel in mind for my portfolio site and I would frown upon bending them to fit some all-purpose guidelines. Is there some sort of enforcement policy upon basic structural design and layout components? I would certainly hope not.

    Again, warm regards to you.

    It’s open-source software, you’re developing your own theme, to run on your own site — the only “mandatory” design element is if a client requires it ??

    Still, it’s worth at least taking a look at that page. It’s not a set of rules — just a set of resources for good practices and how to implement them with proper WP code.

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