How To Create And Edit a WordPress Theme?

Although WordPress is multifunctional and has a high degree of freedom, there are cases where you cannot achieve what you want with existing customization items and plugins. Edit the theme and rewrite the HTML and CSS code that makes up the page.

Start Free Customization By Editing The Theme

Although WordPress is multifunctional and has a high degree of freedom, there are cases where you cannot achieve what you want with existing customization items and plugins. For example, if you want to use your company logo image for your site title, you can’t do it with the usual customization of Twenty Fourteen.

However, if you edit the theme and rewrite the HTML or CSS code that makes up the page, you can use the logo image in the title. Not only that, you can freely create other parts as you imagined. Editing themes greatly expands the freedom of site creation. And you can take advantage of the true freedom of WordPress.

Here, we will explain a safe and reliable method of theme editing that even people without knowledge of HTML and CSS can start while actually working.

You can also edit the HTML and CSS code on the [Edit Theme] screen on the WordPress administration screen, but this screen is not used in this manual. It is easy to edit the theme only with a browser, but the editing function is poor and there is no backup of the theme before editing, so it is difficult to repair if you make a mistake.

To Display The WordPress [Edit Theme] Screen

First, Prepare a Text Editor And File Transfer Software

 In this article, we will edit the theme with the following two points.

 -Comfortable and efficient editing with a high-performance text editor

 ・ Back up the theme so that it can be restored immediately

The first is important not only in terms of work efficiency but also in terms of learning efficiency in learning how to edit code. WordPress themes consist of text files containing HTML, PHP, and CSS code, so using a sophisticated text editor will greatly improve your editing comfort.

We will use “Sublime Text” for the explanation. As shown in the screen below, HTML and other codes can be displayed in different colors for easy understanding, and they also have various editing functions. Unlike the “text editor” used on the WordPress article editing screen, this software is installed and used on a computer.

 The second is necessary to proceed with editing the theme while operating the site without trouble. In this manual, we will use the file transfer software “FileZilla” to download the theme from the server and back it up before editing.

One of the advantages of CMS is that you can create and operate a site with just a browser. But in this book, we’re going to do some advanced work that goes behind the scenes of a CMS. For that purpose, you will need to use multiple software other than the browser, but read the following explanations and use them properly. The detailed theme editing work procedure is explained in Techniques 74 to 77.

Tip: If you have other software you are familiar with, it’s still OK We will use Sublime Text and FileZilla here for an explanation, but if you have another familiar text editor or file transfer software, you can use that as well. However, the performance of the text editor has a great effect on work efficiency, so if you are using something with a simple function such as “Notepad”, we recommend that you try Sublime Text.

Software Used For Editing Themes In This Book

Sublime Text (text editor)

A text editor that is loved by many professional web authors. Compatible with Windows / Mac. It’s a paid software for $ 70, but you can try it without any features or time limits.

FileZilla (file transfer software)

Easy-to-use file transfer software with a simple interface. Compatible with Windows / Mac. free.

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