“Have you ever wanted to change a class in the loop? You’re likely going to have to edit upwards of five files. The worst part? Most of the code you’re editing is identical.”

1. improving
theme
development
JASON DAVID PELKER
ITEM-9.COM @JPELKER

2. THEME STANDARDS
THEME STANDARDS
THEME STANDARDS
THEME STANDARDS
THEME STANDARDS
THEME

3. From where has
WordPress come?

8. What about
themes?

11. What grinds
my gears?

13. What grinds
my gears?

14. #1
LIMITED
MODULARIZATION

15. “Have you ever wanted to
change a class in the loop?
You’re likely going to have
to edit upwards of five
files. The worst part? Most
of the code you’re editing
is identical.”
Daryl Koopersmith

16. “Separate Theme
Structure from
Theme Content!”

17. get_template_part

19. $slug: (required) The slug
name for the generic template.
$name: (optional) The name of
the specialized template.

22. Show me...

23. loop.php

24. Show me...

25. loop-author.php

26. Show me...

27. loop-cat.php

28. TwentyTen
• In archive.php: get_template_part('loop','archive');
• In author.php: get_template_part('loop','author');
• In category.php:
get_template_part('loop','category');
• In index.php: get_template_part('loop','index');
• In search.php: get_template_part('loop','search');
• In tag.php: get_template_part('loop','tag');

29. What’s the
problem with
get_template_part?

30. The burden is on
the user to
implement the
template hierarchy.

31. No naming
conventions.
loop-cat vs.
loop-category?

32. Daryl Koopersmith

33. “Separate the
F*cking Theme
Structure from
Theme Content!”

34. get_template_module

35. TwentyTen

37. get_template_module
loads the first match

38. <?php get_template_module('loop');?>

39. In the
folder
“loop”...

40. loop/category-news.php →
loop/category-4.php →
loop/category.php →
loop/archive.php →
loop/index.php

41. more reading
http://drylk.com/2010/04/06/modular-themes-organization/
or
http://bit.ly/czxWT3

42. What grinds
my gears?

43. #2
POOR NAMING
CONVENTIONS

44. BuddyPress

45. theSevenFive

46. By default BuddyPress templates
use this HTML structure:

47. BuddyPress Template Pack

50. BuddyPress vs. TwentyTen

51. BuddyPress TwentyTen

52. Before

53. After

54. 3 DIVs
•container
• content
• sidebar

56. No div id=“container”

57. 3 DIVs
•container
• content
• sidebar

58. HTML 5

59. Global Tags
• header
• section
• article
• nav
• footer

60. CSS 3
Multiple
Backgrounds

61. What grinds
my gears?

62. #3
REPETITIVE
THEME OPTIONS

63. “Originally themes were
designs. Then they
became designs with
functions stuck on.”
Alex Denning,
WPShout

71. Already Built-in
• header image
• Woo navigation
• custom background

73. Other ideas
• post thumbnails
• custom post types

74. What else?

76. • PageNavi
• breadcrumbs
• advanced SEO
• analytics
• favicon
• FeedBurner

77. • date formatting
• Twitter
• author box
• timthumb
• featured slider
• common layouts

78. Can a brotha
export some
options?

79. Prevent
unwieldiness?

81. Collections

82. Core Plugins
• importer/exporter
• navigation

83. “Sure, there are some
limitations with this
system. With a set
standard, new plugins
will likely emerge to
fill in the gaps.”
Justin Tadlock

84. THEME
CREATIVITY
IS...

85. CONTENT
+ DESIGN

86. THEME
EFFICIENCY
IS...

87. MODULARIZATION
+
NAMING CONVENTIONS
+
STANDARD OPTIONS

88. THEME STANDARDS
THEME STANDARDS
THEME STANDARDS
THEME STANDARDS
THEME STANDARDS
THEME

89. improving
theme
development
JASON DAVID PELKER
ITEM-9.COM @JPELKER