There has been a lot of talk lately about using starter themes to build your own unique WordPress themes, especially now that the new _s starter theme is available, but many are asking just how to get started in the first place. Fortunately, the same folks behind _s have released a quick starter guide for their starter theme. At its most basic, pretend that you’re building your theme just like you would a new house, but in this case you’re hiring someone else to lay the foundation for you. Without a good solid foundation, it doesn’t matter how well you construct the frame or paint the walls, that house will fall down eventually. This is exactly what a good starter theme is, it’s the foundation, with just about everything you need to start a good theme. When starting with a starting theme, the first thing you’ll need to do is [...]

There are many folks out there who would love to make their own WordPress theme, but it’s often hard to get started without a reliable template. Sure, you could grab the Toolbox theme, but it’s a bit out of date, so it wouldn’t be the best platform to get started on. This brings us to the new _s starter theme from the Automattic Theme Team. _s is a complete starter theme, it’s free, open source, and ready to be used by you today. Unlike Toolbox, _s is not designed to just serve as a parent theme for a mere child theme, it is really designed to be used as a template for your next great theme, or as described a “1,000 hour head start.” _s will always be in flux, upgrading and adapting to the latest web technologies, so that you’ll always have the tools you need when you’re ready to start your [...]