Here are a few things to consider when choosing a theme:

• Is the theme easily customizable without programming?
• Will it support the widgets I’ve been using?
• Will it support my plugins I’ve been using?
• Is it compatible with the latest version of WordPress?
• Is it following the documented API to ensure future compatibilty?
• Will this theme meet my present and future needs without customizing?
• Is there a large community of users that endorse this theme for their own websites?
• What is the performance like?  Does it load quickly?
• Is there a support forum for it?
• How quickly do the developers respond to issues? 

At the time of this post, there were 1,029 free themes to choose from just on the WordPress.org website.  That doesn’t even include any of the premium themes available.  The premium themes range in price between $5 and  $100.  Some are priced a little higher but you get more support.

I think the major decision boils down to the kind of customization you are willing to do.

Things you might have to customize:

• CSS (Style elements)
  • background color
  • font color
  • font size
  • positioning
• content
  • images
• PHP (Logic)
  • how content or comments are being displayed
  • disable code that isn’t necessary
  • adding scripts for plugin support

So, what am I going to do?  The themes I am currently looking at are all FREE themes.  The only problem is that these themes kind of meet my needs, but not exactly.  I have chosen one that will suffice until I find one that meets my needs. I have been avoiding the premium themes, but I have a gut feeling if I start looking into the premium themes, I’ll quickly find exactly what I’ve been looking for.  If I put a price on my time, the cost of using a premium theme isn’t so bad.

Finding the right WordPress Theme is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

Related posts:

1. WordPress in my future
2. Some programming required
3. The journey begins

I’ll admit at the moment, I’m a newbie to the WordPress framework.  So, I have a little learning to do.  After doing a some googling on the subject, I discovered, that the missing file error is handled in the theme’s 404.php file.  Usually, the theme author modifies the page to be minimalistic, blend in with the theme and display a friendly message to the user.  Unfortunately, the error page in my theme must have slipped through the cracks.  It didn’t quite fit in, so I set out to create the error page that would fit my needs.

I found a great article Creating an Error 404 Page that gave some great suggestions.  I ended up copying the default page, then pasting into the 404.php file.  This got me part of the way to my pretty error page.  But, it wasn’t trapping the errors, like I had hoped it would.  This is where I ended up installing and activating the “Useful 404′s module” at http://skullbit.com/wordpress-plugin/useful-404s/

This module maps the different kind of error codes and information into relatively useful messages.  All you have to do, is paste in the code <?php useful404s(); ?> at the strategic point in the 404.phhp file to make it all happen.

This expereience has piqued my interest in what it takes to develop WordPress themes, Widgets and Plugins.  I plan to increase my knowledge on customizing my WordPress environment.

Till next time, I’ll be learning more about WordPress

Some programming required is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

Related posts:

1. Finding the right WordPress Theme
2. The journey begins
3. WordPress in my future