Up Your Theming Game by Reviewing Themes

Hand turning up volume on sound board

You have strong theme sense, you’ve started working on or released a theme into the world, and you want to get better. You can do just that and do it without one design iteration or a single line of code.

Join the WordPress Theme Review team.

Few communities like the WordPress community exist in the world. You’ll find many opportunities to make behind-the-scenes contributions that have huge ripple effects. The WordPress Theme Review team is one of those opportunities. If you’re a themer at any level, you can learn more than you ever would creating themes by yourself.

You’ll get to know the theme requirements. Reviewing themes taps you into the pulse of WordPress theming and its best practices. You’ll become an expert with the theme requirements in no time. With that knowledge, you’ll be able to create better themes, and create them faster. Plus, you don’t really know something until you have to explain it with clarity to someone else. You’ll do that with each review.

You can contribute without code. You know and I know it, seeing your name on the WordPress credits page is a thrill. However, you can help WordPress in many ways without knowing the ins and outs of code. Contributing to the Theme Review team can improve your code skills fast. You’ll read more code and provide more feedback than you could on your own. Each time a theme you reviewed goes live, you’ll feel just as good as seeing your name on the WordPress credits page – promise.

See better themes everywhere. This should go without saying, but with each theme you review, you’ll have a chance to make it a little better. That means better themes for the users of WordPress and better experiences across millions of sites. More people will be able to find a theme that fits them perfectly, and be more willing to publish and share their ideas with the world. What a great way to spend a few hours of your time.

You’ll find inspiration and become a better themer. Each new theme review will expose you to new ideas, from design to code to tools to process and so much more. Every theme has its own dose of inspiration. Take it in. Experiment. Iterate. Repeat.

Help people create. At the end of the day, you’re doing something incredibly special – you’re helping someone’s creation come to life. I love theming because you get to build something from scratch. You mix some art, science, and part of you into something that has never existed before. Creating is good, helping others create is even better.

Learn from shared knowledge and teamwork. When reviewing a theme, you’re not just helping or teaching – you’re on the same team. You have so much to share with each other. You both have the same goal. It’s not about who knows more, it’s about how much you know together. See what you can do with it.

Learn about the WordPress Theme Review team and become a reviewer today.

Happy theming theme reviewing!

7 responses

  1. […] Up Your Theming Game by Reviewing Themes […]

  2. akismet-40ed86dbd3c75fdfc71d13ab036c4ec4 Avatar
    akismet-40ed86dbd3c75fdfc71d13ab036c4ec4

    I look at code every time i look at a new theme, in fact it’s the first thing I do with a theme.
    I think I could become a theme reviewer, if it wasn’t for the written review.
    I’m not sure my English is good enough, and it would take me a lot of time to write the review.
    If there was a way to get around the problem, I would join immidiatly.

    1. Every new theme reviewer gets a mentor. They may be able to give you feedback on whether your English is clear enough. It never hurts to try. 🙂

  3. […] you have questions or want to learn more, I highly recommend David Kennedy’s article on ThemeShaper.  It offers some great insights on they why behind reviewing themes.  Themes are […]

  4. akismet-40ed86dbd3c75fdfc71d13ab036c4ec4 Avatar
    akismet-40ed86dbd3c75fdfc71d13ab036c4ec4

    @David thank for the reply.
    I’ve given it a lot of thoughts, and I think I’ll give it a insecure try.
    And as you say, it can’t hurt, it’s just my old school idea of not promising what I can’t keep, holding me back.
    One question. Somewhere I’ve seen a guide about setting up a review environment, can’t I just use my Desktop Server Pro?

    1. There are many different tools for running WordPress locally. As long as Desktop Server Pro can run WordPress, you should be fine. Check out these guides for more information on setting up and environment and getting ready to review themes:

      https://themeshaper.com/2012/10/24/wordpress-theme-development-tools-tutorial-2/

      https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/get-involved/become-a-reviewer/