Update: We’ve created a second edition of this popular tutorial! It contains updated code samples, coverage of the latest theme development techniques, and more. Check it out at The ThemeShaper WordPress Theme Tutorial: 2nd Edition.
In only 11 individual lessons this WordPress Theme Tutorial is going to show you how to build a powerful, up-to-date, WordPress Theme from scratch. As we go along I’ll explain what’s happening including (for better or worse) my thinking on certain techniques and why I’m choosing one path over another. Essentially, I’ll be teaching you everything you need to know about WordPress Theme development.
Skip to the Table of Contents.
Here’s the list of features your finished theme will be able to boast of:
- All the search-engine optimization you’ll really need
- Including google-supported Microformat markup
- Valid and logical semantic markup structure than can be used to create ANY layout
- Smart default CSS layouts
- Dynamic Body, post and comment classes
- Separated trackbacks and threaded comments
- 2 widget areas coded to disappear when they’re empty
- And all the typical WordPress stuff you expect from a theme
I think that’s kind of impressive—for any WordPress Theme.
At the end of this tutorial, with code in hand, you’ll be able to do almost anything you want. You can even think of the finished Theme as your own personal website development framework for WordPress.
I’ve already used it to start another project of my own, The Shape Theme. Download it and check it out if you’d like to see some of the finished code we’ll be going through, live, in action. Alternately, you can browse through the up-to-date source code for the entire tutorial on Google Code.
WordPress Theme Tutorial Table of Contents
Ready for a WordPress Theme Tutorial that will show you how to create a powerful WordPress Theme from scratch? Read it from the beginning and code yourself up something awesome.
- WordPress Theme Tutorial Introduction
- Theme Development Tools
- Creating a Theme HTML Structure
- Template and Directory Structure
- The Header Template
- The Index Template
- The Single Post, Post Attachment, & 404 Templates
- The Comments Template
- The Search Template & The Page Template
- The Archive, Author, Category & Tags Template
- The Sidebar Template
- Reset-Rebuild Theme CSS & Define Your Layouts
ThemeShaper 
318 responses
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Great tutorial, it helped me a lot.
Thanks!
Tanks for the grat tut, Ian.
Now all I have to say is: Oh my. I have my work cut out for me.
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Very good guidance about creating wordpress theme. Very recommended to web developers.
Thanks for sharing.
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Just fired up MySQL on a OS X server; installed PHPMyAdmin; fired it up and got a test db running and then installed WordPress… …the next step is, of course, a custom theme. Problem is/was, I don’t actually know how to make one. But with your tutorial in hand, I now do. (Well, might learn…)
In short, this is just a drawn out ‘Thank You”.
T
How I waish i could have a wordpress paid account. I love wordpress themes and other great features.
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I have around 200 domains about gambling and i want to make some good wordpress themes with 3 columns, doesn’t seem to be so hard but require to much time, if you have time please send me an email and let me know a price for some good themes. In mean time i will try to make some templates by myself, i edited lots of template but none of them maked from scratch.
Thank’s for sharing with us.
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Hello Ian i’m a designer with the passion for the graphic.
Can i ask you the permission to translate this 11 lessons in italian language, and put in my blog, with a link to your site.
http://www.francescomasetti.com
Thank you!
Go for it. See if you can improve on it too and let me know about it. Cheers.
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Excellent post, thank you very much for taking the time to share with those who are starting on the subject. Greetings