Create WordPress Themes

joshua
Sep 11, 2008
Updated • Jun 21, 2010
Software
|
8

WordPress is fantastic for the extend to which is can be customised, however if mucking around with CSS isn’t something you really want to get into personally then here are a few tools to help you out:

Artisteer

Artisteer is a new application fresh out of beta which helps you design either normal websites or a WordPress theme. It’s also one of the few programs I’ve seen which uses the Office Ribbon UI, it works pretty effectively for this application and looks great as well.

The problem is that this isn’t freeware and costs $99.95 for a developer license. Considering the lack of advanced features in the software, however nice it looks, I can’t see many people jumping at the chance to purchase this.

Perhaps if it included an actual code editor as well or had a great deal more options for customisation then it would be a more attractive offer but till then I think not. If you use the free version all images are watermarked when you export your theme, however this could still be useful as you can simply replace the images in the files.

I can only assume the activation of Artisteer provides a lot more functionality such as more templates, support for more platforms and more options.

WordPress Theme Generator

Feels kind of dated compared to Artisteer but will do the basics of theme design for you, handy if you want something to work off but not much more than that.

Starkers WordPress Theme

I particularly like this. If you’ve ever started a new theme based off the default WordPress themes then you’ll have realised how much stuff is in there which you really don’t need. Naked WordPress theme is a completely stripped down theme for you to work off, really helpful =)

There’s an update saying it isn’t working too well with WP 2.6, but that the author is updating it soon =)

Advertisement

Tutorials & Tips


Previous Post: «
Next Post: «

Comments

  1. Bertha Yaccarino said on September 11, 2012 at 8:12 pm
    Reply

    Fantastic post man, maintain up the great execute.

  2. S. Ramelan said on May 3, 2010 at 9:50 am
    Reply

    Nice post! But if you want to do yourself from scratch, here is the tutorial http://morzdesign.com/tutorial-how-to-create-a-wordpress-theme-from-scratch/

  3. JeaneW said on January 18, 2009 at 2:14 pm
    Reply
  4. shally said on October 18, 2008 at 1:46 am
    Reply

    Nice, Thanks For the Info. Is there clone for artisteer that is free?

  5. Josh said on September 12, 2008 at 4:00 am
    Reply

    Haha Notice I didn’t mention the whoablog site =P It’s hideous I know =)

    No what you make is only limited to your own creativity, I mention it here because it’s a good way to get the initial code for a site then work from there.

  6. Paco Gavavla said on September 11, 2008 at 2:02 pm
    Reply

    You’re right, Dolaa. Hell, I tried to list the things I didn’t like. But after looking at the horrid colors and unreadable and broken links for a few minutes, I decided it wasn’t worth my time.

  7. lillobyte91 said on September 11, 2008 at 9:55 am
    Reply

    thanks are legendary :D! continue so ;)

  8. Dolaa said on September 11, 2008 at 6:23 am
    Reply

    Did you get money for this article?

    >> Check out Artisteer template examples at
    >> http://www.whoablog.com/

    Sorry, even my 1 year old sister could PAINT it better…

Leave a Reply

Check the box to consent to your data being stored in line with the guidelines set out in our privacy policy

We love comments and welcome thoughtful and civilized discussion. Rudeness and personal attacks will not be tolerated. Please stay on-topic.
Please note that your comment may not appear immediately after you post it.