Improve WordPress theme developer skills and practices to achieve optimal quality

This article highlights some of the factors that should be considered when designing and implementing an actual WordPress theme. These tips are mainly convenient for newbies in WordPress theme development and people who are planning to use pore WordPress theme.

In our previous article, we covered the two most important steps in designing a WordPress theme (and any other web design theme):

1. Get the right inspiration for your theme
2. Provides good simulation for designs in prototyping applications

In this article, we will focus more on some factors that should be considered when designing and implementing actual themes.

Industry Tools

Before moving forward, it's important to note that I recommend two tools that may come in handy when designing and coding actual themes.

1. Adobe Photoshop

Obviously, this one needs no introduction. It is one of the most popular design tools used by most web designers.

Of course, there are other tools to choose from, but mastering some of the features this software can offer can be really beneficial in the design world.

Photoshop will help you bring life to the model you made in the previous article.

2. Sublime Text 2

They say a programmer is only as good as the software he or she uses to write the code. Sublime Text 2 is one of my personal favorites when it comes to writing code (as well as for many other developers). Jeffrey covers extensively some of the amazing things you can do with this tool - take a look.

Of course, there are many other tools available, and they need to be carefully detailed, so it's important to find the one that works best for you and your workflow and incorporate it into your daily tasks. p>

Now that we’ve looked at some of the tools you can use to design and build WordPress themes, let’s look at some of the design factors you should consider when designing a WordPress theme

Designs tailored to customer taste

Unlike designing a custom theme that is user-specific for a specific client, designing a premium WordPress theme needs to cater to different needs and tastes.

What if I only design for a specific niche in the market? Yes, the layout, color scheme, and typography of the website will differ even for users in a specific industry (such as a boutique).

When designing a theme, it is important that you do enough research to ensure that you incorporate at least multiple layout options and, if possible, have them as pre-made templates to make it easier for theme buyers to customize to their liking .

format

Typography, according to Wikipedia’s definition, is:

...The art and technique of arranging types so that the language they form is most attractive and easy to transparently learn and recognize. 块引用>

Choosing the right font, font size and overall arrangement of elements in your design is key to making your theme attractive to many customers.

Too much white space can turn off potential customers. Many people focus on how the presentation data is arranged and how it looks in the design. Properly arranging various elements can greatly increase your theme sales.

You can use demo data to show how customers can get their data on the website after purchasing the theme.

Theme specific features

The theme is as good as the framework and the various features that come with it. Providing easy customization options for your theme is key to boosting theme sales.

Most theme buyers want designs to be implemented easily and quickly using as few resources as possible. To do this, they expect designs that not only look great on the front end, but also offer shortcode and page builder options to help guide their content structure.

Well structured and documented code

As I mentioned in the first point (that is, designing according to the tastes of different customers), developers are also one of the people who buy themes.

Any developer wants to buy a theme where he/she can easily understand the code. Well-structured and commented code will help your clients extend theme functionality. Give your theme customers as much power as possible by having well-structured code and the ability to modify and improve it as needed.

Not only will this reduce support requests, but it will also increase your theme buyer attention.

Theme Documentation and Support

When you buy an electronic device, such as a mobile phone, it comes with a manual. If this doesn't happen, you may feel lost when trying to start using your new device.

The same goes for premium WordPress themes: when users purchase a premium theme, they expect at least a guide to help them through the setup process. Your theme documentation should be organized in a strategic order to make it easier for your clients to set it up.

At the same time, it is also important to have a good support system in place, as most customers want a place to ask questions, provide feedback, and interact with the support team. Therefore, building a topic support system is key.

Unlike some designers who set up open ticket forums, I recommend providing an FAQ for frequently asked questions and giving your customers a specific way to report issues related to special topics.

Summary

In this part of the series, we cover some of the key factors to consider when designing a premium WordPress theme, as well as some of the tools you can use to achieve the above.

In the final part of this series, we’ll cover how to choose the right marketplace for your theme and how to package your theme for the public (such as the right pricing model and support model).

In the meantime, please share any questions or comments on the article!