WordPress probably has the largest number of great-looking themes to use. Still, there are hundreds of free and even open source web templates not yet converted to work with WordPress. Knowing how to make this themes work with WordPress broadens your choice of design to use for your blog.
Converting a web template is fairly easy if you take the time to learn how to do it.
The Tools that are been used.
In converting web templates into WordPress themes, using Aptana and Cream. Aptana is used to visually edit the template and incorporate the changes that have to be done.
Where to download templates
The best place is the web templates released under an open source license, where you usually get templates at Open Source Web Design and Open Web Design.
The advantage of using open source templates is that you are allowed to change and redistribute it, but if you only plan to create a custom WordPress theme for your site and not redistribute it, you can browse through the hundreds of websites offering free web templates.
Tips on choosing a template
For PSD to Wordpress conversion you must choose designs done in CSS and XHTML. Most of the free and open source web templates offered for download is now done in CSS and XHTML and authors usually highlight this fact either on the web template itself or in the readme file that comes with it.
Validate the design using website validation service. You can use validator.W3.org. Again, most templates contain a link within the page that would take you to the result of W3’s validation of the page.
Choose designs not using HTML tables to render the page’s columns. Tables are great for presenting tabular data such as statistics but not for page layout. Most competent web designers will tell you never to use tables for laying out your web page.
Finalize design
For finalizing your design you have to open the XHTML files in Aptana and finalize changes you want to do on the design. You might want to play around with the type of font used or its sizes or the dimensions of the web templates’ columns. If you want to completely change the template’s layout, you have to spend time editing various components of the template, including the images that come with it.
It is important, however, that you finalize the design at this stage since it will be cumbersome if you do design changes when the files have been cut up into different WordPress theme .php files.
Most free web templates typically contain several sample posts to show how articles, headlines and author links are formatted. Leave only one article in the template. You will be inserting the WordPress Loop in this part of the template later. Mark this part with
Converting a web template is fairly easy if you take the time to learn how to do it.
The Tools that are been used.
In converting web templates into WordPress themes, using Aptana and Cream. Aptana is used to visually edit the template and incorporate the changes that have to be done.
Where to download templates
The best place is the web templates released under an open source license, where you usually get templates at Open Source Web Design and Open Web Design.
The advantage of using open source templates is that you are allowed to change and redistribute it, but if you only plan to create a custom WordPress theme for your site and not redistribute it, you can browse through the hundreds of websites offering free web templates.
Tips on choosing a template
For PSD to Wordpress conversion you must choose designs done in CSS and XHTML. Most of the free and open source web templates offered for download is now done in CSS and XHTML and authors usually highlight this fact either on the web template itself or in the readme file that comes with it.
Validate the design using website validation service. You can use validator.W3.org. Again, most templates contain a link within the page that would take you to the result of W3’s validation of the page.
Choose designs not using HTML tables to render the page’s columns. Tables are great for presenting tabular data such as statistics but not for page layout. Most competent web designers will tell you never to use tables for laying out your web page.
Finalize design
For finalizing your design you have to open the XHTML files in Aptana and finalize changes you want to do on the design. You might want to play around with the type of font used or its sizes or the dimensions of the web templates’ columns. If you want to completely change the template’s layout, you have to spend time editing various components of the template, including the images that come with it.
It is important, however, that you finalize the design at this stage since it will be cumbersome if you do design changes when the files have been cut up into different WordPress theme .php files.
Most free web templates typically contain several sample posts to show how articles, headlines and author links are formatted. Leave only one article in the template. You will be inserting the WordPress Loop in this part of the template later. Mark this part with
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