Users of the Wordpress system have the opportunity to use ready-made page styles or create their own to their liking. You can apply the same template to your entire site, or you can use multiple themes for different types of pages.
Formation of the template structure
Wordpress templates have a clear structure and are a collection of several configuration files. First of all, there is the index.php file, which links several parts of the template into a single whole, and style.css. The first includes files such as header.php, footer.php, single.php, etc. There may be more of them if you want to create a special type of page.
Set the basic style definitions for the new template in the style.css file. For example, the size of the page, headers and footers and headers, the appearance of the text, etc. Here you can also put general information with the name of the topic, author, version number.
The logo and standard navigation are set in the header.php file. In it, you can also place the code responsible for the formation of the custom menu. The design of the navigation, like any other element, is set in the already described css file.
You should write the settings of the main page to the index.php file. They consist in the designation of components and various kinds of functions. Proceed as you see fit - add or remove side menus, message thumbnails, headers and footers.
Adding additional elements and setting the template
Once you've created the required structure for your Wordpress template, you can add additional components to your website pages. For example, create a functions.php file and a sidebar.php file. In the first place the code for registering the side menu, and in the second - the styling elements (layout, text).
If you want to add a commenting system to your template, include the standard Wordpress comments file wp-comments.php in index.php. To add an archive to the site where old entries will be placed, create an archives.php file.
To install a new design for your blog, save all the prepared files to your site in the wp-content / themes folder (you can do this using an ftp connection). After that, open the Wordpress Control Panel in your browser, click on Appearance and Themes. The new template should already appear in the list. Activate it and install the widgets you need. You can load your own design settings in the same menu item ("Themes") To do this, click "Install Themes" and download the archive with your template files.
In addition to the described method of creating your own design, you can use special programs to make it easier for a beginner. For example, Artisteer lets you work in a familiar ribbon interface and renders most of the new theme's settings.
