WordPress best practices<\/a> are what distinguish a great theme from a mediocre one. They are basically a comprehensive set of design and coding guidelines that have been laid down so that developers adhere to the highest standards in quality, security, and plug-in compatibility. In addition, these best practices also ensure that the theme supports a variety of user-generated content and is compatible with upgrades that WordPress releases from time to time. It\u2019s always best to follow these best practices so your theme functions glitch-free.<\/p>\n4. Make your Theme Pop<\/h2>\n
![\"Make](\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg)
<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s always nice to have a theme that looks different, this guideline is especially relevant to designers who are looking to sell their custom themes. Buyers are drawn towards features they\u2019ve never seen before. It\u2019s very important to have a unique element \u2013 one that catches the eye and makes the theme a little more appealing. We aren\u2019t talking about anything elaborate or radically different. Even tiny details that set you apart and give you a competitive edge – such as a home page slider show, a nice graphic, or a cool text box \u2013 will do.<\/p>\n
5. Pay Attention to Content Formatting<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
The main aim of a blog is to display content. Therefore, it\u2019s quite surprising when I see themes that are missing blockquotes or HTML lists. For a theme to perform well, it\u2019s important to pay attention to all the HTML elements.<\/p>\n
There are a number of tools and plug-ins that can help you to check this, such as the WP Lorem Ipsum Post Pack that tests HTML elements like <h2> and <blockquote>. Then there is WP Dummy Content, which you can use to create pages, categories, posts, etc. This allows you to see what your blog looks like when populated with content.<\/p>\n
If this is your first attempt at making a WordPress theme, things might not fall into place right away. But that\u2019s okay. Be patient. You are in your learning phase. But one thing\u2019s for sure \u2013 when you do get a hang of the whole process and can put together a theme that works glitch-free, you will be tempted to make another one, and then one more, and another one \u2026 The excitement will never quite end.<\/p>\n
But, till that happens continue reading up about all things related to WordPress coding and development. There are a heartening number of tutorials, articles, forums, blogs, and books \u2013 some free and some paid \u2013 that impart training on all aspects of creating a WordPress theme. The more you know, the better you will get at developing themes. And that was your agenda all along, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WordPress is, without doubt, one of the best content management systems in existence today. You know it, I know it, and pretty much the whole world acknowledges it. With that fact irrefutably established, let\u2019s move on to finding out what makes WordPress so well-loved. More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":20947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"adace-sponsor":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15777","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-resources"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCreating your Own WordPress Theme: Tips and Tricks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"WordPress is, without doubt, one of the best content management systems in existence today. You know it, I know it, and pretty much the whole world\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/creating-wordpress-theme-tips-tricks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creating your Own WordPress Theme: Tips and Tricks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WordPress is, without doubt, one of the best content management systems in existence today. You know it, I know it, and pretty much the whole world\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/creating-wordpress-theme-tips-tricks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CrazyLeaf Design Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/crazyleafdesign\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-05T04:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/wordpress-581849__180-e1459778108838.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"107\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sharon Michaels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@crazyleaf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@crazyleaf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sharon Michaels\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/creating-wordpress-theme-tips-tricks\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/creating-wordpress-theme-tips-tricks\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sharon Michaels\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/584ceeda0f0be13ebb45fa93232b215c\"},\"headline\":\"Creating your Own WordPress Theme: Tips and Tricks\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-05T04:00:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/creating-wordpress-theme-tips-tricks\/\"},\"wordCount\":910,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/creating-wordpress-theme-tips-tricks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/wordpress-581849__180-e1459778108838.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Resources\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/creating-wordpress-theme-tips-tricks\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/creating-wordpress-theme-tips-tricks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/creating-wordpress-theme-tips-tricks\/\",\"name\":\"Creating your Own WordPress Theme: Tips and Tricks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/creating-wordpress-theme-tips-tricks\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/creating-wordpress-theme-tips-tricks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/wordpress-581849__180-e1459778108838.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-05T04:00:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/584ceeda0f0be13ebb45fa93232b215c\"},\"description\":\"WordPress is, without doubt, one of the best content management systems in existence today. 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![\"Concept\"](\"https:\/\/crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/concept.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Fundamentals\"](\"https:\/\/crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/fundamentals.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Wordpress](\"https:\/\/crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/wordpress-best-practices.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Make](\"https:\/\/crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/make-yout-theme-pop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Pay](\"https:\/\/crazyleafdesign.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/content-formatting.jpg\")
<\/p>\n