From time to time, I get questions about how I start designing websites, and how I build custom WordPress themes for my clients. I’ve spent the better part of the last year trying to streamline the process of designing and launching a blog theme. The problem that I have is I tend to get a little carried away with trying to be perfect. Like most designers I start out with the basic tools…pencil and paper. I draw out the layout and figure out the basic positioning of all of the necessary elements before I even think about putting anything down in Photoshop. That drawing stays with me until the very end of the project, and sometimes even after just for reference.

How Does GrandmasterB Layout a Site for WordPress?

Recently, Forest from The Random Forest and Frugal Zeitgeist hit me up on Google Chat to ask me how I build a Wordpress theme and how I go from Photoshop layout to coding everything for Wordpress. Well, I know that I’m not the only designer/developer that works this way, but I build a simple HTML/CSS file that will serve as a template for the coding of the WordPress theme. In my opinion, there’s no reason to mess with all of the WordPress options and variables unless you have already solidified the design in it’s simplest form. I break down the design into the most simplest elements first:

1. Header
2. Content Area
   1. Left Column
   2. Right Column
   3. Any other Columns
3. Footer

In my experience, 99.95% of the websites you visit will be comprised of those elements. I have built a basic HTML layout and copied it over to a Clip in Coda that I can use for every new site and add or subtract items as needed. If you don’t use Coda, you can still make a template file to copy and paste whenever you need. Below is the basic structure of the file that I use…minus the standard HTML code.

Basic HTML Layout

<div id="wrapper"> <!-- wraps everything into one div tag -->
<div id="header"></div>

<div id="content-area"> <!-- houses the columns -->
<div id="left-column"></div>
<div id="right-column"></div>
</div>
<div id="footer"></div>
</div>

I know it looks simple, but that’s the idea…and it is simple! If you were to populate your divs with some content they will all just be stacked on top of each other. All of the detail like column heights, widths and position are determined by CSS. I had contemplated writing my own HTML/CSS layout tutorial, but that has been done a hundred times and there’s no sense in reinventing the wheel. One of the better tutorials that I have found was written by Steve Dennis on Subcide.com. It’s a very good tutorial, easy to follow and has great graphic examples to follow along with.

If you have any questions that you would like GrandmasterB to field hit me up via email or on Twitter.

~ GrandmasterB

While this project wasn’t a completely custom theme; we did start off with the basic layout from the Simple Red Theme from Easy Wordpress that Cuzzy had been using. The biggest challenge in getting everything looking as it should were the widgets that Cuzzy uses for advertising. They took some tweaking, but they all fell into place like they should. The new theme is in between Evolutionary and Revolutionary when it comes down to it. Since the original theme had a lot of good quality stuff already built-in, we didn’t need to revolutionize the theme…however, the design elements added were HUGE improvements over the old version.

This is a quick breakdown of all of the new added features…

1. New and Improved Header Graphic
   • Larger Header to Incorporate Ad-Space
   • Built-In 728×90 Ad
   • Built-In 300×250 Ad (New Addition)
   • Custom Cuzoogle Logo (New Addition)
   • Streamlined Navigation
   • RSS Button Designed into Header
2. Improved Post Styling
   • Added Custom Date Badge (New Addition)
   • Changed Title Font to Helvetica Neue Bold Italic
   • Restyled Comments Section to Include Gravatars
3. Sidebar Improvements
   • Restyled Search Box
   • Restyled FeedBurner Widget
   • Made Split Columns Wider
   • Restyled Widget Text

There are a lot of really cool new features to the updated theme, but I think they add a lot of character to the site. The one thing that I might have done differently would be to make the header not as tall. However, I think it works and gives the site a unique element that you don’t see every day. I’m really proud of this new design…I think it’s going to generate a lot of buzz in the design community.

What do you think of the new Cuzoogle? I’d love to hear what you all think of it. If you’re interested in having GrandmasterB design something for you  let me know. If you want to see some of my other work check out the Design Services page.

~ GrandmasterB