This document provides tips and best practices for developing WordPress themes. It recommends using WordPress coding standards, enqueueing scripts and styles properly, avoiding bundled scripts, using subdirectories and template parts, and better alternatives to query_posts(). It also suggests implementing core features, localizing themes, optimizing images and caching queries for speed. Overall it stresses the importance of building themes with a simple structure, backwards compatibility, security and following WordPress standards and best practices.

1. Things I Wish I Had Known
Before Developing a
WordPress Theme
Konstantin Kovshenin
Automattic

3. K

4. Publish

5. Expound

7. Get Organized

8. WordPress Coding
Standards

9. wp_enqueue_script()
wp_enqueue_style()

10. Don’t Bundle Scripts
Which are Available in
WordPress

11. Use Subdirectories

12. get_template_part()

13. get_template_part( 'content',
get_post_format() );

14. query_posts()

15. Stop query_posts

16. query_posts() is bad and
you should never use it
“
”
­— Andrew Nacin, WordPress Lead Developer

17. pre_get_posts

18. new WP_Query()
get_posts()

19. Theme Options

20. Weaver

21. Decisions, not Options

22. Feature Bloat and
Plugin Territory

28. Portfolio Post Type

29. Implement Core
Features

30. add_editor_style()

31. Localize Your Theme

32. Default Widget Styles

33. Monster Widget

34. if ( function_exists(
'register_sidebar' ) ) {

35. dynamic_sidebar()
is_active_sidebar()

36. Be a Good Parent
(Theme)

37. Simple Structure

38. !important

39. Backwards
Compatibility

40. Pluggable Functions

41. if ( ! function_exists( 'foo' ) ):
function foo() {
...
}
endif;

42. Actions and Filters

43. Listen

44. Be a Good Child
(Theme)

45. Speed is Everything

46. Optimize Your Images

47. smushit
optipng
pngcrush
jpegtran

48. Cache Complex
Queries

49. function _s_categorized_blog() {
$c = get_transient( 'cool_cats' );
if ( false === $c ) {
$c = count( get_categories( … ) );
set_transient( 'cool_cats', $c );
}
return $c > 1;
}

50. 10x Faster!

51. get_option( 'sticky_posts' )

52. Benchmark

53. Security

54. wp_kses()
esc_html()
esc_attr()
esc_url()
...

55. Don’t Use TimThumb

56. set_post_thumbnail_size()
add_image_size()

57. WordPress.org Themes
Directory

58. make.wordpress.org/themes

59. What Makes a Good
WordPress Theme?

60. Great Design
Ease of Use
Simple Structure
Flexibility
Speed
Reliability
Security

61. Konstantin Kovshenin
kovshenin.com/wcsf2013