Everyone loves a well constructed WordPress theme. Learn about the things you should and shouldn't do when coding up a WordPress theme. Not only will it make your theme more awesome, but your end users will love you for doing things the right way!

1. Do's & Don’ts for WordPress
Theme Development
#WPMelb
Anthony Hortin
@maddisondesigns
Wednesday, 11 September 13

2. Just don’t Ok!
That’s what stylesheets are for!
Don’t Use Inline Styles
Wednesday, 11 September 13

3. If you really must have 25 sliders, only load the
script for the one that’s used, not all 25!
Don’t Load scripts on pages that don’t need them.
if ( is_front_page() )
wp_register_script( ... );
wp_enqueue_script( ... );
}
Don’t Load Scripts if they’re
not Required
Wednesday, 11 September 13

4. Do Make Sure Child Themes
Work Properly
Make sure your theme works with child themes.
This includes ‘Template Builders’, Theme Options etc.
‘Nuff said.
Wednesday, 11 September 13

5. Don’t just add scripts & stylesheets to header.php
or footer.php
Use wp_register_style() & wp_enqueue_style()*
Use wp_register_script() & wp_enqueue_script()*
*If your scripts have dependencies, you don’t need to enqueue
those dependencies. WordPress is smart enough to
automagically do that for you
Do Enqueue Scripts &
Stylesheets Properly
Wednesday, 11 September 13

6. Don’t Remove Core Functionality
Never ever, ever remove (or override) core
functionality.
Just don’t ok!
Wednesday, 11 September 13

7. Don’t Read or Write to the
Database Directly
If you need to query the database, WordPress has a
function for that!
Wednesday, 11 September 13

8. Don’t Change Functionality of
index.php
This is the file that produces your blog archive.
If you need a custom homepage, use front-page.php
Don’t break the Reading Settings functionality
Wednesday, 11 September 13

9. Don’t have Theme Options
Overload
You don’t need one million different theme options
No really, you don’t! http://catalysttheme.com/admin-screenshots
Wednesday, 11 September 13

10. Do follow WordPress Coding
Standards
PHP Coding Standards
http://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/coding-standards/php/
HTML Coding Standards
http://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/coding-standards/html/
CSS Coding Standards
http://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/coding-standards/css/
Wednesday, 11 September 13

11. Questions?
You can find me here...
maddisondesigns.com
easywpguide.com
@maddisondesigns
Wednesday, 11 September 13