Mastering WordPress Customization: How to Customize Themes and Templates

WordPress powers over 40% of all websites on the internet, making it the most popular content management system (CMS) available. One of the key reasons for its popularity is its flexibility and the ability to customize themes and templates to create unique and professional-looking websites. In this guide, we’ll explore how you can master WordPress customization to tailor your site to your needs. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced user, this comprehensive guide will provide you with the knowledge and tools to effectively customize your WordPress themes and templates.

1. Understanding WordPress Themes and Templates

Themes control the overall design and layout of your WordPress site. They determine the appearance of your site, including the colour scheme, fonts, and the placement of various elements such as headers, footers, and sidebars. Templates are specific files within a theme that control the layout of individual pages or sections of your site. For example, there are template files for single posts, pages, archives, etc.

The WordPress Theme Directory is a valuable resource for finding a wide range of free themes. WordPress reviews and approves these themes, ensuring they meet certain quality and security standards.

2. Choosing the Right Theme

Choosing the right theme for customization is crucial in creating a unique and visually appealing website. There are thousands of free and premium themes available for WordPress, each with its own design, layout, and features. When selecting a theme for customization there are several factors to consider when choosing a theme:

Responsiveness: Ensure the mobile-friendly theme looks good on all devices.

Customization Options: Check if the theme offers a variety of customization options to suit your needs.

Support and Updates: Look for regularly updated themes with good support from the developers.

When choosing a theme for customization, it’s important to consider the specific needs of your website. For example, suppose you’re creating an e-commerce site. In that case, you’ll want to choose a theme compatible with popular e-commerce plugins and offers features such as product galleries, shopping carts, and secure payment gateways. If you’re creating a portfolio or photography website, you’ll want to look for a theme that offers beautiful gallery layouts and options for showcasing your work. It’s also important to consider the level of support and updates the theme developer provides, as well as user reviews and ratings. By carefully considering these factors, you can choose a theme that provides a solid foundation for customization and meets your specific requirements.

3. Setting Up a Child Theme

When customizing WordPress themes, it’s important to use child themes to make changes safely and efficiently. A child theme is a separate theme that inherits the functionality and styling of a parent theme. By using a child theme, any customizations made will not be lost when the parent theme is updated. This is important because updating a theme can overwrite any changes to the theme files.

In addition to providing a safe way to customize themes, child themes offer flexibility and efficiency when making changes. They allow for targeted modifications to specific template files or stylesheets without duplicating all of the files from the parent theme, making the customization process more streamlined and easier to manage. By using child themes for customization, you can ensure that your website remains secure and up-to-date while still being able to make the changes you need.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Child Theme:

First, create the Child Theme Directory: Using an FTP client or your hosting control panel, navigate to /wp-content/themes/. Create a new directory for your child theme, for example, my-child-theme.

Next, create the style.css File:

In the new directory, create a file named style.css and add the following code:

/*
Theme Name: My Child Theme
Template: parent-theme-directory-name
*/

Replace parent-theme-directory-name with the directory name of your parent theme.

Now, enqueue the Parent and Child Theme Styles: Create a functions.php file in the child theme directory and add the following code to enqueue the styles:

<?php
function my_child_theme_styles()
{
    wp_enqueue_style('parent-style', get_template_directory_uri() . '/style.css');
    wp_enqueue_style('child-style', get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/style.css', array('parent-style'));
}
add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'my_child_theme_styles');

Finally, activate the Child Theme: Go to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Themes, and activate your child theme.

4. Customizing Theme Styles with CSS

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is used to style your WordPress theme. By editing the CSS, you can change the appearance of your site to match your vision.

TIP: Use browser developer tools (right-click on an element and select Inspect) to view and test CSS changes in real-time.

Common CSS Customizations:

Changing Font Styles and Sizes:

This code changes the default font to Arial and sets the font size to 16 pixels.

body {
    font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
    font-size: 16px;
}

Modifying Colours and Backgrounds:

This code changes the header’s background colour to dark gray and the text colour to white.

header {
    background-color: #333;
    color: #fff;
}

Adjusting Layout and Spacing:

This code adds 20 pixels of padding to the content area, creating more space around the content.

.content-area {
    padding: 20px;
}

5. Customizing Theme Functionality with PHP

PHP is the scripting language that powers WordPress. By editing theme files, you can add or modify functionality.

Best Practices for Editing Theme Files: Always use a child theme and create backups before making changes to avoid losing customizations when the parent theme is updated.

Common PHP Customizations:

Adding Custom Functions:

This code snippet adds a custom function that runs when WordPress initializes.

// Add custom functions to your child theme's functions.php
function my_custom_function() {
    // Custom code here
}
add_action('init', 'my_custom_function');

Creating and Modifying Template Files:

This code snippet is an example of a custom loop used to display posts.

// In your child theme, create or edit template files like page.php, single.php, etc.
if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post();
    // Your custom loop code here
endwhile; endif;

6. Using the WordPress Customizer

The WordPress Customizer lets you change your site’s appearance and see a live preview. It is a powerful tool for tweaking your site’s design without knowing any code.

Key Features and Settings: Navigate to Appearance > Customize in your WordPress dashboard to access the Customizer.

Live Previewing Changes: You can see how they will look in real-time as you make adjustments.

Saving and Publishing: Once satisfied with the changes, save and publish them to apply to your live site.

The Customizer includes settings for changing your site’s identity, colours, header image, background image, menus, widgets, homepage settings, and additional CSS.

7. Utilizing Page Builders and Plugins

Page builders and plugins offer advanced customization options without needing to code.

Popular Page Builders: Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Divi are among the most popular. These tools allow you to create complex layouts using a drag-and-drop interface.

Pros and Cons: Page builders are user-friendly and offer a high degree of customization, but they can sometimes add extra load to your site, potentially affecting performance.

Integrating Page Builders: Most themes are compatible with major page builders, allowing you to integrate them seamlessly into your site.

Essential Plugins for Customization:

Custom CSS/JS Plugins: If you don’t have direct access to the website’s files on the hosting server, or if you are not comfortable editing the files yourself, there are plugins that allow you to add your custom CSS and JavaScript code to the website.  Plugins like Simple Custom CSS and Header Footer Code Manager provide a user-friendly interface for adding custom styles and scripts easily.

Theme-Specific Customization Plugins: Some themes come with their own customization plugins that add additional features and settings to the WordPress Customizer. For example, Astra Customizer and OceanWP Customizer offer extensive options for their respective themes.

8. Advanced Customization Techniques

For more complex customizations, you can create custom templates and use hooks and filters.

Creating Custom Templates:

Customizing templates in WordPress involves changing the way different types of content are displayed on a website. This can include templates for pages, posts, archives, categories, tags, and more. Customizing templates allows you to create unique layouts and designs for different sections of your website.

When customizing page templates, you can create unique layouts or functionality for specific pages on your website. This can include landing pages, contact pages, portfolio pages, or any other type requiring a different layout or design. By customizing page templates, you can ensure that each page on your website has its own unique look and feel.

Customizing post templates involves changing how individual blog posts are displayed on your website. This can include modifying the layout of post content, adding custom fields or post meta data, or creating custom post types for different types of content. By customizing post templates, you can create a visually appealing and user-friendly experience for visitors to your website.

Example: Creating a Custom Template for a Blog Page:

Create a file named template-blog.php in your child theme and add the following code:

This template file will display a custom layout for your blog page.

<? php
/*
Template Name: Blog Page
*/
get_header(); ?>

<div class="blog-posts">
    <?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
        <h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2>
        <?php the_content(); ?>
    <?php endwhile; endif; ?>
</div>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

Using Hooks and Filters:

WordPress provides a mechanism for developers to “hook” into its code to interact with or modify core functionality without editing the actual WordPress code.   This is done through action hooks and filters.

Action Hooks

A WordPress action hook is a specific point in the WordPress core code where custom functions can be executed. These hooks allow developers to add or modify functionality without altering the core files. Action hooks typically trigger custom functions at specific points, such as when a post is published or a user logs in.

This code snippet adds custom content to the footer.

// Add content to the footer
function my_custom_footer_content() {
    echo '<p>Custom footer content here</p>';
}
add_action('wp_footer', 'my_custom_footer_content');

// Modify the excerpt length
function my_custom_excerpt_length($length) {
    return 20;
}
add_filter('excerpt_length', 'my_custom_excerpt_length');

define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);