Learning WordPress Theme Development

As you progress in your web development career, you quickly realize that you are constantly figuring things out as you go. Even the most experienced developers face this reality. There are only so many hours in a day, and if you are balancing client work, paying the bills, and trying to upskill, you have to be highly intentional about where you focus your learning.

Recently, I’ve had to take a step back and evaluate my relationship with WordPress, specifically weighing the pros and cons of custom builds versus relying on pre-built themes.

Here is a look at my current approach to WordPress development, the pitfalls of theme hacking, and how to decide which route is best for your projects.

The Appeal of Custom Development

A few months ago, I was torn between building projects out with WordPress or going fully custom using HTML and PHP. Ultimately, I deeply enjoy building fully custom sites.

The primary reason is control. When you write the code yourself, you have complete control over your dependencies. You know exactly what is being loaded and why. As you gain more experience, you naturally start to care more about things like accessibility, progressive enhancement, and overall code craftsmanship. You want to know that you are building things the right way.

If you don’t prioritize clean, maintainable code, you will eventually find yourself—or your client—stuck in a nightmare scenario six months to a year down the line.

The Problem with Hacking Pre-Built Themes

When you are a beginner, it is incredibly common to start by hacking away at pre-built WordPress themes. You buy a theme, realize it doesn’t do exactly what you want, and start ripping out chunks of the header.php file to paste in your own code. It gets messy very quickly.

This approach also leads to significant performance issues. For example, if you need a specific functionality on a single page, you might install a plugin to handle it. Suddenly, the scripts for that plugin are being loaded on every single page of the website, unnecessarily slowing down the entire site.

Furthermore, theme code can be notoriously convoluted. I recently had to fix an issue on a client’s WordPress site, and just to locate a simple image tag, I had to dig through an endless maze of nested code: a row, within a column, within a div, within a div, within a div. It makes maintaining the code incredibly frustrating.

When Pre-Built Themes Actually Make Sense

Despite my preference for custom builds, I recognize that there is a time and a place for pre-built WordPress themes.

Not every client has a massive budget for a custom build. Many smaller clients simply need an affordable online presence and the ability to easily edit the text on their site without paying a developer $90 an hour to do it for them.

For these specific, budget-conscious projects where client editability is the priority, WordPress remains the go-to solution. Currently, for these types of projects, my go-to themes are Divi and Extra by Elegant Themes. They provide a solid foundation and an easy-to-use visual builder for clients.

Exploring the Middle Ground: Starter Themes

If you want the power of WordPress without the bloated mess of pre-built themes, Starter Themes are the perfect middle ground.

A great example is Underscores. It is a bare-bones starter theme that provides the essential file structure you need, but leaves the styling and layout entirely up to you. Instead of ripping out code you don’t need, you build upon a clean foundation.

I actually purchased a course on Udemy to learn how to build custom WordPress themes properly. However, as I got into the material, I realized it would require a massive time investment. Because my current learning goals are heavily focused on mastering deeper JavaScript and React, I decided to pause my deep dive into custom theme development. You have to prioritize your learning based on your long-term career goals.

Recommended Resource for Beginners

If you are just starting your web development journey and feeling overwhelmed by all these technologies, I highly recommend checking out Team Treehouse.

It is my personal go-to platform for learning JavaScript. They offer comprehensive tracks in everything from Full Stack JavaScript and Web Design to C#, PHP, and iOS development. They regularly update their library with modern techniques (like their excellent CSS Grid layout course) and feature top-quality tutorials, quizzes, and active community forums.

If you don’t want to spend thousands on a traditional bootcamp, their “Techdegree” programs are a fantastic alternative. They offer a free trial, so it is a great, risk-free way to jumpstart your coding journey.