I want to make wordpress themes

Here it is, I want to make wordpress themes. And to be completely honest I dont know the first thing in creating them. Im not good with php or css.

But i want to be able to bang out at least a few with no problem.

Now if i go to wordpress themes and download an existing site can I copy the code and tweak an existing theme, or is that not good?

ciao,

you can take any template and use it to make a theme just use there variables its like

Easy stuff all tags are on wordpress's site etc...

this site right here has hundreds of free wordpress theme and forums for the people who made them maybe try there.

http://www.webshapes.org/template/category/Wordpress

You can also do it the easy way and just modify the graphics to something unique.

caretaker, when you say take an existing template and modify the graphics, does that alone make it my own template.

If i copy the source and bring it into dreamweaver and change the links and some other aspect, does it classify as being my own.

Here are some links you might want to check out:

http://www.wpdesigner.com/2007/02/19/so-you-want-to-create-wordpress-themes-huh/

http://max.limpag.com/2006/04/09/wordpress-theme-guide-for-nongeeks/

There are only so many variations one can make with any layout, regardless of hand coded, run through smarty, dreamweaver, or anything else. It is the graphics pack that sets themes apart, along with variations in the CSS files.

If you are planning on selling make sure that the base code is open source and not sell the code, but the modified CSS and graphics.

How about this one...it's very cool!

http://www.yvoschaap.com/wpthemegen/

Here you go:

W-o-r-d-P-r-e-s-s T-h-e-m-e G-e-n-e-r-a-t-o-r


filmy

Edit: Here's the salespage:

Has anyone had any success creating free wordpress themes for a niche for the purpose of getting backlinks? I've seen some on the net that are free if you keep the link to the designer and paid if you want to remove the link. Any good way to make sure the link stays in when it is supposed to.

I would advise you download a free kick-ass template like this one:

h**p://themasterplan.in/themes/the-morning-after/


Then clear you mind and check out the contents of the directory and see how it differs to the default wordpress theme. Just see what the author did. Jus general stuff, don't go too deep.

The mouseovers on the menus are done with html lists (ul and li) You can master those and modify them by changing the stylesheet. If you're not comfortable with CSS, then that would be your first step. Modifying those menus can make your new wordpress themes great.

So pretty much download a couple more themes that have cool feature you like (like tabbers) and learn how to take those ideas and incorporate those into your own. Don't copy and paste one thing ! Write your own code. You will learn 5 times as fast. The whole idea is to write css without looking away from your monitor.

Don't even think about creating a new theme until you master all the small things. Then, try to incorporate that masterplan theme's menu into a default wordpress them. Next, try to incorporate a tabber into the default theme.. etc. I know you probably have tons of questions at this point.. but if you take it slow, you will answer all those questions on your own.

Good Luck.
and sorry if I sound forceful, but I'm just trying to pass my experience to you.