When you find a WordPress theme which is perfect for your website, with a design that does not completely suit you, most of the time, you have to make changes to it. But if you're not confident enough about what it takes to get there, then you're in luck.
In this tutorial, we'll cover the top 5 ways to change the design of a WordPress theme, starting with the simplest, and ending with intermediate solutions.
Small changes in the design with The Customizer WordPress
The first place you should start when you want to change the design of your theme, is the WordPress customizer.
Depending on the theme, you may be able to change the color scheme, change fonts, add or delete fixed header images, site logos, or even fill in custom sections with static page content.
The standard sections available with the Customizer
Identity of the site
This section is independent of the theme, this is where you set the site title and slogan, and often where you add a logo as well.
Colors / Color palette
Quite explicit, this is a common section where you are able to change the color of the different parts of the theme.
header image
Where you can add / edit a header image, and sometimes control where it is placed and how big it should be.
Static home page
This is where you choose what you want to use as your home page on your blog. You can view the latest articles, or choose a specific page.
The Customizer is great for making quick changes to a theme, but the downside is that not all themes offer sufficient options in the Customizer. This brings us to our next option.
With the use of plugins
One or a few specific aspects of the design that you have a problem with, without there being any options to remedy it with the Customizer? It might have a plugin designed to simply fix this problem.
For example, if there are some colors that you don't like with the theme, you can use a plugin like " Theme Tweaker To change the color scheme of the theme you are using.
If your theme offers a standard header image that you can't change, or if you want to use different header images on different pages or categories, there is a plugin for that too, called " Unique Headers ».
The problem with plugins is that they can have a negative effect on performance, especially if you use them. use several to fix a handful of things.
With the use of pages Builder
This is probably the best option for you if you really like the flexibility and usability in your current theme, which allow you to create professional pages.
The use of a ' Page Builder »Simplifies the creation of pages with multiple columns, even if the theme does not offer as many. They also come with different complex configurations that you can easily fill to create complex pages.
You can create portfolio pages, professional home pages and much more. You can even display part of your blog with these plugins.
Read this tutorial on 5 WordPress plugins to create pro pages.
Changing the CSS with a plugin
The advanced and light modification will bring you to use CSS code. CSS is a programming language that works together with HTML to produce the sites we see today.
HTML basically works like a skeleton, it displays things without layout, images and most other content. CSS styles, dress everything and play a determining role in the formatting of the site.
There is a plugin on WordPress which allows you to add a CSS style, but you can also use the JetPack tool.
If you do not control the HTML / CSS you can learn it in a few weeks.
The case of children's themes on WordPress
If you want to make important changes to a theme, you must use a child theme. In this way, even if you update the theme (or when it's done automatically), You will not lose any changes or additions you made.
The first step to working with children's themes, should be to set up a test site, or a local development environment. The Codex WordPress you information sufficiently above.
That's all for the moment. The list is not exhaustive, but for a start, it will suffice. Do not hesitate to ask us questions.
