Why I Choose to Build Themes from Scratch
My “online cousin” Arielle Cruz, an independent and brilliant multimedia artist, has given me a good spanking for having too many coding errors (17 errors, to be exact) just because I didn’t bother to validly embed my VisualDNA in my previous post. I apologize to my other standards-conscious friends *coughs coughs* for putting them down. I would have used the famous Flash Satay technique, but the VisualDNA code is too complicated for me to mess around with.
But hey, give me some slack. 
You made this from scratch?!
The most amusing reaction I got from the previous entry is the “you made this from scratch?!?!?!” one. People who have been my blog buddies or have followed my blog since forever already know this. As to my new blog readers…well, now you know.
I can go on and on mentioning the reasons why I choose to enslave myself in front of the computer for hours, wrack my brains for the codes I have to use, and basically make a fool of my old fat self if I forget to include some important things to have a fully functional and user-friendly blog theme. Open source templates are great, yes. You can just build on and extend what the others have started on. But then again, you just need your blog to work. Why include things you don’t necessarily need?
I know where everything is placed.
It doesn’t take me hours to find that one elusive tag or attribute I have to style. It’s less complicated. It’s easier to remember what I’ve forgotten because I’ve written everything on my own. I don’t have to sift through numerous and mind-boggling codes when all I want is a clean and functional design. I know my own needs which I try to meet. I just do without all those fancy stuff that other themes offer. I’m in charge, so everything makes sense to me. A place for everything, and everything in its place.
I want to learn.
What more effective and greater way to learn new things than to start [again] with nothing? I’ve forced myself to forget everything I’ve learned from tinkering with Kubrick because I realized that it’s a tad too complicated for beginners. Since then I’ve learned how to read and research on how to achieve the functionalities I want. If I fail to remember something, other people jump at my throat remind me about it, lessening the instance of me forgetting about it again. Hail to a friend who goes by the name Aja Lapus who’s as genius in WordPress as he is a great online buddy (remember my “activists” rant about 7 or 8 months ago?).
The Personal Touch and Feel
Because hey, I’ve taken the pains of doing everything myself. I’m more of a blogger than a designer, but I want the whole site to have that so-called personal touch. I don’t slap a copyright sign on something which is only 15% mine and sell it, discrediting and disrespecting my original sources in the process. It pays off to know that apart from the content, the design is also something which I can proudly call mine (even if not a 100% mine). Call it whatever you want — I call it ego — but it’s great to know that I really own this site.
More personal than technical
The bottomline is, my reasons are more personal than technical, as opposed to what others might be thinking. It’s not just about code validity anymore. Validating my codes isn’t as important to me now as it used to be. Maybe it’s because people have now taken the label “valid XHTML” for granted (nevermind semantics). And then they stop there. They don’t even bother to learn what other things they can improve on their sites. And they call themselves web designers?
Really now. 
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It also adds a sense of achievement having done your own theme. Kahit ano naman gawa ni Shari bumebenta. hehehe. Where have you learned doing it from scratch in the first place? Para matuto rin naman ako.
Chineck ko yung coding nung akin andaming error. Hindi na nadisplay lahat sa dami.
Rawr. Thanks for the mention. But, I don’t think I remember your “activists” rant about 7 or 8 months ago.
@Darwin - Asus, you need to flatter me more before you get laid tonight, haha. Where have I learned? I don’t really know. I guess looking at the default Kubrick theme did the job.
@Aja - And because of that, you’re not a good online buddy anymore…
Boo. 
Hehe. Basta that was the time when I was being accused of armchair activism and my comrade crush and yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah…. =/
I am one of those who got amused that you made it from scratch
I salute people who could do it, really. I never learn how, or maybe just haven’t tried.
my only ability in html is tweaking.
but hey, im getting there. right? im still waiting for you to get on the mood to do me a lay-out! haha im sooo feeling talaga
Ahh, yes, I remember. But, please don’t blame me. I’m not good with dates [calendar types not romantic ones, mind you] besides, you have had way too many rants already. LOL
@Isha - Then try
@Lei - Oh shoot! Remind me always about it, eh? Haha!
@Aja - Boooo. Boooo. Boooo! Hmp!
Yep, building from scratch is better than using a free theme/skin.
You said the important reasons
Ooh..You got the visual DNA thingy too? I posted it in my blog once..
I do not know how to make a full functional WordPress theme from scratch. I can still manage a normal template but I still have to consult a premade layout or Codex.
Whoot for Shari Cruz!
Your reasons are much more logical than mine. I simply spend so much time online that I might as well spend it designing. :P
Salute sa katyagaan mo
I’m really a visually driven “designer” (if I may use the term) but I try to make it work. I have no patience to start completely from scratch though. I cut and paste what I need from my previous themes cause I don’t like retyping things. hehe
I’ve been lurking lang these past weeks. I love how you met the children you sponsor. Sa yo na ang first blog where I don’t mind the ads at all.
Oh yeah, I miss the fun smilies lol
thats insane! im impressed at how u do everything on your own. i bow down to you. (oh and the “insane! statement simply talks about how much i admire you!) it is hard work, because im always trying to do my own themes, but unlike you i have no patience, so i basically chicken out and give up. im a lazy fat ass. and (strangely) im proud of it.
somehow coding is like life… you need to keep learning the rest of your life.. and there’s no stopping to it. Hehe.
@Sir JC John SESE Cuneta - Glad that you think so.
@Enzo - Well at least you consult the Codex…which is more than what I can say for a lot of other people…Haha.
@Amanda - Blah, but then you do it well, so hurrah for you.
@Ann - Oh yeah, the smilies. I keep on forgetting. Sorry, hehe.
@Anna - I’m a lazyass too, and proud of it as well. *pats back*
@Tina - That’s about right. I just wish some people would also realize that.
I’m not so good with coding just yet. Hmmm…I should get some pointers from you! :grin:
I like designing. But I’m not that good with Photoshop either. :-(
mwahah, everytime u make a post about web designers, feeling ko natatamaan ako. haha. kidding. well not really. :grin: I guess you`re right… you get to learn on your own and if you mess up something, u kno exactly what to change. i am not THAT good, that’s why I download themes and just change the color schemes and or graphics.
*about your twitter post naman…. i`ve always been regular.. pero i haven`t had my period for this month yet… teka, almost 2 months na pala… kaya im scheduled for my doctor later this week. dapat ikaw din!*
I salute you for being so intelligent that you can remember all the html and xml tags available
As for me, I think I’m really getting older that my memory is not as good as when I was still younger…
And for that reason, I do not “really” create from scratch, well at least the DOCTYPE part (old and busy to remember all of them) but other than that, I did build from scratch my current nuovoinizio’s layout
)
Knowing where to edit stuffs sure is helpful when you did your own coding. Sometimes when I feel lazy I just use premade themes, but heck, they just confuse me and I find it so hard to customize those. And it feels great if you look at your layout and you know you’re the one who made it- from scratch!
~ i wanted to build and design my very own theme right from the moment I started blogging (using wordpress), problem is i’m too tamad to make updates or change the code to improve functionality.
~ but if you edit your
borrowedtheme all the time, you kinda get used to the code and then you’ll know where the shit is at. aight? :mrgreen:~ i envy you. you’re not as lazy me moi. :P
I agree. My previous Blogger blog was, too, a customized one from scratch. Well, it took me a while to understand fully HTML and css and all the codes found for embedding, and there it is. My es2pido.blogspot.com
But I got tired with blogger. Pffft.
Now, I’m still studying how php in Wordpress is laid out.
I’ve attempted to create my theme from scratch but don’t have the vision or the dedication to see the project through. Besides, I don’t know enough about CSS to pull it off. I can tweak enough to use existing themes and my own header but that’s pretty much it.
I admire people who can piece together a wonderful looking layout and I especially love it when people offer it up for wordpress users
I used to make my own layouts and themes way back my Blogger days. Sa Wordpress kasi, everything is soooo complicated. Nakakahilo. I’m better off with HTML than PHP. Lolz.
I’m not a web designer, I just have stock and self-studied knowledge about css and html, which gives me extended freedom of modifying my site however I want to. I don’t really give a ** about standards or validity or whatever. As long as I can call mine my own, I’m all good. And sometimes, that’s the only thing we need. And um, yeah. It’s the ego.
that’s impressive! being able to build your themes from scratch! i’m not too good with web design or coding. xD i’m just so lazy. it looks really nice, good job!
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Satisfaction :)! I like that feeling after a good job well done :)! Standards.. I try to meet them, but I’m caught up with coding that sometimes I can’t figure out what the problem is.. I get frustrated and then before you know it. .I’m busy with other stuff and I totally forget about it =(! But when I look at my site again and remember about the standards, I have nothing to say but ‘help!’ =|
PS: I like your new look :)!
I’ve never understood all the fuss surrounding layouts from scratch. Maybe I have been gone from the blogging scene (heh) for far too long, I dunno. I guess it’s because I’ve always coded layouts the way I have before and just found an effective way of integrating it with WP so that I don’t start ripping my hair out with all the WP code. Or something like that (did that even make sense?!?). xD
I pretty much agree with your points, especially the one about wanting to learn. It’s actually why I enjoy coding a lot.
Because then, I get to think of something I want to do and figure out by myself how to do it. There’s no greater sense of accomplishment for me when I figure things out that way. (: As for validity, I’m into the whole shebang just because I really do prefer working with ‘clean’ code. Makes coding that much more easier and fun for me. :P
In response to the question you left, yes, the Pride & Prejudice movie I was talking about is the one that stars Keira Knightley. (:
Wow! I salute you for your patience. :grin:
I know how it feels to be able to make your template work, after hours and hours of tinkering and tweaking, and finally your template works. ah! pure joy!
I also did the template I am using right now, and I almost gave up with it, I spent several days and nights to complete it. So right now, no matter how tired I am of it, I couldn’t changed it. I just don’t have the heart to admit that after all the tweaking i’ve done, the long hours of work, the gallons of coffee I consumed, I end up with a lousy job. ha ha ha!
The reasons why you like to build themes from scratch basically are my reasons also! I know what you mean about that! Hehe, I LOVE to learn how to code right and all that! And yep, knowing where everything’s at is AWESOME! Hehe.
I like how you build your own themes from scratch. I wish I had the time and energy to do the same. Kudos to you.
Kudos to you then. Maybe I should shave off some of the other things I do and really resurrect that goal of making my very own custom WP theme.
teehee, i got lei to tweak my template for me. ’nuff said. :mrgreen:
Naku Shari buti ka pa masipag gumawa ng theme from scratch. Ang tamad tamad ko kasi. Hehe. Pero lam mo, kelangan na kita tularan! Kahit na mahirap masarap yung feeling na may na-achieve ka diba?
bat may sir.. ma’am
hehe…
Patience is one, but the major factor, in my opinion, for enabling oneself to create something from scratch is the other “P” - the Passion.
Passion to learn
Passion to have the know-how that will lead to knowledge
and so on…
Hey, giving up is not bad
Half of the sites I manage and/or created is using an existing theme/skin. Usually, I find a theme that suits the site or I like from the free template websites.
From there, I will ‘convert’ it for the CMS we are using.
It is faster that way, and you also get to learn new tricks and new stuff never possible before.
Start from there. Try, or rather, do it, get a free template somewhere (start with non-CSS templates), and convert it to Wordpress or whatever CMS you are using.
Do it again, and again, then try to convert a pure-CSS template (which is way much easier btw, coz the code is small
)
You also get to contribute a new theme to your favorite CMS
Then, once you get a hold of it, of how things work, then create a new theme from scratch. Design your layout first, print it out, and code it.
Good references: http://www.w3c.org Start with HTML 4.01 and CSS 2 before studying XHTML 1.0
I guess that’s what I contribute to the rest
Good luck and enjoy!!
Very nice!! I am digging the changes and updates to your theme. I agree with you… I’m on board with making my own themes when I have the time.
It looks good. Wow… you have a family full of talented people!! I just took a look at your cousin’s site… I wish I had taken the direction down that way in order to become a webdesigner. Hopefully it’s not too late!
I agree. While Valid XHTML is useful, it’s not what web design (and blogging?) is all about. There’s just too much mumbo jumbo in there that if you’re too focused on it, you lose the sense of just “going with the flow”. Masyado nang strict at wala ng room for errors. I don’t want to live like that. LOL.
Or am I just saying this because I’m too lazy to fix my site’s codes to pass validation? hahahaha
Naniniwala rin ako na ang isa sa mga old-school-but-most-efficient way of learning to do something e ‘yung magsisimula ka sa wala. Tapos e kakapa-kapain mo ang daan mo tungo sa isang bagay na talagang gusto mong mangyari. From scratch. Sa ganu’ng paraan, ikaw ang “master” ng ginagawa mo at madalang malaman kung saan ang kulang o mali o kung anupaman.
Naniniwala rin ako na “the more you do it yourself, the more personal touch you could feel.” Matapos nito ay maari mong maipagmalaki dahil nga sa ito ay sariling gawa at maraming natutunan buhat rito.
Idol na kita.
Building themes from scratch is good because you’d know what you want to include when building it … [:
But it’s time consuming!
Hi Shari!
I agree with you on building your own WP theme. Since your blog is your presence on the web, it makes total sense to make your own if you can.
I did a redesign of my blog a month ago and I would say that making my theme made the blog fit my own taste and preferences (serious, usable and accessible).
Shari! Am back to blogging haha tapos na ang summer class ko thats why am here. am free! lol!
Well am not surprise na ikaw nga ang gumawa nung theme, since nasabi mo sakin dati na ikaw nga ang gumagawa ng theme mo…waaah but still *amazed* *amazed* *amazed* :cool:
I miss yah! :mrgreen:
It looks very nice.
*slack* :grin:
Heto pa isa– *slack*
“Online cousin”, hehehe! Nice monicker, I will keep that handy po. Mabuhay ang bago mong theme! :mrgreen:
“I’ve taken the pains of doing everything myself. I’m more of a blogger than a designer…”
No. What you are is a responsible netizen.
There are many of us who care more about how pages are written (and I’m sure you know I’m in no way referring to the content) because, well, that’s what we do– it’s our profession. Many too simply do not care for anything as long as they can feed their little egos with their page ranks, site visits and perhaps a domain name on their calling cards.
But you, despite your not being a professional web designer, take care to write your site correctly so that people do not waste their time changing browsers, bearing with lagging internet connections, and/or stressing their eyes out just to be able to catch what you have to say for the day. This speaks very highly of you– much, much higher than of others who dare call themselves web designers (and expect to get paid, mind you) yet they can’t even write 2 kilobytes of valid HTML.
“Validating my codes isn’t as important to me now as it used to be. Maybe it’s because people have now taken the label ‘valid XHTML’ for granted (nevermind semantics).”
True. But at least the people who really know what they’re talking about (Regnard and Aja, insert “ahem” here) are sure that YOU don’t take it for granted.
I hope you don’t mind if I offer you another *slack*. :mrgreen:
@Nina - Halaka! Haha! But pregnancy is out of the question. I’ve been single for years, lol.
@Keysi - Oh believe me, I’m lazier than you.
@Kuya Arielle - Naiyak naman ako dun, hehe. Touched, really, I am. Thanks.
For the *slack* haha.