Pros and Cons of a Custom Child Theme

[William]

Hi, everyone:

I'd like to get some input on the benefits and problems associated with having a developer create a custom child theme for me. While I really like much of what I see from the StudioPress themes, I find myself wanting a little bit of this one and a little bit of that one mixed into one site. If the pieces were modular, I'd be thrilled.

If you had a custom theme created, what have you learned from the process? What did you like, what do you wish you knew before you started, and what would you do differently?

This is not a request for quotes. It's a question to help me decide if I want to pursue this path. Thanks for anything you can share.

---

–William
http://williambeem.com

[David Chu]

Hi,
I come to this as a custom developer. Obviously the skills of your developer are crucial to your enjoyment of the experience.

I have also found that people hope to get everything they want into one theme, and it almost never happens, even if they buy the hugest, most-non-coding-est, biggest advertising pitch, "best theme of all time" Themeforest behemoth.

And it also depends on what features you're looking to add, and how many. A project can get big pretty fast. Some clients want so many changes (to an existing theme) that it takes me more time than it would for me to build a custom theme (from an already made design). So expectations matter, too. My impression is that people are willing to cough up the money to buy a nice theme, but they may get upset if making all sorts of changes ends up costing more than the theme itself.

Cheers, Dave

---

Dave Chu · Custom WordPress Developer – likes collaborating with Designers

[William]

Thanks for the response. My career is in IT, so I see the dangers of scope creep all the time. I'm usually on the wrong end of my client wanting things that he or she never indicated. With that in mind, I think it helps both sides to clearly define the requirements and expectations, sign off, budget it, and then measure the design and results against the requirements.

That said, sometimes things sound better on paper and you find out otherwise in practice, so you may have to reconsider some things that just aren't practical. As long as there is good communication about issues and no surprises, it's usually not a problem to reach a new agreement.

In my case, I'm trying to find ways to create the home page I want and the option for portfolios that I want, but the blog pages are generally fine in most themes.

My initial opinion was to start with a custom child theme rather than convert an existing child theme. Sometimes it's harder to bend something to your will than to just build it right the first time.

My other concerns were about support or maintenance once the development was done. Little quirks appear, Genesis foundation updates, a new WordPress version update screws things up - that sort of stuff.

---

–William
http://williambeem.com

[David Chu]

William,
You said it all right here:

My initial opinion was to start with a custom child theme rather than convert an existing child theme. Sometimes it’s harder to bend something to your will than to just build it right the first time.

That's what often happens. I have had a bunch of Themeforest Repair Projects, and they were bigger than some of my Custom projects.

Some SP themes already have Portfolio stuff built in, presumably with Custom Post Types or the like. I don't have all SP themes, and maybe somebody who does will chime in.

Here's a random thought. I've been enjoying Wes Straham's Epik theme and running it on my own homepage. Talk about Home widgets, there are zillions!

Dave

---

Dave Chu · Custom WordPress Developer – likes collaborating with Designers

[William]

My main concern with a custom theme is displaying photography, I used to love the Minimum theme until the current revision used that horrible Backstretch technology. It doesn't allow me to determine how to display my image. Some folks here and elsewhere provided some instructions to change it, but it never worked right on mobile.

So imagine how a visitor feels going to a photography page when the owner can't do a decent job displaying a photograph? It does not inspire confidence.

As for a portfolio, I've struggled with different ideas until I saw exposure.so. Take a look at this sports portfolio page on that service.

https://skelby01.exposure.so/best-of-football-2013

Now THAT is what I want. A large display of images, interspersed with beautiful type. I don't just want to lob out a bunch of photos. I want to tell a story with major impact.

More importantly, I want to do that on MY site, not send visitors to someone else's site. I want to have multiple portfolios that allow me to do the same thing.

Having looked at the latest sneak peek from Brian Gardner and the Denali theme (which I'm starting to think we'll never see), I know the potential is there within StudioPress. I just don't expect them to deliver it in the manner that I want it.

So issues like that for my portfolio, and a few things for my home page, are what I'm hoping to achieve. The question is how best to get all the goodies I want, and how to ensure it's livable through potential upgrades of Genesis and WordPress.

---

–William
http://williambeem.com

[David Chu]

I hear ya. As a specialist, it's tricky to find something. Here's an interesting 3rd party offering. (Genesis framework required)

http://zigzagpress.com/portfolio/gallery-theme/

btw, I like Backstretch, but I know it's not for every context. I also have the advantage of being able to shut that off, or move it, or what-have-you.

---

Dave Chu · Custom WordPress Developer – likes collaborating with Designers

[William]

Thanks. I've looked at that ZigZag Press theme before. It's very similar to the Gleam theme from Elegant Themes. The thing that turned me off was the block that just shows up over the photo. It wasn't clear to me if that could be disabled.

Also, it's another theme that's separate from my site, so it's another WordPress installation. Just too complicated and doesn't tell a story very well.

---

–William
http://williambeem.com

[Author]

Posts