CODEWITHSUNDEEP
wordpressdrupaljoomlacontent-management-system
Anthony
Anthony

Reputation: 61

Beginner: CMS customization

I have a (super) beginner question about CMS. Please forgive me for sounding dumb haha.

I am trying to figure out how it all works when it comes to customization.

For example... Say I want to use Wordpress as a CMS for my site (which is already built, hypothetically).

Do I just bring my existing html and css code into Worpress (or "insert CMS platform here") and customize it?

I have watched some Lynda.com videos, but I still cannot get a full grasp on full customization.

This question may not make any sense, in which case just let me know. I am just trying to make sense of all of this as I think it will make a few of my upcoming projects seem more attractive to the client as they would be able to add content themselves.

Thanks so much for any help or information!!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 259

Answers (2)

Jassar
Jassar

Reputation: 343

  • A very helpful tool for beginners is Developer tools which you can open by right-click on any element you want to edit --> inspect element (in Google chrome). By that, you can know the specific class, id or tag you want to target. You can edit the code in developer tools window and test your changes before you finally add them in: appearance > edit CSS.

    Speaking of which, edit CSS is not available for all themes and you need to install Jetpack plugin and confirm that custom css option is active.

  • One good alternative to .css and html customization for you and the client is using page builders like SiteOrigin Plugin or Landing pages builder which provide a wide variety of options.

Upvotes: 0

maiorano84
maiorano84

Reputation: 11951

I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that. Your CSS can be imported, but your HTML structure will have to be converted to an actual Wordpress Theme in order to be able to read in the information defined on the administrative side. So let's say you have an HTML file that looks like this:

about.html

<html>
<head>
<title>About Me</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" />
<script type="text/javascript" src="jQuery.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="header">
    <h1>About Me</h1>
</div>
<div id="body">
    <p>This page is all about me</p>
</div>
<div id="footer">
    <small>Copyright 2013</small>
</div>
</body>
</html>

The Wordpress equivalent would be something like this:

header.php

<html>
<head>
<title><?php bloginfo('name'); ?></title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php bloginfo('stylesheet_url'); ?>" />
<!-- Enqueue Javascript in functions.php -->
</head>
<body>
<div id="header">
    <h1>About Me</h1>
</div>

page-about.php

<?php get_header(); ?>
<div id="body">
    <?php
    if(have_posts()) : while(have_posts()) : the_post;
        the_content();
    endwhile;endif;
    ?>
</div>
<?php get_footer(); ?>

footer.php

<div id="footer">
    <small>Copyright 2013</small>
</div>
</body>
</html>

This is a MAJOR oversimplification of the theming process of Wordpress. My advice is to do the following:

  1. Download some free Wordpress Themes and see which ones you like. Play around with them. Get used to the environment. Maybe even tweak another theme's CSS to suit your own needs.
  2. Scour the Codex! This contains EVERYTHING you can ever hope to know about theming.
  3. Learn PHP.

Your question is a loaded one, and there's just too much to go over in a single answer. The best thing you can do for yourself is research everything.

Good luck.

Upvotes: 2

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