Classic WordPress Themes vs Block ThemesTemas clásicos de WordPress vs temas de bloques
Understanding the structure of a topicComprender la estructura de un tema
WordPress Theme Template HierarchyJerarquía de plantillas del tema de WordPress
Create templatesCrear plantillas
Style Design for ThemesDiseño de Estilos para temas
Customize themesPersonalizar temas
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WordPress themes play a crucial role in shaping the look and functionality of your website. They define how your content is displayed and offer various design options to create a unique site. Over the years, WordPress themes have evolved significantly, starting with what we now call “classic themes.”
Classic themes were the standard for a long time, based on PHP templates and requiring some programming knowledge to customize. These themes offered a lot of flexibility, but could be a challenge for beginners in web development . Then, the release of WordPress 5.9 brought a significant change with the introduction of “ block themes ”
Classic WordPress Themes vs Block Themes
Classic themes are traditional WordPress themes. They define the overall look and feel of a website using template files written in PHP, CSS for styling, and JavaScript for added functionality. These highly customizable themes have been the backbone of WordPress sites for many years.
Block themes, on the other hand, are a new type of WordPress themes introduced to support Full Site Editing (FSE) capabilities. Unlike classic themes, they use blocks to build all parts of a website, including headers, footers, and content areas. This allows for a more visual and intuitive way to design and customize websites directly within the WordPress editor.
The key differences between classic and block themes are:
Customization — Classic themes require PHP and some programming knowledge, while block themes use a visual editor for easy customization.
Flexibility — Classic themes offer more flexibility to developers , while block themes focus on ease of use and accessibility.
Editing — Classic themes are edited using theme files and the WordPress Customizer . Block themes can be fully edited through the block editor .
Choosing what type of topic to develop
Your choice between classic and block themes depends on your needs and your skill level. If you're a developer looking for maximum flexibility, classic themes may be your choice. However, if you prefer a more user-friendly and visual approach to building your site, block themes are a great choice.
Both types of themes have their strengths and are suitable for different types of users and projects. Understanding the main differences will help you make an informed decision about which theme will best suit your website's needs.
The goal of this article is to help you understand and master the basics of classic and block themes, so you can effectively create and customize WordPress themes.
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Creating a theme can impact the look and feel of your site. It’s always best to backup your site first. If you’re using a host like Kinsta, you can create a staging environment to work in. Once you’re done, you can push your changes to the live site . Alternatively, you can push your site to DevKinsta or use SFTP/for secure file transfers.
Understanding the structure of a topic
Understanding the structure of a theme, whether classic or block-bas colombia consumer mobile number list ed, is key to effectively customizing your WordPress site.
Before we explore the structure of each theme, you should know that all WordPress themes are stored in the directory wp-content/themesof your WordPress installation, and each theme resides in its own folder.
Structure of a classical theme
A classic theme consists of several key files and directories that create the look and functionality of the site. The two main files are:
style.css— This is the main stylesheet that defines the visual style of the theme. It includes metadata about the theme (such as name, author, and version) at the top, followed by CSS rules that style the theme.
index.php— This is the main template file used to display the content of the home page. It acts as a fallback for other template files that may be missing.
In addition to these, other important files allow for a modular design and ensure that different parts of the site can be easily customized and maintained. Although optional, these files are considered standard:
