Basic blog theme updated

A few years ago, I was asked to teach how to use WordPress to students enrolled in the Electronic Media Design Program at Langara. The goal was to provide the students with enough knowledge and understanding of WordPress so that they can create an online portfolio.

Download the Basic Theme Files

Once the curriculum in place, my first decision to make was what theme to start with. At the time, WordPress version 2.6 was around and I didn’t particularly want to use the Kubrick theme. I always disliked it and found it too messy. I had built quite a few sites with a now defunct theme, and decided that if I removed all of the unnecessary code and style, this theme would be a great starting point for my class and all of my projects. Thus was born the Basic Blog theme.

This theme has all the functionality of a typical WordPress theme but very little styling. It’s a bare bones theme or a framework for you to work from and has the following following features:

• Two column website measuring 960px wide.
• Widget enabled.
• Sidebar can be positioned on the right or left simply by switching the float direction in the CSS.
• Can be used to create a website with blog and static pages or just static pages if no blog is required.
• Requires no plugin.

Having gone through 3 intakes of students, I’ve had many opportunities to refine the theme. With the release of WordPress 3.0, I’ve now had to make further updates and the theme now also includes the following:

• Custom post thumbnails
• Custom menus
• Easy jQuery integration
• Excess information from header file is removed

Here’s a copy of the Basic Theme for you to download and play with. If you have any suggestions, comments on how it could be improved, please let me know.

I would also like to say thanks to Tzaddi and Catherine for providing their input on this theme and of course to all my EMD students who have thought me so much.