Theme that is. I’m happy we had a few reading assignments this week to get more acquainted with WordPress themes and plugins. After reading the Child Themes section, I think it makes sense to create a child theme for my site – primarily because it is the easiest way to modify an existing theme.

This concept of modification reminds me of the “refactoring” term (from our first class), which refers to changing internal code without affecting the external meaning or behavior. For my site, I want to use a lot of images (maybe even a slideshow with captions!). So finding a theme that already supports this seems like the best option. But what if I only want three photos to rotate instead of 5, which the parent theme came with? I could easily make that change to fit my needs by altering the code, but the change is minimal enough that it will maintain the original look.

The “refactoring” term is also very prevalent at my job. We build a lot of custom emails/newsletters for clients. They are sold as “custom,” but let’s be honest, there’s only so many ways you can put together an HTML email template. So, we are frequently reusing templates and making minor changes to fit specific clients’ needs. Why go through all of the steps every time if you can simplify it, right?

Side note about class in general: I feel like I have learned so much in these last five weeks, and it’s very exciting. However, I don’t think I have a solid grasp on everything I’ve learned. I’m particularly concerned about remembering the actual logistics of setting up my self-hosted website. From MAMP to GitHub, and Go Daddy Domains to Cyberduck, I’m still confused about how all of these elements work together. I hope we can go over the process again next class.