Last updated 29.01.2010 at 2050hrs GMT rel 04.290110.004 prev rel 2037hrs Wordpress is, without doubt, one of the most versatile CMS applications available with which you can host your own blog, or even use it as a back-end to a website. You have the option to have your blog on either your own server or on the wordpress servers (this option does however limit what you can do with the application - if you can afford the money to have your own domain and you really want to have a powerful blogging tool, do it!). We use several installations of wordpress on sites associated with this and several other domains. Almost without exception, they have proven to be hassle free, adaptable to what we wish to do with the site and have proven to be a powerful tool. Why is this so? Wordpress is more than just a stand-alone application. Wordpress is a community - of developers, scripters, widget writers and more. There are more themes available than you can count and if you have a basic understanding of HTML and PHP, as well as an eye for a good deisgn, you can write your own theme scripts. Over the next few months, we will be writing a series of tutorials/articles on how to design your own template and then, we will show you how to implement, tweak and use your template. So, what are the first steps to writing my own theme? The first thing you really need to do is sketch it out. I prefer the old fashioned method of using pencil and paper, however, I am starting to use a variety of wireframing tools, such as CMAP (concept mapping) which is an excellent application and have recently downloaded DENIM (will let you all know how I get on with this). How to Create a Custom Wordpress Home Page Template After you have sketched out the design, you will need to take into account HOW your users will use your blog! What does this mean? Simplicity is the key word. What do you want people to do when visiting your blog, and what do they want to do? Ensure you have a navigable stucture to your site, and that it is W3C compliant. Does your design have a heavy reliance on graphics - in which case, if your users are reading your site via a iPhone or similar, what will they see; what if they have graphics OFF? Consider all this and you are on the way to getting your design sorted out! Ohh - adverts, blogrolls and the like . . . I don’t like scrolling down forever to actually get to the content of a blog site because someone has thought it clever to list all 365 sites they have swapped links and blog-rolled with...not clever at all. One more word of advise for todays notes: DO NOT use animated gif files (never, ever, not in a million eons) and another big NO-No is the ‘Under construction’ sign/wording. Websites by nature are a evolving artform, therefore they are constantly being constructed, de-constructed and redesigned. So, for now, get your pen and paper ready, start sketching out your design (post-it notes and some large A3 sheets on the wall are a good starting point) and we will pick up with lesson II shortly! Introduction to theme design - part I For those of you who have a blog site up and running, you might like to look at designing a custom wordpress home page, which you could use as a launch pad to both your blog, your own personal or business web sites, to your social media sites such as facebook, twitter, bebo etc. This tutorial is excellent and addresses all the points you will need to know - again you will have to design your home page, so pens and paper our people and start sketching up you ideas and designs!