Product Description

How to Theme WordPress: From Blank to Beautiful in 2 Hours

Whether you are learning how to theme WordPress for your own use, or to offer your theme design services for hire, or to even build a brand of WordPress themes to distribute to the masses, this DVD shows you how to get started theming the popular WordPress and to get results quickly.

In just a matter of 2 hours, you will learn the process of going from a blank page in your web browser to a fully-functional WordPress theme, including how to integrate your own unique graphics.

Sit and watch as Aleks Monahan from the WEB|CMS Squad teaches you tremendously valuable information that will build your skills and open doors to new opportunities. No need to spend days or weeks trying to figure out all pieces of the puzzle.

WordPress is one of the most popular CMS platforms in today's Web 2.0 world, and its popularity is only increasing. Not only is WordPress popular, but also WordPress custom theming projects are bid anywhere from $200 to $2,000 or more on the freelance networks, and those who have the WordPress theming skills guard their knowledge like Fort Knox. Join those who can, and start theming WordPress today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73019 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-08-08
• Format: NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 120 minutes

Customer Reviews

So much more than I expected. Very pleased!
I bought this DVD based on seeing various free/promotional clips from the same DVD on the 'Net.

Highly recommended. I expected just to learn about the workings of a Wordpress theme so I could modify other people's themes -- but instead, after watching this DVD a few times (and letting it run all day, on repeat, in the background while i was working), I know have an excellent grasp of CSS and have built my OWN themes -- instead of modifying others and not being satisfied with the results.

The first half of the DVD explains the workings of basic CSS, so if you already know HTML and have wanted to learn CSS, I can' think of a better start than this DVD. It's a fact Wordpress themes rely heavily on CSS, so even if you may not like learning something new, what you learn about CSS from this DVD will be extremely valuable.

The second half of the DVD covers theme creation from beginning-to-end (and it includes very specific information on a lot of Wordpress features that many web-based tutorials leave out).

If you learn visually and have tinkered with Wordpress themes at the source level (even if you didn't know exactly what you were doing, meaning trial and error) then this DVD will be one of your BEST purchases ever. You will learn a lot! Everything is broken down step-by-step and the results/changes are highlighted on the video in real time so you can actually SEE the results.

BTW, I did not buy any Wordpress theme-related books to go along with this DVD. The DVD is enough. You don't need to buy an extra book, IMHO.

In sum: How to Theme WordPress: From Blank To Beautiful in 2 Hours by Aleks Monahan is highly recommended. This is one computer-related resource that won't simply sit on the shelf unused or unviewed --- you'll be very happy with this DVD.

The presentation is terrible... but it has a few good tidbits.
Let's start with the negative... This DVD is overpriced. For $35 I expect more. I have seen homemade videos on YouTube that have way better quality and I am not talking about the new HD vids. This video is grainy and the design sample as well as the wallpaper colors used in this presentation are absolutely horrible. I mean, it's bad. It is so bad, it is distracting to the viewer. Now I understand that this is not a presentation focused on the design process but the title of the DVD includes the phrase, "from Blank to Beautiful." C'mon, it wouldn't have taken much to improve in this area. If the author of this presentation would have considered the viewing experience for more than 5 mins, they would have definitely picked better colors than bright yellow, orange, red, etc in the design. The end result is an ugly, ugly, ugly presentation.

Another problem I have is how they approached the process of coding the theme. Why lose the flexibility of the header and footer template files on the other pages?? That is just ridiculous. The author needs to go back to the drawing board and revamp this presentation using competent programming logic.

Next, at the end of the vid, you are left with Wordpress on your local server and your pants down around your ankles. No discussion of the process of uploading or installing Wordpress on your web host. It just ends abruptly.

Lastly, I can't stand listening to Aleks' voice. It's very annoying to have to listen to her for more than a few minutes. Some people just aren't cut out to do voice-overs.

Now for the positives... If you need to install a local server, you will get an easy walk thru. Aside from that, there are a few tidbits here and there that may be found useful. The rest is disappointing. Hold your breath for the next "Advanced" DVD.

If you have any grasp of XHTML/CSS and/or slicing a PSD, you will find the entire first hour utterly useless. After that, you may find yourself arguing with the presenter on a few issues. This DVD was not advertised as a beginner level presentation. It is for newbies only.

Not much in here about theming WordPress properly
I am severely disappointed with this DVD. It does not fit the title & description of the product.

Content:
- About 2/3 of the DVD is spent mostly on HTML, CSS, and briefly on installing some local server tools (which are optional to theming WP).
- 1/3 of the DVD is spent on WordPress theming. The theming shown is: 1. Very basic, 2. Flawed (as the presenter does not call the header.php, and footer.php from one of the pages), and 3. Confusing as the presenter calls those php files from another page. If you're confused, you get the gist of it!

Presentation:
- The audio quality fluctuated throughout the DVD
- The website example used was really ugly -- not pleasant to look at for almost 2 hours --> they should have called this DVD series: "From blank to ugly"!
- The overall presentation was poorly designed

One good thing only:
- The HTML/CSS knowledge was pretty good but then again, if you know HTML/CSS, you'll spend 1hr+ getting bored. And if you want to learn CSS, I would get a really good CSS book as this will not give you a strong HTML/CSS foundation. Additionally, this is not supposed to be a DVD about turning your photoshop template into HTML/CSS but turning your HTML/CSS into a Wordpress theme.

Overall, this DVD is NOT worth $35. If you count the time to order, watch, write this review (for your benefit), and return it, this book's worth is in the minus.
On to returning this product...