The Complete Guide To The WordPress Settings API is a series of articles by Tom McFarlin for Envato’s Tuts+ network. With a total of eight posts, it covers all the stuff you’ll need to start creating options pages. Tom has also made a project on Github, which is actually faster to read for more experienced developers.
Vantage Theme Options
Vantage is a business directory theme by AppThemes. It uses the Settings API to render the options screen and controls, as well as a good use of sections. The main reason I wanted to showcase this page here, is the … Continue reading
Options Framework Theme
The Options Framework Theme (by Devin Price) has been submitted here many times, especially after all the discussion on the NHP Theme Options Framework thread. I’m not a huge fan of such frameworks, and I think the Settings API is … Continue reading
Suffusion Theme Options
I saw screenshots from Suffusion a while back, and today I have decided to give it a spin myself. Yes, Suffusion comes with a lot of theme options, and even though I’m not a fan of “a lot” in that … Continue reading
In Open Source, Learn to Decide
In Open Source, Learn to Decide is a post by Andrew Nacin, a WordPress Core developer. Andrew writes about decisions versus options and the WordPress philosophy. Comments and pingbacks are worth reading/visiting too.
WordPress is known for its simplicity and usability, but I can still think of a half-dozen options I wouldn’t hesitate to remove under the right circumstances. Many WordPress plugins subject their users to too many options. Don’t add settings screens simply because you know how.
Responsive Theme Options
Emil Uzelac launched Responsive last month, and it gained a whole bunch of good responses from the WordPress community. It even surpassed Twenty Eleven in weekly download numbers! The theme looks great, but our blog is not about themes, right? … Continue reading
Don’t Steal my Theme Options
Don’t Steal my Theme Options is a great article by Andy Adams, a developer at The Theme Foundry. Andy writes about the decisions they have to take when dealing with flexibility versus simplicity. Here’s an important quote:
Instead of making a theme either fully-customizable or configuration-free, I’ve realized that the ultimate goal is to add “just the right options” to make the user experience more pleasant.
The comments at the end of the article are worth reading too. What are your thoughts on “the perfect number” of theme options? Do you think premium WordPress themes should come with more “customization” options, than free themes? Thanks for your comments and don’t forget to share this post!
Twenty Eleven Theme Options. Doh!
It’s been a few days since I started this blog, and many people asked me to publish some theme options pages, which I think are good. It’s more difficult to find these, but I’m gathering a list, to put in … Continue reading
Creating Reusable Controls with the Settings API
Here’s a tip! add_settings_field() has an $args parameter which is an array, passed on to the callback functions that you assign. So it’s pretty easy to create reusable controls, like this:
U-Design Theme Options
A couple more options and this theme will not even need WordPress anymore! Six home page sliders, a couple hundred font options and half a billion shortcodes, obviously… And some people say CSS is difficult to learn. Doh! The biggest … Continue reading
