What does it mean to customize a WordPress theme?

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when I say I will customize a WordPress theme
what does that mean?

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Customizing an existing theme would mean changing an original theme itself. For instance, you could replace original theme images with your own, or change the original HTML and PHP code.

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thanks so much for reply

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I would call customizing a WordPress Theme simply doing the bare minimum.

I would be obtaining all of the information from the ‘client’ such as:

  1. Site Name
  2. Site Logo
  3. Desired Slide Show Images
  4. etc.

Basically just changing the theme up to fit the client’s needs.

If they need you to edit the HTML and PHP code, it will require more time, energy, and knowledge than that of a designer. You should be distinguishing these two types of services. Editing the source files means you might create bugs that you will not be able to go to the theme provider to get help with. A good programmer can do it, sure. But, don’t let it be part of a simple theme customization.

Just my thoughts.

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thanks so much for reply

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There are themes that allow you to do a lot of customization using a web interface without needing to touch a line of code:

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Depends on what you need customizing, what theme you’re working from, and how the author of that theme has created it.

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thanks so much. helpful reply

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Hello @migha2, for context I will tell you I do nothing but WordPress these days, mostly on Upwork, but some through my own business.

People shop around to purchase a WordPress theme to get somewhat close to what they are looking for, especially for things like the header and the look of the menu, the different page layout options, perhaps special features for newspaper/magazine layouts, or school/university/education, or online retail store fronts, that kind of thing.

After they decide on a theme ( hopefully with child theme support ) the want to customize, and that’s where a developer comes in. This ranges from simple edits to colors and fonts, layout styling - you know, just simple stuff taking a handful of hours. At the other end the customization can be huge for complex websites taking tens to hundreds of hours. Custom layouts built using php, custom plugin development for maybe something like a size calculator for a clothing outlet, or how much concrete for some size and shape for a new building foundation.

There are just so very many websites built on top of WordPress that you will come across pretty much everything if you are at it for a while.

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thanks so much for detailed reply