I’ve been building, modifying, using, and studying WordPress themes for over five years now. I remember watching the release of the first few commercial WordPress themes. As time went on, I ended up working for and with a number of different theme companies. I worked on various client projects as well. I’ve spent countless hours working with themes both good and bad. Now the time has finally come for me to put my experience into the form of a product: the Rampart WordPress theme.
Please note: Rampart will be a commercial theme, and is not available yet. There will be discounts for developers interested in purchasing the theme before it officially launches. To be the first to find out when these deals are available, please sign up for the Theme Foundation newsletter.
A Theme for Developers Only
If you’re not a web developer, you can stop reading now. This theme is not for you. It will not have a thousand theme options, it will not have a slider, and it will not be advertised with the phrase “without any code.”
If you are a web developer, I want to help you build higher quality sites in less time. Here’s the plan…
The WordPress Way
Rampart will follow WordPress best practices. It will pass the Theme-Check plugin and it will strive to conform to all the WordPress Theme Review guidelines. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel and there’s no need to learn a new way of doing things with every theme.
Documentation
I want Rampart to be the most extensively documented WordPress theme in existence. Not only will all the backend code be full of helpful PHPDoc goodness, but the frontend will be governed by a complete style guide.
Layout
Rampart will have a number of unique layout possibilities. First, it will support up to two sidebars in any layout combination. Next, it will support (optional) widget areas above and below the header, and above and below the footer. Not only that, but it will also support an unlimited number of widgetized pages, where widgets can be placed before or after the page content, or replace the page content entirely. This allows any page to become a completely configurable home page, landing page, or whatever-you’re-imagining-it-could-be-at-the-moment.
Responsive
Rampart will be completely responsive and be built using the mobile first development philosophy. Every aspect of the site will be built to handle any type of device. From typography to menus to widgets, everything should work well regardless of the device or screen size.
Accessibility
Accessibility will be a top priority. From keyboard navigation, to color contrast, to skip links, to ARIA landmark roles, Rampart will follow the WordPress accessibility best practices.
Browser Support
Rampart will be tested in as many browsers and environments as possible. Windows, OSX, iOS, Android and Linux. Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera. Phones, tablets, desktops, and…
Plugin Support
Instead of building custom functionality directly into the theme, Rampart will be tested with various best-in-class plugins. Need a particular feature for your site? Find it in the list of supported plugins.
Developer Support
I love solving problems for people. That’s my goal in building this theme as well as my goal for supporting it.
What Do You Want?
Now that I’ve explained what I want to build, I’d love to hear from you! What would you like to see from a WordPress theme built exclusively for developers? Let me know on twitter or by using the contact page on this site.