When I worked recently on the web site Clarinetopia, the goal was not to change anything about the look and feel of the site – it was already set up exactly the way the client wanted it. The issue was that the site was coded as static HTML pages, which meant the client had two equally unattractive options for updating the content — continue to feed every change through someone who knew HTML, or learn HTML coding themselves.
I was able to solve this dilemma be re-creating the site in WordPress, then styling it to look almost identical to the existing site. This included:
- Starting with a robust, flexible WordPress theme – in this case, Canvas by WooThemes
- Use the built-in settings of the theme to recreate the basic layout, color scheme, and header graphic of the existing site
- Use the WordPress Custom Menus feature to create a sidebar menu in lieu of the built-in top menu
- Create a custom CSS style sheet to make additional changes beyond what even the highly configurable theme could handle:
- Suppressing the default top menu
- Tweaking size, margins, and padding of header to create “perfect fit” for header graphic
- Styling sidebar menu links as bordered boxes with different “hover” color
- Completely custom styles for feedback and schedule pages to enhance readability
Given my experience with this site, I can now say with confidence that I could replicate just about any site in WordPress!
