Web Designing Standards
The designing of a website theme consists of three standards:
- PSD (Photoshop files)
- WordPress (WP)
- Twitter Bootstrap
In this article, we will go through a quick guide to migrate PSD version to WordPress website with ease.
PSD to WordPress conversion services
Before we get into the steps to convert PSD to full fledged WordPress website, here is why you should consider hiring PSD to WordPress conversion services.
- The developers you worked with returned a low-quality code.
- You faced communication problems with people involved in the development process.
- You received a code that was plagiarized.
- You had to pay expensive rates to receive the quality that was not the best.
- Your developers vanished in between the project.
How to convert a PSD to WordPress theme?
If you don’t prefer hiring PSD to WordPress conversion services, here is a quick DIY PSD to WordPress guide.
Slice the PSD File
Slicing is the first step towards the PSD to WordPress conversion process. It refers to cutting and dividing an image file into many smaller files, each containing different design elements of the whole design. Some people also call it splicing as it involves creating separate elements from a single component, which will then be morphed into a complete design. Most web designers use Adobe Photoshop for the slicing process.
Download and Bootstrap your theme
Once you have the sliced image file, download the latest version of Twitter Bootstrap. Once you download and extract the zip file, you will find three folders: CSS, fonts, and js. This framework is primarily used for its extensive media queries to create designs that are compatible with any kind of device, allowing it to flow between devices of multiple sizes. This is also referred to as responsive web design.
Create Index.html and Style.css files
Once you have the sliced elements, it is time to code these elements into HTML/XHTML format, followed by styling them using CSS. To do so, you will need to create an index.html and style.css file. However, you will need to have a mastery over HTML CSS for this because we are essentially converting PSD to HTML. For developing your theme using Bootstrap, you will need to initialize Bootstrap in the head section and the JS in the body section of your index.html page.
After doing that, you can use Bootstrap components in your HTML template. To get a custom CSS file, you will need to include it in your HTML page. Thus, add a reference link to the style.css file in your index.html file, right above the line where the bootstrap.min.css is located.
Now, open the index.html file, and you will notice the change as the custom CSS will start working now. By now, we are done with the PSD to Bootstrap tutorial, and now, we’ll come to a Bootstrap WordPress theme.
Break Index.html as per the WP theme structure
The primary reason for converting a PS design file to WP is to develop a website template that functions well and can be uploaded to the website dashboard. Themes like Avada and Divi come with a standard set of files that require to be implemented to be considered to be a valid WP theme.
Now that you have the index.html file of your PS design, you would need to break it into multiple PHP files as per the WP themes file structure. By doing this, you would be able to convert the static index.html file to WordPress theme. In addition, you will also be able to add several functions and features to it.
A general template consists of several PHP files, such as search.php, index.php, footer.php, etc. However, all you need is the index.php and style.css files to develop a functional WP theme. Here is a list of files every template should have.
- index.php
- sidebar.php
- style.css
- header.php
- archive.php
- searchform.php
- search.php
- footer.php
- single.php
- page.php
- comments.php
- 404.php
- functions.php
Add Multidisciplinary WP Tags
Lastly, you will need to add inbuilt function tags in your files to incorporate any desired functionality on your website; the WP framework takes care of the rest.
Final thoughts
You can skip the entire hassle discussed above and stick to a readymade theme. But, if you want your website to stand out, follow the steps above to power your site with a unique, powerful, and functional theme. If all of this looks burdensome, cut the load and look for the best PSD to WordPress conversion services.