My Website Theme
Choosing a WordPress theme required more thought than simply finding a design that looked good. For Gut Forward, I want a professional website that can grow with me. My goal is to provide educational information about gut health through articles, personal experiences, reviews of new research, medications, and other fact-based health information. In the future, I may also offer educational resources, health coaching services, and work with supplement companies to promote products I trust. Because of these goals, I needed a theme that would work well now while giving me room to expand later.
Where WordPress Themes Come From
WordPress themes can come from several sources. The WordPress Theme Directory offers free themes that can be installed directly through the WordPress dashboard. Themes can also be purchased from commercial theme developers and third-party marketplaces. Some developers offer both free and premium versions.
Regardless of the source, I learned that it is important to consider the theme’s reviews, updates, support, mobile responsiveness, customization options, compatibility with plugins, and overall reputation. I would also be cautious about downloading themes from unknown websites because of potential security concerns.
Important WordPress Theme Files
A WordPress theme is made up of files that control the website’s appearance and layout. For a traditional/classic WordPress theme, style.css is required because it identifies the theme and contains styling information. index.php serves as the main fallback template. Modern block themes instead use a style.css file and template files such as templates/index.html.
Themes commonly contain several additional files. functions.php adds theme features and functionality. Classic themes may use header.php and footer.php for the header and footer, single.php for individual posts, page.php for pages, and archive.php for groups of posts. Themes may also contain JavaScript, images, CSS files, template parts, and other files that provide additional design and functionality.
My Theme Decision
I used a decision matrix to compare five themes based on criteria that were important for Gut Forward: reviews, customization, mobile responsiveness, custom menus, visual appeal, style flexibility, and continued support and updates.
The themes I compared were:
After taking more time to explore different themes, Kadence and Raft received the highest scores in my decision matrix. I ultimately chose Kadence for now. One of the deciding factors was the large amount of tutorials and other learning resources available online. Since I am still learning WordPress, having access to these resources will make it easier for me to customize and maintain my website.
Kadence also gives me room to expand Gut Forward beyond a basic blog. The theme is designed to support customizable layouts, third-party plugins, and e-commerce applications, which could become important as the website grows.
BlogHash was another strong option because it is lightweight, customizable, and compatible with WooCommerce, but I felt it was more focused on traditional blogging than what I envision long term for Gut Forward.
Installing Kadence
I installed Kadence directly through the WordPress wp-admin dashboard by going to Appearance → Themes → Add New, searching for Kadence, installing it, and activating it. I did not need to manually upload the theme or use FTP.
After activating Kadence, I learned that activation does not automatically redesign my existing website. I can continue customizing the site’s colors, fonts, header, footer, page layouts, and other design elements while keeping the Gut Forward content I have already created.
