Ashley, or How I Decided To Just Fuck It And Code
Even though I dabbled in creating WordPress templates before, what's worse, the very first iterations of this website had been entirely coded by me, sans CMS, lately I've been happily using the stock templates that always came with the latest release of WordPress.
The reasons were simple. I'm not a Frontend Developer, never have received any formal education in computer science or programming. What little I know I learned by trial-and-error, reading articles and listening to the developers surrounding me. Basically, I thought, why bungle amateurishly when there are several professionals out there who'd do a much better job of designing and coding. Sure the world could do without my tinkering. I was also afraid to show inadequacy. Imperfection.
And then I realised that this attitude had been all wrong.
It doesn't matter what the end product is. It doesn't matter if anyone likes it or finds a use for it apart from me. It doesn't matter if it can be done better.
The point is in the process, not the product.
Therefore, because I've always thought that the latest Twenty Fourteen template quite ill-suited my site, I set out to change that. I'd already have switched to how my Tumblr b-side, but for the lack of a WP version of the template used. I've also realised that no-one will do the work for me.
So I registered on Github, downloaded Sublime, and commenced building. I spent the majority of a Sunday trying to understand WP-specific design conventions, copying and pasting CSS, modifying when needed, and mulling over problems that do not exist in a Tumblr theme but need to be solved for WordPress. It was glorious, I've had a lot of fun.
When I got stuck I asked the developers and designers at work to help out and they gladly did. I've already learned a lot by this project and there is so much more.
So this is the story behind the new look. You can find and dissect the theme on Github if you're inclined to do so. At the moment think of it like a MVP: I've only tried to deal with features this site uses.
Also, go on, do something for the sake of doing it, and stop worrying about how it would turn out.