How you go about building a theme is largely framed by your intentions for the theme. If you intend to release the theme for the use of others, then it is best to follow certain (albeit largely unwritten) conventions that make the resulting theme more "standard" and therefore, easier for others to use. In contrast, if use by others is not a factor, then you can proceed in a fashion that tailors the code more narrowly to your needs.

For purposes of our discussion in this chapter, I am going to assume you wish others to be able to use your theme and accordingly, our examples will tend toward standardization and increased flexibility without unnecessary complexity; this approach has the added advantage of decreasing your maintenance load going forward, and being more portable.

In terms of features, our goal here is to create a theme with the following attributes: