Something useful: A WYSIWYG WordPress theme editor

Here's an oldie but a goodie. Confounded by trying to track down fancy-looking WordPress themes? Check out this Web-based theme editor that lets you tweak every nook and cranny of a theme then spit it back to your server to go live. You can add columns, change fonts and backgrounds, even throw in a customizable tag cloud--all with no coding experience required. All you need is a little creativity and some working knowledge of drop-down menus.

While some WordPress themes have excellent built-in support for doing this right from the WordPress dashboard, many more don't, and trying to figure out all the little things like text color is made far easier with a WYSIWYG editor than with WordPress' built-in editing tools.

Advanced users can throw in graphics or design elements they've hosted elsewhere on their server (as long as it's got a URL to link up to), and when all is said and done each bit of the theme can be grabbed as an individual file to whatever theme you're currently using. This is an easy way to try out new fonts and colors without making a mess out of your existing style.css file.

Make a WordPress theme quickly and with zero coding experience necessary with this free tool.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

[steveorevo]

Dreamweaver users should consider ThemeDreamer. It unlocks Dw's potential so that you can open WordPress theme files in Design View and leverage most all of Dw's ability to manipulate HTML (like drag n drop, CSS, etc). Bonuses are code hints and context sensitive documentation to WordPress's online reference manual. Before/After shots of of what a WordPress theme file looks like without it speaks for itself!

http://www.themedreamer.com/demos

[DrCris]

This is a great link, and I rushed over there to fix up a theme for my site. However, it took me a while, and I still couldn't quite get the look I wanted. Then I went to download it, and the file won't unzip! According to the forums on the site, people are using this program, but it is not without its flaws. I am going home to pull down the reference manual and figure out how to tweak my theme myself.

Cris

[steveorevo]

Just a quick FYI that ThemeDreamer version .3 is now out with even more enhanced features for WordPress 2.5 theme customization and development.

http://www.themedreamer.com/news

[steveorevo]

Finally an update! ThemeDreamer Version 0.4.1 has support for newer WordPress 2.6.3 features as well as working with Adobe Dreamweaver CS4.