My first WordPress theme, Pummel, has been approved and is now available for use in the WordPress.org theme directory, or from the admin of your WordPress site.

I designed Pummel to be the theme that I wanted. I like a traditional blog with a customizable front page. So often, when searching for a theme I find that they are “just too much”. I wasn’t interested in a magazine layout or a photography site. I wanted… simple. A theme that could work well as a personal bio, portfolio, or blog.

Bringing Pummel to Life

When I first decided upon creating my own theme, I knew that I needed to invest in some training. Treehouse offers excellent courses in their WordPress Development track that set me in the right direction.

The next biggest help I found was the underscores starter theme. This bare bones theme allows you to start off your theme development incorporating WordPress best practices. The open source project correctly boasts itself as a “1,000-hour head start.” In my opinion, underscores allows you to quickly begin designing your themes, without having to “re-invent the wheel,” each time.

Why Choose Pummel?

“There are like a bazillion WordPress themes out there, why should I choose Pummel?”

I like Pummel because it is simple and allows the content to show through. The front page, as well as the rest of the site, can be customized into a multitude of configurations. Change every color, add background images, static or fixed, use the front page middle widgets to highlight important posts or portfolio projects. With Pummel, you can present your content in a beautiful and accessible format.

I want to know more!

The source code and examples of all of the customizations can be viewed on my GitHub. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to sound off in the comments below.