WordPress is the most popular blog software in use today. Also developers number is growing so every developer is interested with WordPress development to offer better products for his clients.

One of the great things about working with WordPress and developing your own themes is the community and all of the resources that are available. If you’re not sure how to do something or looking to see what solutions other theme designers and developers are using, you can find plenty of information and tutorials to help.

WordPress Essentials and Basics:

This section includes some official resources for the WordPress community and some general articles that will help you to get more out of your development for WordPress.

  • Installing WordPress – This is an official WordPress.org tutorial showing how to install WordPress. Also if you want to install it locally you can take a look at this Installing WordPress Locally.
  • WordPress Support Forums – If you need anything or you have something going wrong with your WordPress blog you can always ask for information.
  • WordPress Docs – This WordPress.org section contains everything you need about WordPress to get started.

WordPress Theme Roundups, Theme Templates, and Theme Frameworks:

Below you will find a wide variety of theme roundups, theme frameworks for building your own themes, and premium theme sites.

Theme Frameworks:

  • WordPress PSD Framework – A free PSD template that includes all the common elements in a WP design for you to build on.

  • WordPress Theme Generator – An online theme generator that doesn’t require any coding knowledge.
  • Easier Theme Development with Sample WordPress Content – A downloadable bundle of sample WP content that includes posts, tags, categories, and pages to make theme development easier.
  • Thematic – This is one of the most advanced theme frameworks available.

  • Carrington – A free WP CMS theme framework that includes two browser versions and a mobile version.

Themes And Templates:

Now Let’s move to the best sites where you can find premium and free WordPress designs and templates:

  • WordPress.org – The official theme repository from WordPress, with nearly 1,000 free themes available.
  • Top WP Themes – A directory of free themes, many with a corporate or professional look.
  • Themes2WP.com – A categorized directory with more than a thousand themes.
  • Elegant Themes – Another great premium themes site that allows unlimited access for less than $20.
  • Obox Theme Shop – A premium theme site with some really awesome themes available with single-site licenses or developer licenses.
  • StudioPress – Premium WP theme site that lets you download themes individually or as a package.
  • NattyWP – Another club-based premium themes site.
  • ThemeForest – One of the best sites where you can buy premium WordPress themes.

Theme Development Tutorials:

The tutorials listed here will walk you step-by-step through the process of creating a WordPress theme.

Tutorials and Tips :

There are far too many tutorials and hacks for theme designers and developers to list here, and a number of excellent collections have already been put together by other bloggers. Above you will find some of the best tutorials and other collections.

Tutorials :

  • Leopard: How to Install WordPress – A tutorial for creating a local installation of WP on Mac OS X Leopard.
  • Premium WordPress Theme Design Part 1—The Photoshop Mock Up – The first in a series of tutorials for creating a premium-style WP theme.
  • Customize Your WordPress Login – Learn how to customize the look of your WP login screen.
  • WordPress Custom Fields; Laying Text Over Your Lead Graphic – A tutorial that shows you how to add a text overlay to your graphics.
  • 5 Useful WordPress Functions You Didn’t Know Existed – A rundown of five great WP functions most people have never heard of.
  • Power Tips for WordPress Template Developers – An excellent resource from Smashing Magazine of advanced techniques useful to template and theme developers.
  • How to: Make a Control Panel for Your WordPress Theme – A tutorial for creating a customization menu in the backend. for your WP theme.
  • WordPress Ajax Commenting Revisited – A tutorial for creating your own ajax comment system.
  • How To: Adding an Author Page to Your WordPress Blog – A fantastic tutorial for creating an “about the author” page on your blog.
  • Displaying Author Meta Information in WordPress 2.8 – An excellent tutorial for displaying the meta information included about authors within the front-end of your WP site.
  • Display Thumbnails for Related Posts in WordPress – A tutorial for displaying the WP-generated thumbnail images for your posts in a related posts list.
  • How to Set Up Pretty Permalinks in WordPress – A guide to creating pretty permalinks from ThemeLab.
  • HOW TO: Create a jQuery Carousel with WordPress Posts – An excellent tutorial for creating a carousel to display WP posts from a specific category.
  • Customize WordPress Theme to Match an Existing Website: A Step-by-Step Blog Integration Tutorial – Create a WP theme that matches an existing website design for seamless integration.
  • How to Only Show Posts With a Specific Custom Field – A quick tutorial for showing posts with content in a specific custom field.

Collections :

WordPress Plugins  :

  • 70 Best WordPress Plugins to Supercharge Your Blog – A comprehensive list of awesome plugins, including Broken Link Checker and Comment Timeout.
  • The Best WordPress Plugins – A short review of some of the best WP plugins out there.
  • 30+ Plugins for WordPress Comments – A great roundup of comments-related plugins compiled by Mashable.
  • 10 of the Best WordPress Contact Form Plugins to Choose From – A roundup of some of the best contact plugins available.
  • Top 30 WordPress Plugins That Are Actually Useful! – An awesome roundup from Speckyboy Design Magazine of incredibly useful plugins, including FireStats and WASABI Related Post.
  • 20 New, Useful and Promising WordPress Plugins – A roundup of twenty great WP plugins.

Tricks and Hacks:

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