Structure
Widget ready themes are built in such a way that each widget acts as an item of a bulleted list. So your sidebar HTML will look something like this:

<ul>
 
	<li id="widget1" class="widget widget_1">Widget1 Content</li>
 
 
	<li id="widget2" class="widget widget_2">Widget2 Content</li>
 
 
	<li id="widget3" class="widget widget_3">Widget3 Content</li>
 
</ul>

The widget
Notice how each list item has an id attribute and a class attribute. Each widget has a generic style (widget) and a specific style (widget_1, widget_2, etc.). For example, the style for the Padges widget is widget_pages.

The HTML generated by each WordPress widget is also a bulleted list and it looks something like this:

<ul>
 
	<li><a href="http://www.themebuilder.nl">Link Text 1</a></li>
 
 
	<li><a href="http://www.themebuilder.nl">Link Text 2</a></li>
 
 
	<li><a href="http://www.themebuilder.nl">Link Text 3</a></li>
 
</ul>

Styling
First you need to upload the icon file to your theme’s images folder.For example the pages icon is called articles.png. I’ve added these lines of code to the style.css:

.widget_pages {
    background: url(images/articles.png) no-repeat;
    background-position: 17px 8px;
}
<!--more--><!--more-->

You have to replace .widget_pages with the class name for the widget you are trying to style. How will you know that? Just drag and drop the widget, open your blog, do a View Source and search for the widget name. You should then be able to identify both the id and the class attributes mentioned above.

Keep styling
Getting the hang of it? Try styling the title and background also.

Hi there. Also liking the Color3 theme? But you don’t like the background? I’ve got some news for you.

Currently I’m working on a update. In this update there’s a feature in which it’s possible to change the theme background. Thus, this update will come with six colorful backgrounds.

I’m debugging at the moment.  I trust it will be available soon.

Functions.php is a little known wordpress template file. Not many themes take advantage of it but , used properly, it can be incredibly powerful. The file can be used as a way to add your own functions to wordpress themes (hence the name).

One of the common misconceptions, at least based upon my experience with a past wordpress tips and tricks post, is that editing functions.php involves changing core wordpress files – meaning there will be issues when you upgrade wordpress.

I am against changing core files in wordpress. This makes upgrading a nightmare.

What functions.php does is let you create functions you can reuse in the theme. It works like a plugin file, being loaded when the theme is first loaded. You can then use the functions inside for anything you choose.  You can also use functions.php as to implement theme control panel pages.

And how do you make use of functions.php? It couldn’t be simpler.

1. Create a file called functions.php in your theme folder.
2. Add functions to it.

The file automatically gets included into the theme, you don’t have to do anything.

Preview

You can download the Color3 theme here.

Before approval the WordPress team pointed me at some bugs in my Color3 theme. I’m thankful for their support and patience. They found every little bug and more.  Still, there are some parts of the theme I’d  like to change. So look out for updates so now and then.

My expectations are high. I guess the Color3 theme will be more popular then the  MMystique theme .  Hopefully it will reach thousand downloads within days.

Time will tell.

Het thema Color3 is in een halve dag tot stand gekomen. Het is een kleurrijk thema met dropdown menu en fixed columns. Uiteraard is het theme ook widget ready.

Het thema is ook weer geupload naar WordPress.org maar (nog) niet goedgekeurd. Een link naar de download volgt binnenkort!

Preview

You can download the MMystique theme here.

Het thema MMystique is door WordPress.org goedgekeurd en kan worden gedownload van de Free WordPress Themes directory.

Na een halve dag is het thema 25 keer gedownload. Een bescheiden streven lijkt me zo’n 200-250 in de eerst week. Een directe link naar het thema is:  http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/mmistique.

Natuurlijk moedig ik je aan dit thema te downloaden en te gebruiken voor je WordPress website/blog!

Het is een fris modern en strak thema met een oosters tintje. De pagina heeft een vaste breedte met twee kolommen en de menubalk aan de rechterkant. Tevens is er horizontaal een dropdown menu in verwerkt. Natuurlijk is het MMistique thema widget ready.