[themes] How much php knowledge required?

[sebastian]

At least some php is required.

You will need to learn how to create a basic page.tpl.php file, and you 
may need to write a few functions in a file named template.php for 
anything you do that is non-standard.

Otherwise, Views [and possibly Panels] are your friend. Within views you 
may need to "theme" it, using yet more php files, so that you can 
eventually use CSS to style your website.

If you can modify a theme by just changing the related CSS, then this is 
the route to take if you want to avoid PHP. However, many themes are 
extremely painful to theme in this manner, and Zen is no exception [imho].

As illogical as it may seem, building a theme from scratch is, for me at 
least, the easiest and most logical and straight forward. And this is 
coming from someone who learned PHP by learning Drupal.

My suggestion would be to check out two things:

1. Check out how other themes are built, and look at the files in the 
theme folder... does any of it make sense? does it look complicated to you?

2. Look for a video tutorial on "how to make a theme". There are free 
ones out there, what got me to a strong start was this video:

http://mustardseedmedia.com/podcast/episode24

This video was unquestionably what launched me in full-force towards 
becoming a highly proficient drupal themer. So you can't go wrong 
starting with this video [and then afterwards, watch all the other 
videos they have to offer, lots of interesting stuff there - though I am 
sure some of it may be getting dated]

Good luck,


Jared Stoneberg wrote:
> As a front end developer who did not know *any* PHP but now works as a 
> Drupal themer I recommend you make the effort to learn some PHP.
> 
> I recommend the Lullabot theming videos: 
> http://store.lullabot.com/products/theming-basics-advanced-bundle well 
> worth the time and money. 
> 
> Good luck,
> 
> Jared
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 8:55 PM, saksiri.kridakara at yahoo.com 
> <mailto:saksiri.kridakara at yahoo.com> <saksiri.kridakara at yahoo.com 
> <mailto:saksiri.kridakara at yahoo.com>> wrote:
> 
>     How much php knowledge is required to develop / customize drupal
>     themes efficiently?
> 
>     Do I need to read a whole book or is there some basic documentation of
>     the essential php used for drupal theming?
> 
>     Any resources would be greatly appreciated!
> 
>     Saki
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>     themes mailing list
>     themes at drupal.org <mailto:themes at drupal.org>
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> 
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