While Wordpress Theming is fun and exciting; there are some pretty redundant tasks you go through each time when making a theme. Things like setting up the theme files (index.php, sidebar.php, style.css and so on). If you don’t want to get your hands dirty with the php and xhtml that is needed when making themes there is a solution. What are known as “Blank Themes”, or “Starter Themes”. These are basically wordpress themes that have no design elements built into them, they are just the core files for the theme to run. Think of them as frameworks to build your theme off of. Whether you’re designing your first theme, or you’re a hardened wp theme designer using a existing starter theme (or even creating your own) will save you loads of time and hassle. I personally have a basic framework I made that I use to begin all my sites that I design, but many of these alternatives are just as good if not better than my personal one. Mine is built custom for me, so these will work better for people looking as they’re built for anyone to use easily.

• Whiteboard Theme by Brian Purkiss
• Starkers Theme by Elliot J. Starker
• Starter Theme by Dan Philibin
• Wordpress Naked by Siftware
• Sandbox Theme by Scott Allan Wallick & Andy Skelton
• Cutline Theme by tubetorial

While these are great resources, starter themes have issues. First off, you’ll want to check the licenses associated with each of these themes listed. Also, if a theme isn’t updated for 2.7 functionality you may have to do some editing on your own.

If you’ve got any other themes to share, post a comment and we’ll add them in for you.