Convert Bootstrap 4 Templates to WordPress Themes
This is a detailed step by step tutorial on how you can convert bootstrap 4 templates to wordpress themes.
We will be using following components in the tutorial.
This tutorial assumes that you know a little bit of both WordPress and Bootstrap Frameworks.
Tutorial consists of 12 Steps , Steps are given at the bottom of each page.
This tutorial is covered in detail in a way that it is useful for both beginners and advanced wordpress developers.
By the End of this tutorial you will have to following sill-set
- Convert Bootstrap 4 Template into WordPress Theme.
- Make WordPress Theme in a way that all the static content and image changes can be done via WordPress Dashboard.
- To use Custom Post Type UI Plugin to create custom posts.
- Use Advanced Custom Fields to create custom fields for putting dynamic data into wordpress pages.
- make use of Contact Form 7 plugin to create your Contact Me form and pages.
Before jumping into the steps.
Let’s take a moment to get a brief understanding of the frameworks we will be working with. Also we will learn a bit about the benefits that you can achieve by combining Bootstrap and WordPress.
What is Responsive Design?
Responsive design is an approach to web page designing where in elements of a website self-adjust according to screen sizes and browsers for better readability, user-experience, and load time. With this approach you don’t need to maintain multiple versions of your website for different devices.
Since with the advent of smartphones and tablets and many other portable devices, It’s a must to make your website design in such a way that its presentable and readable on all the screen sizes.
This is where Responsive design comes into picture, with the help of CSS media queries, you predefine which elements will take take the best possible position on the screen.
This approach gives your layout beautiful look and seamless design in all the screen sizes.
What is Bootstrap ?
Once you get the idea of Responsive Design and why it is important, you are going to fall in love with Bootstrap framework. Bootstrap makes your job so much easier in terms of developing a responsive website. As per Bootstrap Website Bootstrap is “Build responsive, mobile-first projects on the web with the world’s most popular front-end component library”.
Bootstrap is Framework comprising of HTML, CSS and JS library files. By using these library classes and components you can make your website responsive, so that it adjusts all the screen sizes perfectly.
WordPress
As most of you should know WordPress is the most popular Content Management System that exists on this planet. WordPress is currently powering over ~27% of the internet website.
It is now evident that if you are choosing WordPress as your CMS framework to design your website. You must choose a theme that is responsive in nature and should adjust on all the screen sizes automatically.
There are a bunch responsive themes available (free and paid) that you can choose from to get started with Responsive Design in WordPress.
Why Combine WordPress and Bootstrap ?
Bootstrap and WordPress are two different frameworks that are not built to work with each other seamlessly and there is a work involved in combining these two Frameworks.
You might question why we are combining these two instead of picking a responsive theme specifically made for WordPress.
There are couple of reasons why you would do that.
- You have made a static website with Bootstrap and now as it is growing you want to convert it into a dynamic wordpress site. With converting your Bootstrap template to WordPress theme you can keep your design and also make it dynamic using wordpress.
- There are now many web designers who are comfortable with Bootstrap and want full control over how their website design. So instead of learning a new way of making responsive website. You might choose to apply your knowledge of Bootstrap make a dynamic website using wordpress.
- Bootstrap is ever evolving. Since there are hard-working developers who are always working to make Bootstrap better with every version. Your work gets easier, All you need to do is upgrade the Bootstrap version on your wordpress theme and you will be ready to get benefit of latest features provided by Bootstrap. Which is not the case with custom made WordPress Responsive themes.
- You get much more options of templates to choose from. There are plenty of templates designed in Bootstrap 4, and if you learn to convert Bootstrap themes to WordPress. Your imagination is the only limit of how you can convert those static Bootstrap templates into dynamic WordPress websites.
Now, let’s get to work!
I believe these are good enough reasons of why you should opt to learn How to Convert your Bootstrap 4 Templates to WordPress Theme, and how if you learn this skill it can save a lot of your time and generate you extra income.
Since this tutorial is going to be a long one, I have divided it into several steps and you can master the skill by clicking on these lessons and going through it one by one.
Alright, Let’s Begin !!!
Steps
Step 1 : Download and Understand the Static Bootstrap Template. (Freelancer Template from StartBootstrap)
In this Step we will download the Static Bootstrap Template we are going to convert into WordPress Theme. Also we will understand and modify each of its sections.
Step 2 : Download and Setup WordPress on your Local Development Environment
In this step, we will download the latest wordpress zip and will install it on local
[You may skip this step, if you have already installed wordpress on your local]
Step 3 : Setup UnderScore starter theme to boost start the theme development.
In this step we will learn, how we can generate and install Underscore starter theme, which will help boost starting the theme development process
Step 4 : Getting Started with WordPress Theme Development
In this step, we will create a new file which will serve as our home page and will also tweak other wordpress settings for the theme development
Step 5 : Modify wordpress theme to include the dynamic bootstrap assets ( css , js, etc)
In this step, we will include the link to css and js script files in our theme and will also modify the file path so that the assets gets served directly from the theme folder.
Step 6 : Convert your static Bootstrap nav to dynamic wordpress menu.
This is where the fun begins. We will start with static bootstrap navigation and will convert it into dynamic wordpress menu.
Step 7 : Remove the unwanted code from Underscores theme.
We will convert the top most static hero section of the template into Dynamic
Step 8 : Convert the Hero Section of the template into Dynamic.
We will convert the top most static hero section of the template into Dynamic
Step 9 : Convert the Portfolio Section into Dynamic with Custom Post Type UI Plugin.
We will install and learn to use Custom Post Type UI Plugin. With these you can make your Portfolio section into dynamic.
Step 10 : Convert the About Section into Dynamic with Advanced Custom Field Plugin.
We will use Advanced Custom Field Plugin to convert your About Section into Dynamic.
Step 11 : Convert the Contact Me Section into Dynamic with Contact Form 7 Plugin.
We will make use of Contact Form 7 Plugin to convert Contact Me Section into Dynamic.
Step 12 : Code the static Footer Section to Dynamic WordPress Footer.
Simple article on how to convert static bootstrap template into dynamic