The slide deck I used for this presentation at WordCamp Grand Rapids 2012.

1. Howdy, I’m
Ryan Imel
Saturday, August 18, 12

2. I make things at
WPCandy
Saturday, August 18, 12

3. Saturday, August 18, 12

4. I record and stream
PODCASTS
Saturday, August 18, 12

5. I operate
PROS
the reverse job board
Saturday, August 18, 12

6. I manage
Pressed Ads
Saturday, August 18, 12

7. I publish the WordPress
MAGAZINE
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8. EVERY
THEME
SUCKS
ANDNO
BODY
CARES
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10. Saturday, August 18, 12

11. Saturday, August 18, 12

12. In 1.5 we have created
an incredibly flexible
theme system that
adapts to you rather
than expecting you to
adapt to it.
Matt Mullenweg, WordPress 1.5 announcement
Photo of Billy Strayhorn, via jazztimes.com
Saturday, August 18, 12

13. Saturday, August 18, 12

14. Saturday, August 18, 12

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16. Saturday, August 18, 12

17. Themes Should Not
Break. Duh.
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18. Saturday, August 18, 12

19. I’m sure the code of the themes in
the directory is top notch...
But I wouldn’t know, because you
couldn’t make me click download
on 90% of those theme pages. I
won’t do it.
The designs... are just awful.
Ryan Imel, the guy you’re staring at
Saturday, August 18, 12

20. WordPress.org has the
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WPTRT

21. WordPress.org has the
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W

22. WordPress.org has the
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WP

23. WordPress.org has the
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WPT

24. WordPress.org has the
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WPTR

25. WordPress.org has the
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WPTRT

26. Saturday, August 18, 12

27. Debug Bar
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/debug-bar/
Theme-Check
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/theme-check/
Log Deprecated Notices
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/log-deprecated-notices/
Debogger
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/debogger/
Saturday, August 18, 12

28. The Weekly
Theme Show
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29. Shortcodes
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30. Shortcodes let you write and place
elements without code.
[button=”Read more!”]
They can output just about anything
to your page.
[tweet-this]
Saturday, August 18, 12

31. Shortcodes let you write and place
elements without code.
[button=”Read more!”]
They can output just about anything
to your page.
[tweet-this]
Saturday, August 18, 12

32. Shortcodes let you write and place
elements without code.
They can output just about anything
to your page.
Saturday, August 18, 12

33. Shortcodes let you write and place
elements without code.
[button=”Read more!”]
They can output just about anything
to your page.
[tweet-this]
Saturday, August 18, 12

34. A user’s content is sacred.
It’s hallowed ground...
Andrew Nacin, WordPress Lead Developer
Photo by John O’Nolan
Saturday, August 18, 12

35. Themes Should Not
Break My Expectations
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36. Saturday, August 18, 12

37. Saturday, August 18, 12

38. Themes Should Not
Waste My Time
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40. Saturday, August 18, 12

41. Saturday, August 18, 12

42. The theme options are really
admirable... obviously with Google
Analytics and SEO integrated. This
must be like the best of the best...
Konstantin Kovshenin, Automattic
Saturday, August 18, 12

43. That was all sarcasm.
Seriously, I think this is horrible,
and there’s not much you
can do to make it worse...
Konstantin Kovshenin, Automattic
Saturday, August 18, 12

44. Saturday, August 18, 12

45. Saturday, August 18, 12

46. http://thethemefoundry.com/blog/from-the-
workshop-dont-steal-my-theme-options/
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47. Saturday, August 18, 12

48. Saturday, August 18, 12

49. Saturday, August 18, 12

50. Saturday, August 18, 12

51. Themes Should
Let Me Make Children
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52. HTML
CSS
Javascript
PHP Templates
Theme options panel
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53. HTML CSS
CSS Two or three PHP files
Javascript
PHP Templates
Theme options panel
Child themes
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54. Saturday, August 18, 12

55. HTML CSS
CSS Two or three PHP files
Javascript
PHP Templates
Theme options panel
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56. CSS CSS
Two or three PHP files
Grandchildren themes
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57. CSS CSS
1 PHP template
Great grandchildren themes
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58. Saturday, August 18, 12

59. Saturday, August 18, 12

60. Saturday, August 18, 12

61. ryanimel: I have a confession to
make. I want to bribe a
member of the
theme team.
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62. Saturday, August 18, 12

63. Saturday, August 18, 12

64. I’d like to see themes
take the form of
building blocks which
form websites
together... More
dynamic ways to
customize a website
over a prefab
template you can
style.
Coen Jacobs, WooThemes
Saturday, August 18, 12

65. “8 sliders”
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66. “Short code generator”
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67. A user’s content is sacred.
It’s hallowed ground...
Andrew Nacin, WordPress Lead Developer
photo credit John O’Nolan
Saturday, August 18, 12

68. “700+ fonts”
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69. “Contact form builder”
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70. “Unlimited sidebar”
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71. “Sliders anywhere you
want them!”
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72. I would like to see us get
back to brass tacks.
There is too much overlap
between themes and
plugins, and I think for the
sake of the overall
community of WordPress
users, clear delineation
between one and the other is
important.
Dre Armeda, Sucuri Security
Saturday, August 18, 12

73. 20,264
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74. WordPress.org Plugins
20,264
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75. THEME DEV
should be hard work
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76. Saturday, August 18, 12

77. Saturday, August 18, 12

78. The paradigm is
now shifting into
themes that just
look amazing out
of the box.
Mike McAlister, Okay Themes
via Smashing Magazine
Saturday, August 18, 12

79. I want to see a
theme that works
great out of the box,
but really sings
when integrated
with certain
plugins.
Brian Krogsgard, Infomedia
Saturday, August 18, 12

80. Okay, but
what can we do?
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81. Create your own
FUNCTIONALITY
PLUGINS
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82. wpcandy.com/teaches/how-to-create-a-functionality-plugin
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83. THINK
FIVE
YEARS
AHEAD
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84. ?
speakerdeck.com/u/ryanimel
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85. GOOD
THEMES
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