wordpress theme design | Mike Matera Dot Com!

Divi Theme: You Can Do Better

Mike Matera — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 19:23:24 +0000

I’ve been a Divi owner for so long that it feels like we’re practically related. I bought my Elegant Themes subscription nearly a decade ago, which means I’ve had plenty of time to almost use Divi for serious projects—and then decide against it. Repeatedly. And with conviction. Owning Divi has felt less like using a […]

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A WordPress Child Theme Alternative

Mike Matera — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 02:11:16 +0000

You find a knockout WordPress theme. With minor font, color, and layout tweaks, it’ll look great. Add in some custom functions, such as support for certain post types or control over social media thumbnails, and it’ll be almost perfect. Normally, you’d make a child theme for that. A child theme piggybacks off the theme you’re considering, letting you […]

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Vantage WordPress Theme: Customizing the Site Title and Tagline

Mike Matera — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 05:54:51 +0000

Here’s a quick solution to problem with an otherwise stellar WordPress theme. No matter whether you use either the free or premium version of Vantage, you’ll notice that there’s no way to customize the site title in the theme’s header. It’s set to a gray default that you can’t change, neither via the WordPress Customizer nor […]

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New Child Theme | Minor Site Redesign

Mike Matera — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 23:13:24 +0000

Note: this post reflects a previous site design. This site is no longer using the theme or plugins cited in the article. Yes, I finally did it. I finally updated this site’s theme from a Twenty Ten child theme to one based on Twenty Twelve. And it didn’t hurt at all. Well, only a little. […]

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How to Design for WordPress

Mike Matera — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 18:01:51 +0000

Note: this article pertains to the self-hosted version of WordPress, available with most paid Web hosting and downloadable for free – not the WordPress.com version. By now, you’ve probably heard that WordPress runs about one-fifth of the world’s Web sites. You may even be familiar with how easy a WordPress-powered site is to manage. But […]

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