Set up a new custom theme

Quick Start

• The Developer needs to create a new repository.
• After that, two things can happen in parallel:
  • The Creative Director needs to set up the project.
  • The Designer needs to update the theme data.
• Once the above is complete, work begins! Here's how we work in Github.
  • Designers and Developers work together to use Github Issues to document work that needs to be done, including ideas, bugs, new features, and the details that the team needs to do the work, such as functional requirements.
  • Creative Directors use Github Issues to document a high-level summary of their direction and feedback on work, as well as any high-level decisions they make about functionality.
  • Creative Directors and Project Managers use Github Projects to prioritize work in sprint planning and view the status of work in real-time.
  • Designers and Developers use Github Projects to see what the next work priorities are.
  • Release Leads use Github Projects to see what work is ready for release, and change the status of work to released once it is available for the client to view on either live or staging.
    • Who is a release lead? Anyone with the skills to create a release! The developer will always serve as a release lead, but a lead designer or creative director can also participate in this role on a project to help out the team.

Step by step

Create the repository

You can start a new repository for your custom theme using this repository as a template. Just click the "Use this template" button.

Important: For Github Label Manager Plus to import and commit labels, you will need to make the repository public for a short period of time. Just change the visibility back to Private when you're done importing labels.

Set up the project

• Set up a new Github Project for the repository
• Import labels using Github Label Manager Plus.
• Update the README.md file in the repository to add any missing information and start the project
• If this is client work, go to Settings and change the repository visibility to Private.

Once this is done, the designer and developer can begin using issues to track ideas and requirements.

Update the theme metadata

In your new repository, you will need to update the theme metadata so that it matches your project. The designer is responsible for this task.

Checklist

• Ensure package.json is filled out accurately (name, version, description, contributors, repository)
• Ensure your css-dev/style.scss is filled out accurately (Theme Name, Description, Version)
• Update potFilename from responsive-child-starter.pot to theme-name.pot in Gruntfile.js.
• Update textdomain: from responsive-child-starter to theme-name in Gruntfile.js (Not needed for Responsive Child Starter 3x).
• Update the README.md file to add any missing information
• Add a screenshot.png to help identify your theme under Appearance > Themes
• Run grunt build to compile your Sass and Javascript files
• Make sure you're pulling in the newest version of Foundation. Use the newest release.

Commit and push

Tower will now recognize the additional files added to the folder. "Working Copy" should have a number next to it (roughly 20-70). When your ready to commit, click "Stage All" and type "Initial Commit" for your Commit Subject and click Commit.

Last step: Push your changes! When you're ready to release it to the world, request a deploy using the deploy workflow in the #interactive-design Slack channel.