Before going with any WordPress theme, you need to look at a couple of things. You cannot simply test a solution directly with the client. As a professional, you are required to plan things ahead for all edge cases and make sure you embark with a theme which is customizable as much as possible.

If you are a novice, you may miss a couple of things before going with any WordPress theme. Below is the list of some important considerations which you have to make before embarking with any WordPress theme.

The wp_footer and wp_head are included

This is called as a basic step which has to be carried out before releasing any WordPress theme. Make sure that your theme does have wp_head hook in the header.php file included along with wp_footer hook in the footer.php file.

These hooks are very important to incorporate since they help a great deal to work with plugins within your theme. Also, these hooks are a must when you need a couple of new functions to be added to your theme at any time.

The attachments are displayed in the correct fashion

Photo by Doctor-A @ SXC

You will find a special template file which is used when a visitor clicks on an attachment. These attachments can include music files, videos, and pictures which are clubbed together with the attachment buttons on the editor.

Creating the attachment.php is not compulsory as the browser can display the attached file using any appropriate plugin; however the benefit of doing so is that it helps the visitors to have the option to see the attachment. Also, you can display customized information regarding the attachment.

The default TwentyTen theme found in WordPress 3.0 carries an interesting attachment.php which displays the picture sizes.

Your pagination is working properly

It is important to check whether your pagination is working or not. It is a must especially when you are using it not just for your blog page but also in your portfolio. If you forget to add this feature, the readers coming over your blog may not be able to go beyond the first page.

Comments are not aloud on password protected posts

Photo by Michael Faes @ SXC

WordPress gives you the option to make your posts password protected, wherein the readers are required to type a password before accessing any content over your blog. You are not supposed to carry out anything special regarding the post, but if you fail to check whether the comments are available or not, anyone will be able to still see the comments over your protected post which hampers the goal of protecting the post in the first place. You can sort out this thing with a simple check in ‘comments php’.

Screenshot has been taken

People often are seen releasing WordPress themes without including the screenshot.png file with it. It’s the picture which will display up in your WordPress admin inside your appearance tag.

It is recommended to take a screenshot of your theme, make it 300 x 225 pixels and save the image as png with a name screenshot. You then have to drop this screenshot file into the root of your WordPress theme’s folder. That’s it, you are done.

These are few general yet important checks which you need to consider before going with any WordPress theme. However, there are a lot more things to consider, though the above discussed can be called as vital for people trying WordPress theme for the first time.