For my news website, i used the Kitchen Design theme. I really wanted it to have a unique appearance in comparison to other news websites. The look I was going for was more of like a sophisticated blog, rather than your average news website. I did this because I felt as if news sites can be overwhelming in a way when first looked at, where as a blog can feel more homey and comfortable, making a reader want to remain on the page. So, when I got to customizing the theme, i learned a ton about widgets and adjusting them to match the aesthetic i was aiming for. When i get on this website, i am most excited about the color scheme and the widgets I placed on the side of the webpage and on the bottom. I really felt as if this gave the webpage a news website feel while also still allowing it to be a more comfortable space. I struggled a lot at first with editing the widgets and adjusting them to look as I desired because the theme initially had a multitude of build in widgets that i did not completely love. The widgets also gave me a lot of freedom when it came to customizing the individual news posts, making each post have a different and unique arrangement. I installed the WPFOrms Lite plugin in order to have a contact form. While i did mention i wanted this news site to be a more comfortable place, i still wanted it to feel like a news site so i installed a form to sign up for the websites new letter. Lastly, the gradiant background has a special place in my heart, and I loved how this tied all of the colors of the website together.
For my commerce website, I used the Storefront theme, and activated the Advanced Coupons for Woocommerce Free, the Livechat Plugin, the WPForms Lite plugin, andthe YITH Woocommerce Quick View Plugin. As I have invested a lot of my time and money on skin care brands, i wanted my store to consist of brands i have loved and showcase them in a bright light. I am super happy with the plugins i used, as i typically feel most at home on an online shop if i am offered a discount and a way to speak with customer service. With that, I made a couple of my product packs to be on sale as well. I also had a lot of fun with the widgets, adding a calendar to the bottom, along with the shopping cart and a menu. I had fun styling the home page of LUSHSKIN adding aesthetic pictures as well as a google font that i believed to have a more sophisticated appearance. I also enjoyed categorizing each of the products, as i know when i shop for skin care products, I am commonly searching for ingredients that will target a specific problem, such as acne or anti-aging.
Ultimately, this project taught me a lot about customizing with widgets as well as using custom css to overide what the theme had originally built in. In this aspect, i was challenged a great deal, but also felt a ton of satisfaction when i was able to figure it out.