Child Theme

WordPress Child Themes at Work

supply chain and logistics company website
Twenty Twenty-One is a blank canvas for your ideas. It makes the block editor your best brush. See how Twenty Twenty-One elevates your portfolio, business website, or personal blog.

WordPress’ TwentyTwenty-One template theme turned into a turn-key landing page solution for Solmark International – a global supply chain and logistics company.

Before & After Twenty Twenty-One Theme CSS Customization

Scope of Work

brand discovery
project management
content strategy
copywriting
creative strategy
art direction
color palette development
front-end web development
performance optimization
security hardening
visual design
WordPress training and consulting

BenchmarkScore
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Performance87/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Performance100/100
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices100/100
Google Lighthouse: SEO93/100
WebPageTest Speed Index2.116
Total Homepage File Size1.56 Mb
Total Web Server Requests22
WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2020, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.

Team

Branding, Visual Design and Content Strategy by: Gravity Communications
WordPress Theming and Consulting by: Scott Marlow

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WordPress: A World of Difference

screenshot Cipalla Communications website

Copywriting by Rita Cipalla
Visual Design by Joan van den Berg
WordPress Child Theme Development by Scott Marlow

An overdue mobile-responsive website upgrade for my writing colleague, Rita Cipalla.

For this website redesign, we chose to skin an existing template WordPress Theme, Argent, by Automattic. The Argent Theme is based on _Underscores, so theme skinning is fast and straightforward – and the final product is guaranteed to be compatible with WordPress software and Plugins.

Overall Page Size is a lean 584 Kb, ~25% the industry median page size, with only 32 web server requests. As a result, page load speed is well optimized for mobile devices.

The site features Rita’s custom travel photographs for an authentic look. A classic combination of custom serif and sans-serif fonts are typeset in very readable line widths, with bold red and yellow call-outs for emphasis. And, unlike her previous static HTML site, Rita can now easily add and edit portfolio and blog content.

I love it! Thank you so much.

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Salmon Creek Cafe Serves Up WordPress

screenshot Salmon Creek Cafe website

Visual Design by Tyler Potts
WordPress Child Theme Development by Scott Marlow

A fresh mobile responsive WordPress website for Salmon Creek Cafe in Burien. This fun redesign, with custom photos by Tyler Potts, replaces a SquareSpace site that staff found difficult to edit.

My favorite feature of the new site is the easy to read (HTML) menus, formatted in simple single columns. Too many restaurants publish their menus via cumbersome, difficult to read PDFs; HTML content is mobile responsive and much more accessible. We also emphasized the contact information, which restaurant patrons should be able to find easily.

To add value, we chose to custom skin an existing template Theme, Dara, by Automattic. Built on _Underscores, the overall page size is 717 Kb, about 1/3 the industry median page size of ~2.1 Mb.

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Developing High Quality WordPress Websites Through Training and Education

screenshot Cascadia K9 Search Dogs website

WordPress Child Theme Development: Scott Marlow

My latest WordPress child theme project for Cascadia Search Dogs – a nonprofit dedicated to the development of high quality detection and search dogs through training and education. This membership-based site supports the organization’s K9 Search & Rescue mission in the Pacific Northwest.

With a total page size of 585 Kb and only 24 server requests, this site ranks in the 90th percentile of Google PageSpeed Insights:

Mobile Speed Optimization: 93/100
Desktop Speed Optimization: 97/100

I offer WordPress training classes, site consultations, and ongoing support and consulting. If you are interested in learning more about WordPress, please contact me.

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One WordPress Theme. Endless Possibilities.

Bike Works mobile responsive website

Client: Bike Works

Scope of Work:
Front-end web development, Performance optimization, Rebranding, Security hardening, Visual redesign

Team: Penniless Projects, Scott Marlow

The Challenge

To rebrand the existing nonprofit’s WordPress website affordably.

The Results

To keep costs affordable, we built the new site design using the same HTML5 mobile responsive 2012 child theme (based on _Underscores). New full browser-bleed headers featuring custom photography help modernize the look and feel. While readability was optimized with an 1,100 pixel wide 2-column grid layout. Bold custom fonts and colors help distinguish the youthful brand.

Performance WordPress Site Benchmark
Google Mobile Speed: 72
Google Desktop Speed 87
Pingdom 89 faster than 77% of tested sites
WebPageTest Speed Index 2,211 median = ~4,493
top 10% = <1,388
YSlow 80 average score = 70
Web Page Size 1 Mb In 2017, average page size = ~2.4 Mb
median page size = ~1.9 Mb
Web Server Requests 38 < 40 – 60 recommended
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