One of the best things about WordPress is the huge community of people, at all levels, that contribute back into the community. There are new themes and plugins for WordPress created every day and the “community” does a pretty great job of pushing the truly useful and excellent ones to the top of the pile. While plugins are the bread and butter of WordPress, there are some non-plugin tools out there that seek to make your WordPress experience even better.
WPZipper
Of course, the first one I’ll mention is a project of my own called wpzipper. This tool lets users easily browse for plugins and themes they want to use with their WordPress installation and combine them into a single zip file. By default, the zip file contains a complete WordPress installation with the selected themes and plugins already in the proper folders. All you do is upload and install like normal. Recent updates to the site include the ability to create a user account and save your “virtual install” for future downloading.
WordPress Theme Generator
Another creative tool is the WordPress Theme Generator. Based on the Yahoo Grids CSS IU Library, this single page form lets you select page width, columns, sizes, and styling options. The result is a zip file you can download and upload directly to your WordPress installation and use as a new theme. While you don’t have 100% control over everything, at the very least this tool gives budding theme designers a great starting point. With several customization options, a live preview, and widget support, this is an unofficial WordPress tool worth a look.
WordPress on a Stick
For anyone that develops WordPress themes or plugins, or just wants a convenient and portable way to test WordPress, putting WordPress on a [usb] stick is a dream come true. The above link is to a tutorial on how to easily install WordPress on any USB “stick” or “thumb” drive by using an open source application called XAMPP Lite (which is basically a very easy way to install Apache, MySQL, and PHP). If you’ll take the time to give this tutorial a shot and get it set up and working, you’ll be addicted to the simplicity and convenience of having a web server in your pocket.
Kubrickr
Kubrickr is a fun and rather creative tool that lets you customize your header image when using the default Kubrick WordPress theme. While those who are looking for more customized or elaborate themes, this may not be for you. However, if you are setting up a quick and simple blog for whatever reason, Kubrickr is a fun way to add some customization. Bonus points for creative use of Flickr and for promoting photographer citation.
Canvas
Alright, I’m cheating a little here. Canvas is technically a WordPress plugin. However, it’s a major plugin. I could easily see Canvas standing on it’s own as a stand-alone web app that allowed you to generate themes. I figure it was just more convenient to set it up as a plugin. Basically, Canvas lets you “easily rearrange, reconfigure, and colorize your entire blog without ever touching a line of code.” Once installed, Canvas gives you access to a wealth of customization options for your theme that takes very little time to get used to. For those looking for easy theme customization but don’t want to learn a bunch of code, Canvas is a great option.
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