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WordPress Theme Generator – Starter Theme ZIP

Generate a clean WordPress starter theme with your name, text domain and license, plus optional widget areas, Customizer settings and a custom post type. Download it as an installable ZIP.

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About this tool

About WordPress Theme Generator – Starter Theme ZIP

WordPress Theme Generator builds a classic PHP starter theme with your details filled in, so you can start designing instead of copying boilerplate. Enter the theme name, description, author, version, text domain and license, and the tool writes a style.css header WordPress recognises, a functions.php with theme setup, and the core templates: index, header, footer, sidebar, single post, 404 and reusable template parts. The theme supports the title tag, featured images, HTML5 markup and a custom logo, and it loads its stylesheet and a main.js file the WordPress way. Optional extras are added only when you tick them: a primary sidebar and footer widget area, a Customizer panel with an accent colour and footer text, and a starter "Projects" custom post type. Every function and constant uses a prefix made from your theme slug, so it will not clash with plugins. The ZIP is created in your browser and contains the theme folder, ready for Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme.

WordPress Theme Generator – Starter Theme ZIP tool

Who uses a starter theme

Skip the boilerplate, start building

Freelancers building client sites

Start each project from a clean, correctly named theme instead of stripping down a bloated one.

ExampleGenerate “Acme Studio” with the text domain acme-studio, then build the design on top of the templates.

Learning theme development

See how a working theme is organised: templates, functions.php, hooks and the template hierarchy.

ExampleA student generates a theme, installs it locally and edits single.php to learn how posts are displayed.

Designers turning mockups into themes

Get a working structure to drop your HTML and CSS into.

ExamplePaste the header markup from a design into header.php and keep wp_head() in place.

Agencies with a house standard

Produce consistent theme scaffolds with the right author, license and version every time.

ExampleEach new build starts from a generated theme with the agency as author and GPL v2 or later as license.

Local development

Start a theme for a LocalWP, XAMPP or Docker WordPress site in seconds.

ExampleUnzip the theme into wp-content/themes on a local site and start editing with live reload.

Brand-matched sites

Set the accent colour in the Customizer to match a client’s brand without touching code.

ExampleThe Theme Options panel sets the accent to the client’s brand blue, applied across links and buttons.

Tips for your new theme

From download to a working site

Use a child theme for edits to others

This generator creates a standalone theme. If you only need to change an existing theme, create a child theme instead so updates do not overwrite your changes.

Keep content types in a plugin

Post types registered in a theme disappear if you switch themes. For long-lived content, generate the code with our CPT builder and put it in a plugin.

Open the CPT Generator

Keep the text domain

The text domain must match the theme folder name for translations to load. Change both together if you rename the theme.

Check security before launch

Before going live, scan the site configuration with our WordPress security checker.

Open WordPress Security Checker

Use version control

Put the theme folder in Git from the first day, so every change can be reviewed and rolled back.

Style with CSS variables

The stylesheet uses variables such as --color-primary in :root. Change them to restyle the whole theme quickly.

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