Title: Advanced Topics
Author: Samuel Sidler
Published: August 1, 2014
Last modified: February 6, 2024

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# Advanced Topics

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Welcome to the advanced theme topics documentation. In this chapter, you will learn
about some of the more complex features, techniques, and more that are not covered
in previous chapters.

While this chapter is considered “advanced” it doesn’t mean you cannot learn something
if you’re still getting started on your theme development journey. In many ways,
the articles in this chapter are essential if you plan to distribute your theme 
to others, such as through the [WordPress Theme Directory](https://wordpress.org/themes/).

## Navigating this chapter

Use the following links to locate a topic within this chapter. Each article covers
a specific topic that is relevant to theme development, and you can explore each
at your own pace.

 * [**Internationalization**](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/internationalization/)**:**
   Must-know techniques and tips to ensure your theme can be translated into any
   language.
 * [**Child Themes**](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/child-themes/)**:**
   Build a custom theme that extends an existing theme (i.e., parent theme) and 
   requires less work.
 * [**Build Process**](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/build-process/)**:**
   How to integrate with the `@wordpress/scripts` package to process and bundle 
   your theme assets.
 * [**Privacy**](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/privacy/)**:**
   Test the built-in WordPress privacy features and ensure your theme works with
   them.
 * [**Testing**](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/testing/)**:**
   How to run your theme through a suite of testing tools to make sure it works 
   across a variety of environments.
 * [**Debugging**](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/debugging/)**:**
   How to enable debugging in WordPress to ensure your theme is error free.
 * [**Security**](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/security/)**:**
   A rundown of security best practices that your theme should be doing to defend
   against exploits.
 * **[Publishing Themes](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/publishing-themes/):**
   The steps you need to take to publish your theme on WordPress.org or distribute
   to others.

This chapter also includes several other documents that are currently undergoing
updates. These will eventually be updated or moved to more appropriate chapters:

 * [Plugin API Hooks](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/plugin-api-hooks/)
 * [UI Best Practices](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/ui-best-practices/)
 * [JavaScript Best Practices](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/javascript-best-practices/)

First published

August 1, 2014

Last updated

February 6, 2024

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