creating a wordpress theme: using an old theme

Question

I want to start working on a new wordpress theme. Snd not sure how to start.

I find the twentytwelve theme easier to work on. The structure is more similar to what i want to do, and it's kinda blank. If I use it, will I still have the same functions and updates like the twentyfourteen theme?

what is the most common way to start building a theme ?

Answer 1

Of course you will not have the same functionality and updated code like the twentyfourteen theme, because simply twentyfourteen is newer and compatible with WordPress 3.8 <

I may suggest some starter themes:

• Underscores.me
• Bones
• Roots
• Quark
• BootstrapWP
• Hybrid Base
• _tk starter theme
• Themify Basic

Those themes will get you on the start track, they are also frequently updated, so don't worry about code compatibility.

When using a starter theme, it's not always recommended to built using a child theme, not all of the starters are meant to be this way, however building a child theme will allow you to easily update the core theme while continue using your customized one.

WordPress child themes

Answer 2

You should start by building a "Child theme" of your favorite theme, that way you can keep the functions and update of a theme. you should have a look there

http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes