Nathan Wrigley interviews Rob Ruiz about WP Rig, a free open‑source toolkit and starter theme for modern WordPress theme development. Rob, a designer‑turned‑developer who now works as an architect at an agency, became WP Rig’s maintainer after discovering the project, joining a maintainer call, and taking it on when the previous maintainer stepped back.

What WP Rig is
– WP Rig is a minimal, opinionated theme development framework and starter theme that combines PHP, Composer packages, Node tooling, and build tools to provide a modern developer experience.
– It’s like a contemporary underscores-style starter but with integrated tooling to enforce WordPress best practices, automate CSS/JS processing, and speed up development.
– It targets people who want more control and want to learn theme development: from experienced developers to designers who want to start tinkering with code.

Why Rob chose WP Rig
– He appreciated its minimal, WordPress‑native approach (no foreign templating languages) and good alignment with Core WordPress.
– WP Rig supports modern CSS workflows (PostCSS originally, now more modern tooling) so developers can use future CSS features today, compiled back for current browser support.
– It provides guardrails: linters and checks that help teams keep consistent coding standards, useful for agencies and multi‑developer projects.

Who it’s for and the learning curve
– WP Rig assumes you’ll work on your local machine, not in the remote WP admin. You can start small—edit a few CSS rules—and gradually learn more.
– Required tools: Node.js, Composer, and a local development environment (Local WP, wp-env/Docker, WordPress Studio, etc.).
– Developers new to local tooling can take it step by step; WP Rig lets you focus on the parts you want to learn first (e.g., CSS) without forcing everything at once.

Workflow highlights
– WP Rig uses build tooling to process CSS, TypeScript/JS, and other assets on your computer.
– When you’re ready to ship, the bundle process generates a distributable theme: it replaces WP Rig references with your theme’s name so the shipped theme looks and behaves like any other theme.
– This makes it suitable for client projects, custom themes, or commercial distribution.

Full Site Editing, blocks, and paradigms
– WP Rig started in the classic PHP template paradigm but has evolved to support Full Site Editing (FSE), block themes, and hybrid approaches.
– It includes CLI commands to convert a project between classic, block, and universal/hybrid paradigms, enabling developers to choose the workflow that fits their project.
– WP Rig now supports block authoring at the theme level. Baking blocks into a theme disqualifies the theme from wordpress.org, so that approach fits private client projects or commercial themes rather than repo contributions.
– Rob argues theme‑level control can be valuable (for example, custom navigation blocks that are tightly coupled to a theme’s design).

Education and standards
– A key aim of WP Rig is educational: to help people learn how themes and the web stack work (HTML, CSS, JS) and to encourage contributors to the broader WordPress ecosystem.
– WP Rig integrates code quality tools—like PHPCS and the WordPress Coding Standards (WPCS)—so developers can check their code against WordPress standards before submitting themes or publishing.
– These guardrails reduce friction for contributors and make theme code more robust whether for the wordpress.org repo or commercial use.

Community and maintenance
– After Rob adopted the project he overhauled it, producing a major v3 release that replaced older tooling (like Gulp) with faster, leaner modern build tools (esbuild, Lightning CSS, etc.).
– The contributor base is smaller than it once was; much of the current work is driven by Rob with occasional contributors. Rob aims to grow the community again and invites contributions via GitHub.
– Resources: documentation, video tutorials, and a Discord community are available on the WP Rig site.

Getting started and resources
– Visit wprig.io for docs, learn materials, videos, and links to contribute.
– Pre requisites: Node, Composer, and a local WordPress environment.
– Rob is reachable via the WP Rig Discord and on LinkedIn for questions or guidance.

Closing
– WP Rig provides a modern, minimal toolkit for building themes, suitable for learning and professional workflows, and has been updated to support classic, hybrid, and block paradigms.
– Rob encourages people to explore WP Rig, use its educational resources, and contribute to the project and WordPress.

For more information and links: wprig.io.

Nathan Wrigley hosts the Jukebox Podcast from WP Tavern. This episode features Rob Ruiz, a designer-turned-developer who now works as an architect at an agency and maintains WP Rig, an open source toolkit for WordPress theme development. WP Rig is a minimal, modern starter theme and development framework that integrates Composer and Node tooling, enforces WordPress coding standards, and enables the use of modern CSS features today.

How Rob got involved
Rob began using WordPress around 2010. After exploring several theme frameworks, he discovered WP Rig and appreciated its opinions, alignment with WordPress Core, and built-in best-practice checks. He started using it, joined a maintainer Zoom when the project needed new caretakers, and after conversations with the original maintainer became the primary steward of the project, with a few occasional contributors.

What WP Rig is
WP Rig is both a starter theme and a development toolkit. Think of it like a modern, opinionated underscores — a scaffold that includes Node and Composer dependencies and developer tools to improve workflow, enforce standards, and automate tasks (CSS processing, linting, bundling). It’s designed to be lean, giving developers a clean base to customise rather than imposing unfamiliar templating systems.

Who it’s for
WP Rig suits a range of users:
– Designers and front-end developers who want modern CSS workflows and better control.
– Agency teams that need consistent patterns, shared tooling, and enforceable coding standards.
– Developers who want to learn how themes work and gradually take control beyond page-builder constraints.

Why WP Rig appeals
Rob praises WP Rig’s minimalism and CSS tooling. It allowed him to use modern CSS features (e.g., nesting) via PostCSS or similar processors before full browser support. The framework avoids forcing a different templating paradigm, keeping the theme architecture familiar to WordPress developers. For teams, WP Rig provides shared conventions and checks that make code reviews and handovers easier.

Learning curve and who it’s suitable for
Using WP Rig is a step toward code-based control of a site. It suits people who want to move beyond the WordPress admin/page builder approach and gain finer control via HTML, CSS, JS, and PHP. It does require working on a local development environment and learning some tooling, but you can focus on small, specific tasks (e.g., write only CSS) and progress at your own pace.

Tooling and prerequisites
WP Rig runs locally and uses:
– Node.js (JavaScript tooling)
– Composer (PHP package management)
– A local WordPress environment (Local, Docker-based setups, wp-env, etc.)

Development happens on your machine: CSS compilation, JavaScript bundling, TypeScript/ES builds, linting, and tests. When you’re ready to ship, WP Rig has a bundling process that generates a final theme package, replacing WP Rig references with your theme’s name so the distributed theme looks like your own work.

Themes, blocks, and full site editing (FSE)
Full site editing and block-based themes changed how themes are built. WP Rig started in the classic paradigm but can be converted to support block themes or hybrid (universal) approaches via command-line commands that alter the scaffold for FSE. WP Rig now supports block authoring at the theme level.

There’s debate about whether blocks belong in plugins or themes. Theme-level blocks make sense when a block is tightly tied to a theme’s design or navigation needs. However, baking blocks into a theme can disqualify it from the wordpress.org theme repository, so that trade-off must be considered. WP Rig gives developers the tools to author blocks in whichever paradigm they choose.

Education and guardrails
A strong focus of WP Rig is education and safe practices. The project includes documentation, video tutorials, and checks to help developers follow WordPress best practices. Tools like PHPCS with the WordPress Coding Standards are integrated so themes can be validated before submission, reducing friction when contributing to the wordpress.org repository or preparing themes for clients.

The idea is to provide guardrails: automated checks that flag issues early, while encouraging users to learn why something is a best practice. This makes the journey into development less error-prone and more instructive.

Community and contributions
When Rob took over, WP Rig’s earlier community had dispersed. Maintaining a modern toolkit requires not only WordPress knowledge but familiarity with broader front-end tooling (esbuild, Lightning CSS, Vite-era patterns). Currently the project is largely maintained by Rob with occasional contributors. WP Rig offers a Discord server, YouTube channel, and GitHub repository with contributing guides and issue tracking. Rob hopes to grow the community around WP Rig now that version 3 — a significant overhaul focused on speed and modern tooling — is available.

Why the project matters
Rob emphasizes that WordPress’s future depends on contributors and tinkerers. Tools that make learning and contributing easier help sustain the ecosystem. WP Rig aims to lower the barrier for developers to produce robust, standards-compliant themes and to eventually encourage contributing back to WordPress Core.

How to get started and reach Rob
To explore WP Rig, visit wprig.io where you’ll find Learn documentation, contribution instructions, and links to the Discord and YouTube tutorials. Rob is responsive on LinkedIn and available on the WP Rig Discord for questions, guidance, or help getting started.

Summary
WP Rig is a modern, minimal WordPress theme starter and toolkit focused on developer experience, modern CSS, code quality, and education. It supports classic, hybrid, and block paradigms, includes tooling to enforce standards, and aims to be a learning platform for people who want deeper control of their WordPress sites. For more, visit wprig.io or join the Discord and GitHub repo to try it and contribute.

Welcome to the Jukebox Podcast from WP Tavern. I’m Nathan Wrigley. Today’s episode features Rob Ruiz, who’s been part of the WordPress ecosystem since around 2010. He began as a designer and over time became a developer, software engineer, and now an architect. He works full-time at an agency and takes on side projects independently.

Rob is the current custodian of WP Rig (wprig.io), a free, open source toolkit and starter theme for WordPress theme development. WP Rig provides a modern, minimal, best-practices-driven starting point, bundling Composer and Node integration, developer tools, coding standards checks, and support for future-facing CSS features via tools like PostCSS (historically) and modern bundlers. It’s designed to streamline workflows, enforce standards, and let developers use cutting-edge CSS and tooling today.

How Rob Got Involved
Rob discovered WP Rig while exploring theme frameworks. He liked its opinions, alignment with WordPress core, and built-in best-practice enforcement. After using it, he joined a community call when the project sought new maintainers. Conversations with the previous maintainer led to Rob taking stewardship of the project, which he now manages with a handful of contributors.

What WP Rig Is For
WP Rig is both a starter theme and a theme development framework. Think of it like underscores but with an integrated modern development toolkit. It scaffolds common files and folders, installs Node and Composer dependencies, and adds tools to help developers build robust themes. It’s aimed at people who want more control over their sites, learn how themes work under the hood, and adopt professional workflows—whether they’re building for clients or learning to develop.

Why WP Rig Stood Out
Rob appreciated WP Rig’s minimalism and its treatment of CSS. It lets developers use future CSS features (through compilation) and keeps the approach familiar to WordPress—no foreign templating languages. For agencies and teams, WP Rig provides shared opinions and guardrails that standardize coding practices across projects, making collaboration and code reviews easier.

Who It’s For: Designers, Page Builder Users, and Developers
WP Rig is useful for a range of people:
– Designers and those comfortable with CSS who want to build or customize themes.
– Developers building bespoke sites or working in teams who need a consistent, opinionated toolkit.
– Learners who want to transition from page-builder-only workflows to code-based control.

Rob emphasizes that WP Rig is approachable: you can focus on small aspects (like CSS tweaks) without mastering the entire toolchain. The learning curve exists, but you can take incremental steps—start with styles or a single template and grow from there.

Why Code Gives More Control
Rob contrasts code-based theme work with page builders. Page builders save configuration in the database and can limit global changes. With code, you can apply universal changes easily and immediately use new web features without waiting for builder or CMS updates. That makes building a theme from scratch satisfying and powerful, especially for those who want precise, unrestricted control.

What You Need to Use WP Rig
Development happens on your local machine. WP Rig requires:
– Node.js installed for frontend tooling.
– Composer for PHP package management.
– A local development environment (Local WP, Docker-based setups, wp-env, etc.).

You develop locally with automatic compilation (CSS, JS, TypeScript) and testing tools. When ready, WP Rig’s bundling process generates a deployment-ready theme, replacing WP Rig references with your theme’s name so the output looks like any standalone theme.

Full Site Editing, Blocks, and WP Rig
Full Site Editing (FSE) introduced a UI-driven paradigm for building and customizing themes using blocks and templates inside WordPress. Rob initially worried about how this would affect WP Rig, but he’s come to see it as an opportunity. WP Rig now supports multiple paradigms: classic themes, block-based themes, and hybrid/universal themes. You can convert a WP Rig project between modes via command-line commands that alter files and configuration.

WP Rig also supports block authoring at the theme level. While some argue blocks belong in plugins, there are valid cases for placing theme-specific blocks in the theme—navigation blocks tailored to a theme’s design are a common example. Note that bundling blocks into a theme can affect eligibility for the wordpress.org theme repository, so that’s a consideration when deciding where to place block code.

Education and Guardrails
Education is a core focus for WP Rig. The toolkit includes guardrails—linters, coding standards, and automated checks—that help developers follow WordPress best practices. For example, WP Rig integrates PHP CodeSniffer with the WordPress Coding Standards (WPCS) so you can validate PHP code against official standards before submission or distribution. Rob sees WP Rig as a way to help new developers learn, test themselves, and reduce frustrating rework when submitting themes for review.

Community and Project Status
When Rob adopted WP Rig, the project had a larger team. Over time many previous contributors moved on. Maintaining WP Rig requires knowledge beyond WordPress—for example, understanding modern tooling like esbuild, Lightning CSS, or Gulp—and that has narrowed the active contributor base. Rob is the primary maintainer now, supported by a few intermittent contributors. He’s overhauled the project (WP Rig v3) to use faster, leaner modern tools and added new features.

Rob is working to grow the community again. WP Rig has documentation, a Learn section with videos, and a Discord for the community. The GitHub repo includes contribution guidelines. Rob encourages people to join the Discord, raise issues, submit PRs, and help improve the project.

Getting Started and Contact
To explore WP Rig, visit wprig.io for docs, tutorials, and contribution info. Rob is active on LinkedIn and in the WP Rig Discord; he’s available to answer questions and help people get started.

Summary
WP Rig is a modern, minimal, opinionated theme development toolkit and starter theme that helps developers build custom WordPress themes while enforcing best practices. It supports classic, hybrid, and block-based paradigms, integrates modern frontend tooling, and provides educational resources and guardrails to help developers learn and contribute confidently. Rob Ruiz maintains and continues to evolve the project, and he invites the community to get involved.