# Why am I finding Discourse so difficult to customize?

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-am-i-finding-discourse-so-difficult-to-customize/303671
**Category:** Development
**Created:** [April 13, 2024, 1:51pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-am-i-finding-discourse-so-difficult-to-customize/303671 "2024-04-13T13:51:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 7

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### Author: ![Arkshine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/arkshine/32/298682_2.png) [@Arkshine](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Arkshine)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2024, 7:21pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-am-i-finding-discourse-so-difficult-to-customize/303671/7 "2024-04-13T19:21:08Z")

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Here are some resources you might find interesting to familiarize yourself with Discourse:

> [@Beginner's guide to using Discourse Themes](https://meta.discourse.org/t/beginners-guide-to-using-discourse-themes/91966):
>
> This is a crash course in Discourse theme basics. The target audience is everyone who is not familiar with Discourse themes. If you’ve already used Discourse theme / theme components, this guide is probably not something you need to read. What are themes and theme components? A theme or theme component is a set of files packaged together designed to either modify Discourse visually or to add new features. Let’s start with themes. Themes In general, themes are not supposed to be compatible …

> [@Developing Discourse Themes & Theme Components](https://meta.discourse.org/t/beginners-guide-to-developing-discourse-themes/93648):
>
> Discourse Themes and Theme Components can be used to customize the look, feel and functionality of Discourse’s frontend. This section of the developer guides aims to provide all the reference materials you need to develop simple themes for a single site, right up to complex open-source theme components. This introduction aims to provide a map of all the tools and APIs for theme development. If you prefer a step-by-step tutorial for theme development, jump straight to: Themes vs. Theme Compon…

> [@Theme Developer Quick Reference Guide](https://meta.discourse.org/t/theme-developer-quick-reference-guide/110448):
>
> As themes grow more powerful, there’s more to remember about how they work. We have loads of detailed documentation under [#howto / #themes](https://meta.discourse.org/tags/c/howto/themes), but if you just need something to jog your memory, this guide may help. General Resources [scroll Beginner’s guide](https://meta.discourse.org/t/beginners-guide-to-using-discourse-themes/91966)[scroll Designer’s guide](https://meta.discourse.org/t/designers-guide-to-discourse-themes/152002/1)[scroll Developer’s guide](https://meta.discourse.org/t/developer-s-guide-to-discourse-themes/93648)[paintbrush Theme Creator](http://theme-creator.discourse.org)[desktop_computer Theme CLI](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-theme-cli-console-app-to-help-you-build-themes/82950)[notebook_with_decorative_cover Theme Directory](https://meta.discourse.org/c/customization/theme/61/none)[jigsaw Component Directory](https://meta.discourse.org/c/customization/theme-component/120)[wrench Theme Modifiers](https://meta.discourse.org/t/theme-modifiers-a-brief-introduction/150605)[wrench Themeable site…](https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/374376)

Take your time to read! Some guides contain links to external guides as well.

If you have questions, ask #Development 👍 .

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