# IDE for theme generation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Themes\ **Created:** [July 11, 2018, 1:36pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/ide-for-theme-generation/1947 "2018-07-11T13:36:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mvanio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@mvanio](https://forum.ghost.org/u/mvanio)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 1:36pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/ide-for-theme-generation/1947/1 "2018-07-11T13:36:10Z")
Hi, I have an old theme that I’d like to change a few things on; pages for tags, css, a few bugs that have cropped up since v1.x of Ghost. What software is good for making and amending themes? What do you use/recommend for an intermediate user? Thx. ---
**Author:** ![Hannah](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/hannah/32/22_2.png) [@Hannah](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Hannah)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/ide-for-theme-generation/1947/2 "2018-07-11T13:55:00Z")
Personally, I use a big IDE for developing Ghost, but when I want to edit a theme, I use brackets: > **[A modern, open source code editor that understands web design](https://brackets.io/)** > > Brackets is a lightweight, yet powerful, modern text editor. We blend visual tools into the editor so you get the right amount of help when you want it. With new features and extensions released every 3-4 weeks, it's like getting presents all year... ---
**Author:** ![mvanio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@mvanio](https://forum.ghost.org/u/mvanio)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 2:03pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/ide-for-theme-generation/1947/3 "2018-07-11T14:03:47Z")
Thanks. I have brackets and have used it in the past, but not for hbs files. Is there documentation on how to preview hbs files, or an extension that you recommend? ---
**Author:** ![dsecareanu](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/dsecareanu/32/413_2.png) [@dsecareanu](https://forum.ghost.org/u/dsecareanu)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 2:04pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/ide-for-theme-generation/1947/4 "2018-07-11T14:04:58Z")
There’s also this: [Download - Sublime Text](https://www.sublimetext.com/3) with a handlebars option here: [GitHub - nrw/sublime-text-handlebars: A more legible Handlebars package for Sublime Text 2](https://github.com/nrw/sublime-text-handlebars) (if you’re a MacOS user). There are also other options (i.e. Atom - [Sunsetting Atom | The GitHub Blog](https://atom.io/packages/Handlebars)): [The 5 Most Popular Code Editors for 2018 - DZone](https://dzone.com/articles/the-5-most-popular-code-editors-for-2018) ---
**Author:** ![mvanio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@mvanio](https://forum.ghost.org/u/mvanio)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/ide-for-theme-generation/1947/5 "2018-07-11T15:15:56Z")
OK. So handlebars extensions for highlighting will be useful but how do I preview hbs files? Is it a matter of precompiling, if so how? And yes, I’m using MacOS. ---
**Author:** ![Sarah](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/sarah/32/21755_2.png) [@Sarah](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Sarah)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/ide-for-theme-generation/1947/6 "2018-07-12T00:14:06Z")
When you say, “preview hbs files,” do you mean preview the changes you’re making to the theme in the browser? Or something else? You can always setup a [local install of Ghost](https://docs.ghost.org/docs/install-local) to preview your theme changes before uploading to your production site. ---
**Author:** ![mvanio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@mvanio](https://forum.ghost.org/u/mvanio)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/ide-for-theme-generation/1947/7 "2018-07-12T16:20:14Z")
Perfect! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![pascalandy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/pascalandy/32/444_2.png) [@pascalandy](https://forum.ghost.org/u/pascalandy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/ide-for-theme-generation/1947/8 "2018-07-24T19:28:50Z")
Big fan of VS Code. I used Atom and Brackets but I always go back to VS Code 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Matheus\_Clemente](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/matheus_clemente/32/391_2.png) [@Matheus\_Clemente](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Matheus_Clemente)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/ide-for-theme-generation/1947/9 "2018-07-25T13:22:00Z")
VS Code or Sublime