Flexible content publishing tools like the WordPress Content Management System (CMS) have truly improved web design and web development for business users.
This greatly benefits entrepreneurial-minded people that want to own a website that they can manage.
Before “blogging” and the development of advanced content management systems, if you wanted a site, you had to wait until both the website development and web design processes were completely done. This could mean waiting around for weeks, sometimes even months!
WordPress themes changed all this. In this blog post, we explore what themes are, how they save you and your business money on web design costs, and how themes make it easy to customize your WordPress site.
The Evolution Of Web Site Design
Website owners are benefiting from an evolution in website design that began shortly after websites were first introduced. If you own a small business, you may want to learn more about this, because it can save you thousands of dollars on web development and website design costs.
Let’s take a look at how things worked in “traditional” website development before WordPress were developed:
First, you would discuss your requirements with a web developer or designer. Then, the actual “web design” itself had to be discussed and agreed upon. This involved time being spent with a professional website designer going over areas of the website such as the layout, colors, styles, graphic elements, content, etc.
Each page of your web site then had to be hand-coded with the elements and scripts coded into your page content. All of the pages were then assembled together into a web site using links and navigation menus and uploaded to your server, along with all other files required to make your site work – script libraries, graphic images, media elements, etc.
(image source:adobe.com)
Only once everything had been tested and performed how it should (and looking how a client had wanted it to look), was the site deemed to have been finished and ready to go live.
The next step in the evolution of website design was the introduction of “web templating elements”. A website template allows design elements of the website to be worked on separately from the page content. The introduction of template elements helped to make the process of website creation faster and resulted in lowered production costs. This also allowed website developers to work with businesses with less money to spend on marketing …
(image source: www.dreamweaver-templates.org)
As more website development companies started using “template-based” websites, web templates were designed to provide clients with different customizable options, such as the ability to choose different colours, styles, layouts
As websites and web building software developed, website templates also started evolving into web template “systems” that enable website owners to manage their website’s visual aspects.
Then, a “blogging” software called WordPress came along and helped to kick off a new digital publishing revolution …
(WordPress – A Content Publishing Revolution)
To learn more about content management systems and the benefits of the WordPress CMS, see the tutorial below:
WordPress Themes
WordPress themes push the idea of a web template system further.
A WordPress theme controls and unifies every aspect of your web site design. It lets you add a “skin” over your entire site in a similar way that a template system does but also provides users with complete control over the management, presentation and ability to customize all template options.
As the official WordPress site states …
A WordPress Theme is a collection of files that work together to produce a graphical interface with an underlying unifying design for a weblog. These files are called template files. A Theme modifies the way the site is displayed, without modifying the underlying software. Themes may include customized template files, image files (*.jpg, *.gif), style sheets (*.css), custom Pages, as well as any necessary code files (*.php).
(source: WordPress.org)
As stated in the quote above, a unique feature of the WP theme is that how your web site appears to site visitors on the outside is kept independent of how your content is managed.
In plain English terms, what this means is that themes let you change the appearance of your site as often as you like without affecting your site’s content and all the work you’ve put into it. For example, if WordPress website has been configured for e-commerce, replacing the theme won’t affect the content or the functionality of your website. All e-commerce features, plugin settings and product information will remain intact, but the site will look completely different.
This is important. Why?
Because when your website is built using WordPress, you no longer have to wait until your website’s design is done. You can get your website built quickly and start with any WordPress theme you like, and change the entire look, feel and design of your WordPress site in a few seconds, whenever you decide … and as many times as you like!
Even better, you can easily install a theme on your site without needing web coding knowledge. Simply choose a WP theme you want, install it on your site and activate it. WordPress lets you change your website design and modify elements like header images, page layout, styling options and more in a few seconds …
Since WordPress is open source software, hundreds of website design companies all around the world can design themes specifically for the WP CMS platform using the WordPress template system.
This means that thousands of great WordPress themes can be downloaded by WordPress users. WP are usually distributed freely under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or sold as Premium (paid) themes.
The WordPress team keeps a FREE theme directory which allows WordPress users to access thousands of great website templates at no cost …
(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)
As the popularity of WordPress soars, more designers are now focused on creating themes for a wider audience of web users.
WP themes vary from corporate-looking, to quirky designs that are visually impressive and would typically cost thousands of dollars to commission. Surprisingly, most premium WP themes can be purchased very inexpensively, especially when compared to what it would have cost you if a web designer had to code it from scratch.
You can view several WordPress theme galleries containing stunning examples of great premium themes here:
(Browse Thousands Of FREE WordPress Themes!)
Themes – Benefits
Here are just a few of the benefits of using WordPress themes over using traditional web design:
Ready To Use In No Time
Themes are quite easy to install on your site. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate. Even easier still, you can install any of the themes listed in the WP themes directory at WordPress.org) directly from within your WP dashboard.
Additionally …
- WordPress has a large community of commercial website developers and development companies who make thousands of quality WP Themes available to WP users. Many of these themes are completely free to use!
- Themes give sites a consistent “look and feel” across all of the blog’s elements, i.e. pages, headers, footers, layout, etc …
- A “theme” works independently of your digital content. This allows you replace the “look and feel” of your web site as often as you want without deleting the underlying content of your blog.
- Many WP themes come with additional functionality and options that allow you to easily customize your site’s style and design elements to create a unique look to suit your needs.
- Many themes are built using a framework that allows users to upgrade themes to newer theme versions without losing its unique customizations (e.g. CSS styles)
- WordPress allows you to search, import, install and update WordPress Themes automatically directly from your dashboard.
- Themes helps you save hundreds of dollars on web development costs. Free themes cost nothing and most “Premium”WP themes are normally very affordable.
Responsive Themes
Many WP theme developers are now creating “responsive” WP themes.
A responsive theme allows websites to automatically resize to display smoothly over different monitor sizes and screen resolutions, as well as different devices (e.g. computers, tablets, cell phones, etc.) …
A responsive theme is also optimized for different types of devices. Users can navigate, read and display your site on different device platforms without having to readjust their browser settings, or requiring website owners to have installed additional themes.
Note: When selecting, WordPress themes, it’s a good idea to choose a responsive WordPress theme. Not only will the theme ensure that the content and layout of your site displays well on your visitors’ devices, but it also means that the theme is newer than non-responsive themes and therefore complies with the latest standards, practices and techniques of website design and web coding.
Hopefully, this basic overview has helped you gain a better understanding about themes, what themes are, how themes can help your business save money, and how WP themes make customizing your web design easy.
To learn where to find the best WordPress themes for your blog, go here:
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)
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