The introduction of flexible website management systems like WordPress has effectively improved web design and web development for users.
This greatly benefits individuals or businesses planning to run a web presence that they can manage themselves.
Prior to “blogging” and the development of powerful CMS software, if you wanted a business website, you normally had to wait until both the web development and web design processes were fully completed. This process could mean waiting around for weeks, sometimes even months!
The development of WordPress themes changed all this. In this article, we look at what WordPress themes are, how they can help your business save money on web design costs, and how themes let you easily customize your site.
Web Design Revolution
More website owners today are benefiting from a change in web design that started many years ago. If you are a business owner, you may want to learn about this, because it can save you thousands of dollars on web development and website design costs.
In a nutshell, this is what happened before WordPress was introduced:
First, you would discuss your project with a website development agency or designer. After this, the design itself would be discussed and agreed upon. This meant time being spent with someone with web design skills discussing areas of your website such as the layout, colours, formats, page elements, content, etc.
Each page of your site then had to be individually created with all your design elements and scripts coded into your page content. All the pages were then assembled together into a web site using links and custom coded navigation menus and uploaded to your server, along with every other file needed to make your site work – script libraries, graphic images, media, etc.
(image source:adobe.com)
Only once everything passed testing and functioned the way it was intended to (and looking how a client had wanted it to look), was the web site deemed as being finished and ready for delivery.
Then, website “templates” came along”. A web template allows the ”look and feel” of the website to be created separately from content on the page. Having templates helped make the process of site creation faster and resulted in reduced production costs. This also enabled website development firms to work with business clients and clients with smaller budgets …
(image source: www.dreamweaver-templates.org)
As the number of web site development firms using “template-based” web design services increased, web templates were created to provide different customizable settings, like color palettes, the ability to specify different page layouts and content styles, and so on.
As websites and website editing applications developed, website templates also started to transform into website templating ”systems”, letting users and website developers control the design components of a web site.
Then, WordPress came along and helped to kick off a new web revolution …
(WordPress – A Content Publishing Revolution)
To learn more about content management systems and the benefits of the WordPress CMS, see the tutorial below:
The WordPress Theme
WordPress themes push website template systems one step further.
A WordPress theme controls and integrates all of the design elements of your website. It allows you to add a “skin” over your site similarly to what a template system does but it also also provides users with complete control over the management, presentation and customization aspects of the site’s template options.
As per the official WordPress site …
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 above, one of the unique features of WordPress is that how your website appears to visitors on the outside is managed independently of the management of your content.
Basically, what this means is that a theme lets you modify the design of your site as often as you like without modifying your website’s content and all the functionality you’ve built into it. For example, if WordPress site has been set up for e-commerce, replacing the theme won’t affect the content or the functionality of the site. All e-commerce features, site and plugin settings and product information will remain intact, but your site will look completely different.
This is important. Why?
Because with WordPress, you no longer need to spend weeks or months waiting for your website to be done. You can get your business website built simply and get started with any theme you like, and then completely change the look, feel and design of your website in a few minutes, whenever you decide … and as many times as you like!
Even better, you can easily replace any theme on your WordPress site with no website design knowledge required. Simply choose a theme you want, install it on your website and activate it. WordPress allows you to change your site’s design and customize elements like headers, layout, style settings and more in less than a few minutes …
Because WordPress is made available as open source software, thousands of website design companies from all over the world can design themes specifically for the WordPress platform using the WordPress template system.
This means that loads of great WordPress themes can be downloaded by WP users. Themes are usually distributed for Free under the terms of the GNU General Public License Definition, or sold as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
The WordPress team maintains a FREE WordPress Theme Directory which allows WordPress users to access thousands of excellent themes at no cost …
(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)
As more users turn to WordPress for online publishing, more designers are now focusing on developing themes for a wider audience of WordPress site owners.
Themes range from corporate-looking, to designs that are quite beautiful and could easily cost thousands of dollars to develop. Surprisingly, most premium themes are really inexpensive to buy.
You can see several theme galleries containing stunning examples of WordPress themes here:
(Browse Thousands Of FREE WordPress Themes!)
Benefits Of Using Themes
Here are just some of the many benefits and advantages of choosing WordPress themes over using website building applications that require traditional website design:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
Themes are really easy to install on your site. Just upload a zip file that contains the plugin to your Plugins folder via your admin user login and activate. Even easier still, you can install any of the themes listed in the themes directory at WordPress.org) directly from your WP site’s admin area.
Additionally …
- WordPress has a growing online community of professional web designers and design companies who, collectively, make thousands of professional WP Themes available to users. And many of these themes are 100% free to use!
- Themes give sites a unified and consistent “look and feel” across all of the site’s elements, i.e. pages, headers, footers, menus, etc …
- A “theme” works independently of your web site’s content. This allows you swap themes as often as you need without affecting the underlying content of your web site.
- Many themes provide built-in features and options that allow you to customize the theme’s layout, style and design elements to create a unique look to suit your needs.
- Many WordPress themes are built using a framework that allows you to upgrade the theme to a newer theme version without losing its unique customizations (e.g. styles)
- WordPress allows you to search, upload and install WordPress Themes automatically from your dashboard.
- WordPress themes helps you save thousands of dollars on website design costs. Free WP themes cost nothing and most “Premium”WP themes are typically very inexpensive.
Responsive WP Theme Design
Many theme developers are now developing themes that incorporate “responsive” design.
A responsive theme enables websites to automatically resize to display smoothly over different screen sizes and resolutions, as well as across different devices (e.g. laptops, iPads, cell phones, etc.) …
A responsive theme is also optimized for different types of devices. Users can navigate, read and display a site on all devices without having to readjust their browser settings, or requiring website owners to install additional display elements.
Note: When searching for WordPress themes, we recommend choosing a responsive WordPress theme. Not only will a responsive theme ensure that the content and layout of your site works across your visitors’ devices, it also means that the theme is newer than most non-responsive themes and therefore should comply with the latest standards, practices and techniques of web design and coding.
Hopefully, the above overview has helped you gain a clearer understanding about themes, what WP themes are, how WordPress themes help you save money, and how WP themes allow you to easily customize your site.
To learn where to find great WordPress themes for your blog, see this post: Finding Great Premium And Free WordPress Templates For Your Business Online.
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum
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