Flexible website management systems like the WordPress CMS have truly improved web design and web development for business users.
This is terrific news for entrepreneurial-minded people wanting to start a web presence that is easy to manage.
Prior to blogging and the introduction of easy-to-use CMS applications, if you needed to get a professional web site for your business, you normally had to wait until both the web development and website design processes were completely done. This process could mean weeks, even sometimes many months of waiting!
The introduction of WordPress themes helped change all this. In this blog post, we explain what themes are, how WordPress themes help you save money, and how themes allow you to easily customize your WordPress site.
Evolution In Website Design
More businesses today have benefited from a revolutionary change in website design that has been going for several years now. If you are a small business owner, you may want to learn about this, because it could save you thousands of dollars on website development and website design costs.
Let’s take a look at how things typically worked in “traditional” web design before CMS systems like WordPress were developed:
The first step would be to meet with a web developer or web site designer for a brief. Next, the design itself had to be decided upon. This involved spending time with someone with web site design skills discussing things of the website such as the layout, colors, formats, page elements, content, etc.
Each page of your site then had to be individually created with your elements and codes inserted into your content. All of the pages were then assembled together into a web site using hyperlinks and navigation menus and uploaded to your server, together with every other file needed to make your site work – script libraries, graphic images, media elements, etc.
(image source:adobe.com)
Only once everything passed testing and functioned how it was supposed to (and looking the way the client had imagined it to look), was the web site deemed as being finished and ready for sign off.
Then, web design “templates” came along”. Web site templates allow the ”look and feel” of the website to be worked on separately from the page content. Having template elements helped speed up the web creation process and resulted in reduced production costs. This also allowed web developers to service businesses with less money to spend on marketing …
(image source: www.dreamweaver-templates.org)
As the number of small businesses choosing “template-based” websites increased, templates started being introduced that could offer various customization features and options, like colour palettes, the ability to pick different menu styles and elements, and so on.
As web sites and website editor tools developed, website templates also began evolving into web templating “systems” that enable website owners to manage the visual aspects of their website.
And then, a “blogging” tool called WordPress was developed and helped to start a new website 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 expand the idea of a website template system even further.
The WP theme system controls the design areas of your website. It allows you to add a “skin” over your site much like a web template system does but it also also provides you with more control over the management, appearance and ability to customize all template options.
As stated in 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, a unique and revolutionary feature of a WordPress theme is that how your site displays to site visitors externally is controlled separately from your site’s content management aspects.
In simple terms, what this means is that WP themes let you modify the design of your website as often as you want without touching your site’s content and all the work you’ve put into it. For example, if you have set up WordPress site for e-commerce, changing the entire look of your site with another theme won’t affect the content or the functionality of the website. All e-commerce features, plugin settings and product information will remain intact, but the site will look completely different.
Why is this great for businesses?
Because when your website is built with WordPress, you no longer need to wait until your website’s design is completed. You can get your website built quickly and get started with any WordPress theme you like, and change the entire look, feel and design of your WordPress site in seconds, whenever you choose … and as many times as you like!
Even better, you can easily install a theme on your WP site without needing web design skills. Simply choose a WP theme you like, install it on your site and activate it. WordPress lets you change your web design and modify elements like header images, page layout, typography and more in less than a few minutes …
Since WordPress is made available as open source software, commercial web designers from all over the world can design themes specifically for the WP CMS platform using the WP template system.
This means that loads of great WP themes can be downloaded by WordPress users. Themes are generally distributed freely under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be purchased as Premium (paid) themes.
The WordPress development team keeps a FREE WordPress Theme Directory which allows WordPress users to download and access, thousands of great web templates at no cost …
(WordPress.org – Free WordPress Theme Directory)
As more businesses turn to WordPress for online publishing, more designers are now focusing on creating themes for a wider audience of WordPress site owners.
Themes range from bare-looking, to designs that are breathtaking and would easily cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to develop. Surprisingly, most premium themes are fairly inexpensive to buy.
You can see several WP theme galleries containing stunning examples of great themes here:
(Browse Thousands Of FREE WordPress Themes!)
Benefits And Advantages Of Themes
Here are just some of the many benefits of using WordPress themes over using traditional website design:
Ready To Start Using In Minutes
Themes are really easy to install on your site. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate. Even easier still, you can install any of the themes listed in the free WordPress theme repository at WordPress.org) directly from within your WP site’s admin area.
Additionally …
- WordPress has a large online community of commercial web developers and development companies who contribute thousands of professional WP Themes available to WP users. And many of these themes are 100% free to use!
- Themes give sites a consistent look across all the site’s elements, i.e. pages, headers, footers, menus, etc …
- A “theme” works independently of your digital content. This makes it possible to replace themes as often as you like without deleting the website’s settings.
- Many themes come with additional features and settings that allow you to customize your theme’s layout, style and design properties to create a unique look to suit your preferences.
- Many WordPress themes are built using a framework that allows you to update themes to newer versions without losing any unique customizations (e.g. CSS styles)
- WordPress allows you to search, upload, install and update WordPress Themes automatically directly from within your dashboard.
- WordPress themes allow WP users to save thousands of dollars on website development costs. Free WordPress themes cost nothing and most “Premium”WP themes are normally quite affordable.
About Responsive WP Themes
Many theme developers are now creating themes that incorporate “responsive” web design.
A responsive theme allows websites to automatically reconfigure the layout to display smoothly over different monitor sizes and screen resolutions, as well as different platforms) …
A responsive theme is also optimized for different platforms. Users can scroll, read and load the site on various devices without having to readjust their browser settings, or requiring the website owner to have installed additional browser tools.
Note: When purchasing WordPress themes, it’s a good idea to choose a responsive WordPress theme. Not only will a responsive theme ensure that your web site displays well across all devices, but it also means that the theme is newer than most non-responsive themes and therefore complies with the latest standards, practices and techniques of website design and coding.
Hopefully, this article has helped you gain a clearer understanding of themes, what themes are, how WP themes can help you and your business save money, and how WordPress themes make it easy to customize a site.
In our next blog post on helping you understand WordPress features, we show you where to find great WP themes for your website or blog.
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