The introduction of web management systems like the WordPress Content Management System (CMS) has effectively improved web design and web development for web users.
This greatly benefits non-technical users thinking of building a digital presence that is easy to manage.
Before blogging and the development of powerful content management systems, if you wanted a site, you had to wait until both the website development and website design processes were completely done. This process could mean weeks, even many months of waiting around!
The development of WordPress themes changed all this. In this post, we explain what WP themes are, how they save you money on website design costs, and how themes help you easily customize your site.
A Revolution In Web Design
Businesses have been benefiting from a tremendous change in web design that has been going for several years now. If you are a business owner, you will want to know about this, because it can save your business thousands of dollars on website development or website design costs.
Let’s review what happened before WordPress came along:
The first step would be to discuss your requirements with a website developer or web designer. Next, the actual design itself would be decided upon. This meant spending time with someone with web site design skills going over design elements of the web site such as the layout, colors, styles, graphic elements, content, etc.
Every page of your website then had to be individually created with all the design elements and scripts coded around the content. The pages were then assembled together into a website using links and navigation menus and uploaded to your server, along with every other file required to make your website work – script libraries, images, media, etc.
(image source:adobe.com)
Only after everything passed testing and was functioning the way it was intended to (and looking the way a client had wanted it to look), was the site considered to be completed and ready for delivery.
The next stage in the evolution of business web design was the introduction of “website templating elements”. A web template allows design elements of the website to be worked on separately from the page content. The introduction of ready-made templates helped make web site development faster and resulted in reduced production costs. This also allowed website developers to work with businesses and clients with smaller budgets …
(image source: www.dreamweaver-templates.org)
As more web site development companies started using “template-based” websites, web templates started being created that could offer various customization settings, such as the option to switch colors, styles, layouts
As websites and website editing software developed, web templates also began transforming into web templating “systems” that let website owners control their site’s design aspects.
And then, WordPress was developed and helped to kick off a new content management 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 drive the concept of a website template system further.
A WordPress theme controls the design elements of the website. It lets you add a “skin” to your site similarly to what a template system does but it also also provides you with complete control over the management, appearance and customization aspects of all template settings.
As WordPress puts it …
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, one of the unique and revolutionary features of a WP theme is that how your site appears to visitors in no way affects the management of your content.
In plain English terms, what this means is that a theme lets you change the design of your website as much and as often as you want without affecting your site’s content and all the functionality you’ve built into it. For example, if you have configured WordPress site for e-commerce, replacing the theme won’t affect the content or the functionality of the web site. All e-commerce features, site and plugin settings and product information will remain unaffected, but your site will look completely different.
Why is this great for business owners?
Because with WordPress, you no longer need to spend weeks or months waiting for your website design to be done. You can get your business website built simply and start with any WordPress theme you like, and completely change the look, feel and design of your WordPress site in mere seconds, whenever you choose … and as many times as you like!
Even better, you can easily install a theme on your WP site without the need of web code development knowledge. Simply choose a WordPress theme you want, install it on your website and activate it. WordPress lets you change your website design and customize elements like headers, layout, styling options and more in less than a few minutes …
Since WordPress is open source software, commercial web design companies all around the world can create themes specifically for the WordPress platform using the WordPress templating system.
This means that loads of high quality WordPress themes can be downloaded by WordPress users. WordPress are usually distributed freely under the terms of the GNU General Public License Definition, or they can be purchased as Premium (paid) WordPress themes.
The WordPress team maintains a FREE theme directory which allows WordPress users to download, access and install thousands of excellent website templates at $0 cost …
(WordPress.org – Theme Directory)
As the popularity of WordPress increases, more designers are now focusing on developing themes for a wider range of uses.
Themes range from simple-looking, to stylish designs that are simply breathtaking and would normally cost many hundreds of dollars to design. Surprisingly, most WordPress themes are quite inexpensive.
You can see a number of WP theme galleries containing many examples of WordPress themes here:
(Browse Thousands Of FREE WordPress Themes!)
WP Themes – Benefits & Advantages
Here are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using WordPress themes over using traditional web template design:
WP Theme Installation Is Easy & Fast
Themes are very easy to install on your site. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your WP admin section and activate. Even easier still, you can install any of the themes listed in the theme repository at WordPress.org) directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Additionally,
- WordPress has a growing online community of professional website developers and development companies who, collectively, make thousands of professional WordPress Themes available to WP users. Many of these themes are 100% free to use!
- Themes give sites a consistent look across all of the site’s elements, i.e. pages, headers, footers, menus, 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 disturbing the underlying content of your website.
- Many WP themes come with built-in features and options that let you customize the site’s layout and design elements and create a unique look to suit your needs.
- Many themes are built using a framework that allows you to upgrade the theme to newer versions without losing any customizations (e.g. CSS styles)
- WordPress lets you search, upload, install and update WordPress Themes automatically from the site’s administration interface.
- WordPress themes helps you save hundreds, even thousands of dollars on web development costs. Free themes cost nothing and most “Premium”WP themes are typically quite affordable.
Responsive WordPress Themes
Many WP theme designers are now creating WP themes that incorporate “responsive” functionality.
A responsive theme enables websites to automatically readjust the web layout to display smoothly over different screen sizes and resolutions, as well as across different platforms) …
A responsive theme is also optimized for each platform. Users can navigate, read and load a site on various device browsers without having to resize anything, or requiring website owners to install additional display elements.
Note: When selecting, WordPress themes, it’s a good idea to choose a responsive WordPress theme. Not only will a responsive theme ensure that your website displays well across all of your visitors’ devices, but it also means that the theme is newer than non-responsive themes and therefore probably complies with the latest standards of web design.
Hopefully, this overview has helped you gain a better understanding about WordPress themes, what WP themes are, how WP themes help you save money on website design costs, and how WP themes make it easy to customize your WP site.
To learn where to search for great themes for your website or blog, go here:
***
"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group
***