Own design or flexible template design for client?

Help with WordPress
#1

I’ve got a dilemma -whether to use a completely bespoke WordPress design or go with an existing flexible template that I can adjust. I’ve designed my own blog that sits in my own site, but it was hard work!

Here are my dilemmas:

  1. Using my own design (HTML with the crucial php added in) I can put everything exactly where I want it & will know the code inside out. But a template is tried & tested whereas mine isn’t…

  2. Using a template will surely be limiting in various ways (exactly how much I can change things) & I will be faced with alien code?

  3. Will my own design be capable of taking on board the huge range of plugins which make WP so attractive to use?

  4. WP advertises itself as being responsive, but using my design will only be as responsive as I design it (unless I’m missing some magical part of WP!)?

  5. For all the downsides of using my own design, it will be code I understand, most templates are purely php which I don’t understand much at all.

What do you think are the advantages/disadvantages of each route?

I realise I need to read up on all this in detail but would appreciate any pointers from anyone who has been in a similar dilemma so I don’t go off down the wrong road from the off.

Thanks

#2

Wordpress is a big pile of bloat for lazy people or clueless people to use. If you’re a designer, stick to designing. If you’re a developer, stick to developing.

Don’t be lazy, do it yourself. That way you only have your own standards to worry about.

Also, you mention the endless plugins WP has… that means your client won’t need to come back to you for extra work at extra cost.

#3

I respect your opinion on WP, but I really want thoughts from those that use (& like!) WP on the specific comments in my post to help me make an informed decision on the best route to take.

#4

If you use a good theme they often come with several templates that may do what you require. If they don’t you can create a child theme and take the core template tweak it and store it in your child theme for use in the site.

My go to theme for Wordpress is Suffusion. It has several templates built in and they can be customised. It also has a custom template that you can configure yourself. The best thing is that Suffusion is a free theme and one of the most popular on Wordpress.org for download.

#5

Thanks Valkrider, I have looked at Suffusion but haven’t been impressed with the example given of sites using it - I wonder though how much that is down to user design vs template limitations?

#6

That list of sites hasn’t been updated for a while. Suffusion has been downloaded over 1 million times so there are a lot of different sites out there using it.

Why don’t you just try it and see?

#7

Every time when I can, I use pre-build templates (I remove all necessary staff like backlinks from footer). It saves me huge amount of time.

Sponsor our Newsletter | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service