Template or custom design?
2022.01.03.
Template or custom design?
I think this will always remain an evergreen issue. But what is it all about? Well, there have been countless templates or themes for WordPress-based websites over the years. These templates actually give the appearance of the pages and in many cases limit the functionality of the pages.
The templates can be purchased and installed by anyone on their website if they have access to them. This is a simpler and faster type of website development and may seem cost-effective at first. On the other hand, later there will be minor questions and requests that can make the site much more expensive in the long run.
That’s because these templates know as much as they show to make me very polar. But I’ll give you a few simple examples that might make it easier to understand. As an example, a given template cannot handle an online store because it does not have such a module. It will cost much more for a developer to develop the web store management part of the template. But I say something else. In many cases, the customer is faced with the fact that this or that (e.g. share button, inappropriate blog layout) is not sympathetic to the website they are already building.
Punching in the code
Then again, all you have to do is ask the developer for the changes, because here you have to edit the source code of the template to get the desired format.
The number of examples is endless, but the end result is the same: Although the template is cheaper to buy, when extra needs arise, it can greatly increase the cost of the website, as additional improvements are needed and developers don’t like to “rummage through other code” anyway.
Templates are usually updated at regular intervals. There are several reasons for this, but I wouldn’t go into that here right now. Therefore, if changes are made to our template, it may be overwritten by the update. Of course, there is a solution for this.
Child theme
Although a so-called child theme can be derived from our template, which “adds/refers” changes to our main template separately from the original. However, we don’t always know which part of the template changes when an update is made. Usually, these templates are designed so that when you modify the code, the “core” part of the code is not modified or has no effect on other things added. But we can never be one hundred percent sure of that. The devil never Sleeps.
I am a believer in custom design because then the developer knows exactly what makes up the website. What modules do you have and how you can modify, add, or remove them. This is a slightly slower process and requires constant communication with the customer, but once it is done, any other changes can be made much easier than with the version mentioned above.
So that’s why I put my vote down to the unique design.