If you are into the website designing or development industry, you must already know that today, websites and WordPress go hand-in-hand.
Interestingly, there is a lot of confusion regarding various WordPress terminology – people tend to confuse themes with templates, which are entirely different.
In this article, we will discuss everything about WordPress templates that you need to know for a clear idea. When you know about these you will understand where and how to use them.
Finally, we’ll present a third new and dynamic approach to WordPress templates – full website kits,
What are WordPress templates?
The web design system refers to the overall site’s design in terms of individual pages as a template. It can be described as a page layout present within a theme. The template is a single-page layout and not the whole website design.
There are some common templates in WordPress which you will find on all themes. For example, the achieve.php template displays the post list while single.php displays the template for a single post. Depending on the type of website you have, you can choose the right template from the collection. A theme can contain innumerable templates in WordPress.
Apart from all the standard templates, some themes also offer special templates which deliver special design features. For example, you can use the special template for a particular page on your website, like the contact page.
You can open the WordPress editor and apply templates to individual pages of the website. But remember that not all themes would have special templates. If the theme you choose has a special template, it will be displayed on the page editor. Click on the Page Attribute box located on the right of where you will put your content.
Thus, it can be said that while a theme controls the design of the whole website, the template defines the layout of a single web page. A single theme can have multiple templates.
How to change a WordPress template?
As defined earlier, templates are page layouts that are designed to work within a WordPress theme. You will not install a single template on your site; WordPress will not give you that option. Instead, you would need to install the entire theme to your account to use a given template.
However, you can create your customized templates in WordPress if you understand web design, including HTML, CSS, and PHP. Having a strong understanding of the WordPress template hierarchy would help you too.
What are the advantages of predefined WordPress templates?
There are several ways in which predefined templates can benefit your business ROI:
- One of the main reasons people choose predefined templates is because it is much cheaper than customized ones. Even high-end templates are offered at an attractive price in different WordPress themes.
- As the layouts are already there, it will save you time while building a new website.
- Working with a predefined theme is quite easy. Anyone with a little bit of web designing knowledge will be able to build a website with predefined layouts.
What are the advantages of customizing WordPress templates?
There are several benefits of customizing your WordPress template:
- When you customize your template, you will have a uniquely designed layout, which means you can create a unique website. You can make your website look just the way you want.
- Unlike the predefined templates, you will not have to work with any restrictions with the customized ones. You can create a custom template that is unique to your website only, it will not only make your website stand out, but you will have complete control.
- Your site will always be kept up-to-date with a customized design. It can be updated according to the change in Google’s algorithm.
- Managing a custom design is much easier. You can make changes to the site according to your requirements which will make your work easier. This is not the case with predefined templates; some restrictions might limit the skills of your web developers.
Depending on your preferences and situations, you can either choose to go with predefined or custom templates. If you are a start-up with less budget and time, then go for predefined templates. But if you have the money and time, custom ones will be the right choice.
Templates? Themes? How about Full-website Kits?Some WordPress website builders offer a variety of complete, designer-made website kits. These kits include all the elements and aspects a website needs in a single kit. Consequently, these kits eliminate the need to tackle each page component (e.g. header, footer, color palettes) individually.
With just a few clicks, you can customize a kit to fit your needs and vision, and, voila, you’re up and running with a complete website!
The true power of this feature, however, lies in its replicability:
Templates, content, site settings, header, footer, 404 error page, pop-ups, color scheme, fonts, theme style, and landing pages; all the website attributes are packaged into a single kit for easy and convenient implementation.
Keep your eyes out for these! They should become a game changer when creating WordPress websites at scale.
