Wordpress Themes For Non-Designers
Wordpress is a great free tool for Blog and Website publishing. The look and layout of your site is the first impression your visitors have of you, your site and your content. Webmasters have the opportunity of purchasing a theme, designing their own theme, or even enlisting the services of a designer for their website to get just the right look. However if you are working on a budget, don’t overlook the free Wordpress themes that are available!
Before you even start scouring template sites for ‘the right look’ it is important to take some time to establish exactly what that is. What is the purpose of your site? Who is your audience? It might seem obvious but a site aimed at graphic designers is going to have very different aesthetic requirements compared to one aimed at programmers. Is your subject matter contemporary or classic? Playful or serious? How frequently will you post? Is your content time-sensitive or will it be eternally topical? Will visitors pour over your content for hours at a time, or are they looking for quick solutions to their problems? All these things are important considerations for the structure and look of your website.
With a clear definition of your goals you already have an idea of the kinds of themes you will be able to automatically eliminate from consideration, saving yourself time and sparing yourself the ‘joy’ of indecision.
While it is possible to make adjustments to themes, the very premise of this entry is that it is directed at non-designers. (Indeed if you were a designer, you could just design a theme from scratch.)
It is important to judge each theme on its own merits and not its perceived “potential.” You want something that you can add your own flair to, without making a great deal of changes to - especially in terms of coding, structure and graphics. Most theme designers assume you will want to brand your own site and make allowances for this. Many, though not all, will have a ‘configuration’ page which you access from within the Wordpress Dashboard - offering for slight variations on themes, especially in terms of color schemes and general appearance.
Are widgets important to you and your site’s functionality? Please be aware that not all themes that are available are ‘widget-ready.’ If a major function of your site requires the use of a widget and your theme doesn’t make allowances for widgets, disregard it and keep looking. Please keep your vision for your site and its usability in the front of your mind at all times. Don’t ever compromise the integrity of your site in the pursuit of some pretty design element.
Experiment with lots of free themes until you feel confident with your selection. Remember, you can change between themes at a moment’s notice, and using free themes - the price is always right.
Finally, remember content is king! It doesn’t matter how good looking your website is, if it offers nothing of interest or value to your visitors you will not have any return traffic.
