Templates are the layouts/templates of a CMS.
CMS stands for Content Management System and is the system behind your website that ensures that texts and photos can be easily modified.
This can largely be done without knowledge of code as HTML and CSS.
Well-known CMSs are WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. But also webshop systems such as Magento and PrestaShop working with templates.
A template ensures that despite a CMS being the same on the back end (the admin part), the front end in terms of look and feel is comlete different from other websites with the same CMS.
So the difference is in the front-end skin, where visitors see the website.
Wordpress provides a default template on installation. This template can be customised with knowledge of CSS and HTML. There are also several basic templates to choose from.
Having a unique template created can cost a lot of time and therefore money. In addition, it is often not a good idea in terms of reliability and functionality.
Milcraft therefore chooses to work with high-quality templates, licences purchased from well-known web designers.
These web companies do nothing but create templates. Well-known companies are 8Theme, Theme Fusion and Theme suite.
In this case, the templates are usually non-exclusive. That is, people all over the world "buy" this same template.
I say "buy" because you are not buying the template itself, but the right to use it.
This is similar to the operating system on your computer. You don't buy this one either, but you buy the right in the form of a licence to use it.
Is it bad that anyone can use this template?
Wholeheartedly: NO.
Firstly, the templates are highly customisable. Really everything, from photos to colour and fonts, can be customised.
In addition, even the best-selling templates are sold less than 10,000 times. That sounds a lot, but with over 80 million WordPress websites, that's only 1 website in 8000, not counting inactive and unused templates. There are templates like Avada with over 200,000 templates sold. However, this template is so highly customisable that it can be hard to tell it is the same template.
A non-exclusive template gives you a layout packed with features and plugins for around €60. And because hundreds or thousands of people use this template, any bugs are quickly spotted and fixed and the makers will often add all kinds of features afterwards.
Actually, we all pay the builders. Due to the low cost of design, a non-exclusive template is a good solution for ZZP and SME. Your website will look extremely good for a relatively low fee.
Quality
Are all templates of good quality? Definitely not.
As with all products, you have good and bad suppliers and products.
For example, pay attention to how a template is rated by people who have already bought the template in question.
Also look carefully in the comments on the sales page to see how quickly the creator responds and fixes a problem.
Also try to look carefully through the photos. Is the template still beautiful without the slick photos and will it stay beautiful with your own photos and text?
Features
Customising a template should be easy and comprehensive out of the box. Especially the advanced builder will be irritated by a template with too few standard customisation options. This includes options to fix menus, turn animations off and on, change colours, etc.
Do you see something on the demo website of the template in question that you would like to see different? Then ask the creators whether this can be adjusted by default.
Plugins
Many templates come with standard plugins. Plugins are software that provide additional functionality to the website.
Think of a photo slider or application to easily build and customise pages.
The included plugins also vary a lot. Some templates do not include any plugins, while others include premium plugins worth twice the purchase price of the template. Plugins are often included without a licence or a bulk licence.
So good research pays off here too.
There is also the compatibility of plugins. Certain plugins can cause failures with the template.
This is prior difficult to predict. It is usually a matter of testing.
Therefore, try to work as much as possible with plugins that the creators have included with the template or that the creators say are compatible with the template.
Where can I find good templates?
The best place to buy a template is Themeforest. This is a marketplace for templates.
This Envato website contains thousands of templates that are pre-tested by the team of Envato.
There are plenty of other places on the internet to buy template, but with Envato, you know that the makers have to meet certain quality standards and procedures.
See a nice paid template but don't feel like paying for it? Then don't make the mistake of downloading the template elsewhere from the internet.
Often, these templates then come with code that, once installed, leaves your website open to spam and other activities that cannot bear the light of day.
If you want a free template dasn you should download one from WordPress itself.
These are less comprehensive, though.
Purchasing as well as installing templates has more snags.
We will be happy to tell you more about this and can take this off your hands.
Interested? Get in touch via info@milcraft.nl, Facebook, Linkedin or 0172-897789.