[wp-hackers] newbie question on custom page templates

[John Black]

Great analogy, Andrew!
I only wish: a) I had an unlimited budget; or b) I could do it myself (i.e., I could understand code)


On 12 Mar 2012, at 17:28, Doug Stewart wrote:

> On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 11:09 AM, Andrew Gray <andrew at graymerica.com> wrote:
>> My thoughts on purchasing pre-made themes.
>> 
>> They are like a manufactured home.  It is great if you want one that looks just like that, but to try and get it to change to much is an uphill battle.
>> 
>> If you need something custom, build it yourself, and if you can't figure it out, hire someone who can.  Start with a PSD mockup and cut it up into HTML, then add the wordpress code.
>> 
>> We just got done building a website for a national bank that had 40 different page/ category/ archive templates,  four different contact forms, and nine custom post types.
>> 
>> It was like building a custom home,  we had to plan, sketch and design every piece ourselves.  WP is a great platform, but it is not magic.  Theme designers are looking to sell as many copies of their theme, so they can not plan for you specific requirements.
>> 
>> Wordpress sites only have to look like a blog if you let them.
>> 
> 
> Yes and no. Basing your work on a preexisting framework/parent theme
> can ultimately save you a ton of work. I know folks who specialize in
> doing things with Twentyten and Twentyeleven that you'd be
> hard-pressed to believe.
> 
> A "premium" theme is little more than another tool -- just as you need
> to learn the ins-and-outs of WordPress flows and syntaxes, you'll need
> to do the same for these themes/frameworks. Once you get them down,
> though, they can save you ALOT of work.
> 
> Think of them as those pre-fab house elements: LEGO bricks for
> building a theme. They do a lot of the heavy lifting, you just have to
> have the imagination to make a dragon.
> 
> -- 
> -Doug
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