Using Wordpress Themes for clients

wavyglanbles

wavyglanbles

Member
Hey guys

Someone wants me to set up a website for him (I do graphic design for him but never done anything web-based before, my only web experience is that I know how to use Wordpress for my own site using themes), and I think the budget will be pretty low in comparison to professional websites.

What I'd like to know is...Is it ok to use a free Wordpress theme for a client's website? If not, what would you recommend to build a quick yet nice-looking website?
 
See if you can get the client to consider a premium wordpress theme that does what they want it to do. It will cost them about £50, considerably less than a custom design and build.
 
If you have to use a theme, ALWAYS go for a premium theme. The documentation and support are far better, as is the general quality of the site.

A word of warning..
Client's will undoubtedly request you move things, edit bits, add bits. If you don't know how the code works, you will come unstuck! Make sure the client is 100% happy with using a theme and understands the limitations BEFORE you start. If they're not, up the budget and employ a web guy to do the hard work.
 
Couldn't agree more with BigDave. Our website was built using wordpress and although lots were changed its brilliant, we we're told the limitations and were happy to go ahead. It all boils down to if they're happy and what budget they have...
 
It's worth spending some time looking into what the premium theme offers and how it works. There is a great deal of difference - one theme might use shortcodes for everything and another might use visual composer. One theme might be very, very poorly coded and another lean and mean. Basically, don't just go for looks.
 
My main qualm with using a theme is the design/features of the theme often dictate the content of the site, rather than allowing for a design based on the content itself.
 
Paul Murray said:
My main qualm with using a theme is the design/features of the theme often dictate the content of the site, rather than allowing for a design based on the content itself.
Click to expand...
Nail - head. Using a premium theme you effectively shoe horn what you have in to the design available. That said - sometimes it doesn't work out too badly when you consider what that kind of budget might have produced.
 
I think you can use a theme if the client has a limited budget. But the only issue with using someone's else's theme is that you have to work with someone else's code which can lead to all kinds of issues if not careful!
 
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