A large number of people are interested in designing wordpress templates for one reason or another. For instance, if you have a wordpress blog, you may find it necessary to try and customize it to meet your own personal needs. Most of the time, such needs are so unique that it may be difficult to find a premade template that you can use for such purposes. In other cases, being a good template designer can also be a good way to make money, since there are many people who are willing to pay a lot of money for such things. Irrespective of your motive for designing the wordpress templates, there are a number of very simple things that you must always keep in mind. Of course, it’s a good idea to ensure that you use new technology to ensure that you design a visually appealing and functional template. However, other basic issues you must never ignore include:
The template should never be too large in size
There are times when people will try and use many different components such as high resolution images to make the templates. While this may sound like a good idea, you also need to remember that the fact that the site is large means that it will load slowly for different people. When you are designing a template, always make sure that it’s as light as possible to reduce the chances of users becoming frustrated over slow load times. This will make people prefer your templates or visit your blog more.
Have the template optimized for view using different browsers
When you are designing a wordpress template, you need to remember that not everyone is going to use it using the computer and browser that you like. The template is going to be accessed using all manner of browsers and operating systems, including mobile devices. This means that ideally, you need to make sure that you design yours in such a manner that it can be accessed by anyone using one of these devices. The key to doing this is to make sure that you keep this issue in mind when coding, and that you also test the site on various platforms before deploying it.
Don’t make it too complex
From time to time, you will find it irresistible to give the template plenty of new toys and features that make it look modern and cool. However, you should also consider the issue of practicality when you are doing this. Ideally, the template needs to be as basic as possible, while at the same time offering the amount of functionality that you need from it. Granted, getting this balance right is normally difficult for even the most experienced of template designers. However, if you don’t try to take it into consideration, you are likely to design a template that is overly complicated and which may end up going wrong most of the time. The golden rule of making any template is to keep the functionality issue in mind. When you consider all the above when designing one, you will be able to do it without much of a hassle.
Robert is a designer and blogger, interested in films, high-tech and Flash Templates