WrdPress templates are one of the basic pillars of WordPress website components, as they are responsible for designing the site, and they differ into several categories and types that are chosen according to the type of site and its needs. In the following article, here is everything you need to know about it: what it is, how it works, and where you can find the best ones?
What are WordPress templates?
WordPress templates are what determine the design or appearance of the site and allow it to be customized. They are responsible for determining font characteristics, colors, page shapes, creating menus and widgets, and other characteristics related to the design process.
The bottom line is that there are thousands of WordPress templates that you can choose and switch between, and while the WordPress system itself is a software system ready to provide website functionality, WordPress templates offer ready-made, customizable themes, without the need to create a design for the site’s appearance from scratch.
How do WordPress templates work?
Website software systems consist of two basic parts, the first part is the (Back End) and the second part is the (Front End).
To simplify it, we can imagine the website is a restaurant, so what are its main parts? Kitchen and dining hall.
The kitchen includes the necessary tools for cooking, food ingredients, etc.; That is, it is the engine of the restaurant, and the dining hall is the interface that allows visitors to eat meals, and attention is paid to its appearance.
In this case, the back end of the website can be likened to the kitchen, and the front end is the dining hall. That is, the software system responsible for implementing the site’s functions is the (Back End), and this is what the WordPress system provides programmatically, and the site interface that reflects those functions and determines the way they appear is the (Front End), and this is what the WordPress template provides.
Technically, a WordPress template consists of several software files that present the WordPress system in a planned manner in terms of appearance and design features, and also allows for the possibility of modifying these features in what is called customizing a WordPress template.
What functions do WordPress templates do?
Of course, the first basic function of WordPress templates is to provide website design. To do this, WordPress templates perform several design functions for parts of the site, and these parts can be divided into main and sub-parts, and the main parts are divided into the following:
1- Heading of the site
The header is the upper part of the website, and often reflects the identity of the site in terms of displaying the logo, name, and main menu. It can also contain a search bar, account icon, login, etc.
The WordPress template offers the design of the site’s header according to the template’s features, as the division varies from one template to another in this case, and it can be modified within certain limits, such as enlarging or reducing elements, changing the font type and size, adding the site’s logo, and others.
In addition to specifying the properties of the previous elements, the template can also specify whether the site header will be sticky while scrolling down or not, while allowing it to change its appearance while scrolling. Advanced templates also make it possible to add a background image, and provide more customizations such as changing the position and size of the logo, and changing menu locations.
2- The site’s body
The body of the site is everything that lies between the head and the foot of the site, and varies from one page to another. The home page contains elements, the blog page contains elements, and the communication page contains elements.
The website’s interface is located on its home page, and one of the functions of a WordPress template is to design it, whether indirectly by modifying the options located in the template design tool itself, or directly by dragging the design templates and leaving them in the desired place.
The body of the site can include design forms such as slides, the latest news or articles, content describing the site and its services, a newsletter registration form, and many other forms that differ according to the type of site.
Designing the main interface of the site is the biggest task when editing a WordPress template, and the best template is always the most comprehensive in terms of providing more design templates and an easier-to-use design tool.
3- Footing
The footer is the final part located at the end of the website, and is often used as a quick guide that includes a group of lists of website pages divided according to their type. It is worth noting that the site footer is fixed on all pages in most types of sites, while the site header design can be changed from one page to another.
In addition, the template contains sub-elements as follows:
4- Sidebar
The sidebar of websites is always noticeable on the pages of blogs and online stores, in the case of blogs, for example, it can include the latest articles and comments, popular topics, a small search bar, and the most important news. In online stores, it includes the list of site categories, the price bar, the latest products, and so on.
The sidebar is a sub-element because it is located within the body of the site itself, and the template allows you to define its appearance in terms of its size, font type, and the elements it contains. It also determines its location, whether on the right or left, and the possibility of hiding or showing it.
5- Widgets
Widgets are considered one of the most important and enjoyable pieces of software within WordPress. They are widgets or mini-applications that provide different features that can be added to the sidebar or bottom bar (the footer of the site).
Widgets specialize in adding elements such as a list, link, social media icons, search bar, latest articles, comments, and a variety of other tools.
6 – Lists
Lists include several elements, such as pages, links, categories, and tags, and are considered one of the most important parts of the site’s infrastructure, alongside pages. Normally, the website is divided into a main menu located in the top bar of the site header, and several other submenus such as the contact list, site information, the accounts list, and others.
7- Colors
The WordPress template determines the site’s colors, such as the basic background color, the site’s header color, and the colors of writing, links, titles, and buttons. The more advanced the WordPress template is, the more options it provides for specifying the colors of the site’s elements.
8- Website background
In addition to the ability to specify the colors of the site’s background, a background image can be added to it using the template customization tool. In this case, it is preferable to add backgrounds that do not attract the eye so as not to distract the site visitor.
9- Add CSS codes
The CSS language is responsible for designing the appearance of the site, which is why it is used in the design of WordPress templates to determine the dimensions of the elements, their colors, locations, and many other characteristics.
Most templates allow you to add code to a dedicated software editor, in order to make modifications that the template editing tool does not allow. But the best thing in this case is to add the codes through a WordPress plugin such as Snippets.
The previous points provide a brief description of the functions that the WordPress template performs in terms of website design, and the better the template is, the more options it provides that allow more customization and control over the design.
For example, online store templates include customization of the home page, store page, product page, and cart and checkout pages.
Types of WordPress templates and the difference between them (free – paid)
WordPress themes are divided into free and paid, and their features differ naturally. With a very brief explanation and based on personal experience, free WordPress templates will provide only the basic features you need on your site while allowing limited modifications to the design. Then you may have to add a lot of code and install many plugins to support further customization of the design.
Free WordPress templates often do not provide the ability to contact technical support directly, so if a problem occurs with them, it will be difficult to find a solution without a lengthy search.
As for paid templates, their programming is more advanced, as they allow the possibility of greatly customizing the site design by providing more options and templates, in addition to providing an advanced template customization tool based on drag and drop.
If you are about to build a professional WordPress website, it is best to choose a paid template from the beginning, as changing the template in the future will require customizing it from the beginning, which then takes time and effort.
What are the best WordPress templates?
There are some popular WordPress templates, some of which are free and some are paid, and we recommend some of them to you as follows:
1- mold (Avada) – feces
The Avada template is the best WordPress template in terms of its multifunctionality, and it provides many templates and tools that contribute to wonderful customization of the design. According to the website (themeforest), it is the best-selling template globally, with more than 640,000 purchases at the present moment.
Whether you want to create a blog, an online store, a website to display services, or a personal website, the Avada template is the perfect choice in this case.
2- Mold (Flatesome) – feces
If we want to talk about the best WordPress template that is compatible with WooCommerce and at the same time provides a great design for a professional online store, the Flatesome template will undoubtedly win. It provides all the options that help customize all elements of the online store, such as the home page, products page, and others.
3- Format (Newspaper) – feces
As we talked about a multi-purpose WordPress template and an online store template, we present to you one of the best blog and magazine templates. This template was specifically designed to provide the best possible design for blogs, posts, and news, and contains different templates for the same types of blogs, whether it is a magazine, a travel blog, a blog about the wilderness, and others.
4- Format (ColorMag) – free
The ColorMag template is one of the best free blogging templates. It has achieved more than 100,000 installations so far, and is specialized in all types of news sites, blogs, and magazines. It is also compatible with the Elementor tool to design pages with great freedom.
5- Storefront template – free
The Storefront template was presented by the WooCommerce design team itself, which is why it is one of the best free templates that are compatible with WooCommerce. This template offers a great experience for designing online stores, and it also provides additional paid design tools if you want to customize it further.
The most frequently asked questions about WordPress templates
WordPress templates have their own market, and there are many sites that provide them reliably and approved, and among the most famous of these sites, in order:
- Theme Forest
- Mojo Market place
- Elegant Themes
- Themify
- Link Theme
How much do WordPress themes cost?
The cost of WordPress templates varies depending on the features it offers, the extent of its provision of technical support, the updates it makes periodically, the professionalism of its code and its compatibility with plugins. But normally, the average price range for WordPress templates ranges from 20 to 60 dollars, however, some templates reach $400 and more.
How do you install a WordPress template?
The process of installing a WordPress theme is very easy and simple, as it takes 5 clicks at most! It is divided into two paths:
1- Choose a template through WordPress. WordPress
search provides many free templates that can be installed directly. To do this from the WordPress control panel, click on the (Appearance) option, then (Templates), then the (Add New) button at the top right.
On the next page, you can choose from the displayed templates, or search for a specific template, then press the install button.
2- Install the paid template.
If the template is paid, after downloading its files to the computer, from the page mentioned in the previous step, click on the (Upload Template) button at the top right, choose the template files through (Choose files), then click on the install button, and within minutes it will Everything is ready.
Is the site content affected when switching from one template to another?
When converting from one template to another, the site retains its basic information that exists on the WordPress system itself, such as pages, posts, and menus, but of course the site loses information related to the design itself, such as slides and other similar design elements.
Are WordPress templates compatible with all types of websites?
The nature of websites varies, and so do the design requirements. News websites are different from electronic stores in terms of design and software additions.
The prevailing trend these days is to create WordPress templates that are compatible with most types of sites. However, there are templates that are only compatible with one type of sites, so you must first read the description of the template before purchasing it and determine whether it is compatible with the type of site or not.
Should I buy a paid WordPress theme from the beginning?
There are free templates and paid templates, and everyone has their own preferences and choices. If the website will be simple or consist of a few pages and you do not need multiple functions, in this case you can rely on a free template.
If the goal is to move the site to a professional level, of course paid templates will be the ideal choice.
Are WordPress themes compatible with screen sizes?
This point also depends on the development of the template software itself, and it is a good idea to review the template data and description, and test it first to see whether all its elements are compatible with the mobile phone or not.
Is it possible to test the template before installing or purchasing it?
WordPress templates provide the ability to directly preview them through what is called a (Demo), which is a ready-made page for the template that contains some content for the purpose of previewing and testing the template.
How are WordPress themes customized?
WordPress templates provide different tools that allow them to be modified and customized, including (SeedProd) and (Beaver Builder). Each of these tools has a control interface through which the WordPress template can be customized, such as dragging and dropping, or modifying values and properties indirectly through a dedicated control panel.
Can WordPress themes be modified programmatically?
WordPress themes provide modification programmatically by modifying the source files of the template itself, and this can be done through the template editor option in the WordPress control panel. But in this case, it is better to use the Snippets add-on to add codes separately from the template, which avoids the occurrence of programming errors in the original template files, which leads to the collapse of the site or loss of information.
In the end, WordPress themes are the cornerstone for customizing the appearance of your WordPress site, and therefore you need to choose them carefully and know what characteristics they affect to ensure the success of the site.
Share with us in the comments the type of template you rely on for your website.
