As more and more people are creating websites without learning design or hiring a developer, there has been a consistent increase in the number of premade templates being used. I have to admit that I’m a lot lazier these days now I have so little time, but I try to customise any existing themes I use beyond recognition.

I have mixed feelings on whether premade templates are good or bad. On one hand, they allow people who aren’t comfortable with design to have a website focused on writing, or photography, or whatever they enjoy. On the other hand, I do have a strong belief that people should try to be self-sufficient when it comes to their own websites, particularly as if something goes wrong or doesn’t behave as you expect then you need to (at least attempt to) fix it yourself.

Problems with premade themes

There are quite a few disadvantages to using premade templates, as developers can put anything they want in there. I’ve used templates where spammy links are put in the footer, and if done cleverly with PHP they can be impossible to remove. This also means that there could be any amount of malicious code in there which could damage your website and your visitors’ computers. Only download templates from websites you trust; even if you’ve seen the theme in question elsewhere, it could have been edited.

Another problem is that there are a few popular theme sites (particularly free ones) that everyone seems to download the same themes from. Your website ends up looking like another thousand or ten thousand out there. Plus there’s the added danger that you start relying on premade themes permanently or never change the look of your website.

And finally, editing premade themes can be a nightmare because you haven’t gone through the process yourself. You don’t know where anything is, and often it’s a case of trawling through code (particularly CSS files) to change something, only to find that it didn’t change in the way you expected.

Bonuses of premade themes

The time-saving advantage is one that shouldn’t be overlooked. At the end of the day, unless your design work is outstanding, people are going to be at your website for your content. Having a great layout is usually just a backdrop to that, and as long as your pages are well-laid out, the navigation is straightforward and the colour scheme works, your visitors will be happy enough. However, your layout will probably be the initial factor in the visitor’s decision to browse the site or close it, so if you are honestly terrible at design, it’s probably best to stick with a premade theme, and use your time to work on your content.

I find that putting up a new theme inspires me to write fresh content, get rid of old stuff and generally have a good spring clean. Kind of like being inspired to have a clear out of your house after you’ve painted the walls. A premade theme is quick to put up, so you can get started on the uploading and writing before you’ve run out of steam.

Best of both worlds

I think that my current approach is fine for my site, based on how little time I have and due to the fact that at the end of the day, I’m not a designer. But I want my site to reflect me, and I want it to look ‘pretty’, and taking a premade template and customising the crap out of is a good enough compromise. I do still spend hours with general editing, tweaking and creating my own banners and backgrounds, but I’m still saving time by taking a big development shortcut.

Over to you

What are your thoughts on premade templates? Do you use them, or do you hate them?