LenBradshaw — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:43:06 +0000

Templates are fine, but I've always found it difficult to find one that comes close to a design look that I'm looking for. I've customized a few of them and it is a LOT of work to change the appearance. If you do get one, look for those that supply the .psd files or other source files for the graphics, just in case you want to change the little background images, etc.

demonhale — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 03:34:38 +0000

Well if you use a template for your kind of needs, better start off using a cms like joomla or drupal, they all have a theming engine which is easy to install and easy to edit. Add to that the theme contributors are offering their themes for free and coded pretty neatly. And in the long run, if you decide to do more things with that site of yours, then you could do so pretty easily through a plugin. You could save your money from template monster and pay it to someone who can do a basic redesign of the cms theme for you....

seanb — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 22:38:59 +0000

Thanks! I expect this to be a rocky road to something pretty neat...

andy206uk — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:57:04 +0000

Hmmm... I don't know. I really don't like template sites... their stuff always looks like, well... templates!

Taking this template as a sample it says it's a 'full css template' but a huge proportion of it is flash. It's impossible to know what quality the code is until you've bought it!

I guess it's a personal preference thing, but I'll never touch them again.

seanb — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:24:28 +0000

Thanks! So, if a template is labeled "CSS Complete," could a reasonable person assume that meant the design didn't use nested tables. Or is a "reasonable" person just being "reasonably foolish"...

andy206uk — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 18:18:32 +0000

We once tried using a templatemonster template for a client site - it was a total nightmare. The code was diabolical and it had a stupid flash header when normal navigation would have done the job just as well. The template in question had double figures of nested templates - it was stupid. Admitidly this was two years ago and things may have improved, but it's certainly put me off using template monster again in the future!

Megan — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:42:07 +0000

It sounds like a template would be a good choice for you. I don't have a huge amount of experience with templates, but I suspect that there are verying levels of complexity involved. I think I've seen some sites that have them classified for varying levels of expertise.

The danger with templates is that you usually get something very generic looking. Be careful to look for something that matches the theme of your business well and has some life to it. A lot of tempaltes look very cold and unfriendly. It would be great if you had something that allowed you to add a custom photo or something.

Obviously, you are taking a risk that visitors won't recognize your design from another site they visit. I think there is a trade-off here: you could have a very nice looking - but non-unique - template or a less attractive but uniquely designed site.