Why You should not use Magazine WordPress Themes for Customers
I was just thinking about this project of Building a Website with WordPress and the use of a Magazine Style Theme.
As I was working on the manual for the use of that special kind of themes, I suddenly realized that the whole project was not going to work….
You see, if you have a customer that is not so WordPress and Computer savvy as you are, you need to explain how this thing with ”custom fields”works.
And you need to tell them how to upload and choose the right image, copy the right name and paste it in the right format in the right box…
Before that you need to tell you client that he/she needs to create three images in exactly those three formats because they are needed in that post…
So do you think he/she will go through this kind of proces every time he/she wants to write a post?
If the answer is NO (really big change!) than you need to re-think the use of that kind of WP Templates for a CMS based semi static page.
Just use a standard WordPress Blog Template and recode that in a way that your customer will be able to write and manage its website in the easiest way possible.
Only then, and really only then he/she be much more likely to work on their own website and let it grow to its real potential.
Don’t get me wrong, I really like Magazine Style CMS Like WordPress themes, but you should not use them for the majority of website owners.
What do you think? Is there a WordPress Magazine style template that is easier for “Normal” people to work with?
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August 23, 2008 by Herbert-Jan van Dinther · 4 Comments
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About Herbert-Jan van Dinther
Great Point.
Making it as simple as possible is critical. I am learning about WP. I have played with wp blogs for a couple of months and I love the simple interface.
I am starting a couple of sites with static home pages and researching the options.
Rick
@Rick: There are a lot of great options for WP, the commenting is one of those options.
Working with comments for a better pagerank is also a good way to build incoming links…
Thanks for the advice. I was about to start working with a Magazine style theme and pulled the plug because its hard enough to get content from clients when they just have to email to you. I can’t imagine them ever updating a site if it is to difficult.
I would find it useful because I would only use it for myself! :-)