I recently started learning more about purchasing WordPress themes with good bones + lots of features, that I could still customize enough to make my own. As a blogger your design is part of your brand, so you don’t want everyone to have the same look as you. At the same time, there are certain features—like sliders, excerpts, responsive designs, etc.—that you want to start with. So, for those of you also thinking of buying a pre-made WordPress theme + working it into your own vision, there are a few things to consider:
1. Explore Your Vision
Know what you want your blog to look like before you buy a theme. This is super important if you plan to customize. It’s rare that you’ll see a theme and want to keep it *exactly* the same out of the package. I suggest either hand-drawing or mocking up a quick outline in Photoshop, and then perusing sites like Theme Forest or StudioPress for layouts that catch your eye.
2. Find A Design
Of course, you’ll want to consider the overall design of every theme you’re into. This means making sure it works on the appropriate platform (such as WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org, for example), and whether it already exemplifies your vision or needs work. How do the photos look on the home page? What about when you click into the posts? Is there anything you’re immediately drawn to or instantly turned off by? Jot a few quick notes down before you consider purchasing.
3. Learn What to Customize
Most themes that you can purchase offer some sort of customization. For my blog, I originally purchased a theme that was super customizable. You could easily change fonts, colors, and layouts. You could even switch from a blog layout to a grid if you wanted. However, I also found that there were just a few things I really needed to customize that were more technical than that. If you plan on customizing any one element right off the bat like I did (like an image slider or adding an e-commerce component), it doesn’t hurt to contact the designer and make sure that’s actually possible.
4. Google the Theme
Googling your specific theme or designer will help you gain insight onto how the theme is being used already. It depends on how extensively you want to research your theme, but you should be able to tell pretty quickly whether this will work for you. At the very least it lets you know whether certain customizations are being utilized, what the finished product looks like for other bloggers, and whether it might work for you. Plus, you can usually find FAQ pages or forums from others who have worked with either this theme or the designer, which is always helpful!
5. See if There’s Support
This leads me to support. Always find out whether the designer offers support on a theme and consider if you’ll need that. When you’re doing everything yourself, having the ability to ask questions as needed while you install your theme and start customizing is invaluable. But if you have a professional helping you develop your site, support may not be as vital (for you, anyway!). It’s always good to have though and for me personally it has been a must.
Have you purchased blog themes before?
Susannah // Feast + West says
Oh, this is all so true! When I bought my theme, I also made sure to check with the designer to make sure they allowed me to edit the design. I quickly realized that some designers don’t allow you to change anything about the design — they want you to use it exactly as they designed it. Since I wanted to be able to customize my site to suit my brand, this wasn’t cool with me so I am glad I asked first before buying.
Angela says
Oh, that’s so important!
Chaitra @ PinkPot says
Hello Angela! A very informational post. Being a designer myself, it is very useful to get a perspective from the other side. So thank you :)