Is there a good theme documentation?

The best WordPress theme can only be as good as its documentation. Sooner or later you will want to change some aspects of your design. It could happen that you are not able to do so by using the graphical user interface. You will have to dig into the CSS code of your theme. When this occurs, it is very handy to have access to a manual or to a customer service area where you can find information on the file structure. This way, it is easier to tweak your theme’s appearance to your own needs.

An open support forum (public or clients-only) can also play an important role in theme documentation. Some theme creators answer all support questions of their customers in this kind of forum. This has the advantage that you as a user have the possibility to quickly look up the answers to common questions when modifying your theme.

2. Is your WordPress Theme responsive?

Usually you will have the opportunity to test-drive the WordPress theme you are about to choose. Take this chance in order to check the theme’s performance on mobile devices. Take a look at the Live Demo on your smartphone. Did the developer manage to dynamically optimize this theme so that it delivers content in a mobile-friendly way? Does it deliver Responsive Design? This term describes the dynamically optimized content delivery for any screen size.

Some themes do much better in terms of Responsive Design than others do. They do not only optimize content for mobile display sizes in general. They also allow to exactly define mobile content behavior for every page and post and even for every single element in your layout. So, e.g., you could define that a certain image is displayed as a full-width background image on desktop screen sizes. However, the same image will not be delivered as a background on mobile devices, but it will be delivered above or below your text element in a smaller size.

You will probably love this kind of flexibility in Responsive Design the longer you work with your WordPress theme. This is why we think that you should consider Responsive Design as one of the most important criteria when choosing a WordPress theme.

3. Is it configurable?

Some design attributes like font face, -size and -color can be adjustd with no respect to the theme coder’s efforts in making it flexible. This is because WordPress itself already has this kind of menus for changing fonts and colors on board.

But when it comes to adjusting layout and menus more precisely, your WordPress theme makes the difference. Many templates come with an own menu called “theme options”, enabling users to set many different kinds of details which have a huge impact on your site’s overall appearance.

Fallen in love with a WordPress template? If yes, you should ask yourself the question: Which aspects will I probably want to change? Does the theme provide some configurable options which allow me to achieve that without dealing with CSS? What about my own CSS and programming knowledge, will it enable me to change design aspects by digging into the CSS code myself or will I be stuck?

4. Do you need a Page Builder?

What is a Page Builder and does it make sense?

WordPress itself offers two modes when editing pages or posts. In “Visual Mode”, you can select formatting options with the help of menus and insert headlines, bold or italic text elements, images, and so on. In “Text Mode”, you can use HTML markup in order to achieve the same results.

But an up-to-date WordPress theme can do more. Many of the current themes come bundled with a Page Builder. This is an extended version of the editor for posts and pages working with easy-to-use modules. With the help of a page builder and its modules, you can:

• easily add new layout sections and columns, e.g., you can add a “new section including a one-third row and a two-third row” with only a fews clicks
• Within these sections, you can easily add pre-defined elements like text areas, images, videos, specially formatted elements like customer testimonials or slideshows, and so on.

Especially webmasters with some basic WordPress knowledge who are not experienced in CSS and programming are able to create layouts with the help of these page builder features which they would not be able to create otherwise.

So take a look at the specs of the WordPress theme you are about to purchase and check if a page builder is one of its features. If you can, check the page builder’s usability and features.

Aspects we would like to mention aswell:

• There are also theme-independent page builders, available as plugins. You can use them with themes which do not include an own page builder. This can of course be an option if compatible. But consider the fact that some page builders have a business model including premium add-ons which you will have to pay for.
• Depending on the type of Page Builder you use, you could find yourself running into some kind of dependency. This is because some page builders are storing their layout information by injecting shortcodes into the HTML version of your posts and pages. This means that when replacing the theme / the Page Builder and moving on the some other theme, you will have to manually identify and delete all of these shortcodes which have become part of your posts and pages.

Convenient frontend editing:

When working within a Page Builder, you see your content elements in a schematic view. Frontend editing (also referred to as inline editing) gives you a different view. It enables you to see your website content in the same way your website visitors will see it and edit everything in this (frontend) mode. This makes it easier to find the last remaining typos in your texts and to optimize the appearance of your posts and pages. A very comfortable option for convenient content optimization.

Some WordPress themes are delivered with frontend editing as an included feature. This can make a webmaster’s life much easier.

Support with your WordPress theme

We can help if you need a second opinion or consulting concerning your WordPress theme and implementation. Drop us a line, give us a call or get in touch with Bernhard through one of his social media profiles.