There are different content management systems that we could use. Two of the more popular are Blogger and WordPress. There are millions of blogs that use both platforms, while WordPress has a distinct advantage of being not only free, but also open source. It is a versatile CMS, not only for the use of plugins and widgets, but also themes. Here are things that we should consider when choosing a WordPress theme:
- Category: We should consider the category of our blog and this determines what kind of theme we should use. We should make sure that the theme we use will appeal our audience. As an example, if our blogs comes under the Food category, we should use colors that could enhance appetite. By choosing the right theme, we could save our time and energy, because it is less likely that we will want to change it. There are different themes that we could choose, ranging from Business to Music to Travel.
- Colors and layouts: Colors are dominant of factors of any theme. There are hundreds or even thousands of WP themes that we relevant to our topic. If we have preferences on specific colors, it is a good idea to choose a theme with that color. So, we don’t need to spend so much time and effort to change the theme manually to a different color. Other than color, we also need to focus on the layout of the theme. We should consider what kind of layout we want. It means that there are different factors that we need to consider before we choose a layout. There are different layouts, such as single column, two columns without sidebar, two columns with sidebar, three columns and four columns. The layout may also have fixed width or fluid width. Standard blogs, photo-oriented, video-oriented and e-commerce website have different requirements for layouts. We may need to experiment with some strong candidates, before we choose the one that matches our requirements.
- Purpose of our blog: The purpose of our blog should compatible with our theme. Some people write blog only to vent their daily thoughts and emotions. In this case, we don’t need themes that have plenty of spaces for widgets and advertisements. If we want to monetize our blog, we may need to a more complex theme with additional layouts. In fact, many average bloggers find that the default theme of WordPress is adequate and they only need to tweak some colors and add a few images. If we want professional-looking themes with good support, it is necessary to get paid themes.
- Support: We should make sure that we get enough support from the theme author. There are free themes that are provided as is and users can’t get additional helps. However, some authors regularly release free themes and they provide assistances to users in forums and other areas. Again, the best support can be obtained only from paid WP themes. We should consider this when we want a comprehensive theme that can match our changing requirements.