So I have searched this forum for this topic but couldn’t find anything on the subject and thought I’d post it here…If my searching skills aren’t good and there is a discuss on this matter, then by all means take me down! HA
So are templates bad for business? I feel that with ThemeForest and RocketThemes out there its becoming the norm…
I think it can go both ways, for one you can save yourself time and you are then in turn able to take on more clients, but on the same page you’re not gaining anything by having everything put in front of you. If we know about these sites than our clients must know too?
What are your thoughts? Are stock templates good or bad?
If you know how to develop a website, I don’t see why you shouldn’t occasionally use a template when making a site for someone. That said, I would never put a template site I did for someone on my portfolio. I would never go around calling myself a web developer if all i did was change colors on a template. Templates are useful if you already know how to build a site and want design ideas and see how others build things, or if you need a quick design to give someone, or the client really likes the way it looks.
If you use a template because you don’t know how to make a site from scratch… well that’s what we have Free Code Camp for!
And that said, I don’t think templates will stop designers, because there will always be a need for them even if a smaller business opts to go with a template.
very well put… I would never put a “modified” template on my portfolio since in essence isn’t yours, me and my friend have been in this long time debate, he wants to create a business using this method and I’ve been preaching that its not the best practice since in the long run you’re not learning anything and truly not becoming a web developer…
Suprisingly there are some companies out there that use this practice and I have always been on the fence but agree that there will always be a need for them
Those templates are great if you have clients who wants a lot of things but don’t have a big budget. You’d end up billing them for the template + your time tweaking the template to suit their needs. It seems like a profitable business because you can produce things for a short amount of time. (Profit!)
Same goes with WYSIWYG editor things for WordPress themes, I see quite a lot of clients looking for people who know how to work with those because that’s what their budget can afford.
Also, this is pedantic, but I’m pretty sure designers love those templates because they don’t need to code
