This article is the second part of the 100 Things You Need to Know About WordPress series, Ten Things You Need to Know About WordPress Themes.
1. Don’t search for free WordPress themes on search engines
A variety of free themes can be found on search engines, but they may have spamming links or may have been infected with malware. It is best to choose free plugins from the official WordPress theme library.
2. The more professional the web design is, the higher the business conversion rate it will bring to the website.
Usability research shows that the more professional the website's graphics and layout, the higher the readers' perceived value and trust in the website. When choosing a theme, try to choose one that looks more professional.
3. If you like a certain topic, first search for relevant information on a search engine
Some themes only have one version released, and then the developers stop updating it. In order to reduce the trouble that the topic may cause in the future, please first search for relevant information about this topic on the search engine. You can use "topic" + "question", "error" and other keywords to search to see if there is anything you still don't understand. information.
4. Paid themes tend to be more rigorously coded, and authors maintain and provide support more frequently.
Paid themes do cost money, but if you ever get stuck using them, you can get support from the theme developers and the community. Theme developers make a living from theme development, so they will improve the theme more frequently and provide more features. Paid themes are also generally more mature (and more rigorously coded).
5. Mostly rely on the design and style of the theme – not the functionality
The more features you add to your theme, the more troublesome it will be to change your theme in the future. If you try to implement various functions through plug-ins, the trouble caused by changing themes will be reduced a lot.
6. Functional themes include: catalog themes, auction themes, classification themes, video themes, and magazine themes
Some developers specialize in developing paid themes for specific functions, such as catalog themes, auction themes, classified themes, video themes, magazine themes, etc. There are even themes for real estate people, themes for car people, etc. This is different from the "function" mentioned in the previous point, because the functions mentioned here cannot be provided by plug-ins, and users who use this theme are unlikely to change other themes.
7. Check the management functions before choosing a theme to make sure you can use it freely
Some themes look great, but after you download and install them, you find that you don’t know how to set them up. Therefore, before deciding to install a theme, please browse the screenshots of the theme's management interface to see if you have enough skills to use the theme.
8. Switch to "maintenance mode" or use the "Theme Test Drive" plug-in when changing themes
If you need to make custom settings for a long time when changing the theme, or you don’t want the website to be offline for too long, you can use the following two plug-ins:
Maintenance Mode plug-in
Theme Test Drive plugin
9. Please test in Windows, Linux, and mobile environments before enabling the theme.
The display of your website in local environment, various browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome, etc.) and mobile devices may be very inconsistent. There are several ways to test a new theme before enabling it.
10. Please note: website changes will always affect search rankings
Changing themes anytime will have an impact on your site’s search rankings, even if you only change the visual elements. It usually takes 30 to 60 days to restore your previous search rankings. After making major changes to your theme design, real-time SEO optimization work may be needed to maintain search rankings.
Article source: wordpress