Click to See Complete Forum and Search --> : Templates- Yes or No?
Spunky Nerd
02-18-2008, 08:15 PM
Okay... I am not by any means a web designer... I made one site using photoshop and dreamweaver a couple years ago and I made one in flash and forgot how to put it into dreamweaver and get it up and running... Would it be bad to buy a really good template and use it for my website and online portfolio? If it is a unique one that not many people have used is that okay or not?
budafist
02-18-2008, 08:31 PM
I think it is ok as long as the template looks good and is fully editable to suit your needs.
tarngerine
02-18-2008, 08:43 PM
Don't do it
especially for a portfolio
take the time and learn it
since your'e a designer, you should be able to handle a personal web page at the least; even product designers have nice websites they made themselves
budafist
02-18-2008, 08:45 PM
But the OP isn't offering web design as a service. So I don't think it is required. It's faster and easier to edit a really good template than it is to learn to make a great website. Maybe that's just coz I'm not a good web designer. I know just enough to be dangerous!
Red Kittie Kat
02-19-2008, 12:46 AM
You and me both buda ;) lol
There is nothing wrong with using a template if you are not selling yourself as a web designer lol :D
Sure... People who are not web designers often use portoflio hosting sites such as Coroloft, Portfolio.com, etc. This gives them an interface to display the work which they ARE good at. If that's okay, then why would it not be okay to use a template website so you can display your work on your own domain, allowing you to spend your time and energies on marketing your own website instead of sombody else's?
Spunky Nerd
02-19-2008, 01:19 AM
Thanks guys! That's what I was needing to hear... I think it is more beneficial to me to have an amazing template than a really shotty site made by me...
Menkerios
02-19-2008, 01:32 AM
I'd think if you went with something minimalist, so that it doesn't outshine your own work, its not a problem..
I'm currently looking at templates too... any sites that anyone would advise against?
I honestly don't know jack about templates, but I do know that templatemonster.com is one of the most popular. From what I've seen, their templates look pretty good but you will no doubt run into the problem of template-recognition. Since everybody uses them, your client could very likely have looked them over already and may know that you've used a template. They may or may not hold that against you, but it's probably best to find an independent designer who's offering good templates. I've seen some nice CSS templates offered by independents, if you look around.
budafist
02-19-2008, 02:07 AM
Can you edit templates enough so that they aren't recognisable?
I'm sure it would depend on the template, but I think that would require enough knowledge of web design that you may as well do it yourself from the start.
Another option (I don't know if this'll work, as I've never bought a template website) may be to look at the template sites, find a template producer who's work you like, then contact that designer directly to see if they have templates which aren't offered on the main sites like templatemonster, or wherever you found him.
Red Kittie Kat
02-19-2008, 02:24 AM
Editing a template will depend on the terms of use I believe.
But again you will need basic knowledge to be able to do that or you will really mess up the works ... learned that one the hard way :D
But again you will need basic knowledge to be able to do that or you will really mess up the works ... learned that one the hard way :D
I'm not satisfied with that post, Kittie. I need to see an example. ;)
Red Kittie Kat
02-19-2008, 02:34 AM
lmaoo .. not possible .. it was that messed up :D
When I was dabbling in getting a website up and running the first template I tried was a disaster lol ... I had no idea what I was doing .. I'm not a web designer I just wanted some place to put my stuff ... sooooo after tearing most of my hair out I started looking for tutorials and I read and I read and I read and after that I read some more. Then I made notes and printed screenshots and voila I was able to figure out how to do basic editing ;)
Spunky Nerd
02-19-2008, 02:06 PM
Wow, it sounds like even if I use a template I am still gonna need some help... They are going to get sick of me over in the web design forum...
kteimo
02-20-2008, 12:39 PM
I've actually been looking into the same thing recently. I'm a graphic designer, but I don't do web sites. I really want to do my own thing as I love learning new things - even though I'll never use this again as I DON'T DO WEB SITES!
I have taken a look at a free html and css website that give great tutorials for newcomers. At least here you can get an idea on what some of the script means and how to use it. The link is: http://www.html.net/
If you want to go with some ok looking templates, which are free, then try these sites: http://www.templateworld.com/free_templates.html
and
http://www.templatesfeed.com/
These do have some restrictions on them - you'll have to check it out. Most of the time, they want you to put a link back to the page or the designer - But as mentioned before, if you contact the designer, they may give you permission to use the free template completely with no reference to them. I have contacted one in the past who had no problem with this! Both of these sites will let you modify the templates any way you like. I'm looking into using one of these just as a base, and then changing it up so it's not just a generic looking site. Hope this helps!
Don't do it.
If your a designer you should either learn or already be capable of doing this.
kteimo
02-20-2008, 03:48 PM
Don't do it.
If your a designer you should either learn or already be capable of doing this.
I understand what you mean... but when you are not a web designer and have no intentions of selling services of web design to any potential clients, then why not? I have no plans of becoming a web designer or offering that service to any clients of mine - but I would like to have a functioning, simple website to show my stuff. I have decided to go this route for my site, (using a basic template then modifying it) because I would like to learn a little about the back-end of web design - only for my own personal enjoyment! So I don't see why using a template as a base ground for a finished product would be so bad!
Red Kittie Kat
02-20-2008, 03:56 PM
errm . . Graphic designers do NOT have to be Web Designers.
Or you could actually hire a web designer. Funny how designers get all bent out of shape about non designers designing their own stuff yet don't even think twice about doing virtually the same thing themselves. :rolleyes:
Red Kittie Kat
02-20-2008, 04:00 PM
shhh.. you weren't supposed to notice that ;)
:D
DesignVHL
02-20-2008, 04:14 PM
Yeah its all a matter of choice. I personally am not a fan of templates - but I did use one for my current site, and changed the graphics and colors. I only did this because I'm slammed with freelance and have a full time job. I also know I can design a similar site if i needed to easily on my own...as the template I've used would be so easy for me to recreate. But I wanted to get my biz services out there and promote myself quickly - I literally spent about 5 hrs on this thing (i know it shows). I still don't even have portfolio samples up, sadly! But business is great anyways so I can't complain. :)
So here's my take....templates are OK for temporary use, and if you have the ability to create your own graphics and change/edit the colors (we are here to help in the web design section tho) than have it. But sometimes you can easily mess it up if you don't know what your doing.
So you can do one of two things here if you don't think you can grasp the whole template thing.
1. you could just hire a designer to create a custom site for you - if u have a budget for that. You can even work with them, and design your look/feel and color scheme and just have them do most of the coding and interface design.
2. Buy a template. Hire a designer to help with the coding. You can maybe update/change the graphics.
3. buy a template and edit it all yourself....and we can help here as needed.
wanderer
03-03-2008, 09:38 PM
SN. Working with a template shouldn't be too difficult, esp if you've worked in PS or AI etc. You just pull up the images that come with the template and change the colors to suit your own logo, and pull up the banner images etc and make your own that are the same size and name them the same name. They will overwrite the original and slot nicely into place. Keep a separate copy of the whole of your template package tho! If you have any problems someone on this forum will help. It's really not hard at all, I think you should go for it. ;)