Pros and Cons of using WordPress Template Frameworks

25th Dec 2012 | Posted by Eko S. | 2 Comments

In this article, we are going to understand what does it mean by WordPress template Framework and why did it come into existence. Later we will discuss about the Pros and Cons of WordPress Template Framework.

Pros and Cons WordPress Frameworks

What does it mean by WordPress template Framework?

Before knowing what are different pros and cons of using WordPress template Framework let us understand what does it actually means by it? The answer to this question can be answered as WordPress template Framework is nothing but a Normal WordPress template or we can say WordPress code library with some extra ordinary functionalities that gives some better and easy options for Template designer. WordPress Template framework has its own custom panel or you can add dashboard, library, plugins, hook ups, etc. This makes the task of Template Designer easy to develop a child theme of the Framework.

Why Frameworks came into existence?

In older days, when WordPress was new into the market, it was gaining high buzz. At that time, there were many critical problems with Template part of it. The main problem was that there was no better way to Upgrade WordPress theme without losing any custom coding done with it or without losing any custom style edit done with it. The only solution which existed was to copy the edits into a file, then update the theme and re-edit the new theme from the stored code. To overcome this issue, different developers brought the concept of WordPress Template Framework. In Template Framework developer, all need to design and code the Child theme and need not worry about any updates.

Now let’s get back to our main point of discussion that is Pros and Cons of WordPress Template Frameworks:

Pros of WordPress Template Frameworks:

No Issues at the time of Upgrade – If you are using any of the WordPress template framework on your blog with custom Child template developed by your designer then at the time of Upgrading your framework to avoid different exploits you need not to recode your Child Template. All you need to upgrade is the Parent Template of Your Framework.
Ease of Custom Design – Since frameworks provide different hooks and custom tags, developing a Child theme based upon your own design is way easy to do. WordPress Template Framework provides better flexibility and versatility while coding for Child Templates.
Increase in Performance of your Blog – If you are using any kind of WordPress Framework then the performance of your Blog on browser will increase for sure. Your Blog loading time will decrease compared to when you are using normal template without any framework. This is mainly because WordPress Frameworks are coded in such way that they provide far better performance than any normal WordPress template.
Better Built in Functionalities – WordPress Template Framework comes with different built in functionalities and widgets which can make ease of WordPress use.
Better Community Support – There are many different WordPress Frameworks available in Market. Some are paid and some are free. Talking about paid once, mainly they have better community support. That is if you are stuck with any error or issue or you want to implement some unique kind of hook then Framework community can help you with it.

These where some of the better Pros of WordPress Template Framework there are many other benefits apart from this too.

Cons of WordPress Template Frameworks:

Need to study it whole before use – Before using any kind of WordPress Template Framework you need to read out the documentation of it thoroughly else you can’t use the Framework with ease. Or even you might feel difficulties while coding its Child Template if you haven’t studied the documentation of the respective framework properly.
Need to Pay Huge amount – Well, if you are planning to use some of Free WordPress Framework then this point can be ignored but if you wish to use some of the Framework which are paid once then you need to pay a huge amount for sure.
No needs of Extra Functionalities – Some of WordPress Framework come with extra functionalities which might not even be needed in such case the codes of extra functionalities are an overload to your WordPress code repository.

These were some of the cons of WordPress Template Framework. If you want better performance and if you are satisfied with the Pros (which are definitely more than cons) of the Framework then you can ignore the cons for sure.

- Written by Mark -

Mark is a content writer working with many Online companies, helping them to achieve the success through content writing. He is also working with ruby on rails development.