WordPress is a CMS used on many websites. It was originally thought to be blogging software, but over the years the capabilities have increased to such an extent that WordPress can also be used for many other types of websites. It also continues to evolve and it was recently announced that WordPress plans to optimize its software in response to competition from other formats like Tumblr. It is a favorite of editors and many developers because it is easy to use and relatively easy to customize. Compared to other options like Dreamweaver and Drupal, designing and coding are pretty easy in WP. Advanced design options are possible without advanced technical knowledge.

Themes are used as “skin” for the CMS. That is the part that the user sees and uses. There are many thousands of themes, many free and also many paid. You can also use a framework and child theme instead of a theme alone. A framework goes on top of WordPress software and the ‘child’ theme works directly with the framework and is lightweight with most of the coding in the actual framework.

The number of themes and frameworks is huge and I find that a good shortcut is to look at what the experts are doing. A quick look reveals many usage frameworks, Genesis Framework and Thesis in particular and few use themes on their own.

There are pros and cons to using a WordPress framework. Here are a few worth considering:

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Simple Design Options – Non-developers can more easily get by with just knowing a few bits of CSS and HTML, which may not be possible with a theme alone.

Expanded customization: If you need easier customization of individual pages and posts, a framework can offer more compared to a theme alone. That is really the goal of a framework.

Disadvantages:

Lock – Frames only work with specific “kids” themes. Once you’ve invested in a frame, it may make financial sense to buy more themes with the same frame rather than elsewhere. Once you are used to using a particular framework, it can be a pain to change as well, as you would have to learn a lot of new things. Framework developers know this and it is a huge advantage for them as they can potentially make multiple sales to each customer.

Limitation of technical knowledge: If you are a developer and focus on the framework, you may be limiting yourself. You are more likely to take shortcuts in terms of coding, which reduces your understanding.

Compatibility – Using a framework adds another element to your WordPress site. It depends on the framework being up-to-date for as long as the website has.

Conclution

As a non-developer, I have been able to customize multiple WordPress websites using one framework. Previously I had not been able to do that to my satisfaction using a theme on its own.

The big bloggers I follow seem to primarily use Genesis, although there are notable exceptions. For me, frameworks have been the way to go so far, although if I learn how to make websites from scratch, I may take a different path.