Creating your own site through a template consists of replacing general data with the information the user wants (for example, information about an organization or a service). It is an option for users without significant development experience, which is also suitable for experienced developers in case they need a ready-made solution, which facilitates the process of creating the site and avoids writing it from scratch.
The design and layout for the template are pre-developed and implemented by a number of professionals – a designer, layout designer, developer or webmaster.
Simple HTML-templates are usually used to create basic static HTML-sites that do not require frequent updates, an example: a business card site.
To develop a site using a CMS also use templates (so-called themes). Such templates are more complicated and consist of a set of images for different parts of the site, style sheet CSS (cascading style sheets), files for the formation of the functional blocks of the site, include files.
Types of templates
Free
Free templates are usually characterized by a universal design, which may vary depending on the thematic focus. For security purposes, download such templates should only be on verified sites, such as official CMS sites (for WordPress – this is wordpress.org), because when using templates developed by third parties, there is a risk that the theme is infected with a virus or contains links to third-party resources. When using free templates, the help of template developers is not guaranteed.
Paid
The advantage of buying templates is that the developers of paid templates can provide assistance in adapting the design to a particular site, as well as provide support on how to use the templates. Paid templates are more personalized, as a consequence, extremely low chance of meeting the site with a similar design. An example of a resource with high-quality paid templates: www.templatemonster.com.