I’m quite a newbie in all this internet world:-)

As I’m too shy to ask people face to face (always afraid to sound like an idiot) I came here seeking for help.

So, here’s the problem. I want to make a site of mine and thought of using a web template for this. Some people are strongly against templates and some think them to be rather helpful. I’m now gathering pros and cons to take the right decision. I’d really appreciate your opinion and advice.

What is the purpose of the site? Can you go into some details regarding what it's about, who's primarily meant to see it, etc.?

More often than not, the reasons to stay away from templates vastly outnumber the reasons to use them, but for some projects, templates are a great way to go. More information will help people tailor their arguments to suit your circumstances :)

After getting in heated exchanges over the subject, I will now dip my foot into this boiling controversy again. I have actually gotten some really good perspectives on this from the_pm and others.

I would say - it depends. Is this for a business that you will be getting orders from or using for customer processes or is this for some other less mission essential project?

If it is for a business then you ought to count the costs of doing it yourself and the time and resources it would take to modify a template to fit your business processes and represent yourself professionally with your look, feel, and navigability. it is tempting to assume that there is little cost if you're doing it yourself but what is the cost/hr of the guy who will be doing it? Might a professional designer who understands how the web might benefit/enhace your business provide more value than you realize.

I guess if you do go with a professional web designer then I would say that you only go with someone who can convince you of the value of what he/she is bringing to the table. If all they can do is tell you that only people who eat human flesh use templates and cannot articulate anything more to you than "be original with us or die" then you need to find a company that can really benefit you not only with a "cool" looking site but also a site that provides more value in the end than it costs to develop it. If they can't speak the language of businesses and bottom lines then find one that can AND can do great design work. They're the ones that should have to convince you of their value. The good ones can.

Well, I’m fond of wood-carving and thought why not show the world my ‘works of art’, some drawings and tutorials may be. If it goes I’d probably try to sell some of my articles. Why not?

if you are wanting to sell some of your art I would have a custom site built, catering to the look of wood carving. However, to start out, especially if you are not very familiar with web design, I think a template can be ok.

Keep in mind that I hate templates... :P

If you just want to dip your foot in the water... and get a site up quickly, then templates are a good way to go. Especially if you are not looking to profit from it.
But if you actually want to turn your works of art into a business, selling something... whether that be your carvings or tutorials or lessons or whatever, then invest in a nice website. Anyone serious about making money online, will invest in a professionally designed website, it's what communicates to your customer first and foremost.

Originally posted by DevilDog
all they can do is tell you that only people who eat human flesh use templates and cannot articulate anything more to you than "be original with us or die"

The good ones can.

"be original with us or die" - yep! When it's the only argument they can think of it's not much convincing.

The good ones can ... charge you so that you can't :-)

I'd probably use a template to start with. BTW what software would you recommend to edit a template?

Forgot to tell thank you guys for your help

Originally posted by oakwood
I�m quite a newbie in all this internet world:-)

As I�m too shy to ask people face to face (always afraid to sound like an idiot) I came here seeking for help.

So, here�s the problem. I want to make a site of mine and thought of using a web template for this. Some people are strongly against templates and some think them to be rather helpful. I�m now gathering pros and cons to take the right decision. I�d really appreciate your opinion and advice.

If something professional go with an designer or design your own site.

if it is personal site, no matter for an template.

I donot like templates to use,

I'd get a unique design, templates are easy to spot and cheapen your image.

Originally posted by affordahost
templates are easy to spot

How's that?

Originally posted by oakwood
How's that?


I would have to agree, Templates are VERY easy to spot because if they are any good then they have been used before. Now, some of the very expensive templates might not be as easy to spot if you are a customer or anything like that but for the most part it would look more professional if your company had its own unique design. That way you can make sure there is an actually an operation going on! Templates are probobly best not to be mixed with hosting companies but as far as personal sites go it makes the noobie look good!

Templates are easy to spot if you just use one & leave it as it is. I mean you don't modify it or anything like that.

I was just saying in another post that I used a template, but modified it & people can't tell that it used to be a full template.

I would never use a full template without doing anything to it. God knows how many other people out there are using the same one.

A lot of the time I tend to use templates as a starting point, saves a bit of time initially and then it tends to take on a life of it's own and go off in a different direction till it is no longer recognizable to what it was.

I would never use a template. Custom design is always the way to go creating a unique image.

Express your individuality, don't be a clone.

It's easier said than done, but that should be your main goal when building your website. It should leave a great first impression while presenting your 'works of art' in a unique manner that essentially, brands you, your name, your artwork and your website.

A custom design done well will do that. A template won't.

<<Signature to be setup in your profile>>

So, basically, if I tend to use a template, I'll have to customize it so that it becomes unrecognizable? Still there's a point in this, I believe, that is if the customization+template's cost doesn't exceed the cost of a complete design made by a web designer.

Well, you don't HAVE to customize it. It depends on how you want it to look. If you want to add/take things out, you should go for it.

i would use a template it is easier and looks better

I personally am against web templates. However, do not be frightened with this fraze.
Almost everyone began with the template or with Word-made site. My site began with MS Word table and the very first one was 100% template.
I think you have no need in using template. Just surf the web and look for the design you like most. Well, then think how YOUR site should look like? How musch frames, what colours, what information?
Well, let us say you have written everything. Then it's just high time for any almost free web design program. Just play with it - I mean create a page, then look how does it look, remake it and so on. I began with this - since Word, passed to Dreamweaver, learned a lot in DW and still I don't know everything. I think you may do the same (DW is available in trial version - expires after 30 days).
If you are familiar with graphic programs (Photoshop, GifAnimator...) and Flash - it is a big bonus for you. I wasn't familiar and had to learn much. Noone helped me.
It would take some time for you to learn, but I think you should not hurry. In my country - Lithuania - many people, almost schoolboys, make their "pages" within 20 minutes using templates. Typical result is horrific spelling, grammar and styles mistakes, awfull design.These pages tell me that their authors did not care about internauts. Yes, they are teenagers (up to 15 years), but that doesn't count.
So, instead of using boring template that may be used by other 10.000 sites - use your imagination. As I always say - it is better to have the worst personal site than the best with the template. Your design shows the way you are thinking, the way you realise your place in the Net. And the template - it is just fact that someone downloaded it and packed with information. The same like writing a novell and filling the form.
If you have any questions about web design - feel free to ask me. I am a beginner too:beer:

Originally posted by oakwood
So, basically, if I tend to use a template, I'll have to customize it so that it becomes unrecognizable? Still there's a point in this, I believe, that is if the customization+template's cost doesn't exceed the cost of a complete design made by a web designer.

Basically if you want an unique design, buy an unique-template(or hire someone to make one for you), if you don't care about exclusivity on your design, buy a non-unique template.

Buying a template and hiring a designer to change it will cost as much as hiring one to make an entire one. It might cost less, but it wont be total-different. So, doesn't worth.

For exclusivity, unique templates. Non-exclusivity non-unique templates, simple as that.

I think some people are forgetting that there are actually people in this world who aren't rolling in money & can just go & pay someone to design a professional site.

Shaliza,

I'm having my butler type this for me because my hands have butter on them from eating Lobster. :)

I think you'll see that some are like that but some are also pointing out that, in business, there are hidden costs to doing things on the cheap. I am not against templates but a case can be made that you will actually spend less to have a pro do it right and adding some value you didn't realize then spending much of your own time on a template and losing time/resources you may not have anticipated. I'm not saying it's the situation in all cases but it is worth considering. If a business really needs the web to enhance their profits and those profits are worth $thousands to them then they might be leaving profits off the table assuming they can get away on the cheap up front.

The main problem I see with templates is that they're almost invariably put together by graphic designers and not web designers. They're filled with pixel-based layouts and shoddy HTML code that's extraordinarily difficult to maintain. If someone could just come up with some decent XHTML/CSS templates that were simplistic in design and easy to modify, they wouldn't be a half-bad idea. As the situation stands presently, though, the costs of modifying one of these templates to adequately suit your needs will almost always, in the long run, end up exceeding the amount of money you'd spend getting a decent site put together from scratch in the first place, and with worse results.