WPCrowd

You have probably heard lots of discussions on the subject of theme framework over the past year, as it was becoming more and more popular. Meanwhile, many developers and even more users are trying to understand what it is exactly and how it is supposed to work. So, if you are the one of those who aren’t familiar with it yet, then the real purpose of theme framework may be lost for you.

Notwithstanding there’re some arguments against it, there’re also plenty of reasons for using frameworks. Most designers have quite a good understanding of a framework, but broadly speaking, a WordPress framework is some kind of a large-scale outline, presenting an approach to quickly develop WordPress themes that are based on common axioms. Don’t miss the main word – just an approach. So it could have different meanings to different users.

It may look anyhow – as a set of distinct hierarchy of scripts, style sheets or plugin support files, or as a theme with minimal styling of microformats or custom functions. It may be whatever, but the one thing will stay invariable – a certain style of coding, organizing and referencing the workpieces.

So, if you follow the thread of thought, then you now understand that theme framework is not the a cure-all solution or an ideal theme, and not the thing you can easily adhere to. However, you should see the potential of frameworks – they can decline the chance of errors, provide you with a stable way to approaching projects and theme customization, and also speed up repetitive tasks and client support.

It does have advantages, but not everyone will be able to create a templating system. Nevertheless, you can benefit from a ready framework, especially if you’re a developer or designer, willing to increase the productivity, enhance the product range or get rid of obstacles coming with coding from scratch. And if you’re just a regular user, curious about what this has to do with you, you could benefit even more, because the author of the parent theme will provide you with updates and new functionality every single time they become available, so you may forget about worries concerning losing or rewriting your customizations. You will understand it better after working with one framework for a while, but you have to choose with which one exactly. All of them differ greatly, as you know that the framework can be whatever its author wants it to be, but they all will be definitely useful for those, who clearly understand their purpose.