A while back I picked up a WordPress theme which has some interesting functions baked into it. I used it for a good while but over time the appearance started to look very dated and development slowed on the theme. After a while I decided it was time to switch to a different theme but I found myself trapped. I had used some of the features (including custom post types) that we baked into the theme. By changing theme, I’d lose all those posts, some of which had great SEO value.
A similar but less dramatic situation with our church website, as we looked to update the theme we came across some functionality, including certain custom post types, that were linked to the theme. This meant that if we changed theme, we’d lose some of the settings.
This is why it is important to choose correctly when to use a theme and when to use a plugin in WordPress.
When to Use a WordPress Theme
In General, WordPress themes should be used to address the design of a site. The choice of colors, fonts and layout all make sense within a WordPress theme. This helps it to be easy to change the design of a site with just a change of theme.
When to Use a WordPress Plugin
You should use a WordPress plugin to add some extra functionality such as podcasting, a calendar, adding a shop etc…
But what about when design and function overlap?
Of course, sometimes these areas can overlap. You could argue that adding new post types should be a function, but at the same time you need to make sure that these post types are designed well and fit in too. If they just follow the style of a standard post type, they might not fit. Likewise A calendar might need to be designed to fit the style of the rest of the site.
There are ways round these issues, but having some code and design knowledge (or getting someone in who does) can go a long way to help here.
But what about theme support for plugins?
Some plugins only support certain themes. Some examples include church theme content. Or in other cases Some plugins are only supported by certain themes [A subtle but important difference] and so although the functionality and design are different, the effect can be that you are still tied into their ecosystem anyway. In some cases, a good developer will be able to help you integrate support, in other cases you may have more issues.
This Is No Guarantee
Even with all this said, this is no guarantee of future success. A plugin may become abandoned by a developer and leave you up the creak over a vital function you need for your site. Alternatively, a theme may not support a certain plugin and so you might need to search for a new option to provide the functionality you’re after with the new design. Still, by not being overly reliant on one developer for your design and functions, you can help avoid being trapped into paying a high priced subscription for a theme OR getting stuck with a bad design.
Curtis says
Or, use a CMS that keeps a clear distinction between post types and theming / post display. The imbedding of post type display into themes happens in WordPress because WordPress has weak functionality to support custom post types.
Chris Wilson says
Hi Curtis, I was addressing this for WordPress users because of all the reason I mentioned in the last post of the series for recommending WordPress. If you have a specific alternative CMS recommendation then please feel free to suggest it. I still stand by WordPress (for the reasons I mentioned before) and as long as you take an approach of supporting custom post types via plugins I have yet to encounter issues so I don’t see it as a firm reason to not use WordPress.
Steven Gliebe says
I always love seeing this brought up. Theme lock-in is not something most theme buyers are aware of (until they try to switch themes later and find they have to manually re-enter 200 sermons). It’s something that has been rampant on ThemeForest (hopefully getting better, not sure).
You mentioned our Church Theme Content plugin. Our approach has been to put sermon, event, people and location post types into the plugin (the only place custom post types belong). Themes made by us and our “competitors” support this same plugin by presenting the contents of these post types in a way that best matches the theme’s design.
The result is that churches get both a well-integrated design and the ability to switch themes (even providers) without having to re-enter their church-centric content. We’re hoping more theme makers will join up. I’m afraid though most are just baking their post types in and violating WordPress development standards while doing so.
The most ideal thing would be a plugin that works with any theme and looks beautiful with any theme, automatically. True universal theme support is very elusive, though. Ever install a plugin and see how ugly it looks? Your theme doesn’t have styling for it. Even worse (and to use sermon plugins as an example) is when there are no true archive or single post pages, which creates usability and SEO sufficiencies.
There are always pros and cons to doing it this way or that way. Nothing perfect, but there are some good choices for churches to choose from with all the themes and plugins that are out there.
We share which themes use our plugin here: http://churchthemes.guide
Chris Wilson says
Thanks for taking the time to reply Steven. Did I mention the Church Theme Content Plugin in this post? I can’t see it but I know I have mentioned it in this series (even if it hasn’t been published yet). I love that the church theme content plugin is open to other developers and you have shown which competitors support its functionality. Do you have any documentation to help theme developers intergrate the plugin?
It’s also a very good point about how universal support doesn’t really exist as you can never tell what a theme developer will do, though sticking to best practices goes a long way.
Thanks again for replying and I’m fairly confident you’ll like a post we have coming up soon.
Steven Gliebe says
You said, “Some examples include church theme content.”
Here’s documentation for theme developers to support the plugin: http://churchthemes.com/guides/developer/church-theme-content/
I look forward to your upcoming post!
Chris Wilson says
So I did! Thanks for the reply.