Several developers and community members predict what the future holds for WordPress themes in 2011. You can find my predictions mixed in with the bunch.
Several developers and community members predict what the future holds for WordPress themes in 2011. You can find my predictions mixed in with the bunch.
Hi Justin.
In you prediction you said something about not liking Front page sliders, or at least that was the impression I got from your comment.
Would you mind expanding on that please? I am curious to hear the reason why you would be happy not to see another Front page slider.
Cordially
Vayu
Many theme authors add front page sliders just because all the cool kids are doing it rather than having a good reason to actually add the slider. A slider should focus on the reader experience instead of just being something flashy to catch a potential theme user’s eye. That’s basically it in a nutshell.
Thank you Justin!
Yes, this is a valid point and I agree, but you could say that about a lot of things that are used in websites.
I was just taken aback when I read your comment, because I had never come across anyone else who had discussed this. I then thought a bit about this and could’t really come up with anything that was so negative about it. (other than of course the load time and the possible distraction of the animation) Hence, I got curious.
Anyway, thanks.
Vayu
Good point Justin. Sliders are everywhere. They may engage the user for a few moments, but do they get the user to click to get more detail to learn more, or to order your offering, or just simply entertain the user. If it does not produce that first click, then you might need to examine your purpose in having a slider on the front page. I like sliders that take the user on a tour of the product, and mostly text content, as they draw the user to interact with the site, taking bite sized chunks on directed content that has the purpose of building trust, understanding and conviction.
Rick, those are my favorite types of sliders — ones that allow the user to truly interact with the content. Unfortunately, most sliders are only added in as eye candy in themes.
studies is very beautiful and I wish you good work
Real-time comments. Or facebook will kick our asses.
Great read, thanks for the link. Any love for theme development in your new plugin book? Read the description on Amazon but didn’t see anything related to themes.
We don’t go into specifics about themes, but nearly anything that can be developed as a plugin can be within a theme. There are several chapters that are extremely beneficial to theme developers. Plus, theme developers should know the best coding practices, hooks, and WordPress functions when creating themes. These things are definitely covered by the book.