Widget based Front page

  • Staci

    (@stacityma1972)


    1 year, 2 months ago

    I have also posted in the Faith theme forum, however I thought I would get a few more opinions on this particular subject.

    I have another admin who is telling me using the widgets provided for the theme (I customized, based on the demo page of the Faith theme) on my home page (front page), is a potential for the website to fail. I will paste in what was said:

    “Looking at the current website design, there is actually no content on the home page.  All content that appears is created using theme based column widgets, which although work in the short term, have the potential to overwrite all pages with the theme design making every page look identical.  This will also cause the site to fail if the theme is ever changed or the default layout for number of columns/headers/footers change, which often happens when a theme or the WordPress engine get updated.

    In short, the way the current site is designed has several points of failure that make me very worried.  There is zero reason why the content is in theme column widgets and not actually on the home page itself.  Not only does this make ensuring it works across devices difficult, it will cause problems trying to update the theme or WordPress engine when security updates are released.

    I understand that the part that can be seen looks like it’s working, but the reality is, the backend stuff is not when a site is designed like this.  I’m not sure when Staci moved to the widget layout, but I would suggest moving away from that as soon as possible even if that means using a previous version of the homepage.  The additions she made such as the second calendar plugin or pop-up plugin would still be available with all the content that currently exists.”

    Please help as I don’t want a failed website but I really like the default widget based theme on the home page!

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    1 year, 2 months ago

    If you use elements provided by your theme, you become committed to that theme because if you switched to a different theme, those elements will no longer be available. Your site itself hasn’t failed, but theme provided elements will have in effect failed.

    Some themes have been available for a long time and are constantly being updated and supported. You may never have reason to change themes. Other themes fall by the wayside after a while and their users may need to switch to a different theme. You can always create new content, so it’s not a complete failure, but it might be time and effort you’d rather avoid. Others see this as an opportunity to get a fresh new look.

    Thread Starter Staci

    (@stacityma1972)

    1 year, 2 months ago

    So if we are choosing to keep the theme (its been going strong since 2017), using the elements (widgets) provided with said theme, minus any “content” (which has not yet been added at this time, but could be added at a later date, is not setting the website up to fail or change other pages, which is what I am being told could/will happen. I am being told the site is functioning or appearing to function but in the “back end” it is not. Is there truth to this?

    Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    1 year, 2 months ago

    I don’t understand what they mean by the back end stuff not working. If you can access the editor and save content you had entered, I’d say the back end is working. Of course there are other back end elements besides the editor. If anything is not currently working, there’s likely an issue with the theme or one of your plugins that needs to be rectified.

    Future updates could cause usability issues if everything is not kept up to date. This is true of any CMS system. The only completely stable, reliable website would be a static HTML based site. All CMS systems like WP rely upon code to generate web pages. Code can contain bugs that affect usability.

    If your theme and plugins continue to be maintained and updated, there’s little reason for concern. Continue to use good security practice. Keep regular backups just in case. Your content will then be as safe as anything on the web can be. The worst that could happen is your content might not be presented in the way you want, should your theme some day stop being supported. Your content will still exist, but it will no longer be presented as you desire. It could take some effort to redo your website using a different theme. But this is only necessary if your theme is no longer supported and it starts to cause conflicts and coding errors.

    Thread Starter Staci

    (@stacityma1972)

    1 year, 2 months ago

    Thank you for the reply. This seems to be the consensus. I am grateful for the help.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

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