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Lets check difference between themes and templates in website to enhance your site’s effectiveness. It will help to avoid confusion about which one use & select.
If you have ever wondered whether you need a 'theme' or a 'template' for your website, you are asking the right question. Though frequently confused, they serve distinct and critical roles and using the right one in the right place is what separates an basic site from a professional one. Let us break down what each one means, so you will know exactly when and how to use each.
A theme controls the overall design, layout, and functionality of your entire site, while a template is a single page layout used to display specific types of content within that theme. Themes define the site's overall look while templates define how individual page is laid out.
A theme is a set of files that control how your website looks and feels. It decides the overall design, layout, and style that appear across all the pages on your site.
Your theme has built-in rules for how everything should look, ensuring your site appears consistent and professional.
This includes the CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) that control the color scheme, font families, font sizes, spacing, and layouts, creating a consistent visual experience site-wide.
In short, your theme automatically applies these style rules across your entire website:
This means you do not have to be a designer to have a great-looking site. You just fill in your content, and the theme's design elements make it look good.
Themes come with features that make your website easier to use and manage.
For example:
Some themes also include useful tools such as:
Since these features are already built into the theme, you often do not need to install additional plugins to access them.
A theme is made up of different types of files that work together to control how your website looks and works. These files are stored in a folder or directory and include:
All these files work with your content management system to display your site correctly.
These offer both design and functional control.
A template is a pre-designed layout that shows how a page or post will look on a website. It decides where things like text, images, and buttons appear on that page.
These are used for important sections like "About Us", "Welcome Page", "Full-Width Page" "Service Page" or "Contact Us Page."
These are layouts used for blog posts, news articles, or portfolio items. They control how things like the title, meta, date, featured image, and content are shown on each post.
Dynamic templates
A dynamic template is a page design that automatically fills in content from your website’s database or content system. The design stays the same, but the content changes based on what is in the system.
Design templates
Design templates focus on the visual presentation of a page like where text, images, and buttons are placed. They are often used for content that does not change much, such as a "Team Member Bio", "Contact Us" or an "About Us" page. These templates make sure everything looks clean, organized, and visually consistent.
Custom template files are specially designed layout files that let you create a unique look and structure, different from the default theme.
You can make your own custom templates and assign them to specific section, making it easy to apply special features wherever needed on a website.
If you want your custom ecommerce website or Contact page to look different from others maybe with a map, contact form, and no sidebar, you can assign a custom template just to that page.
Templates are parts of a theme that control the look of specific pages, like the homepage, blogs, or front page. While they use the theme's global design such as colors, text, and overall style they can change the layout for individual sections.
For example, a Landing Page template might remove the header and footer to create a cleaner, distraction-free layout for marketing purposes.
A single theme can include many templates, such as:
These templates depend on the theme's styles and functions to look and work properly, but give you flexibility to adjust how specific content is shown.
Themes and templates both control how your site looks, but they work at different levels.
You can customize both themes and templates, but in different ways and to different levels.
But keep in mind:
Even though templates allow more detailed control, they still follow the rules set by the active theme so you can not do everything unless the theme allows it.
Theme Setup
Installing a theme is usually a simple, one-click process in your CMS (like WordPress). However, the initial setup is just the beginning.
Template Customization
Templates are flexible and often let you easily move things around on the page using a visual editor.
The Theme is Installed First
A theme is one of the first things you set up for your website. It is applied globally and immediately.
Right after installing a CMS like WordPress, you choose and activate a single theme to define your site's core identity.
The moment you activate it, the theme takes over the entire website's design. It sets the font style, color scheme, and overall layout for every page. This creates a consistent look and feel from the start.
Templates are Applied Afterwards
Templates are applied later, once the foundational theme is in place. They are used on a per-page or per-section basis.
After the theme is active, you can create or edit individual content.
When you edit a content or screen layout, you select from the available templates like a "Full-Width" template or a "Landing Page" template. This gives you deeper customization options for that specific section's content without changing the whole site. You might use one template for your "About Us" page and a different one for your "Services" page.
Deciding between customizing a theme or a template depends on what you want to achieve with your site.
Use a Theme When:
Use a Template When:
In WordPress, templates and themes work together to create a flexible, dynamic website. While themes set the website's design, templates allow you to tailor the layout and page content of individual sections. Understanding how these two elements connect helps users take control of their site's structure and appearance.
While themes provide the foundation, many users seek more design flexibility without coding. This is where the concept of template kits comes in.
What is a Template Kit? A template kit is a collection of pre-designed templates such as headers, footers, about us, service, and more that work together to create a cohesive design for your website. They are not standalone themes but are used to give a unique look to a theme that supports these template layouts.
How They Help: Template kits allow users to import entire, professionally designed page layouts with a single click, speeding up the website creation process. They work within your active theme, leveraging its core functionality while giving you complete design control.
Pro Tip: For advanced customization, developers use a child theme. A child theme is like a copy of the main or parent theme, but it is kept separate. It lets you change the design and website’s structure by editing its PHP files and CSS. The best part? Your changes stay safe even if the parent theme gets updated.
Throughout this guide, we have outlined the differences between a theme and a template. However, a crucial takeaway is that the precise meaning and capabilities of these terms are defined by their design system.
Therefore, the key to eliminating confusion is not just to memorize definitions, but to understand the design system you are working with. Once you learn how your chosen platform works, be it WordPress, Shopify, or Squarespace, you will understand how its themes and templates work together. This will help you build your website more easily and with confidence.
We at Sana Ecommerce Solutions use the principles of theme and template to build not just a store, but a immersive commerce experience, one that tells your story, builds community, and drives loyal customer base.
You have learned the rules, now let us partner to win it.
You can find many high-quality WordPress themes and templates in the official WordPress theme directory. This directory offers a wide selection of free and tested themes that you can easily install to edit the design of your WordPress site.
You can personalize your site's typography, such as text, sizes, and line spacing, through the Customizer or Theme Settings, usually found on the left side of your WordPress dashboard. These settings are pulled from the theme files, so options may vary depending on the theme you are using.
No, you can not use a template without a theme. Templates are part of a theme's structure; they rely on the theme's files, styles, and functions to work properly. A template by itself won't display correctly because it needs the surrounding code and settings provided by the active theme.
A theme controls how your website looks, its structure, colors, typography, and design. A plugin, on the other hand, adds specific features or functionality, like contact forms, SEO tools, or social sharing buttons.
Think of your website like a house. The theme is the house’s overall architectural style, it controls the full design, colors, and set up. Templates are like blueprints for each room, they define how specific sections are arranged within that design.
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