There’s no doubt that WordPress is one of the best content management systems available today. In fact, data shows that WordPress powers over thirty-five percent of all websites around the world. So, for example, if you’re browsing on a web page design right now, you have a one in three chance of guessing right that it’s using WordPress.
However, by far, it’s not a problem-free platform. You may come across different concerns right off the bat, from the basic theme installation to plug-ins to only find out the server isn’t up to the requirements.
One of those concerns involves themes installation failures. Occasionally, WordPress themes run into trouble and need a small change to get them working correctly.
This article will cover the biggest problems with WordPress themes and common fixes you can do. However, keep in mind that if you have problems with your WordPress themes and the following fixes are not even helping, make sure you get in touch with a WordPress support team as soon as possible.
Now, are you ready to learn the biggest problems with WordPress themes? If yes, then let’s dive in!
Problem #1. Your website doesn’t look like the demo theme
Demo sites are just dishonest. Theme developers spend a lot of time polishing the demo site, involving features and plugins that don’t come with the theme. After all, those are the web developers and web designers who understand how to make a website look good with or without a theme.
Nonetheless, it is not always the case that a demo site misrepresents a theme. They characterize the best possible result. Still, it can be quite simple to accomplish the same result. It all depends on the developer and the theme. Before spending your money, please take a look at the theme’s rating and its support forum. Satisfy yourself first that there are enough happy users out there.
A recently installed WordPress website has next to no content. Hence, even the perfect themes will look underwhelming than a demo site loaded with text and professional photos. It will help if you install a sample content first that will help you get a better approximation of the theme’s capabilities and appearance as you work with it to add your content.
Problem #2. All WordPress themes are designed differently
A lot of WordPress themes were created and designed completely. That only indicates that you install one theme from a particular third-party provider, and it will surely be different from this theme on another third-party provider.
Hence, all of the themes are very much different. How you edit them is very different as well! You may need to spend many years editing a single site, install a brand-new theme, and it is still totally different.
You need to learn the intricacies of that theme from the ground up, but that can be complicated. The problem with WordPress themes is that they are not adaptable. It takes you a huge amount of effort and energy to understand how to personalize or modify that theme the same way you’ve done in a recent theme. That makes it not very useful and practical.
Problem #3. You are stuck with your theme’s header and footer
Another problem most users experience when using WordPress themes is stuck with their header and footer. Most of the other stuff can be adjusted around and moved a little bit. However, your WordPress headers and footers are not one of them, which makes it unlikely adaptable. After all, that’s what makes a theme: the headers and the footers.
You can change all else in between, but the headers and footers are still the same. So what should you do as an alternative? We recommend checking the theme first to ensure the theme you’re using has interchangeable or customizable headers and footers.
That might be only a small problem for most individuals, but it still matters. So remember this as you may come across this soon.
Problem #4. You don’t have enough control over your website’s layout
As a beginner WordPress themes user, you need to keep in mind that using those themes means you don’t have much control over the layout of individual pages. In those cases, this is considered a theme-by-theme issue.
You may receive much freedom to customize the layout of the individual pages on a few themes. But you may be stuck with what you can see on others. Apparently, the more you pay for a certain WordPress theme, the more functionality it may offer. However, it would be best if you had full control over the website. If you don’t, that would be a big problem.
As a person wanting to create your website, you may want to add your about page, services page, and contact page. But once you start creating it, you may like to change the positions of these pages or delete a few of them that isn’t relevant to your plan.
Chances are, if you’re using a WordPress theme, expect that you’ll be restricted in the things you can and ways you can make it look. That’s a real problem that most users feel annoyed about.
Problem #5. WordPress themes are relatively basic
Let’s admit it. All WordPress themes are fairly basic! Yes, we finally said it. What they normally do is highlight an awesome and beautiful homepage with all those amazing web designs. In addition, there are times when they feature sliding stuff down here and a perfect testimonial section down there.
Then you click through the about page, the service, and the contact page, among others. But there’s one thing you notice about all of them: they are all basic.
You see, they sell you based on a good homepage. But as a consumer and someone looking around for online services, you know that you don’t like a decent homepage obliging you to click through to other pages. So instead, you prefer those pages to be as good as the homepage itself.
WordPress theme developers often concentrate all their energy on the homepage, but the other pages don’t look promising as you click through them. So at the end of the day, you have installed the theme just for the home page.
The worst thing about here is that it happens most of the time. Luckily, you will find a few themes, which come out with awesome different web page designs. Still, that’s very rarely. So, the next time you hunt for the best WordPress themes, always take your time.
Problem #6. You depend on a theme developer to keep your website secure and updated
Another problem many WordPress theme users experience is by depending massively on a developer to keep their website updated. Just recently, we’ve been through a major update with WordPress when they finally released Gutenberg.
Many users have been using numerous themes beforehand when version five launched, but some developers decided not to update on that theme. Therefore, many users were left stuck, and they are still utilizing the previous version of WordPress. Such a bummer, isn’t it?
You may have paid $30 or $50, maybe even hundreds, for a particular theme. But twelve months later, your developer chooses to go, find another job, and do something else with their life. So now, you are left with that outdated theme. That’s a scary place to be.
How Can WordPress Page Builders Help You?
Needless to say, WordPress was far from ideal as its launch. But what’s the thing with page builders?
A WordPress page builder allows anyone to launch a website without deep coding and specific developer skills. A simple, customized, simple tool, a page builder, is crucial in a successful initiation and managing stage.
That’s why you need to learn how to pick the best for making your WordPress site, evaluate the pros and cons of each, and determine the main pitfalls you can experience during the entire web design process.
For instance, a website builder substantially lowers the effort and time required for web page launching and managing. That’s one of the many reasons for the popularity of a website builder. Hence, the key ingredients for launching a website are a domain name, a web host, a WordPress theme, and of course, a good WordPress page builder.
Further, the specific templates you have made for your site will help you extend the current site resources and remove the complexity you encounter during the website coding. If something brings more trouble than happiness, it can easily make you give up on that idea without receiving any result.
Ultimately, pre-made templates enable you to put and change all the data required. In addition, the personalization options will substantially help you make your website stand out from others in the same area or niche. Isn’t it amazing?
There you have it! These are the biggest WordPress themes problems you may encounter and practical ways to avoid them. We hope you find this guide informative and educational at the same time. So, what about you? Are you ready to create your website with WordPress? We wish you the best of luck in your journey!
If you need further help with WordPress themes, you can contact Web Digital. Aside from offering web design services, we also provide web hosting and other plans. Web Digital is a well-established web design agency, and we can help you with your website design needs.