Usman     February 11th, 2013 at 5:26 am

Hey Mike awesome post. We had a brief conversation on email regarding frameworks a few weeks ago and this was just what I was looking for.

Using themes for WordPress definitely has its limitations, but I have found a decent framework (not theme) for the WordPress platform, it’s at: catalysttheme.com. Basically you can create your mockups very quickly and efficiently, and has very few limitations. But like you said it’s always good to know the basics before.

Thanks bro, looking forward to the next post.

Usman

Mike Locke     February 11th, 2013 at 7:23 am

Thanks Usman, actually your email sparked the idea for this video. I thought it was a good idea to speak on the pros and cons. Thanks for sharing the http://www.Catalysttheme.com site.

Joseph     February 11th, 2013 at 7:32 am

Hi Mike. Thank you for your post. It touches on something I’ve been thinking of lately. I have been learning basic HTML and CSS, but I’ve also started learning the basics of WordPress. In terms of building a portfolio, would you define a section of the portfolio as just “WordPress designs”, and then a section showing “static” sites built only with HTML and CSS alone? Would it matter in your opinion, or could they both be placed together as just “web designs”?

Thank you much for your posts and sharing your knowledge.

Joseph

Brandon Halliburton     February 11th, 2013 at 7:52 am

Thanks for the break down Mike! I personally love WordPress. I think its easy to use and allows you to take control of your website.

Question: Why dot people call things like Genesis and Thesis frameworks, but they both are themes for WordPress?

Mike Locke     February 11th, 2013 at 8:02 am

Joseph, in regards to your portfolio, I would just keep them all together. No need to separate WordPress from non-WordPress sites. What matters most to people is the overall design and UI. But definitely call out your ability and services for WordPress. That always helps with small businesses and those folks that need WordPress developers and designers. The corporate world will definitely only look at your portfolio for your UI Design abilities.

Jason     February 11th, 2013 at 10:39 am

Thanks for another great video. You’ve shown some great examples of UI design in your Friday Favs and in an older video, can you recommend any other resources that are good for building UI/UX design skills. Thanks again.

Mike Locke     February 11th, 2013 at 10:40 am

Brandon, thanks for the feedback. Yes WordPress is awesome. The term “Framework” is a little techie and can be a little confusing to most. I think people just know WordPress and anything that works with it is just another Theme.

Mike Locke     February 11th, 2013 at 10:44 am

Jason, my best best places/resources to go for good UI/UX examples are:

http://www.patterntap.com
http://www.dribbble.com (search for UI Design)

Also, be sure to check out the books produced by Smashing Magazine. They have some great stuff there.

Leon     February 13th, 2013 at 1:02 pm

Mike, great post! I fully agree……

I don’t consider myself a pro at all and I only design websites part- time but before I wrote one line of code I studied, Graphic Design, History of Graphic Design, Design Principles, Grids, Rule of thirds, movements like Bauhaus, Swiss Typography, Josef Muller Brockmann, typography in general , Dieter Rams (chief designer at Braun and inspiration for Apple products) etc. etc. etc. and I keep on learning new things…. I also photographed for many years.

You can learn a monkey how to install a WP theme but that doesn’t make it a good designer.

I would always start with a great design that should be backed by sound design principles (there should be a philosophy behind why you do something and it should make sense)

Only then you can start coding html/css it and convert it into a WP theme.

Anyway, just my two cents ;-)

Cheers

Mike Locke     February 13th, 2013 at 10:21 pm

Leon – Great feedback. Too funny (the monkey joke). But true, learning the foundation of design is huge. Thanks for the comment.

Arsalan     February 14th, 2013 at 7:29 am

Hi
great post
mike sir please tell me which CMS is better joomla or wordpress
thank you

Mike Locke     February 16th, 2013 at 2:02 am

Hi Arsalan, personally I would go with WordPress because that’s what I’ve worked with over the past several years.

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