I’ll be using WordPress as primarily a CMS for a small business website: though it will include a blog, it will mainly consist of a home/splash page, plus 4-5 other pages describing services, contact, etc.
I’ve been searching for hours upon hours and can’t find a way to find an existing theme that does what I’m looking for. Free or inexpensive (like, $20 inexpensive, not $50). On the home/splash page, I want a nice image slider that when each image is clicked, it will go to a corresponding page. Below that, I want blocks / excerpts of the most recent blog posts. I’d like it to look something like this in layout. I do like Colorway, but the free version has no slider, and the blocks beneath it are static, as far as I can tell. In fact, I keep running into that – the blocks appear to be static in the other themes I’ve looked at too, instead of something that updates automatically with a new post. The only thing I’ve found that comes close is Studeo, which is not free or cheap, and I don’t really like that block with the “bookmark” image below the slider. I’ve also looked at Mantra, but I don’t think it looks professional enough (tabs for menu, wide borders on the images).
Any suggestions? Any suggestions on where or how to search?
WP themes can run anywhere from free, to inexpensive, to mildly expensive to several thousand dollars (custom designed/developed). If you’re wanting to stay in the $20 range, you may have difficulty finding exactly what you’re looking for, although it’s not impossible. Have you tried ThemeForest?
There’s a big difference in options between $20 and $50-100, especially if you have specific requirements.
For free themes, stick to WordPress Themes | WordPress.org. Don’t trust other free theme sites - most of them hide dubious links or malware in their downloads.
…for a small business website I would suggest you seriously reconsider your budget. Will $30.00 really break your budget? My suggestion would be to up the amount you can spend: at $50.00 you will vastly improve the chances of finding a theme that has all the features you need. Seriously: find the money.
I just recently updated my wordpress site: its here…
Its the Salient wordpress theme: it cost $45.00 from Theme Nectar on Theme Forest. You have plenty of themes to choose from on Theme Forest but as people have mentioned: you need to be careful. Theme Forest is a “storefront” and each designer has their strengths, weaknesses, some update their sites often and some not at all. Most designers are polite, some are rude. Test out the demo sites, read the comments, look for any warning signs. Shop around.
But you really need to reconsider your budget. I know nothing about either the business you are setting up or the business you are setting up the website for. You could very well do what you want to do by playing with free plugins and customising your site. But you get what you pay for: for the price of a few cups of coffee and a cake you get get all the features you actually need without having to invest as much time into development and learning.
Well, it’s not my money and I will be discussing options with the business owner tomorrow. He may go for a pricier theme, or he may not. We may also discuss having the static content blocks behind a manually-updated “best of” blog posts rather than a dynamic “most recent.”
I love/hate WordPress. From a pure design standpoint, it would be a lot easier just to design and build the thing myself; but this needs to be something that a very not-tech-savvy client can update himself once I’m done.
The business, btw, is a provider of multiple types of therapeutic healing modalities: he’s a licensed massage therapist, a Reiki Master, etc. etc. He also teaches.
…then you really really need to tell him to spend more money. If he can only budget $20.00 for the theme I shudder to think how much you are getting paid. Make sure you don’t under price yourself. Remember the old adage: sell the sizzle not the sausage. Your client makes money: and he will be using the site you design to make himself more money. I just looked up a couple of random Reiki Masters and they charge about $80.00 an hour. Be a better salesman and get his money.
I purchased the One Touch and, for the most part, am very happy with it. I purchase plugins from a sister site, Code Canyon. I cannot recommend either of them highly enough.