Making Effective use of Frameworks
Businesses and developers may well benefit from using frameworks: underpinnings for WordPress driven sites that allow them to get new sites set up more easily. These frameworks, however, are not all created the same and web developers and businesses that intend on using them should understand some information about how they work that isn’t necessarily basic, and that can have a significant impact on the usability of a given framework.
Features
Among the most significant advantages of using a framework is the ability to access features included with that framework that make it easier to customize and develop for a website. For web developers, this can greatly cut down the amount of time required to design a new site for a client. For businesses that handle their own web development, this can actually eliminate the need to have a professional designer build every single site, such as the network of sites that might be erected for an SEO Strategy.
Utilizing frameworks that get their features via plug-ins are oftentimes more practical than using frameworks that have these features built directly into them. If the framework needs to be switched out for some reason, not having plug-ins may mean that all of the features that were utilized on the site might become unavailable. Plug-ins make it easy to port functionalities between one site to the next.
Frequency of Updates
Several companies build themes for the WordPress platform on specific frameworks. Utilizing these frameworks can make it possible for a company or web developer to purchase the framework that they want and, thereafter, to only have to purchase additional themes that they can use on that same framework. While this is convenient, it does point out that it’s vital that the framework chosen is one that is updated on a regular basis.
The commercial developers generally update their frameworks regularly. Some of these updates are pushed directly to every user, and some of the updating functionalities are automated within the framework itself. Others require manual intervention to update the framework. Some frameworks, however, have the flavor of abandonware, meaning that they are released on the market and never really maintained afterwards. Because the WordPress platform itself does update regularly, it is important to be certain that whatever framework is being employed to run a site or several sites does receive regular updates.
