Do Do you know the difference between a WordPress plugin vs theme? Many say it’s not a problem to know any of them. But let me tell you a little story since I was a beginner, knowing that the difference would definitely help.
When My WordPress Site Stops Working
The first few WordPress sites I developed, I really didn’t know what I was doing. During this time, I started building a real estate website. I first came across a WordPress theme created for a real estate website and found the perfect look: it costs only $ 50 and has a visual drag-and-drop editor (so I don’t have to mess with any code), there are built-in indicators and there is also a way for users to enter property listings. I spent a month perfecting every aspect of the site that looked perfect. When I give it to clients, they are very happy. After about six months, they asked for changing the website themes & customise it in their preferred way.
Of course, I said it naively, it’s not a problem. “It will take less than an hour to change the theme.”
But after switching theme, I had a big problem: all the work I did on the drag and drop editor turned out to be some weird symbols, and then I knew it was shortcodes. The slide I just caught is gone. The list of these properties is gone.
If you go back to the old theme, everything will come back. But I didn’t have an easy way to switch between theme without doing extra work to restore the site.
Why It is essential to know the difference?
If you are not a solid developer and just began working on WordPress, you need to understand the difference between WordPress Plugin VS Theme. and did not make a mistake that I do. In this article, I consider my coverage to be one of the best practices in the WordPress community.
WordPress Themes
With WordPress themes, first of all, you can place your website layout and appearance. When installing WordPress it has a pre-installed theme that is very simple and not attractive. But no one wants to make the site so easy. To make it more interesting, you can install and use different WordPress templates/theme.
Themes include styles (including font style), color, page layout, device layout, and more. You can change the theme of your website without changing the content of your website. Templates create unique images for your website.
Type WordPress Theme
Thousands of WordPress themes are available in different market place and WordPress repository . Some are free, some are paid. You can choose the theme you want.
Free Themes : WordPress offers a lot of free features that appear in the WordPress guide. If you use your website for a small audience or for yourself, read on for free. This is because the same topic is used more often on other websites.
Paid theme: Premium theme many cost between 10 dollar to 1000 of dollars. Price vary according to the design and requirements of your website. One of the distinguishing features is that it creates and supports a reliable code base. This will give you more security.
How to create a WordPress theme?
Making WordPress themes a bit technical. To write a topic, you need to have some knowledge of languages for further development.
Programming language
-CSS
-JavaScript
-PHP
-Database
-You need to know how to use a web server.
WordPress Plugin
While the themes change the design of your website, the plug-ins aim to add new features and functionality. In simpler terms, themes influence the appearance of your site and plug-ins influence what you can do. This means that plug-ins cannot be easily summarized, as there are solutions for any functionality imaginable.
Some plugins focus on adding a specific function to your site. WooCommerce Event Manager– is an ideal example of plugin, as it allows you to create event booking system at any wordpress website. Regardless of what you want your site to do, there is a plugin to help you get the job done.
Free & Paid WordPress Plugin
You can easily find free WordPress plugin at WordPress directory. But most of the free plugin has limited features. At WordPress plugin directory, the plugin owner also provide a link to upgrade the plugin to paid version. Each plugin comes at different cost and plan.
Programming language
-PHP
-Database
-CSS
-JavaScript
Wrapping Up
In most cases, the difference between the WordPress plugin vs theme is quite clear. Attributes change the layout and visual style of your site, while plug-ins add all kinds of features and functionality. Although there are some overlaps in the definition, it’s best to choose a theme based on how you want your site to appear, then add features with the required plug-ins.