On one hand you have the WordPress theme. Simple, stock, and most importantly, it looks like a blog. On the other hand, you have a framework. Designed from the ground up to be a raw customization of the WordPress platform, offering more functionality that you would otherwise get from this famous blogging platform. With the introduction of a vast amount of these frameworks, why is it that they are proving to become to popular?
The beauty of the stock WordPress theme is that it is simple, and it serves a purpose. It is really nothing too different from a new skin for your blog that still allows it to look like a blog, and don’t get me wrong, for alot of people this is great! I mean, why would someone want to create a blog if it didn’t look like a blog?
On the other hand, you have the full blown frameworks, such as the ThemeMX WordPress Theme and framework, Thesis, and Frugal, just to name a few, that serve as a complete remodel of the WordPress platform, and convert the platform into more of a CMS platform than a blog. Sure enough, you can create a blog using these frameworks if you like, they are designed for that too, however, these frameworks are heavy duty.
So, what is the benefit of using a framework rather than a theme? To be honest, if you don’t plan on creating a full production site, a framework is not always going to be exactly what you are after. By installing a framework, you are altering the very way in which you customize the platform. All three of the above mentioned frameworks, Thesis, Frugal, and the ThemeMX WordPress Theme and Framework, use the hook system. To customize these themes, you will need a basic understanding of the hook system, however even for someone with very little knowledge of how PHP or HTML works, this is a very easy thing to learn. As the name states, it is simply like hanging a design on a free hook within your theme. In this sense, customization of these frameworks is always going to be an easier task than expected.
It is very well worth noting that using a framework for WordPress is almost like using a completely redesigned version of the platform itself. More often than not, they offer key features that WordPress has missed out on in its official release, such as SEO functions and easy customization options. THis in good part is what makes these frameworks so appealing to people, not just production sites, but personal blogs at the same time.
At the end of the day, it is a personal decision. Personally, I have been using frameworks for some time, and I cant get enough of them, owning the developer option for a lot of great frameworks that I am very happy with, I find it hard not to use them these days, not because they look great, but because time is money, and frameworks save you just that.
