Plugin vs Theme

PaulintheSticks · 27th Jan 2013, 12:57 PM

I see people recommending WP plugins and themes for building mobile sites. I'm a little confused. What's the difference (advantages/disadvantages) between a plug-in and a theme as it relates to building mobile sites?

Thanks.

mrjasonser · 27th Jan 2013, 08:19 PM

HI Paul,

Here's my 2 cent....
(1) WP Theme
A WP Theme is basically the "template" that gives the look and feel of your wp blogs or site with a CMS function.

Depending on the objective for your site or blogs and what theme you used, some themes comes with more function than other.

Example:

A Tech blog could used a very basic "Magazine" stlye themes as a the main objective is to provide useful information for it's reader.

But for internet marketers who main objective is to sell some kind of info product, may choose a theme like Profit Themes as it also include other features of creating squeeze page, sales page along withe the theme.

However, other marketers for whatever reasons may choose a basic theme with out those function but instead, get WP Plugin , an "add on" software to accomplish those things instead.

(b) WP Plugin
As mentioned earlier, WP Plugins are like "add on software" to your word press to do accomplish certain task or function that your theme may not be able to do.

The function can range from what I said earlier like squeeze page, sales page creation or even things like membership function to adding a Social Media button ( Google Plus, twitter...etc)..etc For your case here, I believe is to create a "Mobile Enable" browsing version of your site.

(3) Theme VS Plugin

Now, I personally have not worked with a theme of a Mobile Site, but do used a simple plugin for a site before that can have a Mobile Browsing Version if visitors choose to.

Either way, I believe most sites nowadays will want to have their site Mobile Enable, but instead of thinking which is better, my recommendation will be to think of what you want to accomplish, then look for either the Theme or Plugins that gives you the function to do what you want.

Example: Are you a Tech Blog owner who simply want a Mobile Browsing version, or perhaps you are a restaurant owner, who want to give your customer the ability for reservation on their mobile with a Simple Process?

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Jason Ser

WillR · 27th Jan 2013, 09:03 PM

A theme means you can only have that one theme running on Wordpress. A plugin means it can be used in conjunction with a theme.

27th Jan 2013, 12:57 PM	#1
PaulintheSticks Advanced Warrior Join Date: 2009 Posts: 913 Thanks: 662 Thanked 168 Times in 121 Posts	Plugin vs Theme Share on: I see people recommending WP plugins and themes for building mobile sites. I'm a little confused. What's the difference (advantages/disadvantages) between a plug-in and a theme as it relates to building mobile sites? Thanks.
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27th Jan 2013, 08:19 PM	#2
mrjasonser The FreeSpiritMaster War Room Member Join Date: 2009 Location: Singapore Born, But Now Having the time of my life in Taiwan even though sometime I hated it here. Posts: 161 Thanks: 95 Thanked 35 Times in 32 Posts	Hi Paul Re: Plugin vs Theme Share on: HI Paul, Here's my 2 cent.... (1) WP Theme A WP Theme is basically the "template" that gives the look and feel of your wp blogs or site with a CMS function. Depending on the objective for your site or blogs and what theme you used, some themes comes with more function than other. Example: A Tech blog could used a very basic "Magazine" stlye themes as a the main objective is to provide useful information for it's reader. But for internet marketers who main objective is to sell some kind of info product, may choose a theme like Profit Themes as it also include other features of creating squeeze page, sales page along withe the theme. However, other marketers for whatever reasons may choose a basic theme with out those function but instead, get WP Plugin , an "add on" software to accomplish those things instead. (b) WP Plugin As mentioned earlier, WP Plugins are like "add on software" to your word press to do accomplish certain task or function that your theme may not be able to do. The function can range from what I said earlier like squeeze page, sales page creation or even things like membership function to adding a Social Media button ( Google Plus, twitter...etc)..etc For your case here, I believe is to create a "Mobile Enable" browsing version of your site. (3) Theme VS Plugin Now, I personally have not worked with a theme of a Mobile Site, but do used a simple plugin for a site before that can have a Mobile Browsing Version if visitors choose to. Either way, I believe most sites nowadays will want to have their site Mobile Enable, but instead of thinking which is better, my recommendation will be to think of what you want to accomplish, then look for either the Theme or Plugins that gives you the function to do what you want. Example: Are you a Tech Blog owner who simply want a Mobile Browsing version, or perhaps you are a restaurant owner, who want to give your customer the ability for reservation on their mobile with a Simple Process? Hope this helps. Cheers Jason Ser
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27th Jan 2013, 09:03 PM	#3
WillR Digital Marketer War Room Member Join Date: 2010 Location: Australia Posts: 12,475 Thanks: 1,984 Thanked 8,187 Times in 4,079 Posts	Re: Plugin vs Theme Share on: A theme means you can only have that one theme running on Wordpress. A plugin means it can be used in conjunction with a theme.
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