Using free templates safe?

by virtualmisc

Posted: 14 years ago 12 replies

WEB DESIGN

Hello
I am planning to create a new website.
I was thinking of using free templates.
Heard a lot of reviews that they are not safe.
Is is true?
Someone please advice me on this.
Thanks

#free #safe #templates

mrozlat 14 years ago

it's better to get a custom design made... much better for branding and SEO
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AlexR 14 years ago

I agree. If you can afford it, get it custom designed.

1. you get something that is unique to you and

2. you know the source and that there shouldn't be any copyright problems.

Be aware that with free templates there is usually a copyright statement in the meta tags and possibly visibly on the site. You are not permitted to change that (legally) unless it is PLR, so indirectly you will be advertising for the originator of the template.

Alex
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designerpk.com 14 years ago

custom design template is better, what content management system you are going to use ?
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- llamafier 14 years ago
  
  You would probably be fine, but a unique template would definitely be better.
  
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Headfirst 14 years ago

Buy a cheap template. It's the best of both worlds.
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Aronya 14 years ago

Also consider documentation and support. Sometimes you get what you pay for.
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Technista 14 years ago

What do you mean by "not safe"? If you are going to go with a freebie, make sure you go to a reputable site. As others have said, custom-made is better, but... a quality template can be a quick and dirty solution if you need to get something up fast.
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- Happy_Balance 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Technista
  
  What do you mean by "not safe"?...
  
  Not Safe =
  Sometimes the footer code is encrypted, to protect the designers (or sponsors) links. Lately there have been some "malicious" templates which cause your end users to get pop-up ads, (random, occasional) re-directs to other sites , and various related BS.
  
  Most templates are safe, but (we all know by now) you still are better using original ones.
  For safe, free ones try the major open-source sites, those are almost 101% clean.
  
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  Micael 14 years ago
  
  I had a problem with free template. We have to be careful.
  
  Thanks
  
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  Technista 14 years ago
  
  Thanks for explanation, Happy Balance. I figured there might be viruses or malware embedded in the zipped file, but this is even worse.
  
  Virtualmisc, one big and reputable open source template site is oswd.org. Not only are they safe, but they have over 2,000 clean, elegant, CSS templates.
  
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Technista 14 years ago

If you are going to buy a template, there are some membership sites that charge a reasonable yearly or bi-annual fee for unlimited access to their entire template libraries. The price of membership is cheaper than the cost of some individual templates on some other sites. Two excellent ones are boxedart.com and templateworld.com.
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