Check Your Custom WordPress Themes

Recently I was asked to look at modifying a ‘Premium’ WordPress theme and while browsing through the code of the theme I noticed a couple things that people should be wary of when purchasing themes, or at least in my opinion. In today’s day and age in the World Wide Web there are various good practices a designer and/or developer should look at when creating websites or themes for web applications and the first one I would like to point out is the use of <table> tags for layouts. The second issue I have noticed, heard of and read about is how Themers will insert their own Affiliate IDs into preloaded Ads such as Google’s AdSense.

Issue Number 1: <TABLE> Tags Should Not Be Used For Layouts

The above code I had to clean up to understand what was going on

That’s right, the HTML <table> element should strictly be used for tabular data and not for website/theme layouts. In the past Tables were easier to use when ensuring your page looked the way you wanted it to. If you get into complicated layouts, Tables can start being a really large pain to work with in regards to rendering the cells to proper dimensions as well as compatibility across platforms. Mobile devices (with their smaller screens) will probably not render layouts in Tables properly and will be really buggered up or really squished.

Updating a Table layout can also be quite a task, especially if it has multiple rows that span across and down the page. Need to add a cell into the middle of a table? Is the table based on precise measurements (such as pixels) or is it based on percentages? I’ve had to deal with tables that use 1px wide cells to help nudge things around the screen. Also if the person who created the layout with Tables doesn’t follow good practices (such as indenting) then it can be really hard to modify and you might spend hours trying to figure out where everything is.

Then What Are <TABLE> Tags Used For?

This is tabular data and what <table> tags should be used for

Like I mentioned above Tables are used for tabular data. Do you have a long list of items with prices perhaps? A Table would work best, especially if you have lots of information to present. If the information is to be in the form of a spreadsheet then a Table would be used.

How Do I Check If  A Layout Uses Tables?

To check if a layout uses Tables extensively you can usually right click on a theme’s demo and select ‘View Source’. If there are a lot of <table></table>, <tr></tr>,<td></td> tags that will give you indication of a theme based on Tables.

Should I Not Get A Theme If It Uses Tables?

If you plan on updating or modifying your theme with little effort then I recommend not using it. It also is an old coding practice which is frowned upon by other web designer and developers.

Table layouts do not load as quickly as say a layout done with DIV tags. Though there still might be some debate about how much bandwidth a DIV based layout will save you over a Table based layout but DIV based layouts are the current standard for web design/development. They are also easier to work with when you need to modify things. They help keep code clean too if done properly!

Issue Number 2: Check PreLoaded Affiliate or Ad Links

Another thing I have noticed with Custom WordPress Themes is the use of the Themer inserting their own Affiliate ID into the preloaded ads. I guess if the person who purchases the theme does not care about monetizing their own website then why not right? Well if you are into monetizing your own website then I would recommend checking the preloaded Ads or Affiliate links if there are any and fixing them.

Why Does This Matter?

Well if your Custom Theme has preloaded Google AdSense ads that you did not configure, then when someone clicks on an ad the person who created the theme (for which you might have paid money for) will get the credit for that click and ultimately make some more money off your site. I guess people could argue the pros/cons of this practice, but to me this seems a bit too sneaky.

I remember Rod posted about forced ads that were preloaded on a WordPress theme he downloaded. When Rod went to remove the ads from the theme, the theme no longer worked. He reinserted the code and the theme continued to work. Another sneaky practice!  I am alright with giving attribution to the person who created the theme, but to try and make additional money off of it via sneaky tactics such as this just doesn’t sit right with me. Rod ended up removing that particular theme right away once he found that out.

If you are looking at using Free WordPress Themes, or Paid (Premium) WordPress Themes I would take a moment or two to perhaps look over the code. If you do not understand the code or where to look have someone else look into it for you. Make sure people are not trying to make money off of you without you knowing it. I am sure not everyone does this but just keep and eye out for it.