Design your way

How can you tell if a theme’s code is bloated? Does the end user really care? What is bloated code anyway? Each of these questions deserves an answer.

An example of bloated code is code that has been designed to perform multiple functions, many of which are seldom if ever needed. It is also code that is poorly documented, and is therefore a nightmare to maintain or update.

The end user becomes aware of the presence of bloated code when a theme is slow to load or becomes cumbersome to work with, or a server is easily overloaded. Bloated code is most often the result of a lack of discipline.

Programs are created to do a great many things, instead of being coded to do one thing right. In the case of themes, feature after feature, and plugin after plugin, can be tacked on until the whole thing becomes cumbersome to work with. There is a better way.

What to Look for when Selecting a WP Theme

The website designer, who may or may not be a programming guru, has to know what to look for in order to avoid themes having a bloated code syndrome. Advertisements seldom offer much of a hint, but there are things to look for, including three that are key: optimization, minification, and less is more (with respect to installed plugins).

Template Optimization

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Image source: Andrew Littmann

Templates are key theme features because they serve as the foundations upon which pages, and eventually entire websites, are built. The more templates that are at your disposal the better, or so it would seem.

If the templates have not been properly optimized however, more being better becomes more being worse. The reason for this is if script and style functions are not utilized in the correct manner in the code, templates can be slow to load, and in extreme cases can be inefficient to work with, thereby affecting a theme’s overall performance. Look for clean code.

Minification of JS and CSS

Browsers will gleefully attempt to process unnecessary and redundant data as well as useful data. When code is allowed to become bloated, processing time increases, and when there is an abundance of unnecessary code other things can happen as well.

Minification refers to the removal of any unused code including unused or unnecessary protocols, and undertaking practices such as shortening variable names, deleting extra spaces, and any other techniques that will not negatively impact performance.

No Nonessential Plugins

Plugins do much of the heavy lifting for many WP themes, and tend to be more effective when they are incorporated directly into the theme. Plugins that are not essential to a theme’s advertised functionality are best accessed externally, since they can load a theme’s processors down, and impair its performance.

A premium theme should be expected to function as a lean, mean fighting machine. Any tendency to incorporate more and more functionality into a theme needs be managed properly or avoided entirely; another case of less being better.

Case Study: Jupiter WordPress Theme

Jupiter is an exceptionally high-quality theme, and one that is easy to use. A WordPress theme that performs smoothly and seamlessly, and is fast and easy to use, as is the case with Jupiter, is almost always a theme that is built around superior coding practices and standards.

A website designer may not need to understand the intricacies of proper coding techniques, but for the theme developers understanding what superior coding entails is imperative. Put simply, Jupiter is not a code-bloated theme, and it never will be. Its 180000+ users can attest to that.

Code Quality is Paramount

Artbees maintains a team of veteran developers and designers on its Jupiter Theme project. The theme’s code base is constantly nurtured, improved upon, and refactored to conform to industry standards and practices. Any use of external plugins to perform essential tasks in Jupiter is frowned upon, and nonessential plugins are avoided entirely since they tend to serve as breeding grounds for problems necessitating continual tweaks and patches.

The majority of plugins used with Jupiter and other themes in the Artbees’ family are designed and developed in-house. Plugins designed with a specific theme or family of themes in mind tend to be more effective, and perform more efficiently.

On the other hand, the development team recognizes that end users want a theme that is compatible with certain third party plugins; WPML is one example. Jupiter accommodates the more popular and widely used plugins and allows users to experience a seamless experience when using them. A new portal, Artbees-themes.com, features a growing number of extensions for Jupiter users to explore and install.

Extensive use of the Google Performance Profiling timeline enables Jupiter’s developers to see where their applications are spending most of their time, so that adjustments to improve performance can constantly be put into effect.

Jupiter’s Strengths

In comparison to other WordPress themes, Jupiter exhibits superior UI features for many of its functions. You will be impressed when you realize that its features tend to focus on user experience, instead of simply consisting of a collection of useful, but not always essential, bells and whistles.

A Lightweight Admin Panel that is a Heavyweight Performer

Not all admin panels are the same. Some are easy to work with; others can be cumbersome. Jupiter’s Admin Panel was made for humans. It was not designed to show off its functionality. Creating and managing content is kept as simple as possible, and most of the tasks, such as creating backgrounds, headers, and layout building, are visual.

Watch the Hover Demos

One of the more interesting features, and you can see demos on Jupiter’s website, is the variety of hover effects. The demos are impressive, or if you prefer, impressively cool.

Templates with Loads of Potential and Multiple Header Styles

The 17 ready-to-use templates are characterized by featuring a variety of layout combinations with styles and combinations for every niche. These templates, taken alone or in combination, together with their multiple header options, offer limitless possibilities, and they take but 1-click to install.

Shortcodes You Won’t Find Elsewhere

Jupiter offers a selection of 30+ shortcodes, and counting. Many are used on other themes, but several are unique to Jupiter, including animated columns, computer sliders, a tab slider, and a flip box feature you will likely make an extra effort to incorporate in your next website design.

The Edge Slideshow is Truly Amazing

Whether the multiple navigation and pagination styles are highly useful and innovative, which they are, or just fun to work with, which is also true, is up to you to decide. You probably consider them to be both.

Portfolio Styles Galore

The number of different portfolio layouts is impressive, with 8 variations of a Classic style, and another 8 variations of a Portfolio Grid, to work with. Choose between a no-space masonry style and a spaced masonry style, or pick one of the Portfolio Single styles. Any of these portfolio styles lend themselves to applications of the aforementioned hover functionality.

There is more.

Jupiter utilizes the ever-popular Visual Composer as its page builder. Layer Slider, Revolution Slider, and iCaruosal Slider are included, as are 14 custom widgets and 1800 icons. This theme is retina ready, RTL ready, and top-notch performance and excellent support are yours to enjoy as well. If you have a problem, or need an answer to a question, you can expect a response within 5 hours – 24/7.

The recently released Artbees website is packed with information you can use to further explore the ways in which Jupiter can increase both web design productivity and quality. You will also find out more about Artbees’ other fine products, how and where you can download templates, and how you can benefit from the integrated, premium-class support that is featured for these products.

Jupiter is a fairly recent addition to the WordPress family of themes, but it is a more than welcome addition, and it is a theme that is highly recommended. Make it a point to look at Jupiter in greater detail.

Share your thoughts on this article with us. Did you find it useful? Was there anything you were looking for that was missing, or could have been addressed in greater detail? We would like to hear from you.