Best templates for Umbraco and how to create them
- 02 Jul 2024
List of the most popular and diverse templates for Umbraco.
What is an Umbraco website template?
Website templates are pre-designed layouts that enable you to organize content on a web page, facilitating the rapid creation of a visually appealing website. Through a simple drag-and-drop interface, you can effortlessly add elements such as image blocks, photo galleries, logos, and more to personalize the template according to your preferences.
What is the difference between an Umbraco website template and a starter kit?
Templates offer pre-designed layouts for individual web pages, while starter kits provide a more comprehensive solution for setting up an entire website, including multiple templates and additional tools or functionality. Templates are focused on individual pages, whereas starter kits are geared towards launching an entire website or web application.
Pros of Umbraco templates
+ Ease of Use. Templates provide a pre-designed framework, simplifying the website creation process for users who may not have advanced design or coding skills.
+ Time Efficiency. Using a template significantly reduces the time required to build a website compared to starting from scratch. Instead of designing every element individually, users can simply select a template that aligns with their vision and begin adding content immediately.
+ Cost Effectiveness. Website templates are often much more affordable than hiring a professional web designer or developer to create a custom website. This makes them an attractive option for individuals and small businesses with limited budgets.
+ Professional Design. Many website templates are professionally designed, offering high-quality layouts and aesthetics that lend credibility to the website. Even without design expertise, users can achieve a polished and professional-looking website using templates.
+ Variety of Options. Templates are available for a wide range of industries, purposes, and styles, allowing users to find one that fits their specific needs and preferences. Whether it's a portfolio website, e-commerce store, blog, or business site, there are templates available for virtually every use case.
+ Responsive Design. Most modern website templates are built with responsive design in mind, ensuring that the website looks and functions well across various devices and screen sizes. This is essential for providing a positive user experience and improving SEO rankings.
Cons of Umbraco templates
- Limited Customization. Templates have pre-defined layouts and design elements, which can limit the extent of customization possible. Users may find it challenging to implement unique design elements or make significant modifications beyond what the template offers.
- Generic Design. Since templates are often used by multiple users, there's a risk that the website may lack uniqueness and appear similar to other websites using the same template. This can dilute brand identity and make it harder for the website to stand out.
- Updates and Maintenance. Template providers may release updates or bug fixes over time to improve functionality or address security vulnerabilities. Users are responsible for implementing these updates themselves, which can add to the ongoing maintenance overhead.
- Performance Optimization. Certain templates may contain bloated code or excessive design elements, which can impact website performance and load times. Users need to optimize their websites to ensure fast and efficient performance, which may require technical expertise.
Popular Umbraco templates
Unfortunately, Umbraco does not have such a huge number of templates as WordPress, but there are a couple of themes that might be of interest to a beginner who is just entering the world of Umbraco.
A versatile template suitable for personal websites, musical group pages, actor portfolios, or other creative endeavors. It also supports the integration of an internal store for selling branded merchandise.
Constro is a versatile responsive Umbraco Theme boasting a range of features. Specifically crafted for construction, building, and architecture firms, this theme offers a tailored solution for businesses in these industries.
A well-designed and aesthetic theme for restaurants and cafes with all the necessary functionality such as a menu page and table reservation.
A multi-purpose theme that has a clean design and a nice set of features. The only downside is that the theme is quite expensive – 299 euros.
In addition to the templates listed above, we also would like to mention templates created for the ByteEditor website builder, which is a part of Umbraco CMS. These templates can be used as starter kits or regular themes for your website and are completely universal for this purpose.
This template is ideal for any website where you need to showcase a product. It is highly flexible and customizable for any type of web product.
This template was designed to showcase the services of marketing companies and creative agencies. Its user-friendly UI and comprehensive features tailored for service companies will enable you to launch a professional-looking website in just one day.
How to create your own Umbraco template
We already covered a similar topic when described the process of starter kit creation for Umbraco.
The first and obvious option is to create a template from scratch, but this will only be possible if you have good knowledge of programming and layout. Although Umbraco is positioned as an easy-to-learn and use CMS, you must have at least basic skills in web development if you want to create your theme. Here is a small tutorial on how to create such a theme.
Converting an HTML template to an Umbraco theme involves integrating the static HTML/CSS files into the Umbraco CMS environment. Here's a general guide on how to do it:
Set Up Umbraco:
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Install Umbraco CMS on your local machine or server. Follow the installation instructions provided by Umbraco.
Prepare HTML Template:
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Review the HTML template and identify its components such as header, footer, navigation menu, content sections, etc.
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Ensure that the HTML template is well-structured with proper semantic markup.
Create Document Types:
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In Umbraco back office, define document types that correspond to different content sections of your HTML template (e.g., homepage, inner pages, blog posts).
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Configure properties for each document type to represent the fields needed for content management (e.g., title, text, image).
Build Templates:
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Create templates in Umbraco for each document type, using either Razor syntax (.cshtml files) or MVC (Model-View-Controller) approach.
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Copy the HTML code from your HTML template into the appropriate Umbraco templates, replacing static content with dynamic placeholders.
Integrate Stylesheets and Scripts:
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Include the CSS stylesheets and JavaScript files from your HTML template in Umbraco templates.
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Ensure that paths to assets (images, fonts, etc.) are updated to reflect Umbraco's folder structure.
Implement Dynamic Content:
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Use Umbraco's built-in macros, partial views, or custom code to render dynamic content within templates.
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Utilize Umbraco's template syntax to retrieve and display content from the CMS (e.g., using @Umbraco.Field() or @Model.Content.PropertyName).
Configure Navigation and Menus:
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Implement navigation menus using Umbraco's built-in features or custom code.
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Make sure that navigation links are dynamic and reflect the structure of your Umbraco content.
Test and Debug:
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Test the Umbraco theme thoroughly to ensure that all dynamic content is displayed correctly and that the website functions as expected.
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Debug any issues related to styling, functionality, or content rendering.
Optimize for Performance and SEO:
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Optimize the Umbraco theme for performance by minimizing server requests, optimizing images, and enabling caching where appropriate.
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Ensure that the website follows SEO best practices, such as using proper meta tags, headings, and semantic markup.
Documentation and Deployment:
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Document the steps required to install and configure the Umbraco theme.
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Deploy the Umbraco theme to a live server or package it for distribution, depending on your needs.
By following these steps, you can successfully convert an HTML template into an Umbraco theme, allowing you to leverage the power and flexibility of Umbraco CMS for content management while maintaining the design and layout of your original HTML template. Also, there is a good video tutorial explaining how to edit your own theme.
Wrapping up
Templates simplify the website development process as much as possible and allow you to create it in the shortest possible time without the help of a development team and designers. But themes also have disadvantages that should be taken into account when preparing for development, especially their limitations in terms of customization. Fortunately, Umbraco is famous for its flexibility, which allows you to customize almost any HTML theme to suit your needs.
Stay tuned for the new and upcoming templates and starter kits for Umbraco.