When you build a website it needs a Sound Foundation! I just finished a website for a great client and it has just that, a sound foundation using Zurb. Just because you use a CMS like WordPress doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the benefits of a framework. The Zurb Foundation is a great place to start.
My client wanted a mobile first designed, one page, responsive website. He also wanted the options to have a blog in the future. My first instinct was to use a framework and build a responsive static site. In recent years static sites have become more and more used and desirable.
Static website generators are gaining in popularity. Back in a day, the web was mostly static websites. The need to separate content from design drove the adoption of the CMS model and things like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla did just that. They played a big part in moving the web forward. But they had their own problems. Today Static website generators are creating advanced websites that eliminate a lot of the performance problems of a CMS.
In this case I decided on a little of both. Zurb Foundation is a family of responsive front-end frameworks that make it easy to design beautiful responsive websites, apps and emails that look amazing on any device. If you are looking for a Static website generators you could do a lot worse. But my client expressed a desire to be flexible. So I used JointsWP which is a blank WordPress theme built with Foundation 5. JointsWP gives you all the power and flexibility you need to build complex, mobile friendly websites without having to start from scratch.
My client now has a custom WordPress theme based on a very robust framework. He can leverage the power of WordPress for things like forms and image galleries. If in the future he wants to develop a blog all the infrastructure is there. If he wants to simplify the site and increase its performance it can be easily converted to a static site based on Foundation 5.
Is this a perfect solution, maybe not, but for this application it meets all the needs of the client.
It is always a joy to work with good people and Jim is certainly good people. As always I am there for my clients and I look forward to working with Jim as he develops the Green Flash Production Sound website in the future.