Our clients are frequently asking one logical question: “What is a better basis to theme Drupal website: out-of-box html-theme or designers’ psd-mockups?”. Our brief answer is: “HTML is better if its quality is sufficient”. Stay tuned and see our detailed answer though, the devil is in details :)
So let’s assume that html-theme is a full-interactive website projection which provides us with an ability to click each and every element to see how it works. By such theme ‘sufficient quality’ we imply:
- responsiveness;
- multi browser support;
- various visual effects.
Speaking about a high-quality psd-mockups we imply that we have separate image-files for every portal page, not only a homepage. Thus let’s assume that we have two different elements (html-theme and psd mockups) for the same portal of the equally high quality.
When receiving psd mockups developer sees only a visual picture. But he still has to guess and make assumptions on many small details. With html-theme he may make 20 clicks per minute and see himself all the nuances:
- site behaviour under different display resolutions (responsiveness);
- special elements behaviour: modal windows, slideshows, etc;
- other effects like hovers, mouseovers, interactivity, etc.
Thus the main advantage is that developer does not spend lot of his time by guessing how the element should work or get this information from manager/designer/product owner. Thus he is released from the following routine:
- think about this or that elements behaviour - everything is understandable from html and can be adjusted to the website;
- ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ principle: product owner and developer see the same things. Thus finally there will be no ‘what-is-this-I-thought-it-will-look-different’ situations :)
- Drupal-theme implementation will take less resources, from 10% to 70% of development budget (this percentage depends on many factors: design complexity, mockup quality and its compliance with Drupal structure);
- photoshop and other third-party software skills are not obligatory;
- website support is much easier because all visual changes can be first tested in static html, not in Drupal theme php files. Only after everything is tested the final decision is implemented on the website.
