WordPress Themes vs. Plugins: What is the Difference?

Posted by Christina Hills | Design Tips, WordPress Tips | 0

People are often confused about the different purposes of WordPress themes vs. plugins. In this article, I hope to shed some light on when your website should use a theme to solve a problem vs. when your website should use a plugin to solve a problem or add some cool function to your site.

Every day (or so it seems), we see new themes come out with super-nifty designs, effects, and functions… And I totally understand why people get attracted to themes that come with tons of bells and whistles. However, I’m seeing a trend that newer themes are now starting to incorporate the functions that should really belong to plugins. And that’s something you should pay attention to when picking a theme for your WordPress site.

When picking a WordPress theme, you want to look at all the features that the theme has. But it is important to know the difference between WordPress themes vs. plugins so you can make an informed decision when deciding to use a certain feature. So if you are either starting a new website from scratch, or you have an existing site and you want to give it a total makeover, understanding WordPress themes vs. plugins is crucial.

Difference between WordPress Themes vs. Plugins

If you understand the fundamental difference between WordPress themes vs. plugins, this will help you decide which features of a theme you should use. To put this in simple words…

Themes give the “look” of your site. This would include the design, layout, color schemes, templates, and so forth. In other words, it controls the appearance of a website.
Plugins provide your website with additional functions. WordPress comes with many functions out of the box, but plugins allow you to do even more with your website.

I often use the car metaphor to explain the difference between the two. Themes are like the exterior of the car, such as the color and design that determines how a car looks. Plugins, on the other hand, are like the special car features like remote key access, GPS, and a special sound system that you can add to a car. Or, for example, take an iPhone or Droid SmartPhone: The color and shape of a mobile phone correspond to the theme on a site, while the phone apps are like the plugins.

What is Wrong with Themes Doing the Work of Plugins?

WordPress, by design, is wonderfully flexible as you probably know. And that flexibility is made possible by the ease of adding/changing themes and plugins, which were meant to do different things as explained above. See this post on the 6 things to ask yourself before picking a WordPress theme

A big downside of using a theme function that should really be a plugin function is you can’t change the theme down the road without losing those functions. For example: let’s say your theme has some event calendaring functions and you already entered/collected some important data using those functions. Well, if you decide to switch that theme later, you might just lose all that… But if you were simply using a stand-alone plugin to handle the event calendaring instead, switching themes should not create an issue for you.

Or for example, if your theme has a testimonial feature built-in, then when you switch your theme in the future, you lose all the formatting of your testimonials.

Here, on a special case study page of one of my students who took the Website Creation Workshop, you will see me using the “Strong Testimonials” plugin. (See below for an example)

“…even the most “computer-challenged” will find this course easy to follow”

This is a self-paced course with excellent step-by-step videos. I am convinced that even the most “computer-challenged” will find this course easy to follow. Besides the online classroom, Christina has regular phone-in times where we can ask questions and listen to other students ask questions. The Website Creation Workshop helped me to get my site up and running in about four months. I love being in control of my site. I love being able to make changes whenever an idea strikes me. If you want your own website and you want to be able to manage it yourself, I highly recommend Christina’s Website Creation Workshop.

Suzanne Stengl

www.SuzanneStengl.com

But on my home page, I am using the Divi "blurb" functionality for the testimonials there. (Divi is a premium theme from Elegant themes. You can find more info about it from my affiliate link here: https://www.ChristinasResources.com/divi )

I like the look of it with the Divi feature, and do not mind that I may have to reformat it in the future, as it's only 4 testimonials.

Use WordPress Themes vs. Plugins Separately for Flexibility

There are probably cases where using a theme with built-in functions makes sense. Just know that in the future if you change themes then you will probably have to make sure your new theme also has that function, or pick a plugin to solve that function.

I always say one of the big advantages that WordPress offers is its scalability -- It can grow and change with your business. There may be excellent themes out there with amazing functions and sometimes you will use those, but in general I recommend using themes to give your website the look that's right for you, and use plugins to make it function the way you want!

About The Author

Christina Hills

Christina Hills helps entrepreneurs setup their websites using WordPress without having to rely on a webmaster. Her trainings are fun and she makes it easy! Get the free PDF "The Do-It-Yourself Website Creation Checklist" Report Here

Testimonials

“I have a website I love!”

If you told me 6 months ago I would be designing and managing my own website – I would not have believed you. For years I had people to manage my site and they never got it quite right and it was too expensive to keep having them make those changes to get it right. Now, I have a website I love and I can make changes and keep it current without the huge cost of paying someone else.

Thank you, Christine and Team – you have all be fabulous and the training and support from the Facebook Group have gone over and above what I could have ever imagined. Thank you and I am looking forward to managing my own website!

Jackie Kloosterboer

Survive-It.ca

“I highly recommend The Website Creation Workshop!”

I’m so very grateful to Christina Hills and her fantastic team for empowering me to create and manage my website. Her explanations are clear, up to the minute. They provide not only of the necessary technical information, but also a nice dose of encouragement and strategy as well, which makes it possible for even a technophobe like myself to accomplish this project.

In addition, the structure of her course and continued support allowed me to go at my own pace, which was absolutely necessary for me. I highly recommend The Website Creation Workshop!

Reba Linker

AToZHealingSpace.com

“Christina provides a wealth of information in a clear, concise, practical and fun manner!”

Christina provides a wealth of information in a clear, concise, practical and fun manner. I tried to do my own WordPress website and ended up frustrated and with unsatisfactory results. After attending a free webinar about the Website Creation Workshop, I knew immediately that she was an excellent teacher, presenter and a person of heart.

I am so thrilled with my new website and my ability to control and grow my content over time. I ran into some challenges along the way, but Christina and her team were there every step of the way. That is a sign of a great teacher! Thank you Christina and I look forward to continuing the journey with you in other workshops.

Debra Duwe

FourPawsDogTraining.com

“Couldn’t be happier with my outcome!”

I, like so many, had become frustrated by the cost and the amount of time it was taking to have my site updated by other people. Even though my time is at a premium I decided to take on the task of rebuilding my own site through the Website Creation Workshop.

First, I was excited by how simple it was once I understood some of the basics, which Christine does an excellent job in teaching. From there it was a matter of following the step by step program, referring to the videos for each lesson and watching my website take form. Couldn’t be happier with my outcome and with the knowledge I have to continue tweaking my site as needed.

Jim Phillips

www.LivingInFullExpression.com

“It is EMPOWERING!”

Christina’s Website Creation Workshop was FANTASTIC! As a graphic designer, I know how to make things look pretty! But I learned so much more about building an interesting and effective website.

Christina teaches at a pace that is slow and powerful, so all of the details have time to soak in. I highly recommend, and do to all of my entrepreneur friends, Christina’s training. It is EMPOWERING! Thanks!

Lynne Baum

YinWithLynne.com

“I’m so grateful to Christina Hills and the Website Creation Workshop!”

I’m so grateful to Christina Hills and the Website Creation Workshop. My professional passion is all about empowering the individual – and the Website Creation Workshop certainly fits that bill as well. After several ‘store bought’ websites and feeling terribly dependent upon my web designers, it’s so empowering to be able to handle any issues that come up, to have the Website Creation Workshop as a resource if I run into any issues I can’t solve on my own, and to be able to tinker with my design and wording to my heart’s delight without having to wait in line to get it implemented by someone else, and racking up a big bill for every tweak I want to make.

I have loved this process of learning to be an independent designer, user and modifier of my own website. I’m so grateful that I was able to go away for a period of time while ‘life happened’ and come back and pick up where I left off with ease, thanks to a little help from you all. I’m very grateful to you for providing this service.

Reba Linker

RebaLinker.com

“I can officially say that I am in business worldwide!”

I am new to the business world, especially online, and to be successful I knew that I needed some sort of guidance. I took my wife’s advice and signed up for the Christina Hills Website Creation Workshop class.

From day one I decided to wholeheartedly commit and do whatever Christina said to do and that was, to keep on moving and not get stuck with details in the early stages of the program and that is exactly what I did.

I blew through modules 1 through 6 in a matter of days and at this point I could see clearly where my site was going in terms of theme and content.

Thanks to some epic advice from Christina, I successfully completed and launched my website in a matter of days.

Thank you Christina and the Team! I must say that you guys are awesome and now I can officially say that I am in business worldwide!

Rakesh Ramoutar

RoastRackGrill.com

“The Website Creation Workshop has been extraordinarily helpful and made it fun to build a website!”

The Website Creation Workshop has been extraordinarily helpful and made it fun to build a website – and in a shorter time than expected. Building a website used to be something I dreaded, but knew that I had to take care of as a new online entrepreneur. I feel proud of what I have accomplished, and empowered to maintain and improve the site on an ongoing basis. Thank you so much Christina and team!

Susanna Grinsvall

www.SusannaGrinsvall.com

“I’m honored to be one of Christina Hills students!”

I want to deeply thank you Christina Hills and Team for the outstanding quality of the program and the kind and helpful assistance I received all along my Website Creation Workshop journey. I will keep being and attached member of Christina Hills Community and I’m honored to be one of her students.

Cecilia Roger

JapaneseEmbroideryAcademy.com

“I have gained skills and confidence in designing my own site!”

Christina and her team have finessed the tricky balance between challenge and encouragement through an on-line platform allowing for even the most technically-challenged entrepreneur to be successful with developing their own website. I have gained skills and confidence in designing my own site – and now maintaining it — all while having fun! I’m so glad I found you when I did.

Sandra Jenvey

VitalEnergyBalance.ca

“I am glad to have taken a chance on this course and am so happy to have completed this website!”

I have attempted to learn WordPress many times with online tutorials, and continued to hit “roadblocks” where I couldn’t figure out how to move forward.

With the Website Creation Workshop, I was able to understand how WordPress works so much more clearly and was able to ask critical questions when needed. I am glad to have taken a chance on this course and am so happy to have completed this website – one that I hope will be the first of many more!

Maria Moyser

BrooklynAnimalAction.org

“Super big thank you to Christina!”

After following Christina Hills online for a while I found her instruction to be very thorough, and honest in approach, so I decided to give the Website Creation Workshop a try. It happened at a time when I was struggling with another web designer, again, a grand total of four designers over a period of 15 years!!! I couldn’t be happier to not have to make those angry, frustrated calls anymore. Seriously!

Aside from things typically taking way too long, if they were even done, creative differences tended to be a problem for me as well. “What do you mean you don’t want to do that?” I find myself repeating over and over for things like “Why is the site not mobile responsive?”….. Never again!

Super empowering to not be subjugated to the will of another. With my vision, and the skills I’ve learned, I can build what I want, and change/modify it when I see fit, or necessary. Super big thank you to Christina and the WCW team for helping me get here!

Pat Magrath

www.PatsLessons.com

“I highly recommend Christina’s course – and have to many, many people!”

I have been a member of Christina Hills’ community for three years now. I have appreciated her clear and understandable teaching. Christina’s lessons are very step by step so that anyone can follow them – even with NO website experience. Her process has been refined so that you just need to follow the process. You do not get lost down the many, many rabbit holes in WordPress or building a website. Her course is well organized and easy to navigate.

I recently purchased a Pinterest course from a “big name” and was shocked how sparse the information was and how much she assumed you knew. Christina is NOT like this. Her course is stellar if you want to build your own website.

Depending on the amount of time you have, you could build it quickly, or it could take you more time. It also depends what you are trying to build. My site is fairly complicated with two kinds of blog posts – one to support my podcast and one for the recipes. I have many pictures for each recipe. But with Christina’s help and that of her team, it is built and out in the world!!

I highly recommend Christina’s course – and have to many, many people.

Cindy Sullivan

FoodSensitivityKitchen.com

“I would recommend the Website Creation Workshop to anyone who wants to gain the freedom of building their own online presence!”

I am very grateful for Christina and her team to develop such a wonderful and useful course!

The workshop is so well-organized that a non-technical person like me can learn and master at my own pace. It teaches almost anything you can think of while building a website. I also had chances to ask my own questions and get answers on live calls. I feel so empowered that I can put up my own beautiful websites, and produce content that I want to share with the world.

I love the precious “real estate” on the Internet that belongs to me, instead of building on the rented land such as social media. I used to work with web developers on websites, it’s very time consuming with numerous back-and-forth emails and calls on any design idea or change, let alone the cost, time delay, and headache associated with it.

I would recommend the Website Creation Workshop to anyone who wants to gain the freedom of building their own online presence. I did it in four months with about an hour a day. It is an incredibly freeing experience to learn from Christina. Thank you!

Aileen Fan

AileenFan.com

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart!”

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I joined the workshop in Spring 2019 and I completed a website for my husband’s music business. It is not perfect, but at the moment it is enough for our purposes. Of course it will grow and change alongside our business.

I agreed to help my husband to publish his music (stuck indoors, Covid and all…) Suddenly, I acquired a very clear vision where I wanted to go and now we not only have a website, but have also gained a verified and approved artist status on Spotify and YouTube – In three short months ? and this is really just the beginning. And you helped with a very important piece – building a foundation, our house on the web.

I wanted to say thank you for providing a very comprehensive resource that helped me to overcome “it is not enough” syndrome and to create my first ever working WordPress website. You gave me enough confidence to finish and publish it.

Thanks a million. You are awesome!

Neris Gallo

DantePlay.com

“Your course was very thorough and provided so much content, but in a very organized and feasible way.”

I came to this course for 3 reasons.

1) I paid an exorbitant sum for what I expected to be a top quality website. It was never completed properly and used Block Editor so I could not make changes myself. It also used a pricey paid theme that I felt was used simply because the web designer was trained only in that theme. This company’s server was hacked and they did not realize for 2 months! Only realized they could not fix this and would have to start from scratch after another 2 months!! And then they kept making other mistakes like using an email they made up instead of my real email address for the contact page. After my site being down for 6 months a mere 3 months after it went up, I wanted to fix my site right, by myself.

2) I would like to give online courses and create a new website for that.

3) I have a blog site that needed better security from people trying to put spam in the comments. Your course was very thorough and provided so much content, but in a very organized and feasible way, when it could have easily been overwhelming. I may not be your picture of a success story since the work you saw was a conglomeration of my different sites, but I was able to apply everything you taught, even moving my site myself to a new holding site.

Anything I struggled with, you and your support team were very responsive and helped resolve all issues quickly.

Chanie Monoker

“Christina instills confidence and independence in her students.”

I decided the new skill I’d learn during Covid lockdown would be web design, and I couldn’t have chosen a better teacher and program than the Website Creation Workshop. Christina Hills is a teacher’s teacher ( I say that as a teacher!) She has tremendous facility teaching technical skills and breaking them down in a simple, non-overwhelming process that is actually fun, especially to a non-technical audience. She is logical as well as creative in the perfect balanced combination. She understands creative multi-faceted people who are working with more than one niche, yet provides structure and sound advice at the same time. I have taken almost all of her different programs at this point, and each one has delivered far beyond my expectations.

Above all, Christina instills confidence and independence in her students so that a non-technical solo entrepreneur can manage their own online presence independently without stress, multiple contractors or overwhelm. This newfound freedom, confidence and independence to be able to update my websites anytime I want on my own timeline is absolutely priceless. I’ve even noticed benefits outside the class, in that I am more eager to tackle complex technical things a lot more lately because of my overall increased technical skills.

Last but not least, Christina’s support team is absolutely amazing. They are the nicest group of ladies who went above and beyond on so many occasions to help me go live on schedule. You guys are the best. I highly recommend the Website Creation Workshop to anyone who wants to gain full mastery and independence over their websites and online presence. Thanks Christina, and thank you to the wonderful Website Creation Workshop team!

Laura Kessler

CreativeLeadershipInstitute.com

“I am not a technically savvy person. And I just completed a gorgeous website that I’m really pleased with!”

“I am not a technically savvy person. And I just completed a gorgeous website that I’m really pleased with! Christina’s WCW is extremely well organized and detailed. Even I could follow it with ease! I feel empowered, because the world of websites is no longer a big mystery. What a wonderfully surprising silver lining.”

Taira Restar

www.WiseHeartedWoman.com

“If it weren’t for the Website Creation Workshop, I might still not have a website up and running!”

If it weren’t for the Website Creation Workshop, I might still not have a website up and running! Christina goes through things step by step so that you not only know what buttons to click, but why.

The knowledge will continue to be helpful so that even if I have someone else manage updates on my website, I can easily go in and make quick changes myself and will understand what I’m asking someone else to do. This was a great way to get myself going!

Kim Barnes

www.BarnesTeamMedia.com

“I love my new site and I feel very proud of myself for pushing through my anxiety to learn so many new skills!”

Christina’s methodical and detailed approach to teaching WordPress is amazing! I had been afraid of WordPress before joining the WCW!! But Christina and her team make it all feel manageable, one step at a time.

I love my new site and I feel very proud of myself for pushing through my anxiety to learn so many new skills. There is no way I could have done it (or would have had the nerve to try) without Christina Hills and the WCW. Thank you so much!!

Joanie Nicholas

www.AllThingsOrganizedKC.com

“I never thought I would be this happy with a website!”

I never thought I would be this happy with a website! I was stuck between paying AT LEAST $5000 for someone else to create a good website vs. creating a website myself that I wouldn’t really like. I didn’t want to pay that much, but I knew that I didn’t have the expertise to create even a bad website.

But with Christina’s Website Creation Workshop, I produced something that I am proud of and that is constantly getting me compliments! The step-by-step process is very straightforward and easy. Christina has “game-a-fied” the creation process so you see yourself making progress as you go. Not only do I love my site, but I’ve been able to even help some other people because of the training I’ve received!

Steven Cooper

www.ClarityFocusHeart.com

“I have found you and your staff to be some of the best in the industry!”

One of the things I love about you and your company Christina, is that you run it from an abundant loving place, like you’re caring for your fellow human. Along with all your brilliant teaching skills, you make it easy to want to stay connected to you, Christina, because you have built in the space for people to be human and change their mind or go through hard things and you support us in that.

I have found you and your staff to be some of the best in the industry to work with when issues come up. I appreciate this about you and it’s what will keep me coming back!

Carla H. Brown

LivingFromJoy.com

“Thank God I found Christina and her team!”

WOW! I can’t believe I created my own website! When I began this journey I was not sure I could really do it. After years of having paid others to create and maintain a website, I thought I might be getting in over my head. Thank God I found Christina and her team!

They have a fantastic program that allows you to move at your own pace and ask questions along the way. Everything is beautifully put together and well thought out. I think this is the only way I could’ve accomplished this. I did the work knowing someone was there to patiently guide and support me when I needed it. Thanks to Christina and her team for a putting together this beautiful program.

Nancy Duke

AkashicWorkshop.com

“Christina Hills’ Website Creation Workshop course is The Best online course I’ve ever taken!”

Christina Hills’ Website Creation Workshop course is The Best online course I’ve ever taken! Here’s why: It’s way more than information-packed (which it is). It took me, step-by-step, to create my own website in a way that was thorough, and easy to understand, and supportive, and encouraging, and easy to follow … AND FUN!

Yes, there’s a learning curve, but after the first few modules, I was having FUN being creative, building my very own website exactly how I wanted it. I’m thrilled with the result, and I’m excited to show off my new site to a new and wider audience!

Kathryn Gillett

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WordPress Themes vs. Plugins: What is the Difference?

Difference between WordPress Themes vs. Plugins

What is Wrong with Themes Doing the Work of Plugins?

“…even the most “computer-challenged” will find this course easy to follow”