Many websites are built using ‘templates’. These are often off-the-shelf files that the developer can modify or can be part-and-parcel of some of the web development tools that site developers use.

Templates can simplify and speed up the design and development process and in that sense they serve a purpose.

The disadvantage is that, because web templates are blue-prints that enable a site’s design to be cloned for other purposes, websites built with them can be somewhat generic. Who’s to say that there aren’t a hundred other sites out there that use this same template? Is the use of a template worth the sacrifice of your website’s unique identity?

It’s a case of swings and roundabouts, but in general you should be paying less for a website that’s based upon a template. Put another way, if you have an extremely limited budget, a website based upon a template is probably your only option.

So, it’s time to own up: do I use templates for website development? No, I don’t. Does it take longer for me to develop a website without a template? Yes, but I recoup that by having an extremely customised web development environment which I’ve configured for maximum productivity.

Is there any hidden advantage to not using a template in developing a site? Yes, certainly: because I’ve coded everything myself (scripts and style sheets), I already know how everything fits together and this means that I can more easily modify different aspects of the site without having to tune in to what the authors of the template may have done.

February 2010 note: as you will see, I now offer a Three Star CMS website package that is based upon a template that the client can choose. Yes, that's right: a template! I am deliberately doing this since I believe that the advantages of having a Drupal CMS can outweigh the possible disadvantage of the site being template-based and therefore not unique. Being able to originate a unique masthead graphic within the template offsets this as a real issue. Discuss!