I am currently putting together a new site for Nauticat Charters so I need to find a theme that they will be happy with.
My belief is that for tourism sites, there is a need for lots of images. The fact is that people don't read the content unless they are attracted to what they see on the site.
I find this part of putting together a site the most challenging because of the huge number of possibilities available and how you do it is very personal. Themes come in all shapes and sizes. The starting point (because there has to be one) is http://drupal.org/project/Themes.
What to consider
To make matters worse, there are a number of 'base' themes that act as the basis for other themes. Typical examples are the ones that you find on the first page such as Adaptive Theme, Zen, Omega and Fusion. Adaptive pops up frequently as does Zen. Omega less so.
There are questions to ask before you decide on a theme which will also help you narrow it down:
- Where do you need your regions?
Many of the themes offer a highly complex set up of regions and some offer the option of modifying these - but if you are putting together a basic site, you may only need a main region and two sidebars. Do you actually need regions. Many people make web sites using panels which effectively give regions to your regions and if set up properly do away with the need for standard regions all together.
- Is it important to have html5
HTML5 offers the facility to use many newer features mostly relating to the handling of images. If this isn't important, it may not be essential to have this funcionality, but remember that the site could need modification in a couple of years and not having it may need that you need to change your theme in the future.
- Mobile Access
Currently this isn't a major issue for many people, but this is likely to change radically over the next few years. Implementation using mobile devices is a whole area in itself and includes the question as to whether you should or shouldn't have two distinct sites - one mobile and one not linking to the same database.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
The way that search engines read the information on your site is important and what they see first could effect your position. Search engines still see text, which is why flash sites are no longer fashionable and having a structured site is essential.
- Fluid or Fixed
Some web sites will take up the whole of your screen regardless of the size of your screen. This means that they may look different depending on the screen size. but that they do fill up all of the real estate. These are called Fluid sites. Many people prefer to stick to a standard 12/16 column grid allowing them to set up regions more easily.
Slideshow Themes
As I mentioned above, my current project is a tourism site that I feel requires at last one slideshow - on the front page. When looking for a theme that you like, don't feel that you are tied to only having to use themes that offer slide shows. At the end of the day, what those sites are probably doing is applying a slide show within the site anyway, so there is nothing stopping you choosing a theme that does not have a slide show and then adding one. I put together a technical site :
www.innomark.co.za where I built a slider using Views Slideshow which could then be added to any block.
This said, if the theme is designed to have a slide show and has the instructions to include it, why not go with that option.
www.marlinspike.co.za is a straight take on the Blue Masters theme and it worked very well. I was particularly attracted to this one because it aslo offered names and links on the images which can be useful to allow your user to go quickly to a destination.
For www.llandudnosportsclub.co.za, I used Danland which provided a straightforward large cycling display and a theme that provides good seo and ease of use.
For this web site, I'm found a new theme called andromeda
