What happened to people designing their own websites now?

Seriously, it seems only the biggest sites in a lot of niches design things themselves now, with the rest either just using some free template or getting some paid team in to do it.

When exactly did designing your own website from scratch and then actually adding your own content become seen as an old fashioned or silly thing to do?

And where the hell do so many people with new sites get their near endless pit of money from? Is everyone in the US just really spoilt or something when it comes to getting cash, or is there some miracle job that pays decent but has near non existent hours?

 

Been there, done it with HTML websites and it's very time consuming doing it. It is worth the effort, but these days people don't want to waste time doing it when there is ready made software and themes they can use right away. Plus with HTML webistes, it's all about adding content using a text editor and then uploading files. PHP/Database driven software makes the job so much easier.

 

I'm not talking just HTML and CS here, I'm talking unique hand made designs in general, whether that be for static sites, database driven sites or anything else.

 

Don't know, maybe time constraints with people, or they ain't as interested anymore in doing it seeing as cheap decent themes can be bought instead that most couldn't do themselves. Themes have moved on a fair bit today in their complexity with being Responsive and including all sorts of new modern methods in them like using jQuery and such.

 

A good example of what I mean, look at this theme called BBOOTS for phpBB3, what it comes with and all for a measly $15 spent. There's no way me or you could create something like that, whats included in it. That's how much themes have moved on and guess why many don't bother creating their own as much.

 

Forums aside, there has been a similar shift in the greater web design world. Unless you have a budget for an artist or a real designer, you are going to use the open source tools available to you to get 80% of the way there. I remember making all of my old themes in Photoshop, from scratch.

You know what though? They looked like shit.

I'd much rather use something that looks good, and add a bit of flair to it, than try and build something from scratch when it's not at all my skill area.


Now, on my latest forum I used Bootstrap, Font Awesome, and some random images on the internet and put it online. I don't have a budget for proper design, and as it is I spent 2 weeks longer than I should have. I probably would have just used one of the cheap <$50 themes, but I'm trying to differentiate myself as a business.

That leaves me with the answer: standardization is good enough, and money.

 

I would have to agree for everything said above.

I own Complete Client, a web & graphics design company. We are small and growing slowly, but when we started I used a Weebly site template. I have edited it a bunch and made it not look like one, but it is. While Weebly host around 2% of the interweb's sites, it still does not really give me an excuse. I should since I over custom coding, but if I am not getting paid, its not really worth it to me. I plan on using a Bootstrap template and converting it into PHP/Databasing automation to make it easy as well, but nothing is as easy and clean as website template builders like Weebly if you do not have the time or experience to make your own unique one. Plus, adding stuff is so much easier xD

Call me lazy, but I make an okay profit for only work 8 hours a week and having 5 employees work for me (Around $200 a week, Which is close to $25 an hour)