Are you or your client building or redesigning a website? Consider using a Bootstrap admin template for the admin area. This article is aimed at both website designers, looking for smart solutions for their clients, and business owners who are either planning to meet with a web developer or have some coding ability themselves.
What are Admin Templates Anyway?
An admin template is a customizable framework for the administration area or dashboard of a website. This is where you go in to carry out the various tasks needed to effectively run a website. For example, you can add or remove content, install and configure new features such as plug-ins and widgets, carry out backups and maintenance tasks, manage user privileges and many more backend tasks. It is also the area where you can monitor the performance of the website in terms of number of visits, visitor demographics and site interaction.
Since end users don’t get to see this area of the website, it has previously been neglected leading to bland, generic designs which can be difficult to understand and work with.
A good analogy for the website admin area is the car dashboard. What would happen if there was no low gas indicator and gas levels had to be read by flicking through several screens? Chances are you would run out of gas more frequently. Or if the speedometer was one of a dozen small dials? How many speeding tickets would the driver end up with?
Fortunately, admin templates now get as much attention as customer-facing design and there are even specialist admin template designers and marketplaces out there offering various options for developers and business owners.
Why Choose Bootstrap Admin Templates?
In slightly simplified terms, front-end development involves three coding languages: HTML (for structure), CSS (for design) and Javascript (for dynamic functions). The front-end refers to anything the customer sees and interacts with (including the business owner accessing the backend of his or her website via the admin panel)
Bootstrap is a framework which focuses on front-end web development and it provides several advantages over traditional ‘raw’ coding.
Speed and efficiency
This is perhaps the most powerful benefit of Bootstrap and its famous grid system. It is similar to a prefabricated house where sections of the property are lifted into place and secured rather than being built up ‘brick by brick.’ Originally created by coders from Twitter to streamline their workflow, Bootstrap was soon open-sourced for the benefit of web developers worldwide.
Customization
The word ‘template’ often suggests blandness and inflexibility but this is definitely not the case with Bootstrap. By combining useful preprocessing languages, numerous CSS and Javascript libraries and support for a vast range of widgets and icons, even web developers with limited experience will find a Bootstrap admin dashboard easy to customize to meet their client’s requirement.
Compatibility
Pre-Bootstrap, once a web designer had created an amazing user interface they would have to test it with various different browsers and types of device. The extra code might then have to be added so that the interface rendered appropriately each time.
Bootstrap is designed to be compatible with all of the major browsers, including some legacy versions, and, since Bootstrap 3, has followed a ‘mobile first’ strategy. Basically, if it looks good on your desktop PC it will probably look even better on a smartphone or tablet!
Ready to Go
Marketplaces, such as BootstrapBay, are set up to make it simple to choose, buy, download, customize and then sign-off your client’s admin dashboard. This can really ramp up your productivity and earning potential.
Ready Made vs Custom Built
If you are still undecided about whether you should go for a ready-made Bootstrap admin template or a custom build, it can be worth taking your client’s perspective. Chances are, they want a functional, user-friendly admin dashboard that is tied in with their branding. They will often also demand that this be delivered yesterday!
In such cases, Bootstrap admin templates are ideal because they combine the best of both worlds: flexibility and customization together with convenience and stability.
On the other hand, if your client has very specific requirements, wants to control every facet of their admin dashboard and is prepared to wait (and pay for) the required time for you to put your coding skills to full use, a custom build is probably better.
Premium vs Budget
The next question on your list might be whether to pay hundreds of dollars for a premium Bootstrap template from a recognized author or choose a budget (or even free) option.
Although an expensive admin template may have a more unique set of plug-ins and animations and offer an enhanced user experience, extra price does not necessarily mean you’re getting anything more for your money. In fact, to include extra components your client doesn’t need is very inefficient.
How and Where to Source Premium Bootstrap Admin Templates
Before you begin your search for the right Bootstrap admin template, you should draw up a list of everything your client needs and everything you need as a developer. These should then be organized into priority order to help you make a wise decision.
Then you can start browsing renowned theme marketplaces such as BootstrapBay to narrow down your choice. It can help to search within industry-specific categories (e.g. business, portfolio, e-commerce, etc.) as this will cut down the customization work. You should also be able to sort results by popularity, price, author and other useful parameters.
There is no doubt that readymade Bootstrap & Angular admin templates can save you considerable money. You should now have all the information you need to make that decision whether to embrace Bootstrap for your next design project or continue to code from scratch.
