Need a responsive webpage template

June 29, 2012 12:44 PM

Where can I buy a responsive web template off the shelf?

I need to redesign the website for my not-for-profit organization and have two requirements. The site should be minimalist and display code blocks in large, readable format.

I like bootstrap but it looks really bare bones and I haven't seen good examples and don't have a whole lot of time to customize it. I've looked at wrap bootstrap but dislike the cheesy SEO templates they've got there. I haven't found other great examples of sites that look great and were done with bootstrap. A Google search unfortunately only gets me mass market seo crap templates like theme forest.

I love the Golden Grid System but can't find any working examples or templates (especially since I do need a navbar up top and can't figure out how to turn off the grid overlay).

I love symbolset for the large, highly readable fonts and the overall minimalist feel (but this question isn't about fonts; I can find something great via typekit).

There are other grid systems, like the Skeleton grid system but again, can't find a template that I can easily customize.

I also really like Tilde.io (I love how responsive it is when resized but understand it was done by real professionals and not something I can get for cheap).

We are in the process of moving our site from wordpress to Jekyll and will only need 2 page templates - the index page, and a single page (which would work for blog posts and static pages).

Can anyone suggest websites where I can pay $50-$100 to grab a template based on one of these nice responsive frameworks? we have 0$ in funding at the moment so this will have to be cheap.

posted by special-k to computers & internet (6 answers total)

The idea of buying something like this makes me cringe.

The best of everything that you need for this is open source. Yes, you'll have to customize it. Your spend will be in time, not cash. Which is generally good for an outfit with $0 funding.

"Responsive" is ultimately very simple. You're creating a view of your content that has one set of styles for viewports of a certain width, and other styles for greater or lesser width.

Google "media queries" for a look at how this is implemented. If you need a template to get started, try using "320 and up".
posted by Citrus at 1:04 PM on June 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

There are some really nice responsive Wordpress themes out there. (for instance: The Theme Foundry) You might ask if their license allows you to use the theme HTML/CSS outside Wordpress?
posted by misterbrandt at 1:12 PM on June 29, 2012

200+ responsive HTML templates.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:13 PM on June 29, 2012

This FPP might lead you to something you like.
posted by jbickers at 1:24 PM on June 29, 2012

2nd-ing themeforest
posted by humboldt32 at 2:58 PM on June 29, 2012

Bootstrap isn't that difficult, it even has some starter examples and a gallery of sample sites. If you only need 2 page styles then it should be a containable problem.
posted by epo at 6:44 AM on June 30, 2012