Turning a design into functional WordPress theme is no simple feat. Checking the converted theme to make sure you got your money’s worth is just as tricky. Even if the converted theme is ‘pixel-perfect’, there’s no guarantee of what you’ll end up with under the hood.
In this post, I’ll highlight some ways you can get a good measure of the end product of a PSD to WordPress theme conversion process. This will also help you determine how experienced your conversion service provider/developer is.
W3C Validation:
Theme looks great, but that’s to be expected. You designed it. But how well does it work?
This is where the free W3C markup validator comes in.
Enter the URI or upload the theme files and click ‘Check’. The tool will run diagnostics and give you a comprehensive report on errors and total execution time (loading time).
You need to test and validate your site’s HTML on W3C standards for smooth, error-free experience.
SEO and Performance:
Yes, you can test how your markup can add to (or detract from) your SEO efforts.
Head to Schema.org Validator to find out if your theme’s markup follows Schema best practices and make sure that search bots can understand and sort through it easily. This helps you achieve higher rankings.
To check your theme for loading speed, head to (ThemeCheck.org) and upload the .zip folder you received from the developer. You’ll be scored out of 100.
Responsive:
Your WordPress Themes should be able to adapt to device dimensions without compromising quality, functionality, or performance. Ask for a theme demo, and check the URL on a tool like Screenfly to test how the theme behaves on different device dimensions.
Cross-Browser Compatible:
A good way to ensure maximum reach is to make sure that your theme can work on multiple browsers.
You can check your developers PSD to WordPress conversion work. Go to BrowserCheck.org and test the same demo URL you received previously for cross-browser compatibility. Make sure to tick the browsers and their versions which are most widely used by your audience.
Summing Up:
Unfortunately, there’s no real way to test compatibility with plugins and widgets, so you’ll have to specify the plugins you use to your PSD to WordPress Company beforehand. If you receive free support or money-back guarantee, that’s even better.
