FAQ

I do get asked a few interesting questions...

Thanks for dropping by!

Hi, thanks for visiting my website. Hopefully you'll have found some useful inspiration or a template to meet your need. I do get asked a few questions by folks downloading my templates, so I've added a few of the more common ones here.

About I Make Templates

Why did you start this website?

I only started using Google Sites to build a site for a friend, and frankly, the lack of templates was a bit disappointing (I’m used to working with WordPress). Some of the 'premium' templates I found online were, well, less than inspiring. So, I made some of my own. Not gonna lie, quite enjoyed it, so I figured I’d give them away for free to help others learn Google Sites too. That's where all this started. 🙂

How many templates have been downloaded?

I only started counting since I automated the download routine, but since then over 21,000 individual template downloads have taken place. That's since August 2024.

What's the difference between a template and a theme?

The difference between a Google Sites template and a Google Sites theme lies in their scope and purpose:

Google Sites Template: A Google Sites template is a pre-designed structure or layout that includes multiple pages with placeholders for content, images, and other elements. Templates provide a ready-made framework for building a website and typically offer a range of page layouts and designs. They can be customised to suit specific needs and preferences, allowing users to add their own content, change colors, fonts, and styles, and rearrange the page elements as desired. Templates are more comprehensive and often come with a larger number of pre-made pages, making them suitable for building complete websites with multiple sections and functionalities.
Google Sites Theme: A Google Sites theme, on the other hand, focuses on the visual appearance and styling aspects of a website. A theme primarily determines the overall look and feel of a Google Sites website, including colour schemes, fonts, backgrounds, and other stylistic elements. It provides a consistent visual identity throughout the website and allows users to create a cohesive design. Themes are generally applied to an entire site, affecting its global appearance, rather than individual pages. While a theme may provide some default page layouts or styles, it is typically not as comprehensive or detailed as a template in terms of page structure and content organisation.

Effectively, a Google Sites template offers a complete framework and structure for building websites, including multiple pre-designed pages, whereas a Google Sites theme focuses on the visual styling and consistency of the website's appearance. Templates provide a more extensive and customisation solution, while themes primarily address the visual styling aspects of the site.

Which ones are the most popular?

Free templates get downloaded far more than premium ones, obvs. In order of downloads the top three free template downloads are (as of April 2023):

What's with the names?

They're all fictional cops. I don't know why I went with that. I started with Bosch and it just went from there.

Have you been doing this for long?

I've been a freelance web developer since the late 90's. Oh yes, I remember AOL and Netscape Navigator and the beeeeee bip ... beeeee bip of of the ZX Spectrum! As far as Google Sites is concerned I started developing themes and templates in late 2021. I use the software in my day job and I soon convinced myself I could do lots more with it than what we were using it for at work. Hence ... this!

Do you make one-off, custom templates?

Yes I do. My side hustle is WordPress & Squarespace development and I've been creating websites for years. If you have a design in mind, want some tweaks to one of my templates or fancy something completely new then get in touch. My rates are reasonable and I'm happy to work with you to get the result you want. Read more about my Design Services.

Getting started

Which template is best for me/ my business?

My templates are meant to be as flexible as possible, so if you run a cafe and you like a business template, there's absolutely no reason why you can't use that instead. Google Sites is editable, so you can change fonts and colours to suit your particlar need.

Can you help me set up my Google Sites website?

I can, but why not try and learn yourself? There's a great Google Sites forum on Reddit where you can ask questions. Need help more quickly? No problem, check my Design Services or head on to my dedicated Google Sites developer website at GoogleSites.Dev.

I've downloaded a template. Now what?

Build your website! There's loads of really great tutorials on Youtube and the official Google Sites community pages.

Building your website

Will my booking system work with your template?

If you use a restaurant booking system like:

Opentable
Tock
Resy

Or an appointment booking system like:

Optix
Mysight

These will integrate with Google Sites and my templates. My templates use only standard Google Sites functionality, so if your business system can be embedded into a web page, it can be used with Google Sites. Still not sure? Give me a shout and let's work it out together.

How do I hook up my custom domain to Google Sites?

Easily the most oft-asked question about Google Sites. See my post on how to connect your custom domain to Google Sites.

Google Sites

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