Once in a great while, I'll grab a pre-made template but most of the time I hand-code everything from scratch and validate the code as I go along until finished ... alot less pain that way.

Yeah same here i am using CMS but not premade templates i like to have my own template used on my sites . But i admit i really use cms for few of my sites.

I love CMSes too because I like to customize everything but I am not yet able to create everything from scratch like the scripts that I like to use.

I use ready-made templates for time-saving then i just have to edit some portions that i think doesnt look good.

I think that for sites where you want to make money, CMS's and templates are the way to go. Starting a completely new site is a waste of time.

I have used drupal and its free templates to build a site.

Jay

Ready templates are my favorite when it comes to site designing and it is more of a welcome if it is a MFA. But if you want it you can puhase a unique one from reputed sites.

If im building a simple website for my project then i like using codes to develop each and everything but if im doing some entertainment based website then i go for Microsoft Frontpage.

Yes! Templates it is, until you have had a heavy experience of web designing, you should go for ready made templates

I'm a web designer and developer, and mostly do work in open source technologies
Coding from scratch is time consuming but i like to do things myself and mostly it's about thinking, creativity and exploring limits

but if i'm out of time and have to do things in less cost, i go for template based programming. That's quick, cheap but can't be creative and unique
so there are some pros and cons of both choices and i have to adopt according to requirements

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