Help choosing a theme before purchasing

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Subject: Request for Guidance in Choosing a WordPress Theme Suitable for a Multilingual Mosque Website

As a Full Stack Web Developer, I am currently working on creating a comprehensive website for a religious association (mosque) in France. Being a loyal customer of XTRA WordPress themes available on ThemeForest and Envato Market, I am seeking your expertise to help me select a theme that perfectly meets the technical and functional requirements of the project, ensuring there are no surprises or limitations post-purchase.

Below are the technical specifications ranked by priority:

1. Multilingual Support and RTL Compatibility (Critical Requirements)

  • Primary Languages: The site must support at least three languages: Arabic (RTL - right-to-left), French, and English.
  • WPML Compatibility: The theme must be 100% compatible with WPML for translation management.
  • Integrated RTL Support: The theme must fully support right-to-left (RTL) display for Arabic.
  • Dynamic Design Adaptation: The design should automatically adjust based on the selected language (e.g., the menu shifts to the right for Arabic and to the left for French/English).
  • Translation of Theme Elements: Built-in texts (menus, buttons, widgets, etc.) must be easily translatable via WPML.
  • String Translation Compatibility: WPML should allow translation of text strings without modifying the source code.

2. Performance and Optimization

  • Fast Loading: The theme must be optimized for quick loading times.
  • Mobile Optimization: The design must be fully responsive and mobile-friendly.
  • Regular Updates: The theme should be compatible with the latest WordPress versions and receive frequent updates to ensure security and performance.

3. Design and Specific Features

  • Clean and Professional Design: The theme should have a design suited to the religious nature of the mosque (simple, respectful, and functional).
  • Prayer Times Module: Integration of a module to display prayer times.
  • News/Blog Section: A dedicated section for announcements and events.
  • Online Donation Module: Integration of a secure donation system (via PayPal, Stripe, or WooCommerce).

4. Compatibility with Customization Tools

  • Page Builders: The theme must be compatible with popular page builders like Elementor or WPBakery, which support WPML and RTL.
  • Custom Post Types and Taxonomies: If the theme uses custom post types (e.g., portfolios, testimonials), it must be compatible with WPML for proper translation.

5. Typography and Fonts

  • Arabic-Compatible Google Fonts: The theme should support Arabic-friendly fonts (e.g., Amiri, Tajawal, Cairo, Changa, Scheherazade).
  • Custom Font Upload: The theme must allow the addition of custom fonts to avoid display issues.

6. Multilingual SEO

  • Multilingual URL Management: The theme should support clean URL structures (e.g., site.com/fr/, site.com/ar/).
  • Hreflang Tags: Native integration of hreflang tags for multilingual SEO.
  • SEO Plugin Compatibility: The theme must work seamlessly with SEO plugins like Rank Math SEO or Yoast SEO.

7. Security and Maintenance

  • Enhanced Security: The theme must follow best security practices and be compatible with WordPress security plugins.
  • Technical Support: Reliable and responsive support is essential for troubleshooting any technical issues.

In summary, I am looking for a highly flexible theme optimized for multilingual support (including RTL) and equipped with features suitable for a religious website. Your assistance in identifying a theme that meets these criteria would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

2

With respect these are all questions that are only partially determined by your choice of theme.

Your better option is to search Envato to identify a shortlist and then check your requirements with the specific author who is the only person who will be able to confirm several of the questions above.

You must be cautious however, presumably this is an important build that needs to perform for the foreseeable future…

Things like SEO performance, site speed etc is FAR more down to how you optimise and use the end website and the further steps and investment you make. Yes having a solid theme is important but it will mean nothing if you don’t cache content, minimise scripts, optimise images, and invest in proper hosting.

You need to make sure you invest properly in security and management given the type of information and presumably personal information the website will be handling.

As a full stack dev is there a reason you would not build something bespoke rather than relying on third party code and (while most authors are impressively reliable) where support and updates could be stopped without warning? For a site with potentially such exposure - even using a theme from one of the best authors feels like a hazardous risk?

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