What are Admin Templates?
Admin Templates are web pages that are responsible for acting as the UI at the backend of any web application. These pages are usually built on a combination of HTML, CSS, JavaScript and their related libraries. They serve as an easier and more organized way to maintain, analyze and develop an application.
The concept of having an admin dashboard has come up recently with many companies adopting the use of one. Before this, the backend of applications tended to be left bare and this brought about other issues as web applications progressed and became more complex.
Since data is growing exponentially and online visibility is becoming increasingly more difficult, analyzing and keeping track of website traffic has turned into a necessity. Such tasks along with website maintenance and content management become easier with a user interface to accompany the back-end. Nowadays, admin dashboards have become consumer grade and quite easy to use and configure with superior user experience and data visualization.
Creating an admin dashboard panel from scratch will require hours of manpower and increases the overall costs. In such a scenario, admin dashboard templates, admin website templates and admin panel themes have come to the rescue. These admin templates come predesigned and can be customized to suit the requirements of your website or app.
These are usually available for a fraction of the cost of coding from scratch and comes licensed meaning there are no risks involved. The time required to set-up an admin dashboard with the help of an admin template is also minimal compared to when it has to be built from the ground up.
Many companies still opt for custom coding over admin templates simply because they require the extra flexibility and can afford it. However, a simple cost estimate will help you understand why many companies, especially startups with shoestring budgets, choose admin templates over custom coding. It also helps when these dashboard templates have evolved over time and have been optimized to make sure that the code is clean and bug free.
With that being said, let’s move into what exactly are the pros and cons of using admin templates over custom coding an admin dashboard.
Pros and Cons of Using Admin Templates v/s Custom Coding
What We Like
1. Simple
Templates are designed with the sole aim of making a task simpler. Admin templates are no different and do this job truly well. These templates usually come with their customizable components that are designed to improve the overall UI at the back-end where things aren’t always as pretty as they seem. These components include widgets, charts, tables, and other applications that add to the functionality of the template. Moreover, they are designed in a plug-and-play manner meaning integration involves just a few simple clicks and you’re good to go.
2. Flexible and Customizable
The possibilities are endless when it comes to finding an admin template. Online template marketplaces have built a strong foothold in this market by designing aesthetically pleasing and high performance templates for virtually every use case possible. These templates cater to organizations in different industries with varying requirements, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, just spend some time in finding the right template and you can’t go wrong. The various UI components, plugins, widgets that come included in these templates allows for functionality that would have otherwise taken hours to build via custom coding.
3. Economically Feasible
The main reason that admin templates have become so popular recently is because of how cost effective it is. The simplicity and the ability to customize the back-end of our web application at a fraction of the costs have proved to be very attractive.
Not sure how the cost comparison works out? Let me explain.
One of the most common ways to understand its economic feasibility is by understanding a simple (and probably overused) cost estimate.
Building an admin dashboard without a template from scratch would cost anywhere in between 500 to 1000 man-hours. Labor doesn’t come cheap and with an average salary for such a developer, we can expect the total cost for setting up an admin dashboard to be around $25,000 to $50,000.
Now, consider choosing a template over this custom coded dashboard. Buying a licensed template with complete functionality and unlimited customizations to make it personalized will cost as little as $39 to $399.
Setting this template up to integrate with the existing back-end will take a couple of hours and we’re good to go. The time saved and the money spent is considerably less when opting for admin templates.
Now that we’ve covered the advantages in detail, let’s look at the cons of the template approach, to help you make a decision. Once you’ve weighed the scales for your project, this comparo will help you decide whether to go custom or template.
What We Don’t Like
1. Lack of Uniqueness
When it comes to templates, a common con of templates of anything is the fact that more than one can and will have it. Templates are not ‘proprietary’ and if I buy a template, there is a very high chance that we might stumble upon other admin templates that look eerily similar.
To prevent this from ever happening and to ensure our admin dashboard remains unique, a lot of customization will be required. The more popular a template is, the more we will have to work to make it stand out from the rest. This can be a taxing job and can sometimes distract developers and waste precious time.
2. Customization limits
Custom Coding will always have an advantage in this area considering it involves typing out code for anything and everything that is being made. With this comes the ability to customize every aspect of the dashboard to the dot, without ever having to worry about it being replicated.
3. Limited Learning
Admin templates have most of the work already done and this can sometimes backfire. Building a website, the front-end and back-end along with the admin dashboard enables the developers to have a thorough and complete understanding of the working and this makes troubleshooting easier.
Consequently, when admin templates are purchased, developers might find themselves in a pit in case of issues relating to it. Most often, these need to be reported to the company developing the dashboard and they will initiate the fix. Admin templates limit learning.
Given the positives and negatives, we find the pros outweigh the cons. The negatives that are mentioned can be corrected with a bit of time and effort and by choosing the right template marketplace. Nowadays, template come with clean code and detailed documentation that can help you to troubleshoot the issues that you’re facing. Also, dedicated support and speaking directly to the dev team that developed the template can help iron out any last minute niggles.
What should you look for while picking an Admin Template?
With all the possible options out there, picking out the right admin template can be a bit of a nightmare. This will largely depend on the requirement and will vary drastically from user to user. Considering that it is an investment, careful thought has to be given into its choosing.
Here’s a checklist of key factors to look for while picking out an admin template.
1. Functionality
Functionality is key when deciding on a template. Any compromises made here will affect in the long run without a doubt. A usable admin template will have the ability to add various UI components such as charts, widgets, pages, and plug-ins. Functionality is proportionate to usability. When picking an admin template it must be functional and worth the money it is bought for. Make sure to go through the features list of your chosen template in detail to understand if it fits the bill.
2. Design
Another key factor that is a distinguishing template from each other. Since this serves as the UI at the back-end, it is important that the design is aesthetically pleasing and is not all over the place. Having good customization options is good but if the template doesn’t provide the ability to lay them out cleanly and efficiently, it cancels out the benefits very easily. The back-end is where a lot of the work is being done and data must be displayed so that proper maintenance and content management can take place.
3. Reliability
Since most of the work is done at the admin side (aka back-end), the admin template that is chosen has to be reliable. The admin dashboard is responsible for managing content, analyzing data, monitoring site traffic, etc. and a reliable and dependable admin dashboard is essential to the proper functioning of the web application as a whole.
There are two ways this can be tested. One involves giving the template a shot and risking a bad purchase. The other more logical options involves looking up reviews and customer ratings to get a clear understanding of the template. Similar to buying any other product, reviews help gauge it and will bring out any considerable flaws in the template.
4. Customer Support
As mentioned earlier, a disadvantage of using admin templates over custom coding is the fact that any issues with the template have to be rectified by the company that developed it. A consistent support system has to be in place in the case of any troubleshooting.
Without proper support, services can be held up for hours and the loss could prove substantial especially for companies that deal on a large scale. The back-end of a web application forms the backbone of the application. A dashboard that controls this should hence have a proper ticketed support system. Reviews again help in understanding where the template stands regarding this factor.
5. Responsiveness
People access the web applications on different devices that operate on different operating systems. Having a template that is functional across all platforms is key for proper functioning.
There is no point in having a highly customizable and aesthetically pleasing template that only opens on certain devices running a certain OS. Whether the device is a laptop, desktop, phone or tablet, the admin dashboard should be able to function equally well across all of them with ease.
A little research in picking a 100% responsive template will save a lot of time and hassle later.
6. Privacy and Security
The word ‘admin’ signifies the administration of a business or organization. With the number of privacy leaks and breaches in security, we need to be well aware of what is shared with who. This goes for any application that we use.
Admin dashboards deal with data of all their users. A security breach in this could result in large-scale data loss and other privacy threats that follow such breaches. It is important that while picking an admin template, a proper background check is done regarding their security and privacy policies and also their track record when it comes to these. Never compromise on the security of the system since the damage it can deal is deadly.
7. Documentation
Documentation equals authenticity. If a company does not provide proper documentation regarding their template, the possibilities that there might be underlying issues and problems with their service could be higher. Proper documentation of an admin template usually includes compatibility, versions, installation, technologies used, feature updates, and file structure. Having proper documentation also helps troubleshoot any issues with the template.
8. Version
Another important key factor in deciding which template go for is to ensure it supports regular updates. Templates that don’t generally become useless pretty quick. The plug-ins they provide and the add-ons need to be the latest version for smooth functioning without frequent glitches. Customer reviews help understand how frequent the updates are and if the plug-ins are outdated or not.
9. Overall Quality
Every factor mentioned here has to be taken into consideration when deciding on an admin template. The overall quality can be determined by putting weighted percentages for all these factors and then determining the percentage of each template.
The quality of the template is also based on the design and readability of the code. For all the coders out there, this should be self-explanatory.
Top 10 Admin Panel Templates Curated For You
1. AdminPro React Redux Admin
The AdminPro React Redux Admin is a beautifully designed template developed in React. The template features 6 predefined colors schemes that give the template a fresh look. With over 160 page templates available, and customization options for the sidebar (colored/dark/light) this template makes for a great bargain.
The package also comes with about 2000 premium fonts, loads of table options and also includes a Firebase login. The template comes 1-year support and free lifetime updates.
2. Severny Bootstrap 4 Admin
The Severny Bootstrap 4 Admin is another beautiful Bootstrap admin template that comes loaded with all the bells and whistles. The template comes with 150-page variants to choose from and 6 color schemes to play around with along with the customizable sidebar options. This template comes with more than 300 UI components and is built with the latest Bootstrap 4 Framework.
The Severny Bootstrap 4 Admin also comes with about 2000 premium fonts and is fully responsive. The company provides 1-year support and free lifetime updates.
3. Nice Admin Angular 12 Dashboard
The Nice Admin Angular 12 Dashboard admin template comes with about 90+ page templates and around 100 UI components. This template is built on the latest NG-Bootstrap Framework and has loads of widgets, tables and chart options that make it very functional. The template comes with a multiple file upload feature and also has the provision for eCommerce pages.
The Nice Admin Angular 12 also sports a Calendar application and validation forms with Nice Angular. The template also features 6 color schemes and has a customizable sidebar.
4. MaterialPro React Redux Admin
The MaterialPro React Redux Admin template comes beautifully crafted to suit most of the admin template requirements. It comes with 4 different dashboards and 5 unique demos. With over 250 page templates and 2000 premium fonts, this template is highly customizable and fully responsive with Bootstrap Framework. The package also boasts of about 65 ready to use UI elements.
The template comes with a Firebase login, a calendar application and validation forms using MaterialPro Admin. The app is built with React Redux and the MaterialPro admin is built with the latest Bootstrap 4 framework. The template also features a gallery option to showcase products etc.
5. Xtreme React Redux Admin
The Xtreme React Redux Admin template provides more than 160-page templates with 6 predefined color schemes. The sidebar is customizable with either colored, dark or light as options. The Xtreme admin template is built with the latest React redux framework. The template is fully responsive, comes with 1-year support and a lifetime of updates.
The Xtreme React Redux Admin template uses a Webpack and Babel compiler and comes with more than 4 different dashboards and 6 unique demos. The template also boasts of more than 65 UI elements in its arsenal.
6. Breeze Vue Admin Template
Breeze Vue is an elegantly designed and professional looking admin dashboard template designed to look simple and beautiful.
7. Nice Bootstrap Admin
The Nice Bootstrap Admin template provides a massive 900-page template that makes life so much easier. It features more than 500 UI components that you can tweak to produce thousands of unique UI interfaces. Nice Bootstrap Admin is built with the latest Bootstrap 4 Framework and comes with more than 2000 premium fonts.
The template is fully responsive and comes with the usual table and chart options, e-commerce page, calendar application (built with Nice Admin) and validation forms. The company offers 1-year support and a lifetime of free lifetime updates.
8. Xtreme Angular 12 Template
The Xtreme Angular 12 Template is a fully responsive Angular 12/ CLI template that comes with 10 different dashboards and 10 unique demos. This Angular template boasts of supporting about 850-page templates that are accompanied with more than 100 ready to use UI components.
It features 6 color scheme customization options along with sidebar options to add a unique touch on the template. The template has a provision for multiple file upload and comes with validation forms, table and chart options, and a unique calendar application design. Xtreme Angular 12 Template Admin is built on NG-Bootstrap 4 framework.
9. Vue Paper Dashboard PRO
Vue Paper Dashboard PRO is a beautiful resource built over Bootstrap and Vue. It will help you get started developing dashboards in no time. Vue Paper Dashboard Pro is the Vue.js ported version of the Original Paper Dashboard Pro. Using the Dashboard is pretty simple but requires basic knowledge of Javascript, Vue and Vue-Router.
10. Xtreme Bootstrap Admin
With over 160 page templates, 300+ UI components and around 2000 premium fonts, the Xtreme Bootstrap Admin is another responsive and simple admin template. The template features validation forms, a unique calendar application, e-commerce pages, and a multiple file upload option making it a very robust and flexible template to work on.
The template is built on the latest Bootstrap 4 framework and is fully responsive and comes with lots of widgets. It comes with 6 color schemes and customizable sidebar options. Xtreme Bootstrap Admin comes with 1-year support and free lifetime updates.
11. Light Blue Vue
Light Blue Vue Admin is a beautiful Vue.js template with unique transparent design and two premium UI-themes. Completely jQuery free! No more spagetti code! It helps you to quickstart development of your dashboard web application by providing hundreds of pre-built components and tens of example pages. All parts of the template are built with latest versions of Vue.js, vuex, vue-router and vue-bootstrap.
12. Elegant Bootstrap Admin
The Elegant Bootstrap Admin comes with 600-page templates, 6 color schemes, and about 300 UI components. The template features loads of widgets, chart and table options and a multiple file upload provision. It has an inbuilt 3000+ premium fonts that are higher than what most templates offer at similar price points.
The Elegant pack comes with 3 level dropdown menu and the CSS is written in Sass Base that adds to the fluid design architecture of the template. The design of this template is fully modular meaning it is very adaptable to changes and upgrades can easily integrate with the system.
13. Elite Angular 12 Admin
The Elite Angular 12 Admin templates come with more than 250-page templates and over 3000 premium fonts making it a top contender for responsive and simple admin templates that are bound to make your life easier. The templates have various chart and table options, a 3-level dropdown menu and detailed documentation.
The Elite Angular 12 admin template is known for regular and consistent update. It comes free support for 1-year support and free lifetime updates. It is built on the Ng-Bootstrap 4 framework that is known for its reliability and flexibility.
So, did you find what you were looking for?
If you need any help in picking out the right template from this list, let us know in the comments below. We’ll do our best to guide you.
