Choose a portfolio template around your work
The template should make your work understandable. A photographer, a product designer and a developer need different amounts of imagery, explanation and navigation.
- Replace the demo content with one of your real projects. Check whether the layout explains the problem, your contribution and the outcome, rather than only showing a cover image.
- Test long project names, portrait images and a small phone viewport. Inspect keyboard navigation and reduced-motion behavior before choosing a design that relies on animated transitions.
- Decide how often you will update the site and who will do it. Check the content files or CMS, verify the contact form endpoint, and replace example photographs, logos and fonts whose rights are separate from the code license.
Use your hardest project as the trial
| Task | Where to look | Evidence to collect |
|---|---|---|
| Explain a case study | Project content model | The page supports context, your contribution and an outcome, with room for limitations. |
| Present real images | Image pipeline and gallery layout | Portrait and landscape assets retain useful crops, descriptions and predictable layout. |
| Navigate without a mouse | Links, focus indicators and motion settings | Projects and contact details remain reachable with a keyboard and reduced motion. |
| Receive an enquiry | Form destination or contact link | You know who receives the message and how delivery failures are shown. |
Run a small adoption trial
Replace one demo project completely, including its title, screenshots and contact action. Try the page on a narrow viewport with a keyboard. Note any external fonts, photographs or logos that need separate permission; the repository license alone does not identify every asset owner.
Keep a note of the repository commit, environment, steps and result. Use three outcomes: demonstrated, not included, or unresolved. Estimate the work needed to close each gap before choosing. A missing check is not a pass, and this guide does not report that we performed these tests on every catalog entry.
Primary documentation
How catalog records and evidence are prepared →These are selection criteria, not claims that every listed template has these capabilities. Verify the linked repository and demo before adopting a project.
Prepared with AI assistance as a selection checklist. No named human review or hands-on project test is recorded for this guide.
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