I currently consider purchasing a premium WordPress theme (or rather framework?) and – to say the least – i’m a bit overwhealmed by the sheer amount of what’s available. While most providers are offering live theme demos i still feel a bit like i’d buy the pig in a poke.
Devs are very good at advertising the countless features of their themes while not being too concise about where you can actually use them. Quite often you get options that are limited to a certain custom post type, a blog post format, a page layout or something the latter. That worries me. Can i put that fancy slider into a standard post as well? I like that gallery view, but is it only available for a certain portfolio page layout?
Been recently there with Cudazi’s freebie “Mono” (great work, Curt!). It’s jampacked with lots of options, shortcodes, custom formatting and portfolio layouts. After setting up everything, migrating posts from a blog category to the custom portfolio post type and starting to fiddle around i noticed that some of the features were exclusively available for portfolio pages only. Don’t get me wrong – i’m not complaining here – it’s an amazing free theme.
It’s impossible to judge a theme or even nail down its limitations by clicking through a live demo. Few developers already share extensive admin panel screenshots which give you an impression of the options. A live admin demo would do more justice – let the user taste your themes’ pedigree, if he can deal with your framework etc. Anyway, back to my personal requirements.
Of course i could also do it myself but i’d rather start working on new tunes, making a mix, take some pictures, review new music gear… other than getting my mind around writing everything on my own – classic time management issue. Doesn’t mean i don’t want to customize – just keep the necessary amount to get done with what i want to a minimum.
If you’ve got experience (good or bad) with a WordPress premium theme provider leave me a comment here or via Twitter
February 7, 2012 at 10:36 am
Yeah, i checked those out a while ago already. The layouts got something for sure but i dislike the typography in most cases. Too tiny, too little spacing, ending up with suboptimal readability.
I already found a theme with its own framework by Themeton – lots of options for layouts, good vertical rythm. Currently customize it to my needs…
You know, i was barely satisfied with the way a WordPress theme handles customized layouts (in fact, it doesn’t unless you grab notepad.exe and d.i.y.). So the least i was looking for was some kind of framework or theme with a palette of styles to choose from. Above theme’s got lots of them and is very easy to handle. Hope it makes my life easier…
PS: merci bien – much appreciated!!!
February 4, 2012 at 1:07 am
Try this guy: http://www.dessign.net/ Swiss precision at your service.
No I am not this guy and this is no ad. I just like his style and from the little interaction we had I am sure he can meet your requirements.
If not then your post shall be an open letter to all those designers that think they can dish out solid designs. This, dear folks, is a wake-up call. Make the best of it.
I surly will take these posted requirements as an incentive to create better work.
Thank you!
btw. your music also rocks hard, no really, it does!