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Steve Wilkinson Hey Dan, That’s an entire industry problem, though, not just a ThemeForest problem. A *lot* of websites are just built and then abandoned to a problematic future. It’s more a problem of lack of support and knowledge (not just technical, but about what a website is and how to use it!), TF or not. But, I think there is some sour-grapes too. As mentioned, I just left some comments in response to a popular designer’s podcast a couple weeks ago, where they recommended not upgrading WordPress and plugins, because doing so often breaks things – and they’ve poked fun of TF and off-the-shelf themes as well. How many custom-designed themes are in the same boat? At least TF provides incentive to keep themes up-to-date. And, what about SquareSpace or Wix? Similar problem with setting expectations with clients, yet this is where many people start. And, apart from them running across you or I first, it might not be a terrible starting place. ;) (They could certainly do worse.) So, for WordPress developers, ThemeForest is a good resource, and for people creating a WordPress site, I think it is as well… with the caveat that you shouldn’t pick just any TF theme and go. Hopefully clients do some homework when picking TF themes, just like they’d have to do when picking a WordPress developer, or they’ll likely be in the same boat. TF is a marketplace and quality will vary. re: recommendations – I was just curious as I’m only aware of a few things I’d consider outside TF as well (ie: Genesis). Whether from TF or elsewhere, I think something more akin to a theme framework by a team supporting it is a good idea, or yes, a theme developer who has a good track-record of updating their theme(s) over a long period of time. If you do a good job of reading the change log and support threads on TF, you can usually get a good idea. I don’t recommend custom designs that get turned over to a client, and for that matter, custom designs at all unless the client has relatively deep pockets and maintains a relationship with the developer.
Steve Wilkinson
Hey Dan,
That’s an entire industry problem, though, not just a ThemeForest problem. A *lot* of websites are just built and then abandoned to a problematic future. It’s more a problem of lack of support and knowledge (not just technical, but about what a website is and how to use it!), TF or not. But, I think there is some sour-grapes too.
As mentioned, I just left some comments in response to a popular designer’s podcast a couple weeks ago, where they recommended not upgrading WordPress and plugins, because doing so often breaks things – and they’ve poked fun of TF and off-the-shelf themes as well. How many custom-designed themes are in the same boat? At least TF provides incentive to keep themes up-to-date.
And, what about SquareSpace or Wix? Similar problem with setting expectations with clients, yet this is where many people start. And, apart from them running across you or I first, it might not be a terrible starting place. ;) (They could certainly do worse.)
So, for WordPress developers, ThemeForest is a good resource, and for people creating a WordPress site, I think it is as well… with the caveat that you shouldn’t pick just any TF theme and go. Hopefully clients do some homework when picking TF themes, just like they’d have to do when picking a WordPress developer, or they’ll likely be in the same boat. TF is a marketplace and quality will vary.
re: recommendations – I was just curious as I’m only aware of a few things I’d consider outside TF as well (ie: Genesis). Whether from TF or elsewhere, I think something more akin to a theme framework by a team supporting it is a good idea, or yes, a theme developer who has a good track-record of updating their theme(s) over a long period of time.
If you do a good job of reading the change log and support threads on TF, you can usually get a good idea. I don’t recommend custom designs that get turned over to a client, and for that matter, custom designs at all unless the client has relatively deep pockets and maintains a relationship with the developer.
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