Review of WordPress Themes by WordPress Station

I’d like to clarify and ask for a few clarifications regarding a couple of things. First, the widgets plugin is slightly different from most plugins in that it still can be coded into a theme, but the option to use is at the end user any plugin can be coded in using if…else statements, but widgets are unique). Very few if any plugins that I’m aware of require the level of alteration to the template file (albeit minimal unordered lists and the addition of a functions file). My point regarding it is that it does require more than a simple one line function call like most plugins, and at the same time provides the new user the easy ability of adding content to the sidebar, a common practice among bloggers. I by no means suggest to Template Monster or any other theme developer that they MUST incorporate certain plugins. I simply thought that the target audience that Template Monster would attract, would not perhaps be as technically savvy as some, and would benefit from the option.
Second, I’m confused by the statement that using display property is good for Mozilla based browsers and float is better for IE. I’d love to hear more about that. At least in the theme that I examined, the design was a basic, two column theme with a header and footer. Most of which had background images. I would safely bet that I (or most CSS based designers) could code that without the use of any display:table and it would render just fine in both Mozilla based and IE browsers, as well as validate. I’d be glad to provide an example if someone was interested. I do understand that there are different ways of coding, but this discussion goes back to my original comments about using a Cameron Moll inspired design, but using tables instead of CSS.
Finally, I take issue with the statement of design taking greater value than SEO. I would argue that anyone purchasing a WP theme, when there are literally hundreds, if not a thousand by now, free themes, is looking to be found. I’m not talking about massive SEO, I’m talking about generally accepted design and coding standards. The page title is in an h1 tag. This can also get into the accessibility discussions, which I’m not as learned in as I’d like. Simply adding an h1 or h2 tag, styling it via the style sheet versus using some HTML inline sounds more like putting value on design to me.
Ultimately, the question is to what level of quality you want to offer your customer. If the value is simply based on graphical nature of the themes, then you’ve succeeded. However, from someone who’s both coded designs for a fee, as well as spent many, many hours volunteering in helping others modify existing designs, I think equal care should be taken to provide underlying XHTML and CSS that is both understandable for the end user, as well as written with the same care that goes into the core code of WordPress.

I love your designs and even bought one of your Wordpress templates. Sadly it did not meet my requirements and is unlikely to ever be used as a result.

I need plug-in support at the very minimum, but would like widget support as well. From my perspective is was not money well spent.

However, overall I really love your templates visually, but they lack the technical support that many Wordpress users require, plug-ins being a given.

i don`t know if this is the right place. But, how come moneybookers is no longer supported? Regards, Luka

The problem is that most of TemplateMonster coders simply lack the technical know-how to properly code a site. All HTML is coded in a very sloppy way and fail to meet all known web standards. If you’ve purchased any of their templates, you’ll see that their coding style is extremely sloppy.

In my opinion they should AT LEAST follow the recommendation of delivering a site that meet XHTML 1.0 strict standards and that utilizes a tableless design through CSS. This is the foundation of WordPress and the future of web design.

Widgets Ready & H1 tags are more “optional” features. Maybe they can produce such “compatibility” but sell it as a cheap add-on instead for those users that are looking at utilizing it.

I also would like to see that wordpress templates would support widgets!

widgets, widgets, widgets. $52 for a WP design is a pretty good deal. WordPress is a massively featured and comprhensive Content Management System. The widgets, etc. are all PHP functions, that’s not REALLY part of the design aspect. I’m not a designer by nature, but WordPress is so easy to tweak PHP and CSS that the designs are well worth it. I think Template Monster is a good value for what you’re paying for. Besides, WP is such an open source community you can probably find help with most of your problems for free. If you’re looking for a massively functional corporate weblog, then you’re talking about more of an investment in backend strategy and hard coding and SEO that most designers just don’t do.

I also would like to see it

The designs are very impressive, but I’d wished you guys took the time to test the templates on a real WordPress website. If you’re going to charge a premium fee for a template, take the time to test it in the real world first before offering it to the general public.

I would’ve done the following:

1. Design the template
2. Test it on Wordpress
3. Offer to Customers
3. Provide support

The steps above may look simple, but doing so will help potential customers buy it at the fair market price. Additionally, it will also justified the cost because you’ve confirmed that it’s 100% Wordpress compatible.

Thanks for your appreciation:)

I am currently shopping for a wordpress template and template monster comes into my mind. I would like to see widgets being incorporated as that’s one of the things that brings me to wordpress. Inclusion of as many social bookmarking widgets as possible would be even greater!

I’m looking for some new WP templates anyone know of good sites?

you have a great blogs that’s why i love it!

I suspect that’s thereason general public want to read blog….Internet visitors generally create blogs to declare themselves or their secret views. Blog grant them same matter on the monitor screen what they specifically needed,so as the above stuffs declared it.

Gerry, if you have some problems with our products you should contact our support department through ticket system esupport.template-help.com.
Feel free also to call 1-518-312-4147 or 1-518-320-8715
I hope it helps

Blog newsterII, thank you for your comment. Feel free to contact our support department to learn more about using widgets with our templates. you can submit a ticket through our ticket system esupport.template-help.com or just call 1-518-312-4147 or 1-518-320-8715.

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