Comments on: WordPress Themes – Should I Pay for a WordPress Theme?

By: Atul Tayade

Atul Tayade — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:19:57 +0000

Hi, I agree with Marisa on this “easy customization the theme offers the more bloated it is” Being said that, there are loads of people who know zilch about customizing a blog as per their own tastes and likings (this includes me too). These segment of customers are taken care of by such highly customizable themes. For me, I am working with a highly customizable FREE theme.

By: Marisa Wright

Marisa Wright — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:46:16 +0000

Just noticed you’re still recommending Elegant Themes. I just tried them again, because I’m helping a friend fix her website and she wanted something fancy.

Still drooling over how gorgeous they look. However, all the ones I tried were very slow. When I put them on the site, Page Speed gave me a big red alarm message! They were all down in the low 70′s, and that’s before adding any additional plugins like sharebars or flyouts.

Considering your reputation as a trustworthy source, I just worry that newbies will join up to Elegant and never think to check their page load times – maybe an added warning is in order? Oh, and BTW they don’t offer a refund any more if you’re not satisfied.

I did some Googling and found that paying for a theme doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get a better theme – a conclusion I was already arriving at myself, having tried a few. The main problem seems to be that the more “easy customizations” a theme offers, the more bloated it is, and the slower it will run. This is a good example of what I found:

http://foliovision.com/2011/03/28/paid-wordpress-themes-woo-vs-elegantthemes

I do hope posting a link doesn’t put me in the spam folder!

By: Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:43:24 +0000

I just purchased Elegant Themes and am totally happy with all the templates thus far. I have used The Professional Theme for my personal Blog – BrianWilsonBlog.com and Memoir – csrawga.com and both gave me little or no issues setting up. The only issue I have is that is you sell the website the new owner must purchase a membership.

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:11:22 +0000

I have heard great stuff about Thesis Theme but haven’t tried one myself. The theme is a little plain for me. In general, I like colorful but simple WordPress theme myself. It’s hard to have a balance though.

By: Amber Bishop Photography

Amber Bishop Photography — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:10:49 +0000

I personally adore StudioPress theme series from dailyblogtips.com. For me investing money in a theme is not an option. I’m pretty sure all themes are compatible with All-in-One SEO Pack, which is very important. It’s also a good idea to make sure your theme is compatible with the newest version of WordPress, which can be hard to do since it seems like WordPress is always coming out with new versions.

By: Dirk

Dirk — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 01:16:23 +0000

Don’t forget that they have 22 child themes to get you started. See them on their demo site…. http://demo.catalysttheme.com/

By: Lis

Lis — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:00:39 +0000

I’m not a current subscriber – but costa is and just reviewed the latest elegant theme’s memoir theme which I like the look of. Noticed there is a bit more flexibility than previously. Basically I have decided to give up on pretty and go for functionality – I am currently using Catalyst (the new version of Frugal) – it costs a little more but gives you total control = the downside is that you start with a blank canvas

By: Marisa Wright

Marisa Wright — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 23:28:21 +0000

Lissie, I know this is an old post but just wanted to ask – are you still using any Elegant Themes?

I decided to join as Artisteer have updated their software, and on the new themes I’ve created with it, you can’t modify the “search” function – which stuffs up my phpBay sites! So I’m back on the hunt for some suitable off-the-peg WordPress themes.

Like you, I found myself drooling over their themes! However, I’m already finding things that annoy me – for one thing, there’s no way to filter the themes, so you just have to plough through the preview and features of every theme, one by one, till you find one you like.

The other thing I don’t like is the speed – I’ve tried uploading a couple of themes to my site, and they’re getting scores on Firebug down in the 70′s. Disappointing, because they really do look gorgeous!

By: Sean Rosensteel MN

Sean Rosensteel MN — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:58:17 +0000

Nice post. You certainly did your homework because you are looking for all the right things in a theme. I’m pretty sure all themes are compatible with All-in-One SEO Pack, which is very important. It’s also a good idea to make sure your theme is compatible with the newest version of WordPress, which can be hard to do since it seems like WordPress is always coming out with new versions!

By: Mario

Mario — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:30:36 +0000

Hi, very good tutorial for the SEO-Plugin. I have some Problems to use WordPress-Plugins, my Provider has bad php-settings. But i try this, thank you.