Recently i have noticed a growing trend of designers and ‘would be’ designers selling blog themes through web development forums. I’ve seen a lot of grabage getting sold but i’ve also saw some cracking designs. If you want a unique design for your blog and don’t want to spend between $300-$2000 to get a unique design then buying a blog theme through a community is definately something you should consider.
As i said, i’ve seen a lot of garbage being sold but hopefully this guide will help you decide which themes are bargains and which ones are rip-offs.
*Note : Non wordpress users may be dissapointed to hear that the majority of blog templates being sold are for wordpress.
5 Tips to remember when buying a blog theme
- Make sure the template isnt a copy – Unfortunately, there have been scam artists out there who have taken designs available through wordpress.org, changed a few details and then tried to sell the design as their own. I recommend browsing through the themes at wordpress for a while and viewing all the themes available. Not only is there a chance of finding a free theme you like (so you dont have to pay for one!), but you will be familar with a lot of the themes and should be able to spot rip offs more easily (ive found a few on sitepoint myself).
- Are changes to the template included in the sale? – So you’ve found the theme you like but there is one or two things you don’t like about it. Has the designer specified whether changes are included in the sale? If not, post and find out.
- Research the Seller’s previous sales – Search the designers last posts. Is he a respected member of the community? Has his last sales went smoothly or does it sound like the buyers were not happy with the sale? In general, most people use the same usernames on forums so i suggest you copy the designers forum username and search for it on the web. You should find previous transactions involving them. They may have a great reputation on one forum but a crappy reputation on another due to ripping someone off. Just be smart about it – your about to send money via paypal (or some other payment method) to someone you know nothing about. 15 mins research on the trader can save you a lot of hassle in the long run.
- Never Buy an uncoded template – There are so many designers selling uncoded designs – eg. a photoshop design which hasnt been coded for a blog. Coding a style is 75% of the work in my opinion, if not more. If you dont know how to break down a photoshop design and code it using HTML and CSS then all you will be left with is a pretty picture of what your design could look like. I cannot stress this point enough
Never Ever Buy a Blog Template Unless It Is Fully Coded - Do not be tempted with the cheap price of the template – if you cant code it, the photoshop file is worthless to you
- Ask to see a working demo of the theme live on the internet to see how it looks. Never buy a theme based on a screenshot.Check the theme works on the major browsers eg. internet explorer, firefox, opera. Some designers only check their theme in IE and dont realise its completely messed up on other browsers (certain css codes only work on IE)
- View the source of the theme on the demo page. Have a look at the code. Is it well commented or is the whole thing a rush job to make the sale. You might find yourself spending a lot of time trying to make sense of the mess if the template isnt well commented and set out. Your going to have to edit the template to suit your blog so bear all this in mind.
- If in doubt, pull out – If you dont trust the seller, if your having any reservations about the template – pull out and don’t bid. You might have to look around a little longer to find the right template but thats better than getting ripped off or being left with a theme you won’t use. However, i would strongly advise doing all your checks before placing any offer. Putting in a bid and then retracting it will not prove too popular in the community and other designers might have reservations about accepting any bid you put in for their templates if it looks like your a time waster.
