by thedog
8 replies
Can someone tell me what the advantages of have a paid theme is, over a free one?

Is it just a design issue? The paid one's are prettier, and easier to customize?

I can handle css, and don't mind tinkering under the bonnet, so, is it best to go with a free theme?

Is there something I'm missing about a paid for theme? I'm reading up on the Thesis theme, it says it's more of a framework.... ok.... is it worth the hefty price tag? or should I just use a free theme for now... and come back to it later? I assume it's easy enough to change your theme?
#free #pay #theme
  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    Will start with the last one: changing themes is a one-click process.

    Honestly, I don't see any advantage in using paid themes - except for the support for non-techie types. If you know your way around css/xhtml, you don't need the support.

    And no, the paid ones are not easier to customize. My experience is exactly the opposite.

    One warning, though, about "free" themes. Be careful where you get them! Many dubious sites are offering bunch of free themes - but they have encrypted spammy links in their footer. Sometimes, even worse: backdoors to your site and similar malicious scripts!
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      thanks for the heads up
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    • Profile picture of the author Manie Amari
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      Will start with the last one: changing themes is a one-click process.

      One warning, though, about "free" themes. Be careful where you get them! Many dubious sites are offering bunch of free themes - but they have encrypted spammy links in their footer. Sometimes, even worse: backdoors to your site and similar malicious scripts!
      This is something I have encountered many times.

      Paid themes in my experience are better.

      If your not happy with what you get go with a different provider.


      Kindest


      Manie
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      This will NOT be up for long. Get it now whilst You still can. Btw it's FREE...
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  • Profile picture of the author Bina Omar
    Here's just some advantages of getting a paid theme:

    - They possess clean code. I've worked with so many clients who need their "free" theme customised and it's a mess in there. Looking for a specific code is a nightmare.

    - They are search engine optimised. E.g. What needs to be h1 tags are coded in h1 tags. Content will appear first in the code (as opposed to the navigation) even if the visual layout itself have the navigation appearing first.

    - Support. If you have problems getting a plugin to work with your paid theme, there's always support. If you're using a free theme, then good luck in finding a solution.

    - Updates. Most paid theme will offer you lifetime updates. So, when Wordpress has introduced a cool menu feature, you can be sure that soon your theme will support this feature too.

    - Extra goodies. Most paid theme also come with extra cool features. What type of features depend on what theme you get. Thesis for example will create automatic thumbnails for your posts using your post image. Flexx makes it easy to create a contact page and they have an ad management thingy. FlexSqueeze, will has a feature where you can create multiple squeeze pages with their many built in designs. You also have a feature for all of them to change your header image without having to touch any code. Shopperpress has built in ecommerce features. etc.

    I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think off right now.

    ~ Bina.
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  • Profile picture of the author WilliamLark
    paid theme are fancier more features look better, etc...
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  • Profile picture of the author Prisqua
    I have used bought a lot of themes over the years and some of them I was not totally satisfied with and some have a bad customer support. I bought a theme from one site and they also had a free theme which I actually liked better than the one I had paid for and they offered me support on both theme, the free one and paid one.

    I also bought a premium on another site and also used their free version of that theme on another blog and liked it too.

    I have read too that paid themes are better optimized for search engines but how would you know really? Because if I knew how to code a theme I would probably do it myself.
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  • Profile picture of the author Herschel-W
    In my view normally the free versions or trials have limitations and these limitations will count in the end. Net result, you will have to upgrade to enjoy the full benefits/features of the theme.
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  • Profile picture of the author zenji
    Am not a fun of paid themes. My personal opinion is this, if you are starting out why not use the free word press themes? They are great and easy to use.
    None of my sites run on paid themes and btw I didn't have a clue about webdesing so I guess its super eay to learn if you are commited.
    Just my two cents
    Dennis
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