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DANGER: Free Wordpress Themes

by Nightowl
9 replies
If you use, or are thinking of using, free Wordpress themes, I suggest you read the following article. I came across it while surfing, and it could explain why some people find strange things happening on their blogs, or why mysterious links show up:

Why You Should Never Search For Free WordPress Themes in Google or Anywhere Else - WordPress, Multisite and BuddyPress plugins, themes, news and help – WPMU.org

I have no connection with the site; I'm just passing along the info.

- Nightowl
#danger #free #themes #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author mojojuju
    I wouldn't let some base64 encoded content keep me from using a theme I like. I would simply decode the content to first check if there's anything malicious in it. If not, it's safe to use.

    Also, the author of the article seems to think encoding is the same thing as encryption. They're not the same. When something is base64 encoded, the means to decode it is readily available. That's not the case with encryption.

    Just be aware of what base64 encoding is. You can look at the source of any of your themes and decode anything that is encoded. The author of the mentioned article mentions how to do this.
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    • Profile picture of the author clint48
      Thanks for the info guys, I just downloaded a theme off of Google. I guess I better look at it a little closer. I had no idea so many links were added to some of the themes. I usually see a link from the designer at the bottom, which I can understand, but didn't know they could hide the other links, nice article.

      Clint
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  • Profile picture of the author dremora
    Well you can always search for base64 in the theme's files, get rid of the suspect code, and you'll be fine.
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  • Profile picture of the author anwar001
    This is so disgusting. People who don't have much technical knowledge are being taken for a ride by these free template designers. I guess 'free' comes at a heavy price.
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  • Profile picture of the author AustinDigital
    I agree, that taking advantage of people not knowing what encryption is, or where to find it is a bit wrong. Inserting links into a footer is one thing, but then encrypting it to scare people from editing it out is wrong.

    Luckily if you are familiar with encryption you can simply google "How to decode a WordPress footer" and solutions will come up for you. I would highly recommend people to always check the index,header,footer, css, and look for an unusual files (sometimes these places like to insert their own files).
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by miscbrah View Post

      I agree, that taking advantage of people not knowing what encryption is, or where to find it is a bit wrong. Inserting links into a footer is one thing, but then encrypting it to scare people from editing it out is wrong.

      Luckily if you are familiar with encryption you can simply google "How to decode a WordPress footer" and solutions will come up for you. I would highly recommend people to always check the index,header,footer, css, and look for an unusual files (sometimes these places like to insert their own files).
      This would be highly unethical. I've also heard people mention that in some cases, developers have encoded malware into their free themes.

      If the developers want money, couldn't they just do something more straightforward like offering a "limited" version for free, and a "full featured" version with all the bells and whistles for a fee?
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      • Profile picture of the author AustinDigital
        Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

        This would be highly unethical. I've also heard people mention that in some cases, developers have encoded malware into their free themes.

        If the developers want money, couldn't they just do something more straightforward like offering a "limited" version for free, and a "full featured" version with all the bells and whistles for a fee?
        You're suggesting decrypting and removing the links is unethical? You do realize most of the sites offering these "free" wordpress themes are not the developers, right? These are the people doing the majority of encryptions and spammy file insertions.
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  • Profile picture of the author mbacchi
    Great Article!!! I am so glad you provided this information. It is a gold info... I have been using Wordpress free templates but never checked any of them. I had thought about it but never checked to see if I could find any malicious code inside. As Wordpress uses PHP a lot malicious things can be inserted inside the code...Many thanks again!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author profitsforall
    I know folks are wanting stuff for free - but I can recommend artisteer.

    You can design your own themes and don't ever to worry about what someone decided to place in to the code. [EDIT: Of course this is only useful if you are building lots of wordpress sites as it's not cost effective for just one theme]

    I did toy around with releasing a whole load of free themes and putting a call to a script in the bottom that would pull a site i would like promoted in to the footer. No different than having a link in there. I wouldn't have encoded that - as people wouldn't be able to see that it wasn't malicious.
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