Question for the regulars, re: Free themes in this section

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  • WEB DESIGN
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Question for you folks...

How do you feel about the threads in this section that give away free Wordpress themes? Should they stay, or should they be in one of the advertising sections?

I want to hear from the regulars who post on design topics. Those of you who give away themes are welcome to jump in, but this is a discussion section, so the people engaged in the actual conversations will have more weight on the topic.

Any decision on this will be up to Allen, but I'd like to have the sense of the regulars here before I bring it up. I'd rather not talk about making more rules if there's no problem that needs solving.


Paul
#free #question #regulars #section #themes
  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    Okay... Doesn't look like folks consider this a problem. Cool.


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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    You know I always did (consider it a problem) - mainly because of the encrypted code in their footer and/or functions file.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    Istvan,
    You know I always did (consider it a problem) - mainly because of the encrypted code in their footer and/or functions file.
    That won't change no matter which section they're in.

    I wouldn't use any of them, no matter how nice, if they have that code. That's like putting a Post-It note on your back that says "Hack me."


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  • Profile picture of the author KirkMcD
    I've been traveling and haven't seen this yet.

    It isn't excessive yet, but it doesn't seem entirely like they should be in here. Too me it seems like they should be in a section similar to the Articles section.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tina Golden
      The ones that I see and believe should be in a paid section are when they require the links in the footer to stay. I've seen many being given away with links to sites that are obviously paid SEO work - one that was being given away here had 5 links on the bottom that were required to stay.

      There are many so-called theme "designers" who are distributing only for links, which is fine, but in my opinion belong in a paid advertisement.
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      • Profile picture of the author Patrick
        Originally Posted by Tina Golden View Post

        The ones that I see and believe should be in a paid section are when they require the links in the footer to stay. I've seen many being given away with links to sites that are obviously paid SEO work - one that was being given away here had 5 links on the bottom that were required to stay.

        There are many so-called theme "designers" who are distributing only for links, which is fine, but in my opinion belong in a paid advertisement.
        Duh..who will pay for something which he/she is offering for free ?
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        • Profile picture of the author Tina Golden
          Originally Posted by schwarzes View Post

          Duh..who will pay for something which he/she is offering for free ?
          Gee, I don't know - let's ask all the free WSO creators who pay $40 to post their offers.

          I get that they're free but some of them are not doing it out of the kindness of their hearts, either. In no other section, other than the Make Money Online sub-forum, is anyone allowed to give out freebies with ulterior motives and I just don't think it should be allowed here.

          I am not as much of a regular in this section as some of you but I just was throwing my two cents into the pot. Giving out these themes, for most, is advertising their services, pure and simple. Nothing wrong with that but I question why they can do it for free but other people cannot.
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          • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
            Originally Posted by Tina Golden View Post

            Giving out these themes, for most, is advertising their services, pure and simple. Nothing wrong with that but I question why they can do it for free but other people cannot.
            ^^ Right on!

            Related to this "free advertisement" is the fact that in almost any thread with a html/css/WP question there are 2-3 posters eagerly offering their paid services to "fix" the OP's issue.

            In the main forum this kind of blatant self-promotion of paid services is not tolerated but here you can see it every day.
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            • Profile picture of the author Patrick
              Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

              ^^ Right on!

              Related to this "free advertisement" is the fact that in almost any thread with a html/css/WP question there are 2-3 posters eagerly offering their paid services to "fix" the OP's issue.

              In the main forum this kind of blatant self-promotion of paid services is not tolerated but here you can see it every day.
              haha..I have seen people here posting SALES LETTERS too ...I have reported them always.
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              • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                Joe,
                Could I ask what type of issues are coming up regarding these giveaways?
                Regular complaints from a few people that this is self-promotional posting. In Main Discussion, this sort of thing would just get nuked. We try to keep in mind that each of the sub-forums tends to develop its own culture over time, so I figured I'd see what people think before doing anything.

                Tina,
                There are many so-called theme "designers" who are distributing only for links, which is fine, but in my opinion belong in a paid advertisement.
                That's the perspective that prompted me to ask the question. It's how I see it, but, like I said above...

                Istvan,
                Related to this "free advertisement" is the fact that in almost any thread with a html/css/WP question there are 2-3 posters eagerly offering their paid services to "fix" the OP's issue.
                Report 'em. Watch them disappear.


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  • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
    Paul,

    Could I ask what type of issues are coming up regarding these giveaways?


    Joe mobley


    Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

    Question for you folks...

    How do you feel about the threads in this section that give away free Wordpress themes? Should they stay, or should they be in one of the advertising sections?

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Patrick
    Well, honestly, most of the threads here are either posted to increase their post count or to ask something about some product or service, which they can easily find on google.

    This section and the main one also has become a default support forum for each and everything out there.
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  • Profile picture of the author RobinInTexas
    I see giving away a free theme that requires a link in the footer is the same as a "Free" WSO. They are giving away something only in return for something of significant value. The difference is that in the usual free WSO scheme the freeloader can immediately unsubscribe. While the notquitesofree theme forces you to return value forever to the author or violate copyright law and risk consequences.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
      I'm get'n your mean'n. Like this thread...

      http://www.warriorforum.com/website-...templates.html


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      • Profile picture of the author Tina Golden
        Originally Posted by RobinInTexas View Post

        I see giving away a free theme that requires a link in the footer is the same as a "Free" WSO.
        So do I. The difference is that the person offering a free WSO paid $40 for the privilege.

        Originally Posted by Joe Mobley View Post

        I'm get'n your mean'n. Like this thread...

        http://www.warriorforum.com/website-...templates.html


        Joe Mobley
        That's one of the worst ones I've seen, Joe. When you specifically mention "Premium" and it continues to be bumped over and over and over... well, to me that is an ad.

        I'm a writer. If I posted a thread offering a free article to anyone who wants it, with my writing service in my signature (of course), and then just popped in another free article every few days - how long do you think that post would last?

        Just sayin'... lol. This type of thing isn't allowed anywhere else on the forum.
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        • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
          Tina,

          I'm with you on this. I didn't see much of it because I wasn't looking for it.

          Joe Mobley


          Originally Posted by Tina Golden View Post

          So do I. The difference is that the person offering a free WSO paid $40 for the privilege.

          That's one of the worst ones I've seen, Joe. When you specifically mention "Premium" and it continues to be bumped over and over and over... well, to me that is an ad.

          I'm a writer. If I posted a thread offering a free article to anyone who wants it, with my writing service in my signature (of course), and then just popped in another free article every few days - how long do you think that post would last?

          Just sayin'... lol. This type of thing isn't allowed anywhere else on the forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Personally, I think there's two different cases.

    One is if someone says, "I need a solution for X". If I have something I've made that's free I'd like to be able to offer it to people if, and only if, I know it's specifically going to help them with what they've expressly stated they're looking for.

    I know that's a bit hard to make a rule around, but the thing with designers and coders is there is a lot of material that honestly does get created and shared just to help and contribute. Especially given the fact WordPress is GPL there is a big "pitch in" mentality, and it would be a shame for self promotion to squash that part of things.

    But the second case is starting a fresh thread to promote your own stuff which, even if its free, is not cool in my view. It's not really so different to putting opt in freebies in the War Room and smells a bit spammy.

    So I think if you are genuinely helping someone out that's cool, but if you want to do any kind of promo it should definitely be in the promo sections. One, because it keeps the design section nice and focused, and two, because it's not fair for us theme folks to get a free ride in here while folks with other giveaways do the right thing posting elsewhere.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    I'm still listening, folks.

    Any of you theme developers want to jump in? Warning: If I hear nothing but crickets from you, I'll assume you're not intending to participate and are just using this section as free advertising. That will make the decision easy.


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    • Profile picture of the author Gail_Curran
      I can't see any justification to allow threads giving away themes. The posters are getting tons of advertising and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of backlinks from all the people using the themes. And unlike the WSO or classifieds section, the thread gets bumped every time someone comments. The exposure the OP gets is ridiculous. They should pay to advertise, just like everyone else.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    This one is an example of a thread that really should be in the Classifieds, WSO or at least War Room sections in my view:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/website-...mes-micfo.html

    I've got some awesome free WP stuff of my own, but I wouldn't think posting it in here in an advertisement type of format is okay. Especially if almost half my posts were promoting my freebies.

    But something like this, while not a theme offer, is an example of the kind of free help from professionals that is just awesome:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...-question.html

    I know that's not an offer of a free theme, but I'm just trying to show an example of how there are legitimately helpful people around here who are willing to give out quality work when someone puts up their hand for assistance.
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