Smashing Magazine - we smash you with the information that will make your life easier. really.

Thank you for featuring Showcase. The price actually starts from $70, which is the most popular option.

Hi Vitaly & Sven: thanks for featuring Mimbo Pro among these other great themes. Just wanted to clarify, it’s Mimbo with an “i” and it’s a theme for Wordpress, not Mambo.

You forgot one of the first to do this: Typepress which is up and coming still

i don’t think many people who read SM would take their vote for “Yes, my blog design should be special!”

i want to design a theme for me. because best of theme is own theme.

How do they deal with updates? Do they have to release a new version if WordPress comes out with 2.4? Or do they leave it up to the bloggers to deal with the updates themselves?

Are these themes really so cheap? its good.

To my eye, they most of these look the same. Nothing all that ‘extra’ that would be worth paying for.

I just recently purchased a theme from a designer. But I had difficulty choosing one answer in your poll.

“I’d hire a designer” BECAUSE “I want my blog design to be special,” if that makes any sense.

Most Smashing Magazine readers probably prefer to design their own theme, but we’re in the minority of overall WP users. To those who say “why pay for what you can get for free,” I don’t know of any free themes that can compare with most of these themes mentioned here. Personally, I think they’re a great value for most bloggers/website owners.

I can’t tell you how many inquiries I get for people that got stuck implementing a bought theme or template. They usually come to us to fix it. In the end they usually say, ‘we should have used you guys from the beginning and let you design it’. Bottom line is bought templates can’t give you customer service like a design company can. So if you are going to go big, you might as well buy the support as well.
Just my opinion…

Thanks a lot Smash Mag!. I am honored to be listed with all those talented designers.

It’s a really good idea. Most bloggers can use an existing free theme or design their own, but a small size magazine that needs to concentrate on producing content would benefit from some of these professional-looking themes. They also offer lots of extra CMS options that would take a long time to design themselves. Serious online magazines shouldn’t spend their time figuring out how to feature an article; that’s a ‘technical’ job. An ‘investment’ of less than $100 is an absolute bargain, and now’s the time to buy: I can see this market developing and prices rocketing.

Problem #1 – Wordpress is not a true CMS, yet premium themes try to sell Wordpress as a true CMS

What most of the premium themes have really done is try to emulate a true CMS system using Wordpress’s limited blogging and page system. They do this by providing a well designed intro page structure that looks like something generated from a more robust CMS.

Yet its all a crafty illusion that most people will not see through until its too late and the nonrefundable “premium” theme is paid for.

Remember, no matter how many php mods, theme mods and content hacks you try to use, WP will never be a true CMS.

Problem # 2 – Premium themes are for people who what a theme that is unique, yet by the nature of the theme any average joe can own and use the theme

Honestly this reminds me of marketing 101. Take something free and add some catchy words (ie premium) and a price tag and all the people who don’t know any better will rush to buy it.

Additionally, just so you all know, I’m a textpattern, expression engine, and wordpress user. Code wise WP reminds me of myspace.com .. both are broken pieces of coding that need a full rewrite from the ground up but will never receive that upgrade due to their popularity. Texpattern is the nice well coded diamond in the rough that everyone overlooks. Meanwhile expression engine has the charms but its price tag scares away all the open source developers.

I think it’s just a trend for a few months, because someone started a hype, then the others were following like sheeps.

I believe that premium themes won’t be a big deal, 1 or 2 people might buy it because it’s always cheaper than hiring a designer and developer but someone can copy or develop similar themes that just need some adjusting…

So would I sell a theme? Probably… but wouldn’t expect to make much money out of it.

I think it is more than just a trend, they are here to stay and I am sure people will continue paying a premium price to have their site stand apart. I also believe that all the themes mentioned here are worth more than the price they are listed at.

most of the themes flagged premium do not look like themes I would spend more than 15$ on. just going by the price of 250$ you could except more uniqueness and more custom user functionality. have you checked out sites such as getafreelancer.com? you can get indian offshore programmers and designers to do a sophisticated design job for 100$. being a designer myself, I find that very harsh also as this somewhatly reduces the own price one can ask for. one client that I worked for clearly stated that out, so I had to cut my price 50% as I strongly wanted to keep on that job. 250$ for a theme that eventually more than 10 people will buy is just too much. If I was to produce & sell premium themes I would go for 50$.

I think that premium wordpress themes are definitely here to stay … there are lots of advantages to using a “premium” theme! Not only does a premium theme have a more professional look and feel, but usually added functionality that a free theme just doesn’t have. Buying a premium theme isn’t for everybody!! Obviously, if you’re a designer and you can build your own theme, then it only makes sense to either modify a free theme, or customize your own theme from the ground up … but not everybody is skilled at editing PHP files or hacking WordPress!! For those people, having the services of a premium WordPress theme designer can save hundreds of dollars in custom design work and countless hours of headaches and frustration!!

Thank you very much for including ArtCulture’s Magazine News theme. Very much appreciated. :) Not that it will make a ton of traffic difference to smashing, however I added the site to ArtCulture’s blog roll. Thanks again!

Howdy Wordpressers,

Thanks for adding my theme designs to this list. I’ve introduced a new business model for my premium/paid themes, which gives my clients all themes that I develop in 2008 for just $99. It’s basically a $99 subscription fee for about 15 premium themes. Why? Because I think everyone likes options and new stuff.

The price most charge for premium theme design is just a fraction of the price that most would spend to have a robust custom website designed from the ground up. For instance: I work for a company that sells a very popular, and expensive, CMS for news websites. The starting price for the CMS software alone is more than most pay for automobiles. Our designers and developers worked more than a year on our latest site design. The starting price tag to build a site like this can well exceed $100,000. Compare these sites to a few premium/paid themes and you will be pleasantly surprised by how premium/paid Wordpress themes stack up.

Is Wordpress a fully functioning CMS? That depends on what your content is. Premium/paid Wordpress themes provide an affordable alternative for start-up publications, bloggers and small businesses that don’t want to “break the bank” on custom website design.

Personally, I’m all for people making money on their hobby projects. While I don’t have a problem with premium themes (as they are more a design issue than anything else), I do worry that premium plug-ins would dig away somewhat at Wordpress’ core values, such as being open source.

Mi inglés no es muy bueno.
Sólo quiero decirles que este listado está excelente!
Los themes son maravillsos.

the poll used here is mainly taking submissions from designers since this is a design blog.. results would be different i think on a different site

DON’T BE FOOLED!

I purchased one of these themes today, inspired by what appears to be incredible functionality and flexibility. It had a wide variety of layouts and it looked like a dream come true. After shelling out $50+ for the theme and installing it, I discovered to my dismay that the theme was not a content management system at all.

When I created a page using one of the provided “templates”, it just loaded html from a template php file and the ONLY way to modify the contents on the page was to actually edit the template php file. ZERO content management tools whatsoever. If this was for my own website, I could do it…but I’m a programmer. For any of my clients, this theme would have zero value at all, since they don’t have the skills or tools to update the content themselves. Isn’t that the point of a CMS?

I’ve asked for a full refund, and so I won’t slander the seller of this theme just yet. But you should all be warned that what appears to be great functionality may not actually do what you think.

Think twice before buying a theme advertised as a CMS!!!!!!

I’ve never bought a “Premium” theme before (I make my own) but I do get a lot of clients asking me for them. Wordpress is pretty awesome and everyone I make a site for seems to really like the idea of having a blog that looks like their own personal website.

It really allows my clients the ability to constantly update their own site without having to own or know anything about managing a website so I can see how Premium themes could become really popular.

Great article! Lots of good resources. I think Pro themes are great. Free themes are good….but when a designer is selling something they go that extra mile in features, instructions and professionalism that is worth paying for! I hope more designers do this!

can anyone suggest an alternative to word press, as I have to include a blog in a recent web site i am creating but the client is adament he does not want to use word press not sure why, and i hav’nt got time to develop something in php. thanks in advance

Well Ya. It’s useless. Just do a Google and you will find these “Premium” ripped.

After trying the revolution theme, IMO it’s not worth the price …

When I found out peopel where doing these premiusm themes i got upset i had been reinventing the wheel for a long time, but now I am uisng them left and Right!
Roberto

I think that premium themes are a mixed bag. Joomla/mambo was always a pain, wordpress is a great tool, but it requires maintenance if you want it’s engine to do everything. I have paid for 3 different premium themes and the amount of work I spend incorporating into my business sites were significant. While there is a market for them, it would make more sense to say – we’ll use this template for our theme and customize it. I just wnat to worry about posting and keeping the content up to date. When I spend more time keeping managing the theme than I do the content, then there’s nothing premium about it. 250.00 is not a lot if your site is making money. 500.00 is not a lot if you are making money. But 100.00 with 30 hours of work getting it setup and ready to just use is a waste of time and money. In reality the developer could do it in 5 hours, I wouldn’t have to learn how to program, and my customers would be happy.

Office.live.com offers a true out of the box experience and it’s relatively free (though slow) and a client could be up and running in around 1 to 2 days. It won’t look as cool as some of the wordpress themes, but hey – it’s up, they’re happy, I’m happy, and we’re all making money. When I spend 100.00, the 30 hours, and then have to ask the developers for another 10 hours of support for 500.00, I’m just ticked. The premium theme is a good idea but I think the paradigm around the concept is flawed. People that are going to shell out money for a premium theme should have the option of how to do it, without blowing the bank and their work week.

hoho..
what a great theme..
but i prefer design it for my self..

Thanks, Chinesebob. I echo your opinion. I’m an end user. Not a coder. I want to write and market, not code. Even so, I want to be able to deploy a post with specific functionality and make the page jump, WITHOUT having to run to Rent-A-Coder for help every time.

I’m warming up to Wordpress again because of the SEO attributes, but design issues are again in my face and this is what drove me to Joomla — where I have become proficient enough to make a decent site that has requisite bells and whistles and works with clients. That said, most of the work is done by the theme provider and the Joomla engine.

Not to mention, I had a patient coder who walked me through everything. By the time I was done it had cost me about $1,000 and umpteen hours, but I can now exist within the Joomla environment and get things done.

I know Wordpress has none of that functionality. You’re either a coder or you’re helpless.

Here’s how I feel and I know that I represent a huge group of Wordpress users or potential users.

1. I will use you (coders) for large jobs. Always have, always will. This is taking a theme and completely remaking it so that the original is undistinguishable. This is major work and I expect to pay.

2. I would like to see Wordpress come with — or somebody produce — an interface that will allow a user like me to easily make changes with clicks and checkboxes, etc. Want to replace the header? Click one button, insert, click okay. Background colors or styles of a sidebar, the same. I should be able to completely change the look of my theme in minutes without working up a sweat.

3. It would be great to have a similar “editor” for CSS. I am totally lost in that world and everybody tells me to stay out of it, and just pay to have the changes made. Simple font and color changes wind up taking 2-3 days to get somebody lined up and the work done.

4. I want videos to show me precisely what to do to make changes, not long tutorials that are written by coders. No offense, but you folks think differently and express things differently. You may think you are making things clear and sufficiently dumbing things down for the rest of us, but often it is anything but. I want a non-coder’s perspective on the videos. I’m in the training business and people have different learning styles. Somebody in the Wordpress realm has to eventually recognize this.

I’m sure I could go on for a fair distance on this but I won’t. You get the idea. I see hope with the guy who is making WP Remix. He has an editor of some sort coming. I’m sure it won’t be all of what I’m asking for here, but maybe it’s a start.

Like I say, I’m your customer and not a competing coder. I hope my voice has a place in the discussion.

Thanks.

Hex Bolt, Hex Bolt Supplier, Hex Bolt Manufacture, hex, bolt, Windsor Hex Bolt, Hex Bolt, India Hex Bolts, Manufacture Hax Bolt Supplier, Hex Bolt Exporter,Crown Screw, fasteners, screws, Crown Screw and Bolt, Crown, nuts and bolts, bolt bus, banjo bolts, crown bolt

I always thought it would be silly to pay for a theme but after years of using WordPress I’m now breaking down and buying one.

For me – I can code the crap out of a design but I can design with code. It’s not about making my blog ‘unique’ but making the presentation of my search targeted content unique enough that I can create some brand recognition which I have yet to do with my blog till now.

I’m planning to use a subscription service so I can have access to multiple themes rather than buying one and hoping the code on the back end is as clean as it appears on the front end.

The Premium Themes concept is here to stay and for good reason. If some one talks you into painting their house for free, how good of a job would you do? Now that same house, same person, pays you $500, how good of a job would you do then?
Time is money for anyone.
As for those that misinterpreted “CMS” themes as a real CMS..
The concept of CMS themes really just focus on the concept of using wordpress for more than just blogging. Static sites can be done very well with wordpress these days.

I think for the most part, the ones giving negative feed back about wordpress are either designers losing business due to people turning to wordpress or other open source solutions or just super cheap. Come on, the wordpress platform is there for free.. dish out your 50 – 100 bucks for a unique design, then you provide your content.
Business models being built around the open source community are really starting the thrive.

I personaly Love It.

Oh wow.. I’m gonna get that Portfolio Press! it looks awesome!