· Filed under Wordpress·
The themeviewer has always been a great, if not the best, source for Wordpress themes. But that reputation is fading away with every day that passes. Thomas isn’t able to handle it on his own. And the new moderator isn’t adding some serious value to the themeviewer.
There are a couple of solutions. Thomas could sell the Themeviewer to a serious candidate that has the motivation, money and knowledge to take it over. But I guess that he won’t give away his baby that easily.And besides imagine how much money he is making from the themeviewer.
The best solution is to form a new team that will actually take care of the themeviewer. They should come up with some new ideas regarding the future. And what they eventually want to achieve with the themeviewer. The money that is currently being earned should be used for decent hosting and better code.
There are a lot of Wordpress enthusiasts who have the time and knowledge to help. It’s about time that they got the chance to save this sinking ship. Because that’s what the Themeviewer is right now - a sinking skip. Thomas better start fixing it or else others will fill the gap.
And we don’t want that, don’t forget that the themeviewer has the largest Wordpress themes repository online. It would be a shame if that would disappear.
· Filed under Wordpress·
Download | Test run
Wordpress xGreen is a new one column theme. It’s a minimalistic white/green theme that has valid css and xhtml code. Be sure to know that child categories don’t work in Firefox right now. We’re trying to fix the error. It does work in other browsers.
We haven’t added widget support to this theme because….well….the sidebar that we are using isn’t really suitable for widgets.
Help us to improve the theme and leave your feedback here. We’re always trying to improve our themes. Let us know what you think about it.
Big thanks goes out to Patrick Behrend!
· Filed under Wordpress·
Quotes: Matt Mullenweg
Source: http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2007/04/12/on-sponsored-themes/
I’ve seen some designers claim if we discourage bundled advertising with themes we’re taking away their livelihood and saying they should work for free. (Conveniently ignoring the fact that WordPress was built “for free.â€) However just because you can make money from something doesn’t mean you should. Things don’t have to be illegal for it to be wrong. There are more important things in life.
We have worked for free in the past. I don’t see the problem with getting some money in return. It’s true that Wordpress was built for free. But isn’t the Wordpress team cashing in (bigtime) on their efforts? Just take a look at the adsense ads on Wordpress.com.
At every conference I go to I meet dozens of people who make their living with WordPress and manage to do so in a way that doesn’t exploit users or cross ethical lines, so I find it hard to believe that the lack of sponsored themes will hurt the WordPress ecosystem.
You meet people who have made it a part of their business. Most of the theme designers are people who design in their free time. We don’t have the time and money to fully dedicate our lives to Wordpress. Sponsored themes are playing a big role in themeland. Hell even Wordpress.com is using sponsored themes.
Authors could also monetize their own sites with ads, instead of putting them on yours.
Been there, done that. It doesn’t work. And donations aren’t what they used to be, visitors are less eager to chip in a buck or two.
Finally, no one is forcing these people to make themes. In fact I would posit that it’s better not to release anything at all than to release a sponsored theme. Our design and theme community thrived before themes with embedded ads came along, and it will continue to thrive long after their gone.
It’s true that nobody is forcing us. But most of us were here before the whole sponsored themes thing. Once again: Why is Automattic using sponsored themes at wordpress.com if they suck? Ofcourse the community will keep on thriving. But don’t deny the fact that there are some are really good sponsored themes. Sponsored themes are filling in the gap between paid and free themes. The so-called gray area. Nothing wrong with the basics of the free market theory.
· Filed under Wordpress·
This is just a quick overview of what I think should happen in order to solve this sponsored themes problem.
Actions to be taken by theme designers:
- Don’t use the Creative Commons license in combination with a required link back (Creative Commons ShareALike Attribution)
Don’t force anyone to leave the links. Instead, you should trust on the goodwill of the users of your theme. If they like it: they will leave it.
- Use trustworthy sponsors
Don’t link to shady websites, only link to established websites
- Full disclosure about the sponsored links
Honesty is the best policy…
- Stop promoting theme sponsorships
You are doing it for the community. Not for the advertisers. Therefore stop advertising the themes as a way to get better search engine listings. Everyone who is doing that is giving theme designers a bad name.And besides: if your work is good an advertiser will find a way to get in touch with you.
What I’d like to see from the Wordpress crew:
- Don’t make GPL obligatory
From what I can see the main reason to make GPL obligatory is to stop the required links in themes. Creative Commons without the required links back is perfectly fine if you ask me. (Please note that I’m not an expert in this field but this is just my opinion)
- Stop accusing us of adding adware to themes
There is a big difference between adware and sponsored links.
- Replace the default links of the Blogroll with useful links, or leave it empty.
The added value of linking to some random blogs is zero. Instead remove all the links or link to sites.
You can btw go and vote for that here: http://wordpress.org/extend/ideas/topic.php?id=560
Ofcourse this overview isn’t perfect. I’d love to see some other suggestions.
· Filed under Wordpress·
Well, well.. look what the cat dragged in ; another debate on sponsored themes. Now don’t get your panties in a bunch, just let me have my say and then I’ll forever hold my peace.
1. We designers are ‘Commies’ : We’re doing it for the community
In the end you are doing it for the community. At least that’s why I am designing themes for Wordpress. Some of the new designers are only in it for the money, the ‘Dinero’ if you will. Well, brothers and sisters, you’ve got another thing coming ! It’s not all Glitz and Glam here in Theme-land, I myself for example have put in more than a 1000 hours of ‘community service’. It’s only fair I get something in return, isn’t it ? Yeah, I see you nodding.
And to quote the guys over at headsetoptions:
To the users who find sponsor links offensive: I would like to see y’all work for free. No matter what jobs you hold, just work for free, and deliver what ever you do at par with the industry standard, provide support if there is an issue, spend time answering users questions and get paid nothing, all for free, everyday, for the rest of your life. If you are able to do it, so will I. If not, make your own WordPress themes, with your own time and money and stop whining.
Don’t forget that we are not only designing themes. It’s much more than that. Everyone expects us to help them with their specific problems with the themes and Wordpress. Besides that we also have to help the users with problems that haven’t got anything to do with Wordpress (themes). But nobody sees the ugly side, everybody is blinded by the sponsor links.
Amsterdamn.org has had a donation button on it’s website, but nobody ever showed me the money ( to quote Jerry Maguire ). Somehow everybody is convinced that Wordpress should offer everything for free. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s true that there are designers who release themes that are plain crap, all in the hopes of striking gold and making big bucks so they can pay for their Macbooks and early retirements in Boca. But don’t let all this fool you, a great amount of quality themes have been released all thanks to theme sponsorships. I’m truly convinced that sponsorships have had a positive impact, more good themes are being released. I won’t deny that it has also resulted in some badly looking themes, but they have their own niche I guess.
Now maybe you’re still convinced that designers are only in it for the money, even after my little plea here. But theme sponsorship is just a way to get something in return for the hard work and long hours we put into Wordpress. And let’s be real about this : A couple of links won’t hurt anyone. if you are anti sponsored links there is always a way to get them removed. E-mail the theme designer and ask about the conditions.
What it all boils down to is that as a designer you should strive to help the Wordpress community, and if having your themes sponsored helps you do this : More power to you !
2. Add value to a theme
This is a little something i like to call ‘aemulatio’ just because it makes me sound smart. It’s an old Roman word, and basically it means that you should try to improve things. Everybody can alter a theme, a smudge of paintshop here, a dab of coding there, a new header and you’ve got yourself a spanking new theme. If you want to be a good samaritan : Add some serious value to a theme. Try to improve the theme. Look for things the theme is missing and add them. You know what they say : Nothing is perfect, so why would themes be the exception ? Improvement, improvement, improvement !
Now I know what you’re thinking.’ oh wise one learn us more!’ Well, grasshoppers, be patient. First i’d like to discuss the porting of themes from other platforms. Try to do more than just porting it to Wordpress. Make it even better, so that it suits the Wordpress users. What you see is that some theme designers are making themes so that they can target them in order to get more sponsors. Magic 8-Ball says: Don’t be afraid to enter a niche. We need more options when it comes down to themes. But don’t just release themes for the love of the game, when you hit that upload button your theme should be user friendly and well constructed.
Ofcourse stealing other people’s work is tempting because it’s easy. But beware the wrath of the Wordpress Gods ! Stealing themes from other designers gives bad karma. And believe me, you don’t want to end up a cockroach in your next life. If a designer doesn’t want reproductions : don’t . If you use someone else’s work give them credit. A lot of designers don’t mind you using their themes as long as you credit them.Give the people some mad props for the love of God! And once again: add some serious value to the theme.
Your best bet is to design new themes, but that’s not obligatory.
Remember kids: ADD VALUE!
3. Work together
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.†Henry Ford
My uncle used to say that it takes a village to raise a child. Well in this case it takes a community of designers, users and developers to take care of Wordpress. Working together is the keypoint!
It’s a know fact that Wordpress would never have become the best weblog experience if it weren’t for the great collaboration between designers, users and developers. The power of open source software lies in the wordpress community working together.Instead of being tangled up in pointless discussions on sponsored themes we should all join hands and work together. As Elvis Presley said : A little less conversation, a little more action baby please!
4. Keep it real
Releasing a theme with sponsored links is one thing, but demanding the links not to be removed is another. If a user wants to thank you for the free theme then they will leave the links. If they don’t agree upon sponsored links or it doesn’t suit the content of the website then I can understand that they want to remove the links.We trust on the goodwill of the users. We’re grateful for the ones that leave the links intact.
Besides that I believe that themes should have a clear purpose. There is no need for themes that are just designed to suit the website of the sponsor. In other words: We don’t need creditcard themes!
Another thing that annoys me is the fact that some of my fellow theme designers are advertising the theme sponsorships as a great way to improve your SEO. That’s not the right approach in my humble opinion. If you are actually a good designer then it won’t be a problem to get in touch with sponsors. You are not doing this to make some money. The money is just a way to help you make more and better themes.
According to Matt Mullenweg it’s adware what we are doing right now. I’d like to say to him: Get your facts straight before you randomly accuse others.If this is adware well so is the Blogroll then. We don’t want it, but we’re getting it everytime bundled with the themes. It’s obvious that you are doing it for the linkjuice of your own blogs. Let’s remove those links next time and replace it with really useful links (Codex etc) instead of some Myspace blog. And stop telling the crowd that all the links are for shady viagra/casino website’s. Most of the sponsor links are trusted website’s that have been around for years.
Sponsored themes aren’t that bad if the author clearly states that it has sponsored links. Some of the better themes contain sponsored links nowadays. This whole sponsorship thing has been going on for more than a year now. But all of a sudden it’s a problem.
You can’t fight the free market. Okay, you can try to ban it on wordpress.org / wbtc. But there is a demand for sponsored themes. And it’s true that nobody is forcing us to make themes. But I was making themes even before there were sponsored themes. I do this because I love Wordpress.When you get a good response from users thanking you for your hard work, you get that warm fuzzy feeling inside. Monetizing our website in order to pay the bilss didn’t work. We couldn’t even pay the hosting bill.
What I’m trying to get across is that there’s nothing wrong with sponsored themes as long as you are not forcing the users.The majority of Wordpress bloggers is okay with using a good theme with sponsored links. If you start banning the sponsored themes then there is less choice left for the users. Sponsors are actually motivating us to release more and better themes.
Free choice is what we want….
· Filed under Themes, Wordpress·
I have been actually waiting for the themeviewer to work again. But it’s taking too long to be quite honest. Therefore I’ll release this theme and see how it goes without the screenshot. Hopefully the guys at the themeviewer will fix the problem as soon as possible.
Download | Test run
So what’s the new Wordpress Brawl theme all about?
It’s a brown theme with a really cool header (which you can change ofcourse). For the ones that love widgets: we got it covered! And ofcourse it has valid code (css + xhtml). Go and check it out and tell us what you think of it.
· Filed under Themes, Wordpress·
Wordpress Magnus Opus theme is our newest theme. It’s a 2 column theme with a gray look. Besides that it has subtle usage of green throughout the theme. You can also use widgets in combination with this theme. We did our best to make the theme look great, if you discover any errors: please let us know. We are always trying to improve the user experience of our themes.
You can download the theme for free at the themeviewer. Take a look below for the links of this Wordpress theme.
Download | Test run
· Filed under Themes, Wordpress·
Another new theme for Wordpress. This is a minimalistic white/black theme that does not contain any images, well ok except for 1. But you can neglect that. The theme is made for the ones that want a good design in combination with great loadings speeds. Besides that the code is valid, it will look the same in every browser that supports valid code.
You can download and testrun this Wordpress theme below. Don’t forget to take a look at our other Wordpress themes.
Download | Test run
· Filed under Internet, Wordpress·
Above you can see the amount of traffic for Amsterdamn for the last 4 months. Somewhere 3 months ago I decided that it was time to check out how much SEO can mean for our website. Therefore I didn’t see the value of SEO for Amsterdamn. I really did not care about visitors and exposure. This was just a place where I could post about one of the things that I love to do in my free time: Wordpress themes. But it turned out that a lot of people were interested in my work. And what’s the best way to reach the rest of the world? Search Engine Optimization!
Everything that you need to know about SEO is available online. It’s easier than you think. You could think about buying a book about SEO, but that’s only if you are too lazy to do some research for yourself. But it’s always ok to check out different sources. It will take you a while to master SEO. There is A LOT of information online about it. And you will need to read a lot in order to get an overview about the different techniques. But in essence it’s really easy.
You first check out what the search engines like…..and then you take a look at which keywords you want to rank high. And don’t forget to check out what your competition is doing. Why do they rank so high? Take a look and copy what they do, and try to do it even better. That’s basically what I did. I do have to admit that I already had experience with SEO and using it. Therefore it wasn’t that difficult. But as you can see: the result is good. The search engines seem to love Amsterdamn. Compared to 3/4 months ago the traffic will double, at least. I’ll give you some quick and easy tips: seo plugins , good hosting, incoming links and lots of content!
The rest is up to you…..good luck with getting more traffic! It’s not rocket science…..
