Navigation

Tag Archives | Design Quality

Premium WordPress Themes – What Makes Them Premium

By on August 26, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

Premium WordPress Themes – What Makes Them Premium

Over the last couple of years WordPress has become a hugely popular open source blogging and publishing platform. The ease-of-use as well as the abundance of free themes and plugins have contributed to the attraction and popularity for using WordPress. While there are some great free themes for WordPress, traditionally most only offered basic functionality and simplistic designs.

Since the end of 2007 however an increasing number of WordPress theme developers have been offering premium WordPress themes – themes which are offered for a fixed price. These premium WordPress themes are usually sold for between $50 to $250.

Initially only a handful of talented and well-known WordPress theme designers released paid premium WordPress themes which were well designed, highly functional, top-quality themes that transformed a WordPress installation from a simple blog into a powerful content management system (e.g. magazine, news, portfolio or ‘traditional’ web site). However as the premium WordPress theme business concept spreads, more and more WordPress theme designers have hopped on the bandwagon and filled up their portfolio with premium (paid) wordpress themes, trying to cash on the new trend.

However with greater variety and numbers of paid premium WordPress themes also comes varying levels of quality. So what exactly makes a premium WordPress theme premium and worth the money you have to pay for it? Below are some features that should set a premium wordpress theme apart from a free theme:

1. Unique Design, Quality and Sophistication

Premium WordPress themes should be just that – Premium. They should look better and be of a much higher quality and unique design than compared to those available for free. “”Better”” is an individual interpretation, so unfortunately it has to be left up to the designer and the buyer to decide what is better for them.

2. Live Demo or Preview

There should be a live demo or preview of the theme so you can test it and check it out before buying. If there is no live preview or demo that should be a warning sign. You should ask why don’t they want you to test the theme first? All reputable premium theme sellers will have a live demo full of content for you to test. Explore the live demo thoroughly, testing all pages to see that the theme works properly and there are no errors or mistakes.

3. Full Supporting Documentation

Premium WordPress themes should come with an instruction manual or document. This should explain how to upload and install the theme and how to manage any of the options that are built into the theme.

4. Full Support

If you’re buying a premium WordPress theme it should also come with a certain degree of support from the designer. The level of support can vary however and will range from personalised individual support from the designer, to the provision of forums or blog comment sections for asking questions and obtaining support from the designer and other people who have purchased the theme.

5. Flexibility and Customization Options

People want options, so Premium WordPress themes should be customisable. Buying a premium theme will set you apart from the crowd significantly, but since other people will still be using the same theme, premium themes should be able to be easily customized further, whether it be for the layout, colours, images, or all of the above.

6. Features

While every theme is different, in general premium WordPress themes should have more ‘Features’ than their free counterparts. What that means depends on the theme in question. However some features may include: Javascript/DHTML, ‘Ajax’ or dynamic sections, ‘Featured Posts’ areas, Multiple layout options for the home page, drop down menus, multiple customs templates for pages, custom field options, print style sheets etc.

7. Well Coded and No Errors

There should be no coding errors, misspellings, X images, etc in a premium WordPress theme. The theme should have clean and valid code and adhere to strict XHTML and CSS standards. You should also make sure the theme has cross browser compatible and been tested to work properly on all the major browsers.

8. Free Updates

WordPress is continually being updated and improved and a premium WordPress theme developer should be offering you free updates of the theme when required.

0

6 Reasons Why You Should Use a Premium WordPress Theme1

By on August 22, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

6 Reasons Why You Should Use a Premium WordPress Theme

WordPress is one of the most popular open source blogging platforms available on the web, giving you complete creative freedom and the ability to design the perfect website with minimum effort.

The WordPress directory contains thousands of great plugins whilst the web is abundant with thousands of free themes, all to give your blog project that unique personal touch.

Whilst there are many great free WordPress themes available on the web, only a very few of them have the security and custom ability of a professionally designed premium WordPress theme. And this is the subject matter of this article, where I’d like to share with you 6 valid reasons as to why you should use a premium WordPress theme for your web project, as apposed to one of the readily available free themes on the market.

Design Quality

The design quality often found in free WordPress themes cannot be merely matched to those found in premium themes, and this is down to several reasons; for example, the attention to detail is often reflected on how well the theme’s code was originally written.

A good example of this would suggest; a quality premium theme will rarely ever load with any concerning glitches, the layout of the theme itself will always load cleanly and smoothly with all the qualities found in a premium theme, whilst these qualities can sometimes be of poor forthcoming in the vastly freely available themes.

Features

Many free themes also lack of the essential features whilst premium themes often offer you many useful features such as featured posts plugin, dynamic content gallery, Twitter and RSS integration and a contact us form just name a few.

Customization

When it comes to customization free themes offer almost nothing in return, as many of these free themes are designed for one thing only, and that’s for gaining a free backlink to an external site used by the theme designer normally. However, many if not all premium themes available offer full custom ability with easy customisation of CSS, headers and footers amongst many others.

Security

One of the biggest reasons why many serious bloggers or webmasters tend to use a reputable premium theme is for its impeccable security features.

The guys over at WordPress work their hardest to keep us updated with the latest security releases for their platform, and many of the premium themes are designed to cater and reinforce these security updates to make your blog project as secure as possible. No body likes the thought of waking up to find out their blog or website has been hacked into or sabotaged.

Updates

With a premium WordPress theme you also receive the latest updates that are available for your theme; if a new version of your theme is available you’ll be offered the chance to upgrade with normally no extra cost.

Even with the safe knowledge of being able to get the latest version of your theme as and when available should be enough to make you want to invest in a premium theme.

Technical Support & Documentation

Finally many if not all premium theme services now come with full online technical support as well as documentation with clear instructions on how to use your theme, giving you even greater peace of mind.

If you’re as passionate about your blog or web project as you think you are and are currently using a free WordPress theme for your blog, consider upgrading to a premium theme. For the sake of a few dollars it could mean the difference between your blog or website being safe and secure or being hacked into even without your knowledge.

0

6 Reasons Why You Should Use a Premium WordPress Theme

By on August 14, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

6 Reasons Why You Should Use a Premium WordPress Theme

WordPress is one of the most popular open source blogging platforms available on the web, giving you complete creative freedom and the ability to design the perfect website with minimum effort.

The WordPress directory contains thousands of great plugins whilst the web is abundant with thousands of free themes, all to give your blog project that unique personal touch.

Whilst there are many great free WordPress themes available on the web, only a very few of them have the security and custom ability of a professionally designed premium WordPress theme. And this is the subject matter of this article, where I’d like to share with you 6 valid reasons as to why you should use a premium WordPress theme for your web project, as apposed to one of the readily available free themes on the market.

Design Quality

The design quality often found in free WordPress themes cannot be merely matched to those found in premium themes, and this is down to several reasons; for example, the attention to detail is often reflected on how well the theme’s code was originally written.

A good example of this would suggest; a quality premium theme will rarely ever load with any concerning glitches, the layout of the theme itself will always load cleanly and smoothly with all the qualities found in a premium theme, whilst these qualities can sometimes be of poor forthcoming in the vastly freely available themes.

Features

Many free themes also lack of the essential features whilst premium themes often offer you many useful features such as featured posts plugin, dynamic content gallery, Twitter and RSS integration and a contact us form just name a few.

Customization

When it comes to customization free themes offer almost nothing in return, as many of these free themes are designed for one thing only, and that’s for gaining a free backlink to an external site used by the theme designer normally. However, many if not all premium themes available offer full custom ability with easy customisation of CSS, headers and footers amongst many others.

Security

One of the biggest reasons why many serious bloggers or webmasters tend to use a reputable premium theme is for its impeccable security features.

The guys over at WordPress work their hardest to keep us updated with the latest security releases for their platform, and many of the premium themes are designed to cater and reinforce these security updates to make your blog project as secure as possible. No body likes the thought of waking up to find out their blog or website has been hacked into or sabotaged.

Updates

With a premium WordPress theme you also receive the latest updates that are available for your theme; if a new version of your theme is available you’ll be offered the chance to upgrade with normally no extra cost.

Even with the safe knowledge of being able to get the latest version of your theme as and when available should be enough to make you want to invest in a premium theme.

Technical Support & Documentation

Finally many if not all premium theme services now come with full online technical support as well as documentation with clear instructions on how to use your theme, giving you even greater peace of mind.

If you’re as passionate about your blog or web project as you think you are and are currently using a free WordPress theme for your blog, consider upgrading to a premium theme. For the sake of a few dollars it could mean the difference between your blog or website being safe and secure or being hacked into even without your knowledge.

0