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ian izaguirre
3,220 PointsShould I switch from my free wordpress theme to a paid wordpress theme from themeforest?
My website is IamDentistry.com. I use the graphene free wordpress theme right now. But I do have a lot of errors that can be seen on the validator website its like more then 120 errors.
These issues seem to stem from how my free wordpress theme was designed. For instance on codecanyon I wanted to purchase a video plugin and through emailing the author of the plugin he told me my website theme has a lot of errors in the way it was programmed that for his plugin to work ( and others I guess ) at a 100 % then I am better of buying a theme that is well programed.
I understand his advice and I think I found a theme I might enjoy : (http://themeforest.net/item/fearless-bold-modern-responsive-magazine/5100272?WT.ac=category_item&WT.seg_1=category_item&WT.z_author=mochathemes)
But It is hard for me to chose this route because I feel I have made so many customizations to my current theme that I have had since day one of self teaching myself. I know its a learning experience but I still find it hard.
So which route do you think I should go? Should I just buy a theme and try to remake that theme personal to me again then staying with this current free theme I have now?
3 Answers
Kevin Korte
28,149 PointsWhat type of errors? Easy fixes? I guess I'd like to know more info before I ditch my work and shell out some cash.
ian izaguirre
3,220 PointsAnd also the plugin author told me I had these errors: " As I see there are some scripts, which cause errors."
And :
"Used theme seems to be buggy
Fatal error: Cannot redeclare graphene_update_db() (previously declared in /home/burger8/public_html/wp-content/themes/graphene/admin/db-updater.php:7) in/home/burger8/public_html/wp-content/themes/graphene/admin/db-updater.php on line 28
Used theme is very poorly programmed. It uses instead of require_once and include_once functions require or include, which are invalid ways to load function and class files. "
among others
Scott Prock
666 PointsHi Ian,
Do you have a link to the free theme, I can take a look at the source files and let you know what I see. There are many free wordpress themes that have encrypted code in parts which can cause further problems.
Something to keep in mind, if you're developing a site that is commercial in nature (looks like the one you're working on is) then it's best that you don't have any errors at all. If the errors can not be fixed easily then you will be better off with a theme that is error free. Whether that be a paid, or another free theme. You have to decide what the benefits are when you go with a paid theme. There are some themes that will save you tons of time and are easy to customize which makes sense to purchase. There are others that are so complicated that it would be better to start from scratch.
You also need to take into consideration the end use of the site. I see the theme you linked to on ThemeForest is a responsive theme, which can be great if you need a responsive theme. Customizing a responsive theme can become more work unless you know how to customize it.
I love the themes from ThemeForest, there are a lot of really talented developers. Here's another source for free/paid themes - http://catchthemes.com/themes/ ... I have used the CatchBox theme on a couple of personal site and have found it easy to modify.
If you have trouble finding the free themes, use the Wordpress theme installer from your admin dashboard to search for the theme. For instance, CatchBox shows up in a search from the theme installer, but does not at the CatchThemes website.
Hope that helps ... Scott
ian izaguirre
3,220 PointsWow Scott you are seriously a great guy! Thank you, you are so helpful.
The link to the free theme I use now is : (http://www.graphene-theme.com/)
And yes my site will be commercial. I actually really like the look of the premium fearless theme I posted from themeforest. So if it makes sense to buy a premium theme I will.
(http://themeforest.net/item/fearlessboldmodernresponsivemagazine/5100272WT.ac=category_item&WT.seg_1=category_item&WT.z_author=mochathemes)
Yes I have never worked with a responsive theme before but I guess I will have to learn at some point. So If I do buy this premium theme then I will learn. What makes a responsive theme so much harder to customize?
I really want to make my site look different then the standard out of the box theme so I am a little worried at buying this theme and then being limited but the comments show that the theme authors are really good at providing help and support. And then I also know that almost anything can be done with CSS but still I don't want to run into to many brick walls with difficulty if you say responsive themes are hard to customize?
I will wait for your advice before purchasing it though. And it would be great if you tell me what you think of the premium theme I am looking at, do you like it?
Thanks again Scott, hope to hear back form you.
Scott Prock
666 PointsHi Ian,
I looked at the Fearless theme you're considering, and it looks like a good solid theme. Also it's close to the structure you already have so it shouldn't need too much heavy tweaking if any at all. Just some graphical modifications, nothing more than you've already been able to do.
As far as the responsive adjustments, as long as you understand media queries and at what point the site gets adjusted you should be fine. It's only when you have fixed width graphics that require different sizes for each of the media query changes, that's when it gets more complicated.
I would say that theme will save you a ton of headache down the road.
... Scott