Hi
looking at the themes download page, it seems that none are available for demo download - that button is non functioning . Are demos no longer available? if so, how do you know if the theme is right for your site?
Cheers
james
It all depends if the developer offers a demo or not.
Will Woodgate at ThemeFlood.com offers demos of all his themes. I believe there are a few other developers that do the same. Most don’t.
seems crazy that can’t try it out…could spend a lot before you find a theme thats right…that sort of changes everything and question weather continue with rapid weaver…
@jameswelland: Yes, I know what you mean. It’s not so crazy as you think: if people buy lots of different themes before the settle on one, then that’s more money in various developer pockets. 
On a more serious note: you might want to think out how you want to use themes before checking them all out. In general I encourage folks to use very flexible themes: ones that can be tweaked a lot to serve many different websites. If you go that route then you reduce the number of options by a LOT.
For regular themes I highly suggest Will’s ThemeFlood.com offerings. My personal favorites are Volcano and Flood. Lots of options, lots of power. You can make things look quite simple, or very complex (in the best sort of way). However there are a small number of other developers that also offer flexible, fast themes.
Then there’s the special case of “build it from scratch” themes. The disadvantage of these themes is they take a bit more elbow grease to set up because, frankly, there a lots of options to consider. But several folks love these types of themes as they allow you to really personalize the look of different sites. In this category of themes there are only a small number, and there are only two that I could recommend:
- BlueBall FreeStacks (you’d want the responsive set)
- Foundation (Joe Workman)
Both of these products are very good. I have Foundation, but many have BlueBall and like it very much. Both developers are always tweaking and improving their products. (The same goes for Will Woodgate.) So there tend to be several free updates over time.
Buying lots of themes is really not the way to go. You’ll get much further buying only a very small number of themes: each of which has lots of flexibility built in.
1 Like
Hi I agree with what you say, but I fin it difficult to know what theme works for me without trying it out. Especially as many are lacking in detail and only a few seem to show real world examples of their themes in use.
its pretty poor really, and does mean that in the end probably buy 3 or 4 themes. When I look at that, suddenly squarespace or fabrik web hosting and templates with real world examples are a much better deal.
Its not just about the money; it just seems wrong though paying for things unseen.
Shame
I agree with you. I’ve lost count of the number of different themes I’ve bought over the years. Rather than waste any moe money/time, nowadays, i stick to Will Woodgate’s themes (Theme Flood) and ignore the rest.
I suggest a point to remember is that the theme is akin to a wrapper for your site, strip off/away the wrapper and it’s what left that really counts. Depending upon what your site is about, visitors are rarely interested in the look of the site (pre-supposing it meets minimum standards), so much as the content and navigation. A well-designed site includes the overall appearance by default. Which is why a well-designed theme will have lots of customisable options, especially for responsive. Find a theme you like and stick with it. Changing themes regularly can be confusing to visitors. I’ve a friend, for whom I wrote the copy for his printed leaflet some 20 years ago when he as a start-up and he is still using the same leaflet, same copy.