Why We’re Quitting ThemeForest.
by Jason Unger, Founder
Insights / Website Development /
Recently, we made the decision to end a long relationship with ThemeForest, the most prominent WordPress theme marketplace on the Internet.
And I’m relieved.
For the past five years, since we purchased our first theme from ThemeForest in 2010, we’ve set up and customized WordPress themes from developers all over the world for our clients. Early on, it was simple – like that Centita theme we first used – but increasingly, it’s been difficult, frustrating and simply not worth it.
But there was money in it. A fair amount of money in it. We offered premium theme customization as a middle-ground option to our clients who didn’t have the budget to do a complete custom design and development, and for a time, it made sense. But as ThemeForest grew, and the number of theme shops both domestically and internationally grew with it, the product became more complicated and more inconsistent.
Sometimes, the theme developers didn’t think about how users should appropriately customize them – with child themes – and coded their themes incorrectly. Sometimes, the theme developers built out massive options menus that would intimidate and confuse even the brightest of WordPress developers. More often than not, the theme was just poorly coded.
As distributors, ThemeForest and Envato, its parent company, can’t take responsibility for every line of code or every options menu in every product they sell, but when they offer products with massive security vulnerabilities, such as the WordPress Slider Revolution plugin sold by CodeCanyon and included in many ThemeForest themes, they become responsible.
So as of today, Digital Ink will no longer offer to set up or customize themes sold by ThemeForest.
If you’re interested in working with ThemeForest themes, there are plenty of other WordPress agencies you can work with.
As for us, we welcome all other business, because we know we’ll be providing you with a better product.
About Jason Unger
Jason Unger is the Founder of Digital Ink. He built his first website on Geocities, and hasn't looked back since. Digital Ink tells stories for forward-thinking businesses, mission-driven organizations, and marketing and technology agencies in need of a creative and digital partner.
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