A suggestion for some Theme Makers..

[blueshead]

Please post more then one picture of your theme, Give a detailed break down, etc..

I just looked at some themes in the Theme Library from my Admin panel.. And frankly I have no idea how some of them look, what features they have etc..

I will not d/l a theme..say like.. "Military/Army Theme-Theme designed to look like a Military forum board. " Which only shows a picture of a dog standing in a window.

[Stinky666]

Mar 7, 2014 10:21:59 GMT -8 blueshead said:

Please post more then one picture of your theme, Give a detailed break down, etc..

I just looked at some themes in the Theme Library from my Admin panel.. And frankly I have no idea how some of them look, what features they have etc..

I will not d/l a theme..say like.. "Military/Army Theme-Theme designed to look like a Military forum board. " Which only shows a picture of a dog standing in a window.

lol I completely agree with you. I for one, do make multiple screen shots of the "important" pages (main page, thread list, post list) and then additional ones, to show off other features.


Edit:
One other thing I will say actually, is I'm surprised the people who accept the submissions allow for silly previews. What's the point of making a mandatory preview, if they technically are not mandatory?

Just on the first 2 pages, I see a total of 6 themes, where their preview isn't showing anything off and seem to be random images.

Could you guys be a bit more strict when it comes to previews? CheatAreZee ?
Not sure if these people do it deliberately so you "have" to install the theme in order to decide whether you like it or not, so then it gives them more installs/downloads.

[Jaguar]

Yeah I went looking at themes just a few hours ago and had to install them to see anything.

[XaviEo]

Completely agree with this. Multiple screenshots are best, as they show off different areas of a theme and the different features but even one screenshot is better than a picture of a dog.

I look through the library often because I love seeing what other people make and it annoys me to not see screenshots. How am I supposed to fangirl over your theme if you don't give me a proper preview to fangirl over? I'm not going to download/install a theme just so I can look at it, and people who are looking for a theme for their forum shouldn't have to download themes just to see what they look like.

A theme just shouldn't be accepted without a proper preview, especially knowing how simple it is to press the screenshot button and save a screenshot.

[Tim Camara]

We're not going to become the preview police. If a theme is submitted with an image that is deemed inappropriate by the staff member reviewing the theme, then that theme is rejected. We don't reject items simply because of aesthetic choices. It's quite obvious that themes with descriptive names, descriptions, and images do much better than themes without them, so the market is already taking care of incentivizing authors to provide relevant details.

[Stinky666]

Mar 10, 2014 11:50:53 GMT -8 Tim Camara said:

We're not going to become the preview police. If a theme is submitted with an image that is deemed inappropriate by the staff member reviewing the theme, then that theme is rejected. We don't reject items simply because of aesthetic choices. It's quite obvious that themes with descriptive names, descriptions, and images do much better than themes without them, so the market is already taking care of incentivizing authors to provide relevant details.

Uh oh! How do I respond without getting myself in trouble (aka. warning) lol
I understand the last sentence, and definitely agree with it. However, it's still nice for anyone/everyone to be able to see a preview for a theme. Why even make us include a PREVIEW image if it doesn't have to be relevant It just makes no sense to me at all.

I'll just accept it for what and how it is, since I see myself arguing with you (and you know I will hehe).

Edit:
Some of them have no preview or description!!! FOR EXAMPLE

[Tim Camara]

Mar 11, 2014 1:03:42 GMT -8 Stinky666 said:

Some of them have no preview or description!!! FOR EXAMPLE

That theme actually has as it's two main colors light blue and white, and uses the preview image as it's default avatar, so the preview image is actually somewhat representative of the theme.  Not to mention that it's ranking currently bears out my earlier point about the market self-regulating.

[Brian]

Mar 8, 2014 20:14:38 GMT -8 Stinky666 said:

Not sure if these people do it deliberately so you "have" to install the theme in order to decide whether you like it or not, so then it gives them more installs/downloads.

Nobody sees those stats except for the author.

[Stinky666]

Mar 11, 2014 11:17:05 GMT -8 Brian said:

Mar 8, 2014 20:14:38 GMT -8 Stinky666 said:

Not sure if these people do it deliberately so you "have" to install the theme in order to decide whether you like it or not, so then it gives them more installs/downloads.

Nobody sees those stats except for the author.

Correct sir. However, it's a bit of an ego booster, even for those who do the above.

[Brian]

Mar 11, 2014 12:28:17 GMT -8 Stinky666 said:

Mar 11, 2014 11:17:05 GMT -8 Brian said:

Nobody sees those stats except for the author.

Correct sir. However, it's a bit of an ego booster, even for those who do the above.

So are, like, a million other things. I'm still not seeing the problem with download/install count as those statistics can't be used on the actual plugin library to promote your item in any way.

Also, the library is a database, not a contest.

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Can't people just simply uninstall them if they don't like them?

[Forever Sunshine]

Having gone through the theme library numerous time looking for something new or different, I can honestly say I have been very frustrated to not be able to see an example of the theme before downloading, even though it's a requirement, and just moved on to another, only to find it didn't have a preview either. If I downloaded every theme I thought would be nice just by the name, I'm sure I'd have a ton of them in my lineup that I'd not like. Having an example just makes sense and it IS a requirement.

It's like some of the plugins as well or templates. I'd personally like to see an example of what the code(s) will do before installing them. Yes, there are descriptions but sometimes those are not always clear to those of us who are still trying to figure things out and don't understand how it all works.

Whew! Got that off my chest. Thanks.

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Mar 11, 2014 20:53:21 GMT -8 Forever Sunshine said:

Having gone through the theme library numerous time looking for something new or different, I can honestly say I have been very frustrated to not be able to see an example of the theme before downloading, even though it's a requirement, and just moved on to another, only to find it didn't have a preview either. If I downloaded every theme I thought would be nice just by the name, I'm sure I'd have a ton of them in my lineup that I'd not like. Having an example just makes sense and it IS a requirement.

It's like some of the plugins as well or templates. I'd personally like to see an example of what the code(s) will do before installing them. Yes, there are descriptions but sometimes those are not always clear to those of us who are still trying to figure things out and don't understand how it all works.

Whew! Got that off my chest. Thanks.

Cannt you just make a test board and install them on that?

[Forever Sunshine]

User 180565 is taking donation Of course you can but why should we have to when it's a requirement to have examples? *scratches head* Frankly, I just don't download the stuff if I can't see them in advance. 

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Mar 11, 2014 21:04:00 GMT -8 Forever Sunshine said:

Of course you can but why should we have to when it's a requirement to have examples? *scratches head*

Because it's not that big of deal and you'd be able to get personal hands on experience with them.