The WordPress theme community is deteriorating. The WordPress Theme Viewer itself is broken. To add insult to injury, it’s now plastered with Adsense advertisements. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the site making some money. It deserves it, but Adsense isn’t the best option. Plus, it looks ugly. Slapping multiple Adsense ads on your site is lazy monetization.
Here’s what it looks like when you’re viewing it in Firefox:
Second, sponsored-theme designers are pushing it. Let me remind you I don’t have a problem with sponsored theme designers and the practice of theme sponsorship, as long as the designers make it clear to the users of what they’re downloading. However, sponsored theme designers are really pushing it. Some are blatantly spamming the theme viewer. Here’s an example:
Sure, it’s great that the theme’s author made it clear it’s a sponsored theme, but did the sponsor’s name had to be a link? Stop sugar-coating the theme viewer’s loop-holes.
On the first three pages, more than 50% of the latest themes are sponsored themes. Altogether, sponsored theme designers are ruining the user experience. Would you download a theme with three to four sponsored links in the footer? How much patience do you have? And how long would you browse through the theme viewer to find a regular, non-sponsored, good looking theme? Here’s proof (I’ve highlighted the sponsored links.):
I have many more screenshots on my computer, but you get the point. Here’s the worst theme because the author that uploaded the theme isn’t even the one that came up with the design:
It’s not his design, but he ported it for WordPress and made money off of allowing sponsored links on it. That author, Ericulous, is blatantly spamming for money while using someone else’s work. Ericulous, that’s ridiculous.
And oh, here are some funny ones:
Did you notice the similarities among the three themes above? Yea, I did too. Are you confused yet? Despite the obvious difference, why was this theme uploaded three times in a row? To take advantage of another theme viewer loop-hole and to blatantly spam for money that’s why.
Again, I’m not against people making money and I’m not against theme sponsorship, but you sponsored-theme designers/authors are really pushing it. You’re disrespecting and deteriorating the WordPress theme community, which is the main resource that’s allowing you to make money.
Personally, it’s upsetting for me to see the WP theme community come to this. It might not be important to some people, but it is important to me. After all, why did I create WPDesigner.com in the first place? WordPress themes that’s why. I, for one, am not going to sit, simply rant, and watch this community deteriorate. I’m already working on my plan to change the landscape of WordPress themes and the community.