<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>As the owner of a theme shop (CyberChimps) being forced by the .org admins to now pay employees to do theme reviews I inherently hate that we are being forced win the contest to keep our themes featured. </div><div><br></div><div>We use to do theme reviews to contribute to the community but now that we're being forced to do them to be able to afford to support our themes it feels more like extortion then a community contribution.</div><div><br></div><div>Responsive has had over a million downloads, and is the most people theme on .org that isn't a default theme. We were featured for some time, but were unfeatured without explanation and saw a dramatic decline in downloads, and revenue. Now we're stuck maintaining a massive theme that is no longer supporting itself, providing support and maintaining a popular theme like Responsive isn't cheap. You'd think .org would want to reward their most popular theme, instead we're having to delay the release of 2.0, and are being forced to rededicate our resources to win the review contest so we can get downloads and revenue back up so we can even continue development.</div><div><br></div><div>We point blank have asked .org admins what we can do to be considered for being featured again and there answer was to pay people to win the contest every month. A contest that isn't even being maintained monthly, that is being gamed by other theme shops.</div><div><br></div><div>What was once a community contribution has been turned into a confusing nightmare. We can't even get themes to review because other theme shops are assigning themselves everything ticket immediately. The system is absolutely being gamed, and soon the cost of entry won't even be feasible for CyberChimps, so I have no idea how anyone else is going to even have a chance.</div><div><br></div><div>We should be rewarding the best and most popular themes, not extorting theme shops and preventing everyone else from being featured. Theme reviews should be a community contribution and have nothing to do with featured themes. </div><div><br><div>-Trent</div><div>CEO CyberChimps Inc. </div>Sent from my iPad</div><div><br>On Jan 29, 2014, at 11:49 AM, Srikanth Koneru <<a href="mailto:tskk79@gmail.com">tskk79@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Not possible for an individual to compete against the might of theme shops. They can have 4 guys reviewing 4 themes simultaneously.<br></div>Was this vote admin only vote? don't recall it on the list.<br>
</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 1:14 AM, Edward Caissie <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:edward.caissie@gmail.com" target="_blank">edward.caissie@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">I was originally out-voted on not allowing "theme shops" have one account for all of their employees to use as I was concerned it would create an "unfair advantage" for them to choose a Featured Theme (and why wouldn't they choose their own?) so there is not much more I can add to this conversation except to say I agree for the most part with Otto's responses.</div>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
</font></span><div class="gmail_extra"><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br clear="all"><div>Edward Caissie<br>aka Cais.</div></font></span><div><div class="h5">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 2:21 PM, Philip M. Hofer (Frumph) <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:philip@frumph.net" target="_blank">philip@frumph.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:'Calibri'">
<div>Could always have the random themes that display be pulled by date as well,
max 1 year since last update sort of thing.</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div style="font-size:small;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;font-family:'Calibri';display:inline;font-weight:normal">
<div style="FONT:10pt tahoma">
<div> </div>
<div style="BACKGROUND:#f5f5f5">
<div><b>From:</b> <a title="jomcastaneda@gmail.com" href="mailto:jomcastaneda@gmail.com" target="_blank">Jose Castaneda</a> </div>
<div><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, January 29, 2014 11:14 AM</div>
<div><b>To:</b> <a title="theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">Discussion list for WordPress
theme reviewers.</a> </div><div><div>
<div><b>Subject:</b> Re: [theme-reviewers] Question: Someone Want to Take
Benefit From a'Top Reviewer of the Month'.</div></div></div></div></div>
<div> </div></div>
<div style="font-size:small;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;font-family:'Calibri';display:inline;font-weight:normal"><div><div>
<div>I think the issue that arose was exploiting the system by reviewing that
persons theme regardless of position in the queue of tickets.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>At least that is my take. I received a similar email about two months back.
I never responded, just deleted it. <br><br>Sent from my iPhone</div>
<div><br>On Jan 29, 2014, at 11:01 AM, Rohit Tripathi <<a href="mailto:rohitink@live.com" target="_blank">rohitink@live.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">A Very Good Point raised by Emil.<br><br>
<div>
<hr>
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 12:52:26 -0600<br>From: <a href="mailto:emil@uzelac.me" target="_blank">emil@uzelac.me</a><br>To: <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
Subject:
Re: [theme-reviewers] Question: Someone Want to Take Benefit From a 'Top
Reviewer of the Month'.<br><br>
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">I
am with Chip here, paying your employee or employ someone</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">is
100% the same, no difference whatsoever.</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The moment we said yes to commercial Theme shops to
have their </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">people review tickets under a single username, is the
moment we allowed </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">this very thing as well. Not sure what is the
problem?</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Every time one of us mentions Featured Themes, entire*
community jumps</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">on. When we need help, only few of us replies. How
come?</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><a href="http://make.wordpress.org/themes/2014/01/28/time-for-a-new-team-rep/" target="_blank">http://make.wordpress.org/themes/2014/01/28/time-for-a-new-team-rep/</a> </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </div></div>
<div><br><br>
<div>On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 11:51 AM, Srikanth Koneru
<span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tskk79@gmail.com" target="_blank">tskk79@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT:#ccc 1px solid;PADDING-LEFT:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">all 3 options can be manipulated unfortunately, admin choice is
fine but a bit more frequently would be nice.<br></div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br><br>
<div>On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 11:19 PM, Konrad Sroka
<span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:konrads@themekraft.com" target="_blank">konrads@themekraft.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT:#ccc 1px solid;PADDING-LEFT:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Otto +10000 </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Why not get rid of the featured themes sections like it is now and
have a filter for <br></div>
<div> </div>
<div>"most downloaded" and "best rated" </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Maybe add a filter or tag for commercially supported themes, so you
know you can get professional support and stuff like that.. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Or make a poll on <a href="http://wordpress.org" target="_blank">wordpress.org</a> twice a year and the results are the
"featured" themes </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Cheers, Konrad </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div></div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br><br>
<div>On 29 January 2014 18:25, Rohit Tripathi <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rohitink@live.com" target="_blank">rohitink@live.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT:#ccc 1px solid;PADDING-LEFT:1ex">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">I am not in favour of switching Featured themes to a Random
Themes Section. Because Many themes in the repository are outdated or
not fully compatible with recent versions of WP.
<div> </div>
<div>+1 for the Redesign of landing Page. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>:)<br><br>
<div>
<hr>
From: <a href="mailto:zulfikarnore@live.com" target="_blank">zulfikarnore@live.com</a><br>To: <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>Date: Wed, 29
Jan 2014 17:11:33 +0000
<div>
<div><br>Subject: Re: [theme-reviewers] Question: Someone Want to Take
Benefit From a 'Top Reviewer of the Month'.<br><br>
<div dir="ltr">Part of the original question asked "has this happened to
anyone" (not the exact words) - the answer is yes, not once not twice
but a good few times. Initial response? I responded with not part of my
business plan/working model! Then followed by "mark as junk" and now
that is where (if any) those emails land and deleted without a first
look never mind a second.<br><br>For me the incentive scheme and having
a theme featured for my hard work is only a bonus - true benefit is
derived from learning code as Otto said. The real reward out of it all
will be when one day I create a theme from scratch, submit, have it
reviewed, approved and made live without a single issue being raised -
now that is (will be) the achievement :)<br><br>So,<br><br>1) Should we
be paid to review themes in order to win and get the payer's theme
featured? Certainly Not!<br><br>2) Should commercial theme shops pay
their employees to review for the same end in mind? Weather they get a
theme featured or not they are going to pay their employee regardless.
So that is their prerogative - but should they hire for the sole purpose
of reviewing and getting featured? To me that is no any difference to 1
above and is a No!, but who is going to police it?<br><br>Solution?
Switch the "Featured themes" section to a "Random themes" section and
let the system cycle though all and any theme on a given time period and
everyone is a winner. Easier said than done with over 2000 themes I know
:)<br><br>I second and +1 the call for a redesign of the landing page.
<br><br>
<div>
<hr>
From: <a href="mailto:christine@bluelimemedia.com" target="_blank">christine@bluelimemedia.com</a><br>Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014
08:02:39 -0800<br>To: <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>Subject: Re:
[theme-reviewers] Question: Someone Want to Take Benefit From a 'Top
Reviewer of the Month'.<br><br>
<div dir="ltr">Awesome, I'll see what I can do. </div>
<div>
<div> </div>
<div><i><b></b></i>Christine Rondeau<br>Bluelime Media<br><a href="http://www.bluelimemedia.com" target="_blank">www.bluelimemedia.com</a><br>twitter: @bluelimemedia
<div>skype: bluelimemedia<br><br><br><b><br></b><b><span style="FONT-FAMILY:'Verdana','sans-serif';COLOR:red;FONT-SIZE:9pt"></span></b><b><span style="FONT-FAMILY:'Verdana','sans-serif';FONT-SIZE:9pt"><br>
</span></b><br><br><i></i><br></div></div><br><br>
<div>On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 7:58 AM, Otto <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:otto@ottodestruct.com" target="_blank">otto@ottodestruct.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT:#ccc 1px solid;PADDING-LEFT:1ex">On
Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 9:56 AM, Christine Rondeau<br><<a href="mailto:christine@bluelimemedia.com" target="_blank">christine@bluelimemedia.com</a>> wrote:<br>> I
still think that<br>> rethinking the theme landing page with a
better more visual design would be<br>> nice.<br><br>I
wholeheartedly agree. Poke your designer friends. We need a better
design. :)<br>
<div>
<div><br>-Otto<br>_______________________________________________<br>theme-reviewers
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all">
<div> </div></div></div>-- <br>
<div> </div>
<div>i.A. Konrad Sroka </div>
<div><span><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span lang="DE"><font size="4">Themekraft UG </font></span><span lang="DE"><font size="4">haftungsbeschränkt </font><br></span></font></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Beautiful Themes and
Plugins for WordPress and BuddyPress </span><br><span style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">web - <a href="http://themekraft.com" target="_blank">http://themekraft.com</a> <br></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">mail - <a href="mailto:konrads@themekraft.com" target="_blank">konrads@themekraft.com</a></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> <br>
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<blockquote type="cite">
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</div></div><p>
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