[theme-reviewers] Theme promotion in dashboard

Mon Feb 10 20:42:15 UTC 2014

That is the problem - The "Theme Info" needs to be explicitly defined by guidelines as to what it is for and what it is not for!
I a couple of themes I've reviewed that theme info page was far from being a theme's info page and more like another website inside my admin area.

And I believe that is totally wrong!

Yes to a Theme Info page with information about the active theme, some helping hints, tips and tutorials couple with a gentle nudge/reminder that there is a Pro version that does much more blah blah - I can live with that :)

Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 01:54:07 +0530
From: tskk79 at gmail.com
To: theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
Subject: Re: [theme-reviewers] Theme promotion in dashboard

It really makes sense to me, end users get to know exactly whats available in pro version, even though they have to pay for it, they will be finding a theme they like and like enough to pay.
That's a happy WP user who spreads the word around, win win all around.

On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 1:50 AM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net> wrote:

I'm not sure I would agree with that argument, just based on anecdotal feedback.

Now, if one were to argue that a "Theme Info" page under the Appearance menu - a page that is basically an HTML-formatted Readme - is useful to end users? Yeah, I'd totally buy that. And if that page mentioned that a commercial version of the Theme is available?I think that would be appropriate.

I'm not saying that's the only method; rather, I'm just saying that, presented properly, there's a place for commercial/upsell info/links - where "presented properly" is in the overall context of providing benefit to the end user.

(And that gives me another idea: a readme.txt parser for the WP admin. Must go search Trac; I'm sure someone must have suggested it before.)

On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 2:57 PM, Srikanth Koneru <tskk79 at gmail.com> wrote:

I am arguing that upsell info in theme options page actually serve's end user's purpose as in it saves valuable time and effort for end users since they don't have to visit theme author's site, search and go through sales literature and figure out if the pro version is a good fit for them.

Having ugrade options in lite versions make a good user experience.

On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 1:19 AM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net> wrote:

Without commenting on much of the rest, I do want to say:

Themes submitted to the WordPress Theme Directory are *contributions*, in the spirit of an open-source, free software project. So, yes: generally speaking, Themes *should* be submitted "out of the goodness of your heart". If Themes are submitted *primarily* for any other motive than to contribute to the WordPress community, then that motive seriously needs to be reconsidered. There are commercial marketplaces for those for whom their *primary* motive is commercial in nature.

(Please note the emphasis on *primary*. There is absolutely nothing wrong with commercial motives, and we welcome Themes from commercial developers. But in ALL matters, when the commercial developer's purposes are at odds with the end users' purposes, decisions made regarding the WordPress.org Theme Directory will fall on the side of the end user.)

On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 2:40 PM, Srikanth Koneru <tskk79 at gmail.com> wrote:

Lets not invade their website with a credit link either. Do themes out of goodness of your heart and also make it mandatory to provide 24 hr turn around for support tickets in WPORG theme page.

On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 1:07 AM, rabin shrestha <sun_ravi90 at yahoo.com> wrote:

I think promotion of premium themes shouldn't be allowed outside the theme option page. This whole discussion is being created because we are allowing to advertise outside the theme options page. And I know this discussion will always arise whenever any theme author tries to go one step ahead in theme promotion. Let's stop this, before this gets out of hand and whole WordPress theme dashboard becomes a place to advertise. Let's add a guideline allowing theme authors to advertise only in their theme options page and if they don't have one then they can create a menu under appearance and promote it. But let's stop having multiple menu under Appearance.

Also, I think author should only be allowed to promote upsell version of current theme. Since authors are allowed to keep upsell links users will automatically be going to your theme shop site and searching other themes if they feel your theme is good. We don't need a dozen of themes being promoted in secondary menu and your theme options menu.

I have seen this things growing and getting out of hand. Just a year back we were afraid to even have a twitter link and a single promotion link in theme options page and now with every discussion authors are being given power to cross one step ahead of the line and new line is being drawn every time. This should be stopped and strict steps must be enforced by adding this things clearly in guidelines.

These are simply my views and I am hoping to see some positive changes on this matter.

Regards,

Rabin

   On Monday,
 February 10, 2014 11:02 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net> wrote:
    We currently allow developers to add a second page to promote other Themes from the developer, so I would say that fits under that allowance.

But I really question if that second page isn't a step too far.

Maybe Cais is onto something: we add a guideline that Themes are *recommended* not to display any upsell/commercial advertising in the Admin, and then have the discussion, and let the community pose an argument for why the practice should be allowed - or, from my perspective, why the developer's need to do such advertising in the user's Admin outweighs the user's need not to have advertising in their Admin.

On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 12:12 PM, Ola Łączek <ola at bodera.com> wrote:

I totally agree with the rule about ads only on theme options page, but what if theme doesn't have one? In that case adding Page under Appearance menu is still unacceptable?

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