Paid theme

[Dilip]

Do you think that paid themes are better than free themes? If yes, will you go ahead and invest in a custom theme or get a good paid theme?


How good are you at customising themes?

 

[Strawberry]

Absolutely nothing wrong with using free themes, as you get some really nice, professional and well done themes out there!
I think that paying for a customised theme is a worthy investment for a forum as it sets you apart from the rest and is a good USP.

 

[Cedric]

There is no such thing as a decent free theme for paid softwares. Not to my liking at least. There's nothing wrong with premade themes for a low price. And as anything they come in different kinds of quality. I like to pay for a well made premade theme, and I like to have some variety to choose from. A custom theme is no longer a requirement but it helps to make your brand more aware. For Admin Junkies, we have a couple of premade themes but we are having a custom theme real soon. That's because I'd like us to stand out from the crowd. And because it will help out our brand become more unique.

 

[Shortie]

I don't think that paid themes are better than free themes but I do feel that with a paid theme you can get something more unique for your forum over something that many other people have used before. I am quite happy to use a free theme when I start a forum and then work my way towards a paid theme that will be a little more unique in the future when I have more funds.

I have tried in the past to customize themes but never really got the hang of it.

 

[Anachiwo]

There's no way you can compare free resources to use on your forum to the paid one's. They will never be on the same level of service quality. I get why some webmasters are open to using free resources like themes and the rest but it's not what I will recommend.

 

[Arantor]

If paid themes are better than free themes, why does anyone *ever* used free things for anything except out of necessity?

Guess we're all about to see our hosting bills rack up as we start to pay for Linux?

 

[Cory]

Ultimately, I think it all depends on the designer and how they can create exceptional themes, whether free or paid.

 

[Aaron]

I purchased a custom theme for a Zetaboards forum I once owned it was so awesome.

 

[Dilip]

The problem with paid software is that they smell blood in the water. You cannot stop buy paying for the base software.

I think iPhone has something similar. You keep paying for a lot of basic things even after you pay a premium for the phone.

 

[Cory]

I think iPhone has something similar. You keep paying for a lot of basic things even after you pay a premium for the phone.

I pay $65 a month, and I think that's mainly just to keep the wi-fi running.

 

[Heatman]

Do you think that paid themes are better than free themes? If yes, will you go ahead and invest in a custom theme or get a good paid theme?


How good are you at customising themes?

To the best of my knowledge and experience with using both free forum themes and paid one's, there's nothing wrong with using free themes. Them being free themes doesn't mean that they are worthless or not good enough. I have used it a couple of times and I really love them.

 

[Reverie]

I've seen pretty free themes, however what bothers me is they get overused. They are basic and meant for all forums. I think it's good for a forum to have two free options, but then definitely need a paid option as well because it will likely "brand" their forum. I also understand people not using paid ones at opening because they want to see how it goes before investing in it.