ThemeForest is the largest theme/template marketplace on the internet. It is a great place for developers to showcase or sell their work and a place where regular users can buy themes, plugins, scripts, etc.
The marketplace has a listing of 1000+ items that are priced within $1 to $500. Several items have an excellent rating but are these ratings genuine? Are the developers/companies that have published a theme or a plugin trustworthy? Are the themes/plugins available on the marketplace SEO friendly or easy to use? We have answered these three and many more questions below:
ThemeForest review
Publishing your items on ThemeForest
To buy or sell items, you should register an account on Envato Dot Com. ThemeForest is an open marketplace that lets users across the world sell their products. It doesn’t charge a monthly, yearly, or one-time fee. However, the company takes a commission of up to 55% on every sale. The commission rate depends on your performance as a seller.
To submit your theme, you’ll have to follow some guidelines shared by Envato and fill a form that you’ll find in your Envato Author account. Unless your product is unique and of high quality, it won’t be approved by Envato.
Categories
Once your item has been approved, it will be published in one of the following categories on the ThemeForest marketplace:
- WordPress themes, HTML templates.
- Landing pages, eCommerce themes, PSD files.
- WordPress plugins, logo maker, etc
Waiting Time
Envato’s staff will check your product thoroughly to make sure that the marketplace only has good quality themes, plugins, scripts, etc. As ThemeForest is a popular marketplace, many publishers will submit their products. However, not all products will be approved. Publishers may have to wait for several days to get their themes published/approved. To submit a theme, you should fill a form. This form has options to enter a description, categories/tags, choose the ZIP file of your project, etc. The ZIP archive should have the project files, readme files, license notices, etc. Filling the form and creating a ZIP archive may take some time. If the application is disapproved, all the efforts will go in vain.
Interface and badges
ThemeForest has a great interface. It provides several filters and has a search utility with which you can find products by their name. ThemeForest makes users aware of the most popular items on its website. Envato Authors are rewarded special badges when they complete a milestone. The badges help website visitors identify the top developers.
Envato plugin
To make the task of updating themes and plugins easier, Themeforest provides a plugin called the “Envato Market WordPress plugin” with which users can learn about the latest updates for the products they’ve bought. This plugin asks users to enter an API key. To generate the key, the users must log in to their Envato account. If the API key is valid and the plugin is active, the WordPress CMS will make you aware of the new plugin/theme updates. You should install this plugin manually.
Guarantee
Unless you buy a theme from a popular publisher, there’s no guarantee that the template will get regular updates. For example, many themes on the ThemeForest marketplace are outdated. Most of the theme buyers are users with non-technical/programming background. If the template doesn’t get an update, these users will have to either hire a developer or buy a new theme.
Support
Themeforest has a dedicated forum where you can ask questions to the community regarding the approval process, rejection reasons, etc. It lets buyers chat with the theme developer for up to 6 months. After 6 months, you should buy “Extended Support” to extend the support duration by 12 months. It’s up to the developer whether you’ll get free support after 6 months or not. If the theme developer is generous and has launched his/her support forum, you’ll enjoy unlimited support else you’ll have to pay an extra $17.
Free stuff
ThemeForest lists one item from each of its sister sites (AudioJungle, CodeCanyon, VideoHive, GraphicRiver, PhotoDune, 3DOcean) for free download every month. You can download this item and use it legally.
Ratings and reviews
ThemeForest lets users rate and review products. As on the Google Play Store, you can either post a negative or positive review of the theme/plugin. In my perspective, items are rated by their genuine users. Thus, you can take the ratings/reviews into consideration before buying a theme or a plugin. One thing you should note is that the comments are published only after one of the executives of ThemeForest reviews them.
Advertisements
Unlike many web apps that disable ads when a user buys a plan or an item, Themeforest displays Siteground hosting banners on many pages of their site to premium users (people who buy a plugin or a theme).
Have I bought themes/plugins from the ThemeForest marketplace?
Yes, I have purchased 3 plugins and a theme. I bought 2 copies of the Easy Social Share Buttons plugin, a single copy of the Super Post plugin, and the Newspaper WordPress theme.
I used the Super Post plugin for an hour and the other 3 items for several months. The author of the Newspaper theme and the ESSB plugin provide forum-based support and unlimited updates.
Discount
ThemeForest sells many top-selling items for 30 to 50% discount every 3 to 4 months. On 21st June 2021, it sold popular WordPress templates such as Salient theme, Jupiter, The7, etc for a 50% discount.
Closing words
Although ThemeForest gives you access to several good themes and plugins, go through the product’s description carefully before buying it. Also, don’t hesitate to ask pre-sales questions to the developer.
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