What’s in a name? Many Themes claim to be “premium”, but are they really? What makes a WordPress Theme high or low quality? Do more features and options add value, or are they just marketing hype? This session will help give you an idea of what to look for when searching for a WordPress Theme: Themes that maintain your freedom to use and modify them, don’t lock you in, are easy to customize/modify via Child Theme, keep their code up-to-date with current versions of WordPress, play nicely with Plugins, and provide a good balance between design decisions and customizable features and options. Also, not all commercial Themes are premium, and not all premium Themes are commercial. This session will discuss the things you should be paying for when buying a commercial Theme, and where (and where not) to find high-quality Themes for free.

1. What Makes a WordPress
Theme “Premium”?
Chip Bennett (@chip_bennett)
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
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What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

2. Overview
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What does “Premium” Mean?
Value for Your Money
Free Premium Themes?
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
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What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

3. Freedom to Use/Modify
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License
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GPL
Non-GPL (Proprietary, CC-By, etc.)
Implication (# Sites, Credit Links, Modification)
Open Source
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Obfuscated Code
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
Page 3 of 15
What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

4. Freedom to Use/Modify
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
Page 3 of 15
What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

5. Design Decisions
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Design as a Feature
– Good design requires talent/skill: colors,
typography, whitespace, layout
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500 GoogleFonts?
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200 Theme options?
Balance: Design Decisions vs. Configuration
Feature Bloat
– “Kitchen sink” approach vs. intentional design
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10 sliders? Or 1 well-integrated slider?
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Custom Admin Panel
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
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What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

6. Doesn't Lock You In
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
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What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

7. Doesn't Lock You In
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Presentation vs. Functionality
Content Generation
– CPTs, Taxonomies, “featured” content,
shortcodes
Site Configuration
– SEO, Analytics, Contact Forms, social
sharing, favicon, etc.
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
Page 5 of 15
What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

8. Easy to Customize
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Child Themes
Options
Actions/Filters
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
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What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

9. Up-To-Date Code
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Supports Core Features
Deprecated Functions
Play Nicely with core, Plugins
Code Quality Guidelines
– Theme Check Plugin
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Log Deprecated Notices Plugin
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WP_DEBUG
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
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What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

10. Theme Check Plugin
Image: Smashing Magazine
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
Page 7 of 15
What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

11. Value for Your Money?
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Code Quality
Design
Support
Updates
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
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What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

12. Free Premium Themes?
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Official Theme Directory
NOT Google
– Why? (I'm glad you asked...)
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
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What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

13. Free Premium Themes?
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
Page 9 of 15
What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

14. Links and Resources
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Links
Only download Themes from trusted sources
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WordPress Theme Directory
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Theme Check Plugin
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Log Deprecated Notices Plugin
Presentation Slides
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http://www.slideshare.net/chipbennett
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
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What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?

15. Feedback
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Questions or comments?
WordCamp Louisville 2013, 12 October 2013
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What Makes a WordPress Theme "Premium"?