So here’s the problem: WordPress has thousands of themes. These themes are currently divided into two arbitrary, self-titled, ambiguous, tiers: premium and other. The definition of premium may or may not include payment, servicing, licensing standards, features, and quality, depending on who you ask. So how is a chap to compare themes? Well, I think I may have a solution.
What I want to get down to is some way to compare one theme to another. For me that means leaving a few things out. It doesn’t really matter if a premium theme is GPL or not, is paid-for or not, offers services or not, because these are secondary concerns which can be listed separately.
Let’s say, for the sake of argument that I were to offer you the choice between two GPL, paid-for, premium themes with 12×7 phone and e-mail support, you would still know nothing about the theme and its suitability for you. On the other hand, if I listed the full feature-set of each theme and explained the kinds of uses to which it could be put, you would be able to decide which of themes best met your needs.
So my solution is this: A 5-star labelling system.
This system wouldn’t be some arbitrary judgement about how good the theme was, it would be a strict set of criteria which a theme author could choose to meet in order to be permitted to market their theme as an x-star theme.
The rating wouldn’t even be a matter of quality. We can leave that to the reviewers. It would be a statement that the theme contains the features specified within the star-rating, implemented in a way that was consistent with the scheme. It would also be licensed out to theme authors (for free) on the understanding that it could be revoked.
The rating wouldn’t encompass all themes though. A single star would be the first significant step on a long ladder. It would reflect our opinion of a minimum feature set. For example, the current Kubrick theme, while widgetised and offering some header modifications, would be considered decoration and wouldn’t be able to quote a single star.
A five-star theme wouldn’t necessarily be a kitchen sink theme either. Five stars might mean it provides significant functionality aimed at content management, as opposed to just blogging. The scheme would have to be far more detailed than that about what kind of functionality and implementation was appropriate, but the point is that each star would reflect a well considered, harmonious, feature-set, not just more options.
The system couldn’t stand still though. As some features become standard they would need to be relegated to ‘expected’ and newer more advanced features would take their place. A theme might be considered a three-star theme today, and a one-star theme in 18 months.
As I am sure you will get sick of hearing me say, ‘premium’ has outlived its usefulness, and I think a factual rating scheme could be a natural replacement. What we don’t need is more ambiguity, hyperbole, or unqualified assessment.
Thanks- I’m reading right now!
Lot’s to think about :)
You should take a look at this forum for more details:
http://www.wptavern.com/forum/themes-templates/480-theme-standards-system-4.html
I have been convinced that a named set of standards is preferable to a star rating.
Who would set the standard?
Me, gathering opinions from other sources.
Who would make sure it was followed?
No one.; it would be voluntary, like web standards
Will it be only for themes sold in a specific market place?
No, cost and licensing would be excluded so it would be up to any author who wished to built to that standard.
I would like to see a practical application of what you wrote about. Who would set the star standard and ensure it is followed? Will it be only for those themes that are sold in a specific website marketplace or will it be for all premium themes no matter where they are sold? If the latter how will this be done?
The difference is that their rating system is an after-the-fact subjective review whereas I am proposing a clearly defined feature-driven system that the theme builders themselves decide to achieve.
For example, You might decide to build a theme with the intention of marketing it as a three-star theme. You would therefore follow the three-star guidelines.
Andrew,
Most of the theme review sites (examples that come to mind include PremiumWP.com, PremiumThemez.com, and/or ThemeAtlas.com) also have a similar 5 star rating system. I’m sure there are others as well that I may not know about or aren’t popping into my head at the moment.
I suppose the problem is they only include half the themes market (the premium side). I think Nathan’s site WPThemeCritic.com could work as we will be included both sides and hopefully have a rating system in addition to the comments from the WordPress community.