I was rejected by ThemeForest so I did this... | Hacker News Reader

I was rejected by ThemeForest so I did this...

themesc.com

48 pointsJoeyDoey31 comments

Some feedback:

  - tabs should be reversed. They make no sense as is.
  - the orange down arrow top right needs to go or change. Looks like it's pointing at the tab for a reason. Nothing about the design suggests that I should interact with it to slide down a contact form, etc.
  - maybe ditch the cents on the prices, they just make the numbers look bigger.
  - you have "Terms" mixed in with side-projects in your footer; perhaps differentiate them?
  - the site is called "themeESC" in the footer, but "themEsc" in the domain and branding.
  - not sure about the gradient on the logo text. It's the only place you've used a gradient in the design (ignoring shadows).
  - the pulldown has a shadow, but the logo/mark don't.
  - if the site is about themes, put that tab before and far more prominent than 'Products'
  - sandwiches might bring a point of difference, but this section is just a load of wank (sorry to be blunt):

"I am fervently altruistic in my desire to serve up fun, intuitive and elegant products that bring the humanity back to online interaction."

You really need to rework that paragraph!

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the feedback. Quite a few people have suggested rethinking the arrow. I agree.

Just some feedback, the color of your tabs should be reversed. The active tab should match the color of the page.

I'm not sure if you know this but you can get a second opinion from another reviewer or even request a group review (all the reviewers take a look and come to a group decision).

I had no idea. I just had a feeling that my reviewer wasn't willing to reconsider. I took care of the minor issues he suggested but he still declined it wholesale.

Yep, you can indeed ask for another reviewer. Just leave a note when you submit.

So, resubmit it and ask for a group review? I'd be curious if anyone has heard of an initial decision being reversed?

This def makes sense. I'll be fixing that. Active tab should be the "front" tab.

I'm not a web developer, so I can't really offer any feedback, but I'll say this:

I love the designs. They're quirky, and different. Too many WP themes these days are templates of templates. At least these have some personality.

Thanks. I appreciate the kind words.

why so many webdesigners put irrelevant information in their website like "I love sandwiches"? Is this some trend?

It was used to show some personality among the corporate copy, but it is trend-driven now

Its odd that you have to go back to the homepage to see the demo. On the details page for each theme, clicking on the image should take you to the 'Demo' site. I clicked a few times before realising i had to go back to the home page. You could also add the 'View Demo' button...

Thanks for the feedback. I whipped this site up in a day (today) so I'll go back and tweak. However the "detail" page is actually the sort of "add to cart" page. The intension was to shorten the funnel and have people at the checkout page as fast as possible.

Are you planning to do do anything other than Wordpress ?

if yes, then may I suggest Drupal. Drupal 7 is already gearing up to be an amazing framework and it is a seriously untapped market. I have lost count of the number of times people have asked on IRC about a Thesis like theme framework for Drupal (Acquia is not quite it).

Another popular request is an admin theme for Drupal that is geared towards people used to Wordpress (me included).

I've worked only very lightly in Drupal but I'd certainly consider it.

I quite like it. I'm not a design guru so I'm fairly inarticulate when it comes to suggestions, but I would suggest that your sign-up thing at the top (that drops down) should be changed so your sign-up is on page. I imagine most people will miss it, and it is disproportionately large when you click on it.

Screw themeforest, best of luck with the themes!

Why did ThemeForest say they rejected you?

I don't actually understand why they rejected it. they already accepted the HTML version and it's doing relatively well here http://themeforest.net/item/candyshoppe-web-apps-products-an...

Do you serve up themes that aren't based on Wordpress? Otherwise, it makes more sense to just mention Wordpress in one place instead of tagging everything with it.

Well, i might roll out the HTML versions of these themes for people who don't necessarily need WordPress and would rather build their own back end.

Errr. I can see why they rejected you. Your spacing is so bad i,e, Yo don't know how to balance and space your elements.

And armature use of colours and gradients.

I do not think that is a fair comment, nor is it constructively phrased. These themes are equal in quality to loads of the ThemeForest templates. While not perfect, I am not sure they should have been rejected.

OP... a big gap in the ThemeForest market is decent admin templates, which are suitable for use in a SaaS app. There are some templates on there already, but they leave a lot to be desired. I think there is a lot of money to be made with themes that include:

* Landing page

* Signup/registration form

* Login form

* Standard admin template features (forms, tables, page layout examples etc)

At the moment my only option is trying to find two themes (for front and back end) that mesh reasonably well together.

Also, an "AskHN: What do you want in a web app theme" could throw up some useful info.

Thanks. I agree re: admin themes/ templates. I also like the "AskHN: What do you want in a web app theme" bit. I should do that asap.

Well, may you give him some suggestions? Or better remockup his theme in a image so that he can see and learn?

Destructive criticism is never good.

Armature?

Feedback: Great job not taking no for an answer, showing perseverance, and taking the initiative to setup your own storefront. Well done!

Thanks. I figure this is as good a reason for me to step out on my own.

Nice work but if you want to compete with Themeforest you need to solicite other contributors

Idea wasn't really to compete with them. Just to strike out on my own. Just needed some fuel, is all.

The coupon code "SINGLEPAGERS" (case-insensitive) will take 10% off each theme.

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