You see a site you like. You’re pretty sure it’s in WordPress (typing /wp-admin at the end of the url is a good way to check) but- you don’t like reading source code to try to figure things out. Enter:
The What WordPress Theme is That search tool allows you to quickly input a URL and find out what WordPress theme a site is currently using. It can also tell you what parent/child themes are being used along with what plugins are installed.
Source: 30+ Free Pro Resources for Building Killer WordPress Websites in Way Less Time
Hopefully, some developer didn’t rename someones theme as there own- for the clients sake. Child themes are critical to keeping sites up to date and working correctly. If there is one thing we’ve learned from over 10 years of developing on the platform is that it changes.
A common lesson we drive home with Websitetology is how you use an tool is doubly important than the tool you’ve chosen. A hammer and box of nails are useless if you don’t have any idea what you want to build. WordPress is a fantastic, perhaps the best, tool you can use in making a website for your business, but WordPress only makes it easier to publish your web content—you ought to know how to make good content before you publish.
Stock media like photography and video is the same way. Stock photography websites are often the butt of jokes that make it out to be completely pointless and unusable. Stock footage company Dissolve sought to curb this reputation with an ad for their product, made entirely out of their own stock footage.
Dissolve – “The Association of Obscure Associations”
Considering WordPress is OpenSource- ie “Free Code” that powers 25% of the web, there is big money to be made in knowing it inside out.
Just check out this out:
30 of the 31 sellers who make up the Power Elite wall of fame (selling $1 million+ worth of items) are WordPress product authors.
Source: Envato Targeted by DDoS Attack, WordPress Theme Authors Report Major Decline in Sales
Theme developers have created an ecosystem that’s been putting food on their plates over the last 5 years. Chris Pearson was an early entry into the fray with his “Thesis” theme framework. At one point, he got in a major fight with Matt Mullenweg, the top guy at Automattic, the guardians of everything WordPress- and came out on the south side of the deal.
Since then- all kinds of theme frameworks have come and gone. And now we have “all in one themes” like Divi, or the X-theme that are supposed to solve all of your problems… except, one thing- sales are actually down at ThemeForest- a marketplace run by Envato- that has a “Theme for anyone.”
But- lately, because of a DDOS attack, sales are down- and there are various ideas on why:
Themeforest’s recent drop in Google search rankings…
FinalDestiny of TeoThemes, another author whose sales are declining, blames the one-size-fits-all theme products for gobbling up a greater slice of the market share.
“Everybody is tired of these huge, monster multipurpose themes having the same price as normal themes, and that’s pretty much killing the marketplaces. But Envato couldn’t care less, as long as they get their share,” he said.
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The reality is, even if you plop down money on any of these amazing tools, the knowledge to use them properly still isn’t something you can just pick up. That’s why we’ve been teaching our www.websitetology.com seminar since 2005.
There is no doubt that the new Google requirements of mobile friendly/responsive and HTTPS are having ripple effects throughout the marketplace, but, the reality is, because these super themes are getting more complex- and don’t switch from theme to theme as easily as WordPress default themes- we think we’re seeing a slowdown thanks to theme lock in. The costs of switching themes has risen, and so we’re seeing less need for new themes.
Of course, considering thousands of WordPress websites launch everyday, it’s hard to think that this is the only factor.
If you need help selecting a theme, or implementing a good website strategy using WordPress, think about taking our seminar, or giving us a call. We’d be happy to help.