Comments on: In support of advertiser supported themes http://www.duncanriley.com/2007/04/15/in-support-of-advertiser-supported-themes/ blogging is not a spectator sport Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:41:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: On WordPress Sponsored Themes | SYP http://www.duncanriley.com/2007/04/15/in-support-of-advertiser-supported-themes/comment-page-1/#comment-135295 On WordPress Sponsored Themes | SYP Thu, 19 Apr 2007 08:12:20 +0000 http://www.duncanriley.com/2007/04/15/in-support-of-advertiser-supported-themes/#comment-135295 [...] Therefore licensing plugins or themes under any more restrictive licenses is against the central philosophy of WordPress, or any other free software. Duncan Riley didn’t get it — the fall of SixAprt started when the community were upset, but they were upset because people realised that this software is not really free. [...] [...] Therefore licensing plugins or themes under any more restrictive licenses is against the central philosophy of WordPress, or any other free software. Duncan Riley didn’t get it — the fall of SixAprt started when the community were upset, but they were upset because people realised that this software is not really free. [...]

]]> By: AhmedF http://www.duncanriley.com/2007/04/15/in-support-of-advertiser-supported-themes/comment-page-1/#comment-134660 AhmedF Mon, 16 Apr 2007 18:40:33 +0000 http://www.duncanriley.com/2007/04/15/in-support-of-advertiser-supported-themes/#comment-134660 I'll agree with him when he agrees to remove the default links from the blogroll and the link to XFN I’ll agree with him when he agrees to remove the default links from the blogroll and the link to XFN

]]> By: Chris http://www.duncanriley.com/2007/04/15/in-support-of-advertiser-supported-themes/comment-page-1/#comment-134615 Chris Mon, 16 Apr 2007 13:04:29 +0000 http://www.duncanriley.com/2007/04/15/in-support-of-advertiser-supported-themes/#comment-134615 Over the past couple months, most of the submissions for theme reviews to my site have been sponsored themes. Unfortunately, there are some of these that either don't make the sponsorship known upfront to the user or use deceptive links (similar or--even worse--the same color links as the background). We decided not to feature any themes that have sponsors other than the designers of the theme (or designers of other creative parts of the theme) since non-technical users may not realize what links they are putting on their blog by installing a theme. Of course, this could be said for all themes that link to the author's site but I don't think users have a problem with that but may with mortgage, affiliate, gambling, etc. links. Over the past couple months, most of the submissions for theme reviews to my site have been sponsored themes. Unfortunately, there are some of these that either don’t make the sponsorship known upfront to the user or use deceptive links (similar or–even worse–the same color links as the background).

We decided not to feature any themes that have sponsors other than the designers of the theme (or designers of other creative parts of the theme) since non-technical users may not realize what links they are putting on their blog by installing a theme. Of course, this could be said for all themes that link to the author’s site but I don’t think users have a problem with that but may with mortgage, affiliate, gambling, etc. links.

]]> By: Ajay http://www.duncanriley.com/2007/04/15/in-support-of-advertiser-supported-themes/comment-page-1/#comment-134588 Ajay Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:25:27 +0000 http://www.duncanriley.com/2007/04/15/in-support-of-advertiser-supported-themes/#comment-134588 Actually, from what I read, Matt is more inclined to remove these themes of WordPress.org and infact should remove them off wordpress.net (or atleast prevent their hosting) I guess you know that I make the daily release posts on WLTC and in the past few months, I have observed that most (not all) of the sponsored themes have poor designs. Add to that, they don't even have a theme page on the authors site. i.e. the theme page is considered to be the one on theme.wordpress.net If I ran and paid for that, I would have a problem because I'm the primary host. Bandwidth comes at a cost afterall. I've also noticed that almost all of these themes have no indication that they have sponsored links, which I believe is not correct to the users of the theme. Do the theme authors have something to hide? I am a theme and plugin author and <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/archives/2007/04/13/my-take-on-sponsored-themes/">I personally will never have a sponsored link my works</a>. I'll let them stay on my site only. Actually, from what I read, Matt is more inclined to remove these themes of WordPress.org and infact should remove them off wordpress.net (or atleast prevent their hosting)

I guess you know that I make the daily release posts on WLTC and in the past few months, I have observed that most (not all) of the sponsored themes have poor designs. Add to that, they don’t even have a theme page on the authors site.
i.e. the theme page is considered to be the one on theme.wordpress.net
If I ran and paid for that, I would have a problem because I’m the primary host. Bandwidth comes at a cost afterall.

I’ve also noticed that almost all of these themes have no indication that they have sponsored links, which I believe is not correct to the users of the theme. Do the theme authors have something to hide?

I am a theme and plugin author and I personally will never have a sponsored link my works.
I’ll let them stay on my site only.

]]> By: Andy Merrett http://www.duncanriley.com/2007/04/15/in-support-of-advertiser-supported-themes/comment-page-1/#comment-134289 Andy Merrett Sun, 15 Apr 2007 06:16:10 +0000 http://www.duncanriley.com/2007/04/15/in-support-of-advertiser-supported-themes/#comment-134289 What next - no blog running from Wordpress allowed to have ads on it? I must admit, even in this open-source world, I'm still astounded that Wordpress is free AND is (IMO) the best blogging platform around. I can imagine a time, as some companies do, when Wordpress moves to a subscription or pay-for-use model. Maybe the free version for non-commercial sites, and a paid version for ones running ads and obviously 'pro' in nature. What next – no blog running from Wordpress allowed to have ads on it?

I must admit, even in this open-source world, I’m still astounded that Wordpress is free AND is (IMO) the best blogging platform around.

I can imagine a time, as some companies do, when Wordpress moves to a subscription or pay-for-use model. Maybe the free version for non-commercial sites, and a paid version for ones running ads and obviously ‘pro’ in nature.

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