Thesis Theme Sucks for Non-Coders – Total Waste!
Posted on 26. Apr, 2010 by Vivek Krishnan in Blog Tips
Thesis Themes sucks big time, especially for non-coders like me. I must tell you guys that CollegeFallOut will soon undergo a few changes aesthetic-wise in a month or so. This means I am planning to buy a premium theme. Of course, I first landed at the DIYThemes home page to see for myself what is Thesis all about. The videos were mesmerizing and they seemed to underline the point that Thesis is all about “Plug and Play”!
Then I browsed a few other bloggers who used Thesis theme but were not exactly big fans. And finally I came across the truth which most bloggers hid behind their perfect Thesis themes. I found the “real” facts about Thesis that were a nightmare to Non-Coders (I don’t know the “<” of programming!> like me.
Almost all bloggers who use Thesis theme will always write positive to sell it as an affiliate product, very few will tell you the truth. Here is an example blog that speaks the truth about Thesis Themes.
Here are a few facts about Thesis:
1) Thesis requires you to know the knowledge of PHP and CSS. A lot of the time you have to deal with PHP and CSS, so non-coders please stay away from Thesis.
2) Yeah, they have a community where you can post queries. So are you going to go post a query and then wait for it be answered then go back to work on it? Really?? You have so much time?
3) As far as the “expertly-coded and SEO” point is concerned, I must say it is not such that Thesis blogs are the only one’s out there that are successful in pulling traffic. Don’t give much weightage to this claim by Thesis.
From the above points I hope it is clear to you that while Thesis remains a great theme – better than most, it will require you to code if you want it just the way you like it. If you just want to play with columns and other simple stuff – then okay go ahead. Then again you can do that even with free themes, why spend $80 for that?
So you see, the “Just add killer content” strategy that they advise you on the Thesis home page is a big sham. Beware of it and choose your premium themes carefully.
14 Responses to “Thesis Theme Sucks for Non-Coders – Total Waste!”
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2010/07/02
[...] College Fallout: Thesis Themes sucks big time, especially for non-coders like [...]
Sire
26. Apr, 2010
Thanks for the linkluv. Since writing that post Thesis has made some improvements but it still falls short of the theme that I’m using on my other blogs. What really put me off is the fact that you had to learn ‘hooks’ to get it’s full potential, as if CSS and PHP wasn’t enough.
Nope, good as it is it’s not as plug and play as they make it out to be.
.-= Sire´s last blog ..Scientific Revelation Explaining Why Some A Listers Are Assholes =-.
Vivek
26. Apr, 2010
@Sire: I must tell your post was difficult to find. No webmaster wanted to show the other side of the coin!
@Tushar- I am glad this post helped you like Sire’s post helped me. It would be great if you would do a post on this as well.
Tushar
26. Apr, 2010
actually u just helped me in believing that Thesis is not that good….i suck at coding and luckily i never went for thesis
.-= Tushar´s last blog ..Higher Visits = Higher Popularity!!!! Not Always Dude…. =-.
Rahul
12. Jun, 2010
You might want to try SWIFT theme
http://swiftthemes.com/2010/01/wordpress-themes/swift-version-5-0-is-now-available/
.-= Rahul´s last blog ..Instructions to update to wordpress 2.8 without any down time and trouble =-.
David - Memphis Attorney
31. Oct, 2010
I was using thesis in almost everything. You can get it up to a 7/10 look real cheap. Then all my sites got hacked. (kinda suspect one of those thesis hacks) Decided needed to keep everything better upgraded. Got wordpress 3.0 multisite working yay! Thesis could only run on one subsite install without a bunch of complicated baloney ack!!. They keep promising a 2.0 version for the past 2 years.
I’m leaning towards either woothemes or elegant themes. The biggest problem with thesis was getting the header to jive with the rest of the theme smoothly.
David – Memphis Attorney´s last [type] ..About the Law Office of David Sandy
Vivek Krishnan
31. Oct, 2010
@David- Hi david, thanks for your feedback on Thesis. I hope it helps readers.
igoydude
06. Nov, 2010
just bought the developer’s edition and i have regrets, i thought i no longer have to code to make my blog appear the way i want, but i was wrong, i spent hundred of hours researching, i’m no coder, and after those time spent, my blog’s appearance still suck… and SEO wise, i think it’s not what it claims to be….. we’ll i really don’t know.
Vivek Krishnan
06. Nov, 2010
@igoydude- Well, I am sorry for that. If you are unable to figure it out then I guess you may have to get it customized by someone else!
JPB
11. Nov, 2010
I couldn’t agree more! Thesis is a disaster for a non-coder, and as for the forums….you have to realize that the people who help/lead those forums are the techiest, most serious coders of all, and even what they consider a basic or obvious explanation is typically a foreign language to a non-techie. When you consider that most bloggers want to be writer, not coders, Thesis is a disaster of a choice. I am sick over the money I spent on a developers license (so I could use it on more than one site without extra fees) AND the money I spent on skins to make this look decent AND the money I spent on Thesis “experts” on the web who could go in and make the “easy, easy” changes I wanted made for $100 an hour. WHAT A LIE it is that Thesis is for non-coders. And coupled with the recent antics and egotism of Chris Pearson this summer, I am sad that I fell for the hype and this theme guru.
I have another theme premium now, that actually keeps things simple and lets me write and doesn’t make me feel inferior because I don’t understand code.
If you are not techie, stay away from Thesis.
Vivek Krishnan
11. Nov, 2010
@JPB- Yes, it does seem like a rather costly affair when non-coders go for a theme like Thesis. Really sorry to hear that your investments flopped big time! However, I am glad that you shared this information with the CFO community.
I hope this helps the others readers of this blog.
Sire
28. Nov, 2010
You’re right, no-one wanted to show the other side of the coin, and that’s probably because they were too busy promoting it. There are times when promoting something that it’s better to leave out some important parts
Sire´s last [type] ..FlexSqueeze Latest Update Can Make Your Posts Rock
Arup
04. Feb, 2011
Thanks . You saved my money. Now I’m happy using wp simpy theme in my blog. Btw if any other fast free theme is in your mind, please suggest me.
Vivek Krishnan
05. Feb, 2011
@Arup – Simplicity theme is also pretty fast, I used to use it on this blog few months back.