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Themesinc.com - New Styles now available!

We are both currently working on some light themes and we will post any updates regarding those :)

Regarding the framework, if I understand your question correctly it should not be an issue.
1. When you install any of our skins the Framework (XenoMorph) skin is the core skin, meaning it needs to be imported as having no parent style.
2. When you import "any" of our skins (current or future skins) those are set to be a child of our XenoMorph skin. For example if you were to buy multiple skins you would do the initial import of the framework (XenoMorph) file / then the actual custom skin(s)/designs are imported as a child of that core framework file. So each additional skin is simply imported as a child again without the need to install a second instance of the framework.
3. By doing this if you modify anything globally you would use the actual XenoMorph templates/files and "all" installed skins will then pick up those changes.
4. The only time you actually need to modify the actual custom child skin would be for color changes, graphical changes, etc. specific to that particular skin.
5. Lets say a month down the road we release a new skin and you have already made changes to the core framework XenoMorph skin you would import your new skin and all of those global changes will be picked up automatically since you would install the new skin as a child of the framework.

It took a while to get this entire scheme set up because we wanted to come up with a scheme that allowed you to make changes to the framework file that would be automatically adopted by all skins, regardless of how many you have. It should also ease the updating process for you and for us when forum updates are released.

Hope that helps :)

Sounds very nice! I might just buy sooner than later. :cautious:
 
Been a customer of yours since 2005. Waiting for lighter one now. Not crazy about xenFracture's quotes background color. Imho, it causes unnecessary stress on eyes when reading and overtakes visual emphasis from post itself. Don't mind that color on the header though.

Will you still offer 20% off when light-colored skin released?
 
TemplateMonster.com - Unique styles go for $500 to $5000
Average per style seems to be over $75 (and up to $160)

If people don't like it, don't buy it. If you like it but feel it's too expensive; Don't buy it.

Based on the months of work that goes in to the execution of a business plan, the planning, prototyping, a-b testing, beta period and mixed with other work, including considering constant per version changes, free updates, and additional resources planning, releasing and thinking about the future.

Getting paid 45 cents per working hour in the end doesn't sound like $45 or even $99 for a xenforo style that's well thought through and has a framework behind it that makes customizing it to the end-user desires "i want this, but i want that" .. MORE than cheap, reasonable. And realistic.

Yeah, if you're a ****ty company, or not even one, and you throw something together without thinking about all of the above: $12 is just fine.

We all have our opinions, that's just mine. Nothing personal against you - just a comment to what I read.

Template Monster IMO isn't a good example. Especially compared to other Xenforo only or more Xenforo specific templating websites that have skins for way less than that.

How did VBulletin end up getting so big, for a product some thought was underpriced? How did IPB get so big when it originally gave away it's product. How did Walmart get so big selling stuff usually or generally cheaper than others. Same with Amazon.com and others.

Everyone has an opinion. Some will think it's too cheap for what is put into it, and other will think it's too expensive when compared to similar products. Fact is, in the end if all one is looking at is pricing of a product, then they are missing the bigger picture. A person can break it down and how much everything costs and why it costs that much. But in the end that is only half the picture and the average joe just won't care.

If I'm a new web developer. Or someone that has been at it for awhile but doesn't care about all the fancy talk about Frameworks, etc.. Then how do you sell to that customer. You can talk Frameworks all day long and that will mean little. When they ask you what makes the amount of time and effort put into a product any different than the amount of time and effort someone else put into their product for maybe half the price, talking about Framework, etc. won't get you far. Look at it less from a developer point of view and more from the customer point of view.

That would be like walking into a Target store and they try selling you on how they have their store structured. When all you're asking for is a particular item. Not on how they got that product on the shelf or what it took to get it there or why it's priced the way it is. All they want is the product and for it to work properly at a reasonable price.

So take me for example. I've used 3 different browsers to view his skins. And each time they loaded slower than the default skin and even some cheaper skins found elsewhere. I'm on a connection where slow is not a capability. (20+mbps) Why would someone like me want a skin that loads SLOWER. Isn't that counterproductive to what a forum wants? I don't care if the framework is some new and revolutionary thing. I want a forum that runs faster or at least equal to what it is now. Not slower. I don't know if it's there server or not that's causing it. But from a customer standpoint first impression is everything. I don't care about the developer point of view. It's the customer point of view that matters most.

I'm not going to a car dealership to get told about what the latest and greatest feature is. I'm going there to get a car that works great, is reasonably or even cheap priced, and will last for years and be reliable.
 
whitetigergrowl,

We all get that you think these styles are over priced... but we also know that each of us choose what we want to pay for our site and how we want to maintain it..

If you honestly think they are over priced, then the obvious thing to do is not buy them and do what you feel is right about/for your site.

What I don't understand if why you continue to feel the need to state your opinion over and over again in a thread that is promoting said styles.... It's really time to just move on.. let the ones who like them buy them and let the ones that think they are over priced shop somewhere else... simple.

Jamie
 
The average going price for a vB4/IPB skin these days is around $30 (?). I expect XenForo skins to settle in the same vicinity as well. Miko and Pank are charging extra $15 for a top-notch, feature-rich and easy-to-use option. That's a real steal for customers.

What I understood from reading developer boards in recent years is that no matter what they do or how good they do, people are gonna be unhappy [From time to time I turn into a sinner too]. I used to get upset about it. Now it only puts a smile on my ugly face. Hope Miko/Pank take it the same way. Great job, guys!
 
whitetigergrowl,

We all get that you think these styles are over priced... but we also know that each of us choose what we want to pay for our site and how we want to maintain it..

If you honestly think they are over priced, then the obvious thing to do is not buy them and do what you feel is right about/for your site.

What I don't understand if why you continue to feel the need to state your opinion over and over again in a thread that is promoting said styles.... It's really time to just move on.. let the ones who like them buy them and let the ones that think they are over priced shop somewhere else... simple.

Jamie
Very well said. And I agree.
 
Great styles Miko! I really liked that juice skin you made for vbstyles and it would be awesome if you made something similar for xenforo.
 

You have some valid points there...

For the near future we have planned to have a subscription based Skin Club that will be drastically cheaper. (once we have a few more skins available)
We also have several Discount Coupons floating around the web and our forums that are still valid that will make the price of the skins more affordable for some people.

Considering that from 2003, several sites were selling vBulletin styles from $30 upwards with some reaching the $50 dollars mark, I don't think $45 is really that expensive... And that was 8 years ago!

Without going into a long debate about our pricing I will only compare it to the current XenForo Market.

Other than us I can count only one site* that is producing full blown templates that are currently sold at

$25 to $35 with 6 months of free updates.

That translate to $50 to $70 for a year of free upgrades making our skins between $5 and$25 cheaper on a year of free upgrades! :)

It's a beautiful free world, where luckily for most of us is made of free choices. No one, I repeat, no one is forcing you to spend/use/waste your money on our products if you don't want to. As you continuously have said there are free and cheaper alternatives available and I suggest you use those ;)

I on the other hand will stand behind my product and continue to do so.

Take care,
-Miko

*Feel free to start a PC if you want the name of the site that I mention in this post.
I'm not making the URL public as I respect the work and the owner of the site and not trying to debate his pricing
 
You have some valid points there...

For the near future we have planned to have a subscription based Skin Club that will be drastically cheaper. (once we have a few more skins available)
We also have several Discount Coupons floating around the web and our forums that are still valid that will make the price of the skins more affordable for some people.

Considering that from 2003, several sites were selling vBulletin styles from $30 upwards with some reaching the $50 dollars mark, I don't think $45 is really that expensive... And that was 8 years ago!

Without going into a long debate about our pricing I will only compare it to the current XenForo Market.

Other than us I can count only one site* that is producing full blown templates that are currently sold at

$25 to $35 with 6 months of free updates.

That translate to $50 to $70 for a year of free upgrades making our skins between $5 and$25 cheaper on a year of free upgrades! :)

It's a beautiful free world, where luckily for most of us is made of free choices. No one, I repeat, no one is forcing you to spend/use/waste your money on our products if you don't want to. As you continuously have said there are free and cheaper alternatives available and I suggest you use those ;)

I on the other hand will stand behind my product and continue to do so.

Take care,
-Miko

*Feel free to start a PC if you want the name of the site that I mention in this post.
I'm not making the URL public as I respect the work and the owner of the site and not trying to debate his pricing

I was going to respond to that post earlier but I'm glad you beat me to it ;) Well said, and in regards to any "slowness" issues not one customer has reported any issues.

To the contrary I think I saw a few posts back where a customer posted his forum link and his input.

I still think for some reason our server is just a tad slow at times. But this is a fact: Our skins (and pretty much any commercial skin) are quite a bit more detailed graphic wise than the default skin. Any time you add more graphics to any webpage it is going to add load time to the page. The graphics we use are optimized and while there are more graphics than the default skin I've seen no noticeable difference, nor has Miko, nor have our customers.
 
I just purchased one of your skins for the purposes of using the framework for a custom skin.
I've got to say, I see no notable differences between loading the default skin, and loading xenFracture.
With debug on, loading the main page of my forum was faster with xenFracture than on the default skin.

.3 -> .5
 
The price is okay for what you get, but it would be nice to have the option to exclude the framework when purchasing. If the styles cannot function without the framework, then that really sucks. By having the option to exclude the framework, many people will stop talking about how overpriced the styles are. In my case, I don't buy what I don't need and I certainly don't need the framework. So, give us, customers, options.

$30 = style
$15 = framework

That sounds much more reasonable.

Some people are more interested in the skin/style and some others are interested in the framework itself.
 
I would assume that since they didn't release any styles til after the framework was finished, that the styles depend on it. Like Miko said, their styles may not be for everyone and obviously, judging by some of the posts in this thread, they are not.

As Miko said, there are plenty of other offerings out there.
 
I feel that this needs saying, so I'm going to say it. Sorry if it steps on anyone's toes, but that's the way it is sometimes.

This is a release thread. Miko and Bob worked very hard on their styles, and have now released a couple of them on their site, for sale, and made the announcement here, with permission.

I really and truly do not feel that these release threads should be used to haggle over the price, nor should they have to explain why they settled on that price.

The price is what it is. They said $45, not $45 obo (or best offer). If you don't like the price, don't purchase it.
Go purchase one you can afford, or get a free one.

But whatever you do, move on.
 
The price is okay for what you get, but it would be nice to have the option to exclude the framework when purchasing. If the styles cannot function without the framework, then that really sucks. By having the option to exclude the framework, many people will stop talking about how overpriced the styles are. In my case, I don't buy what I don't need and I certainly don't need the framework. So, give us, customers, options.

$30 = style
$15 = framework

That sounds much more reasonable.

Some people are more interested in the skin/style and some others are interested in the framework itself.

Yes, our skins are 100% based off of our framework since that is an integral part of the design and function. This is done for a number of reasons and we very carefully structured this scheme in a methodical way that would allow the user to have many options / make updates much much quicker for both us and for the customers / retain modifications that customers make to the skins when updates are released / allow an option (by using the core framework) to make "global" changes that will be automatically adopted by 1 skin or 20 skins / and more.

I feel that this needs saying, so I'm going to say it. Sorry if it steps on anyone's toes, but that's the way it is sometimes.

This is a release thread. Miko and Bob worked very hard on their styles, and have now released a couple of them on their site, for sale, and made the announcement here, with permission.

I really and truly do not feel that these release threads should be used to haggle over the price, nor should they have to explain why they settled on that price.

The price is what it is. They said $50, not $50 obo (or best offer). If you don't like the price, don't purchase it.
Go purchase one you can afford, or get a free one. But whatever you do, move on.

Thanks Peggy, I'll speak for both Miko and myself and just say the following:
1. We truly "always" appreciate constructive input / it helps us be a better company and everybody will benefit from that. We are not perfect in any way shape or form and get excellent suggestions.

2. 1 post regarding your thoughts on the price is 1 post, but 2, 3, and more posts quite honestly becomes a moot point. I agree that this is an announcement thread but people are going to post their thoughts and we totally expected that.

3. All we ask is that people don't get involved with personal flame wars with other people that have nothing to do with Miko or myself. A number of threads have already been deleted or moved because they were totally off topic. I think we all have the ability to keep posts in a constructive way :) My fear when I saw some of the moved/deleted posts was that this was getting way off topic and the thread was in jeopardy of being closed.
 
These are quality styles with a huge amount of time and effort invested in them.

If you feel that they are too expensive, make yourself known by not purchasing them. Free market economics suggest that if Themesinc.com make very few sales, they may have priced themselves too highly.

On the other hand, if they are doing a decent number of sales (as I suspect they are), perhaps one must concede that in fact they have priced their product absolutely right.
 
My fear when I saw some of the moved/deleted posts was that this was getting way off topic and the thread was in jeopardy of being closed.
I don't think there's much fear of that happening - the offending posts would just be moved to a new thread or deleted.

It's always difficult making a judgement on how to let threads evolve but I figured you guys were dealing with the points raised more than adequately so saw no need to do anything.

As always though, please don't hesitate to click report if you want something dealing with :)
 
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