What WordPress products should be like
A WordPress product, whether it’s a theme or a plugin should be a natural extension of the WordPress core. If it doesn’t feel like it belongs with the rest of WordPress, then it probably doesn’t.
You already know what WordPress looks like and how it works. You should not have to learn a new user interface every time you install a new WordPress product.
Why themes should do “theme stuff” and plugins their own magic
Most premium themes today are guilty of sticking their noses where they don’t belong. As enticing as that is for you as a potential buyer, it can easily backfire.
Once you’ve gone through the trouble of setting up your site’s SEO, adding a favicon or Google Analytics code, filling your content with shortcodes, you probably don’t want to go through it again once you get a new theme. That is a perfect reason why all features you want to retain after switching to a new theme should be handled by plugins.
A theme should display and style your content. A plugin should add functionality to WordPress.
Best practices are usually best for you as well…
…and reinventing the wheel usually leaves you with a car that won’t go anywhere.
WordPress is packed with APIs developers can and should use in their themes and plugins, yet sadly, a lot of them don’t. We believe that thousands of developers, who volunteer their time so WordPress can be better for everyone, do know better than an occasional “wheel re-inventor”.
No gimmicks
Eight different sliders? 600+ different fonts? Unlimited color options? Do they come with a free set of cheap knives if you call within the next twenty minutes?
We do realize the value of marketing, but we also believe that if gimmicks are presented as key features there’s a good chance something is fundamentally wrong with the product.
Customer support and getting in touch
Great customer support should not be an afterthought, it should be a core feature. If you run into any problems using our WordPress themes or plugins, please submit a support question or a feature proposal using the dedicated forums. User input has been invaluable for us since day one.
If you want to contribute to promoting WordPress best practices and create exposure for yourself, send us your contributor application.