5 Steps To Test a Theme That Won’t Get You Banned From Google
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Photo by dcJohn. There are a number of aspects of a theme that can get you banned from Google, and other search engines. Deciphering between safe and unsafe themes is not as easy as just looking for a “Sponsored by…” link.
Through using the methods listed below, you will be able to judge whether or not a theme is safe to use.
1 – Download From The Source
WordPress themes are often free to download, and sometimes free to distribute. It is not difficult for a site to amass a collection of themes, and add their own spam codes to them. For this reason, if you know the site that the theme originally came from, download it from there.
2 – Use Your Intuition
If you have a bad feeling about a site, then trust that feeling. Is the site showing excessive adverts? Pop-ups? Spam email? If so, then you know that they are trying to squeeze every penny they can out of their website, so what’s to stop them doing the same with their themes?
There are many sites offering free themes, and it isn’t hard to find the respectable ones. Look at your favorite blogs. Are any of them design related, and do they offer themes for download as well? Or are they using a free theme, with a link to the source in the footer? If you’re looking for a WordPress theme, and want to be completely secure, then the WordPress Theme Directory is a great resource.
3 – Search the Theme Files for http://
Open each file in your theme in a text editor, and use the editor’s search function to look for phrases like, “http” and “www.” This will enable you to find every link in the theme. For each link you find, investigate the area around the link, and if it feels fishy, either remove the link, or ask someone about it.
You must make sure to test all files in the theme. In particular, any javascript files, and functions.php. Spammers will most likely place their links in these files, as they expect most users will not look at them.
4 – Are You In Complete Control?
You must be dependant on nothing other than the files you downloaded. Does the theme’s header link to a Javascript file on the author’s server? Or a certain stylesheet of theirs? I have seen authors doing this for all sorts of themes, supposedly to ensure that their copyrights are not removed, and that they can easily make updates.
Do not be bought over by these excuses. If the theme relies on files on another server, someone else is in control of your site. What will you do in 6 months time if the author uses his files to insert hidden links and code into your pages?
5 – Examine the Output
When you have the theme set up on your site, look at the page source (View > Page Source in your browser). There is no need to read through every line, but do scan for suspicious sections. If you missed something in your previous tests, this will be your last chance to catch malicious code out.
Make sure that the code you are testing is the code on your own site. Do not test the demo site the theme author put online. Even if he is putting malicious code into his themes, he will have removed it from his showcase examples.
Following these steps should ensure that you steer clear of dangerous themes. At least, dangerous in regards to the search engines. Server security is a different, and much more complicated, matter altogether. For now, the best I can do is point you to BlogSecurity’s tool.
So, do you know of any safe theme sites that you can recommend to other readers?
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About the Author
Michael Martin
Michael Martin is the founder of Pro Blog Design. He works as a freelance web designer, loves WordPress, and has an unhealthy addiction to smilies.
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Good advice all around. With the HUGE number of themes, one can never be too careful. I find it useful to check the sidebar and the footer code, which is where I have found most of the detritus.
These are very valid points. I’ll have to make sure that i check these the next time before downloading a theme. And, thanks for the BlogSecurity link btw.
I didn’t realize a wordpress theme can get you banned. When I started browsing free themes, I noticed the links (usually in the footer). Rather than giving them a link, I just decided to “bite the bullet” and take the time to learn how to make my own theme. I used the default theme as a guide for the loops needed.
Thanks for the tips. I’ll do some checking ;)
Orderer – Good points. The footer in particular is one of the usual suspects. :)
Hari – No problem. It’s a handy little tool.
Dave – Most of them won’t, but the risk that one of them might can be very worrying. :(
That’s how I learnt about the themes as well. In the long run it’s the most worthwhile method. :D
pablopabla – Cool. Fingers crossed that you find nothing! :D
A new WordPress Framework hit the block last week – “Genesis” – check out the StudioPress aemcunonnent.
hmmm I faced the problem with my pagerank when I was consistently changing my theme from one to another. I advice not to change your theme again and again in short period of time. stick to one .
Thanks for the tip Blog Opinion. That’s an interesting one; I guess Google took your constant changes as suspicious activity. Strange and unlucky. xD
What about credits linking back to the theme’s author? I’m a bit concerned that Google will ban users of my themes because I insist on a link back to my site.
Don’t worry about that Matthew, it won’t be a problem. :)
To get banned from Google, you have to do something really bad. It’s not something you could likely do by accident (e.g. You would have to link to hundreds of sites, or some really adult-rated/spam sites). The people who made the sort of themes I talked about knew they were doing it. They weren’t worried about their users at all.
The users of your themes will be fine. :)
btw – You have some very nice themes on offer at your site. My favorite is the latest one; very clear and bright. Looks great. :)
Users should check php code as well, particularly in the footer, found recently a suspicious site with hidden links via a server side php code. Unfortunately the site had a lots of good themes by known WP Theme developers, check this thread for more info.
Thanks for the tip Milo. And it’s a shame when such a respectable site like 5thirtyone is being ripped off. :(
After the cleaning of the official WP themeviewer now this mess, fortunately the site is down due to our work, but I doubt that this was the last call. Just be sure to download whether from the WP Themeviewer or the author#s site.
Agreed. There are always other fools who think they can make a quick buck by ruining other people’s work.
Thankfully though, there are always people trying to stop them as well. ;)
Michael,
great advice mate, I was looking for quality post about the impact of design on SERP’s.
Thanks,
Cheers
Lucio Dias Ribeiro
MarketingEasy
Glad you found it helpful Lucio!
be happy to help in any way that I can! One of the roaesns that I got involved with the WP Theme Review Team was to help more people learn how to develop WordPress Themes. I’m no expert on Frameworks, but feel free to ask away with any questions that you have!(By the way, once you have your Framework, and a good default Theme, you could very easily take any or all of your Stylee Themes and convert them into Child Themes. Almost every single one can be implemented with CSS changes only.)
I am glad i have found you site, such great information you are sharing
Thanks for the great advice, some of these i new already but viewing the source is agreat idea, i guess you never know what people are going to put in their themes. Thanks!
Chris,
It’s a shame that we have to do all of this, but there are always going to be scammers and cheats out there. :(
Thank you very much for sharing knowledgeable tips. Keep posting.
Nice tips mate thnx alot :)