Elegant Themes Review
82Elegant Themes is a WordPress theme club owned by Nick Roach. For $19.95, you get unlimited access to 19 premium WordPress themes, and every theme he brings out for the next year.
This post was sponsored by Nick, but I’m not using any affiliate links. It means there’s no benefit to me in selling the themes, so it’s as unbiased as I can get.
The Obvious – Great Looking Themes
The first things you look for in a premium theme are a great look, and great functionality.
Elegant Themes has both, so I won’t waste time talking about that. You can see live demos of all the themes from the gallery page and make up your own mind there.
The two I would suggest looking at most of all are ColdStone and Cion:
The Extras – Options and Copyright
When you delve deeper into the themes, you’ll find two things that may not have been so obvious at first.
The first is an extensive options page. Not all of the themes will use the same options pages, but for the newer ones in particular, you will be able to control a lot of the details about your theme without ever touching the theme files.
For instance, you can set every detail of your adverts and manage them from the options page. You can choose how to display your page navigation. You can select certain features to show or hide, like the tabbed menus. And you can set options like which category to use for featured posts.
The second thing is that you don’t have to retain the copyright notice in the footer, like some other themes force you to. From the Elegant Themes FAQ page:
12. Am I required to retain the linkback to elegantthemes when I use your themes?
No, I do not require that you retain the credit links, however, it is much appreciated!
The Developer’s Viewpoint – Code Library!
Often WordPress themes can be seen as tools for people who don’t know how to design their own website. That’s a fair viewpoint, and there’s no doubt that that group makes up the majority of premium theme purchases.
But on the other hand, if you have an idea for a new site and want to get it up and running quickly, why not use a decent theme to start things off and buy yourself time to make something unique?
Or better yet, why not use a premium theme as the basis for building your own theme, in a far shorter time period?
Elegant Themes is perfect for this because there is a huge amount of functionality across the club. If you want to learn how to do more with WordPress and take your own work to the next level, then subscribing to Elegant Themes gives you access to a massive code library.
See a feature you like? Go through the source code and learn how it was done! For just $19.95, you’re getting access to features like these:
- Featured post slider from ColdStone.
- Animated lifestream from LightSource.
- Rating system from eGamer.
- Image thumbnail overlays from Cion.
- WordPress 2.7 threaded comments from eVid.
Access to all these themes stands to teach you a whole lot, and given the low cost it really doesn’t matter if you never use any of themes in a live website. $20 isn’t much to pay for what you’ll learn.
In conclusion, I would say that Elegant Themes is well worth joining if you’re in the market for a new theme, or if you’d like to learn how they do what they do. The themes seem to keep getting better and better over time, and the price is by far the cheapest you’re going to get for that number of themes.
What do you think? Would you consider Elegant if you were buying a theme?
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I was excited about Elegant Themes when they first came out, and I have in fact purchased a subscription. ($20 a year is easy for anyone’s budget!) I have to agree that you can definitely use these themes from a developer’s point of view. Not only do they have great functionality, they pull it off with style and flair. The themes are pretty inspirational for a themer like me.
Nice review! I definitely recommend purchasing a subscription, because you can download every theme after paying only a one-time price!
Sweet review! $20 is not bad for a year. Might have to get it.
Great review. I like the look of the ColdStone theme especially. It’s got a unique layout, the styling looks good, the menus work well.
This is very tempting. The themes look amazing… might as well learn a thing or two about WordPress theme development ;) might have to buy :)
awesome review :D
Great WordPress themes site indeed. Themes are really very elegant and modern with great and simple effect. The best part indeed is a very small price for such a big number of themes you get and that you will get in next year. Got them bookmarked for future when i come to need of fast, cheap and excellent looking wp theme.
I subscribed to the site since Oct 08, because $20 for access to all the themes for a year is really peanuts. I mainly see this $20 spent on a learning resources, as their effects are beautiful!
Perfect and cant wait for new themes
I hope you don’t advertise EVERY good theme place on your site! You might start losing some business! But Nick has a great thing going for so cheap right now…
thanks for sharing…
One problem…their themes are not well coded somehow. I found once a obsolete tag being used which should have been replaced by a newer one. Secondly their themes are not well SEO optimised…not even a single heading on their themes use the h1 or such tags. All are styled using the span or div tags which hampers the SEO efforts. It takes a lot of time to tweak their themes..I am using their themes…though they look great on face value..but setting them can be a task for newbies.
Moreover..for people who make websites for their clients..can’t use ElegantWP..since they don’t allow this under their license…you should mention this too.
I signed up a couple months ago and have been very happy so far. For $20 as a multiple site owner I really couldn’t ask for more and the best part is he’s been very consistent in releasing new themes to try out! They are easy to customize and I always get a lot of compliments on my sites about the design.
You can see his Who’sWho theme in action on my site with a few small changes I’ve made :)
Dear All
I did download the theme earthlytouch and I did the put with my new theme of the my website but I dont know how to put the picture the on the Post, similar the demostration, you know?
Many Thanks.
Eduardo
Michael- thanks for making me aware of this site. I am certainly signing up and going to use some of these themes for Niche Store Journey as well as other personal sites.
Thanks for the great review and resource my friend!
-Tyler
I love the look of the designs, have a new site which is going to be put up shortly and the Basic site design is perfect for it. Cheers its $45 for a skin that’s not half as nice from some of the template sites.
Many thanks
Khaled
Nice themes actually. And not that expensive.
Thanks for the review man! I just love it. Its like buying a theme for 20 bucks. I think I’m considering buying it…
Raimi’s Latest Post: What Kind Of Experience Do I Need When I Want To Begin A Web Based Business?
Agreed, it’s a really good deal! Not just one theme for the $20, loads of them! :D
Great looking themes and I cant beat the price. However, I am really concerned about the SEO. I rely on google to pass me viewers and would hate to loose some or even my pagerank due to switching. Any more info on the SEo value of these?
.-= christian´s last blog ..20 Great Motivational Prints =-.
Personally, I like the themes as they are. Nick has such an eye for harmonious blending of colors. I have seen some sites that use his theme and did too many changes. The result looks terrible! In my opinion Nick is arguably the best theme designer in the world. A very selfless young man. Rare.
Sorry. The first post was meant to be on its own.
But I wanted to reply to christian that Nick’s themes have built in SEO options similar to that of All In One SEO. I don’t know about the coding problems a few are speaking of.
Great themes. All for $20 year. I think it’s a good deal. I’m going to have to try it out. You should add an affiliate link :)
Fantastic review, themes are really very important to a site its what gives them their own personality if I can word it like that.
I’m just about to sign up with Elegant Themes so I was grateful for this review.
I agree with your main points… great looking themes and only $20!
I’m also swayed by the thought that I can get some support. I could use a free theme and spend weeks trying to get it the way I want… and still not succeed. Even on my meagre salart, thats a lot of time and money wasted.
Can’t imagine the time this guy has put in to produce these themes – worth every penny, sorry.. cent.
GOOD DESIGN! BUT IM SO POOR TO PURCHASE ONE
Dear all,
– One of the best WordPress Themes on the Internet in terms of appearance, features and functionality…
– With 26 nos. of themes at only $19.97 per year…it is the cheapest theme package that you wouldn’t find elsewhere…
– Breakthrough to more niche topics that you could think off with it….
Grab one now… Cheers fellow Blogger….
Come on Suny… £20!
Get someone to buy it for you for Christmas.
Cut out the booze.
Cut out the hamburgers.
Cut out… you can fill the rest in.
Hope you get a nice surprise in your Christmas stocking!
Great Post and good buy…The thems you get are quit amazing…I use them all the time..they have there own personality….for you’re design….Priceless…Thanks
I really like the style of these themes.
Great review !
I have just stumbled upon this site, and so far have found it informative and interesting.
Thank you for the review, the themes are really great. Nice site look forward to coming back and learning more.
I have just come across this site, and have paged through finding it really great, with interesting and informative content.
The themes are just fantastic, not a bad price and its for an entire year so it actually works out to be quiet a bargain. Thank you for the review.
Well done on sharing this, I just love these themes and the price is really affordable. Great review, I am enjoying your site, and learning new things all the time thanks!!!
Really great looking themes. Nice design.
I’m all signed up with Elegant Themes and can say… it is the best $20 I ever spent.
Just got to find the time to activate and configure the eBusiness theme on my site.
I bought a premium theme so that I could get help with configuring and any problems in the future.
The help and advice I’ve received has been brilliant.
My advice… cough up the $20… you won’t regret it.
Love elegant themes, they are very functional and easy to make your own. For $20 you won’t find a better WP theme club.
I prefer to edit my own version of default themes, they may not look professional but I think the information available on the site is most important.
Often, I use one of my own photos to add to the header. Unique images are better than fancy curved corners IMO.
Good post though.
– Ned
nice design and a lot of features .. thanks for the review .
sold!
Nice wordpress theme for some good site.
Elegant themes is a really great premium site…I have been a member for a while and have loved all their themes. Recently they have been releasing much more themes and more often. Its exciting!
I definitely agree that the design was good. It is really eye catching and I’m sure any that would land on that page will fascinate too.
i love elegant themes, the creator has very good imagination and creativeness!
I paid for an Elegant Themes access and not regret it. Templates are really beautiful, functional and cheap. 13Floor is ideal for creating a business page.
This is a great review. On Those two themes you much like, I much like coldstone because it is much masculine look and I like its design. Great job.
Thanks for this post about Elegantthemes! I’m an advanced newbie blogger. I bought the Developers Package from StudioPress nearly a year ago, but want to try something different.
For about two days I’ve been on the fence about buying ElegantThemes (not sure why…. for just $20! Duhhhh) and after reading this review AND all of the comments, it seems that it’s a no-brainer.
So, now I shall go and “Pay” ElegantThemes a visit and start uploading the cool new themes to some of my bogs.
Thanks Again!
Gary Anderson II
aka- @GanderCo
P.S. If I can remember, I’ll come back here in a few weeks to give a report / review about my experience with the themes, and give my own advice from an “Advanced Newbie” perspective ;)
The amount of great undetected and unused themes out there is simply unbelievable. I think the best themes are usually the most underrated ones.
Is a really great tool but is not very well understood by most people and I think even us developers are only just beginning to get to grips with what we can do with it
So, now I shall go and “Pay” ElegantThemes a visit and start uploading the cool new themes to some of my bogs.
There are loads of great premium WordPress theme developers out there. I have never seen Elegant themes before, but based on the review I will definitely give them a look.
I’ve been wanting to try out uprinting’s services, the last time I ordered cards I used vistaprint and the cards were cut incorrectly
Ok, well I’ve not had a “LOT” of experience with ElegantThemes yet, however I DID buy them and I DID upload one to a new blog of mine just like I said I would.
I just wanted to stop by and give an updated report thus far. I’m using the “Polished” theme so far and think it is beautiful! But I do need to learn more about customizing the header with my own graphics etc.
Again, thanks for the review!
Gary Anderson
aka- @GanderCo (on Twitter)
i think we all know by now that elegant themes is one of the best WP templates out there, went through the site and my jaw just dropped at the designs!! so cool and a good price of $37 per annum! the only con i noticed was it can’t be used for clients :((. but yeah so getting this!!
They certainly do have some excellent themes, I’m not sure I’m the type of person who would buy a theme or theme club subscription but there are some great designs available for end users and just looking through the previews is an inspiration.
One of the comments above said that Elegant Themes does not have strong SEO functions. Can someone verify that? I like the themes (and the price) but as an internet marketer I need strong SEO.
Thanks!
The entire theme review is really nice sue to the fact that all the given information is reliable and consistent.
cold stone so beautiful Theme, an interesting mix of colors
your adverts and manage them from the options page. You can choose how to display
I simply love those themes!!!
Such interesting.. Thanks for the great information.. And also for the completely free web design . Well thanks, its a great help… It is my first time here in this site… That is why it calls my attention to visit it again for more source of new information.. Great article..
Nice collection of themes .I have seen your gallery and i like “e-gamer” and “wooden” a lot.The $39 are for whole collection (if i am not mistaken) what if somebody has to buy few amongst them?Will there be any change in price.
The theme is now $39 dollars. And I have already purchased mine. The great thing about this is that I am expecting them to produce better themes.
Thank you for sharing your opinion.
Jef Menguin
Philippines
Can yu please comment on these towo concerns that were posted by other members. I would like to purchase the product but would first like to know the answers to these concerns.
3 January 09
One problem…their themes are not well coded somehow. I found once a obsolete tag being used which should have been replaced by a newer one. Secondly their themes are not well SEO optimised…not even a single heading on their themes use the h1 or such tags. All are styled using the span or div tags which hampers the SEO efforts.
AND-
Nick, I LOVE all your themes and am a paying member. However, on most of your newest themes the fonts look terrible (pixelated) on my Windows 7 Laptop with IE 9. I assumed it must be font-related and looks good on whatever browser you are using–that still should be fixed for IE–but now I noticed even the screenshots have certain fonts that are pixelated like I’m seeing on your live themes. Can you look into this or comment on it?
I like elegant themes. But I’m newbe in blog design. Maybe , later I will take this themes. Thanks for share it.
I have the Coldstone theme and I’m having h1 heading problems none are showing up anyone know how to fix this
@Corey Yeah right “Not only do they have great functionality, they pull it off with style and flair. The themes are pretty inspirational for a themer like me.” They are indeed have great functionality
Yeah, the best part indeed is a very small price for such a big number of themes you get and that you will get in next year.
Fantastic blog post, I will probably bookmark it for future reading.Thanks again for taking the time to put this up.
The themes are pretty inspirational for a themer like me. They tenant Screening are indeed have great functionality.Thank you for sharing
I found once a obsolete tag being used tenant Screening which should have been replaced by a newer one. Secondly their themes are not well SEO optimized
I have checked out there demo themes and they seem to make good use of the H1 tag but I am concerned that the main body of the tenant Screening articles (your main SEO content) is not close to the top of the body tag.
I Love the design, thanks for sharing dude
Thanks for sharing the links in this blog. I’ll try to check them I need them specially the plug-ins. I really need it badly. Thanks again. Honestly, I think this is good value for money.
I did not like this website at all. The themes were hard to modify. Also, I cancelled service within 30 days and they did not refund my money as promissed. I have initiated a claim on paypal and they have not responded. I would not waste a penny or a second on this website.
This web site is actually genuinely intriguing. You carry right up a few great points concerning your own post. The idea will be my very first time that in this article inside this internet site therefore ideal job…
All themes are really cute and I will use some of them for sure. Thank you
I love the themes and am on the fence about purchasing. For me, the issue is still there about the SEO problems. Are these easily fixable?. Otherwise, it is still a fantastic deal for the quality.
Nice themes! I will use some :)
The themes are pretty inspirational for a themer lover like me. This is a nice post especially those who are starting to put up their own good themes. Thanks for posting this!
Good review of good service! Elegantthemes’s – great Premium WP themes for bloggers. Think about use them :)
I think Elegant themes from Nick make it really easy for newbie even really easy to customize their themes. We don’t need to touch a single line of PHP or css code to give our blog a look of our choice
At first Elegant themes seemed awesome. Really good looking stuff. Once you start building a site though, you run into all kinds of customization issues. Stuff that should work doesn’t. And when you go on the support forum, the mods tell you to change this code or that code because it needs tweaking. Aren’t these themes supposed to be out of the box??? I”m moving over to Themeforest shortly because I’m getting to frustrated with the mods there and the problems with the code.
These themes are lovely and something I will definitely consider using them, they are well done and look like something special. Some themes can look generic and simple with no thought really put into them but these are really nice.
Interesting read , I’m going to spend more time learning about this subject
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles. Ill bookmark your blog and check again here frequently. Im quite certain I will learn plenty of new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!