As I mentioned yesterday, I’m finishing up my first premium WordPress theme. Part of the reason it wasn’t actually released yesterday, despite being all but finished, is that I was planning on sending it to ThemeForest for sale rather than selling it directly from here. ThemeForest has to approve each upload, and so I had to wait to hear back from them before the theme would be available for purchase. And, as it turns out, that was a good thing.

They actually rejected the theme for a few reasons. One, they said I wasn’t allowed to include font files (which I did so that users could customize their blog header image using the same font I did if they wanted); two, they said I wasn’t allowed to include plugins with the theme (which I did for the drop-down page menus and pagination at the bottom of each page); three, they said the graphics on the theme weren’t quite up to par. Now, the first two are very minor things; just a couple tweaks, all fixed. The third reason is what really gave me pause. Let me explain why.

I’d posted screenshots of the theme mock-up a few different places, and I’d received very good feedback about it. In fact, everyone that commented on it said it looked good and that they liked it a lot. I guess I let this positive feedback lull me into complacency, which is an easy trap to fall into. Also, most of my time spent developing this theme was spent focusing on the code. Functionality was my primary concern. I wanted to make sure I included a lot of different options and customizability to the theme so that I felt like people would be getting their money’s worth with it. I see now that I became too focused on functionality at the expense of focusing on form as well, which is something you can’t afford to do when developing premium themes for sale.

So what all of this boils down to is that the release of my first premium theme is going to be delayed somewhat.

I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to just start over from scratch, or if I’m going to try to tweak what I’ve already got to try to get it up to snuff.

I’m very disappointed that my first premium theme fizzled, but at the same time I’m trying to remind myself that, well, it was my first. Being a bit of a perfectionist, and expecting a lot from myself as a general rule, it’s hard to accept the fact that I didn’t get it right the first time. I don’t see this as a failure so much as a learning experience, but rejection is a bitter pill to swallow all the same.

Of course, this won’t stop me from trying again. I fully intend to do so, because I firmly believe that with practice I will get it right. And it’s something I enjoy doing. This experience has definitely provided some food for thought, and I’m hoping that my next attempt will have better results.

I’ll keep you guys posted on the Priest theme. Like I said, I’m not sure if I’m going to tweak what I’ve got or scrap it and start over, but I do intend to release a Priest theme. Also, here’s an unfinished mock-up of the next theme I’ll be working on as well:

Of course, I plan on including a version of the header for Horde as well. The mock-up’s not finished yet, but this is what I’ve got so far. Suggestions and feedback are definitely welcome.

Related posts:

1. New Out-of-the-Box Themes in Progress I wanted to share some potential premium theme mock-ups I’ve...
2. New Theme: The Magister’s Arcanum So I didn’t end up developing any of the mock-ups...
3. New Priest Premium WP Theme I’ve spent the last couple weeks working on my first...
4. I haven’t forgotten No, I haven’t forgotten about the Scrapbooking Azeroth project, and...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.