2016 & Ongoing - Why are there so many Terrible themes?!

One issue that keeps popping up with a lot of themes is the use of PHP include() and require(). This bypasses both OCMod and VQMod which is causing a lot of headaches.

Hopefully there is some sort of marketplace vetting put in place for OpenCart v3.0 to ensure themes conform to OC standards.


Joel.

I thought I'd add to this because more developers seem to be going the route of the Journal theme which is a disaster for anyone with an existing shop.
Why do developers feel the need to create their own set of bestseller, featured, product pages, etc that are all new to Opencart?
Having asked a developer if they over write Opencart files, they said no which was true but they have their own custom duplicate pages for everythng which is annoying (new product page, new menu pages, new modules that duplicate the core, etc).
This is another one I suggest staying away from:
https://themeforest.net/item/destino-ad ... e/19875085

I agree, if your goal is to create a theme for general use, you shouldn't touch any tpl and just css it as much as you can to keep compatibility with extensions.

Hopefully there is some sort of marketplace vetting put in place for OpenCart v3.0 to ensure themes conform to OC standards.

This may be right, but it could backfire badly for Many as well, by so moving away from
the former OC OpenSource Stragegy, and probably leaving many Freetime-Dev's out
in the rain, as a logical consequence of it.

In addition, it would require additional Manpower, and so raising cost, in an environment,
already full of Construction-Areas, waiting to be 'handled' by Pro's, in order to meet the
requirements, as expected from a professional looking and working site..

It will be interesting to see, how this all turns out, and how OC, Extensions, and Themes, will be
offered in the future. To me, it was an obvious Fact, that the Concept, as it existed before,
already found it's Limits. Too much has been done 'outside' of OC already, to keep the 'System'
alive and well, still over an extended period of time. OC needs to get back in Control again,
it just makes no sense, to let others enjoy good sales, without getting anything out of it, exept
for frequently beeing under critic, because of mostly unknown extension-related problems.
And this, combined with more and more Code-resistent Users, likely expecting OC to be
installed and handled like a Smartphone APP.
Ernie

Johnathan wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:18 am

Thanks for this -- I just told someone the other day that I had no recommendations for good OpenCart themes, because I haven't ever encountered one I thought was well-coded to conform to OpenCart template standards.

We get this problem again and again - we have a potential client ask us if we can build them a shop based on Journal - we suggest that they don't use Journal ... the obvious next question: "What themes do you recommend then?" At which point we get stuck and have to agree that it is VERY hard to find well-coded OpenCart themes - even ones with good ratings and comments on Theme Forest can turn out to be shocking as we have found!

JNeuhoff wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 21, 2016 7:47 pm

I have yet to see an Opencart-compliant web theme. What I don't understand is why theme makers can't make proper use of CSS only, along with supporting images. An ideal web theme should not have to use its own re-structured template files which are bound to break other 3rd-party extensions using VQMod/OCmod/Override Engine.

The wait is finally over!

We are developing a range of CSS ONLY OpenCart themes starting with "iStore" which is now live in the marketplace!
https://www.opencart.com/index.php?rout ... n_id=36706

Feedback appreciated!

If @Qphoria, @JNeuhoff and @Johnathan agree it's well-coded and only modifies CSS (which it does) then perhaps they could add it to the list of safe themes at the top of the page? If any CSS issues are found we will fix of course!

@paulfeakins: Thanks for publishing your themes, looks good. I have updated my first post on this thread.

Thanks for making this --- I'll keep it in mind when users ask for theme recommendations in the future. It's been sorely needed!

Hello @paulfeakins ...

I really like the appearance of this theme. Very clean. I will have it signed as a next purchase for next projects. Good luck with sales..

It is true that it is difficult to find well-made templates, or extensions, without errors in the marketplace. I've been for the last few months, providing help to the community, in the spanish forums. And it is quite frequent to find people with problems that should not exist, because they have paid extensions that give errors to developers who do not respond or support them, but happily receive money. Something should be done with the XXXXXX extensions or themes that are in the marketplace, and that do not work properly. I really would like to see a section like you said "safe themes" or "safe extensions" .... I even would be happy to paid OpenCart, for validate the quality of the extension I sold.. have a badge of "safe extension" and clean the marketplace.

I even would be happy to pay OpenCart, for validate the quality of the extensions ...

Well, you probably would, but Fact is, that most others would wait, to then get those Extensions,
either for free, or then for only a fraction of the official price, from some widely known darknet Sites.

And one of the only ways, to keep OC Users from doing such, would be, to make it like IsenseLabs is
doing it, by adding a personal Code, and so keeping distribution more or less under control. Their
Extensions are also available anywhere, but in order to make them work, one needs a specific Code.

But OC cannot hire People, just to test everything first. It would be a giant task, to make sure, that
everything matches every Theme and Setup, regardless of other Extensions used, and regardless of,
what someone possibly changed somewhere in existing default Source before.

Not to forget, that the frequently changing Versions also partly require changed Code in Extensions.
Not to mention built-in Subversion Misses, also possibly preventing some Mods to work in the first place,
if used in a slightly earlier or later subversion as well.

It therefore not as easy as it might sound. And OC is Open Source, meaning, that everybody is free, to
add or change, whatever one likes. To regulate such, in whatever way, would fundamentally change
the OC Concept, one needs to be aware of that.

Just a few thoughts...
Ernie

A while ago I saw the beginning of this post for the first time. As it was from two years ago and also because I was used to making new themes with only small changings I didn't worry too much until today after I unzipped a theme I bought on Opencart. It cost only $20 but I didn't buy it because of the price but just because I liked it best of all the themes here for version 3.0.3.2. You don't find any themes for 3.03.2 anywhere else yet. But when it was unzipped I saw there was only a "default" theme in the map catalog > themes. I suppose I have to overwrite them in my installation and would ask the support of the theme if this is the normal way of building themes these days but why would he tell he's doing something wrong? So I ask it here but now that I arrived at the end of the discussion I see nothing has changed since 2016 when it began. I suppose a lot of the themes they sell on Opencart are made that way. Why doesn't the administration do anything against it if this is so terrible?

Hello! Its always raised a question before designing any site that which theme we supposed to buy for our site. Themes play a vital role in designing website. We supposed to buy that theme which must be compatible with our every requirement that we supposed to do on site. I totally agree on this point, now days, selecting theme become a dificult task as there are lots of theme available in market and sometimes most of the themes dont complete our requirment. Therefore, we must check demo version before buying a theme for website.
Beside this, I would like to recommend to buy theme from reputed and worthful sites.

Greetings everyone!!!

First, I am wondering if there has been any improvement in themes since this thread began? Second, I am completely new to OC and I have actually been out of the web design business for a few years now (goodness how things have changed!) So I am wondering if y'all would be willing to recommend or have some ideas on the best places outside of these forums for assistance as I work my way back into the world of eCommerce web design and starting off brand new with OC (3.0.3.2)

Many thanks in advance and I wish y'all a spectacular day!!

It might be an idea for OpenCart to enforce standards on themes. As for core files they should either be banned from change by theme developers or if thats not workable then all changed files must be identified upfront before any download is made.

I wonder if OpenCart could run a scan of extension/theme archives to look for core files present in the package and if they are found give an extra tab on the download page headed "Core Files" with a list of core files that are present.

Qphoria wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 21, 2016 6:16 am

Johnathan wrote:Thanks for this -- I just told someone the other day that I had no recommendations for good OpenCart themes, because I haven't ever encountered one I thought was well-coded to conform to OpenCart template standards.

Yea at this point I just pick the lesser of the other evils, but some are so evil they must have been created by the devil himself.

Qphoria@ If you are so much against overwriting files why do you admit that they sell this kind of themes on Opencart's marketplace?

Furthermore to prevent silly games form buyers, they should be allow to feedback their experience with the particular product they purchased, only once, not every time they login. If they need further support or clarifications they can use the other channels available to them... But I can't stress enough how important it is not to delete any of the feedback that customers leave in the store.reverse image search email checker port checker

paulfeakins wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 27, 2019 12:05 am

The wait is finally over!

We are developing a range of CSS ONLY OpenCart themes starting with "iStore" which is now live in the marketplace!
https://www.opencart.com/index.php?rout ... n_id=36706

Feedback appreciated!

If @Qphoria, @JNeuhoff and @Johnathan agree it's well-coded and only modifies CSS (which it does) then perhaps they could add it to the list of safe themes at the top of the page? If any CSS issues are found we will fix of course!

You asked for a feedback, and I think you have a nice theme, but is there any chance to access the backend to actually see what options are available?
Cheers

Burt65 wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 23, 2019 10:45 am

You asked for a feedback, and I think you have a nice theme, but is there any chance to access the backend to actually see what options are available?

It's CSS-only, so no options are available in the admin other than those built-in to OpenCart.

But because it is simple and well-coded it would be quick and easy for any front-end CSS developer to customize it.