[gmkahuna]

A few hours??? That's where your problem is. A GOOD theme takes much, much, more than a few hours! (Maybe the ones you made took only a few hours!) A good Torch theme (and there are only a few of them) takes many hours of coding and testing and recoding and more testing, etc. I worked with BBT on his Metro and Slate theme for the Torch and can assure you that these themes would not be so good if they only took a few hours. In fact, Metro took over a week to get it glitch-free, especially using the current ThemeBuilder. So $3.99 does not seem like a lot to me considering that Mobihand takes a good portion of the proceeds!
And it is obvious that people don't mind paying for good themes, as BBT and ECruz' themes are some of the best sellers.

But I do agree with one thing you said: There are some developers charging way too much for poorly made themes!

Um actually no, he's not that far off. I have built themes that smoke the majority of the paid themes (not my words just reposting what has been said) and have not much more than about four or five hours in each of them total. I have yet to put one out that is not functional or crisp when it's loaded. If the developer says it takes him 20 to 30 hours to come up with a theme and is not making his own icons or hand coding it, he's slower than Christmas. The thing is...very few around here hand code. Unless they are trying something totally unique, that is a waste of time.

Oh and before anyone thinks I'm attacking paid theme makers, I'm not. I do it for the very reason I know what I like and if it turns out like I want it to, I'll share it with everyone. I just choose to make them look as professional as I can. It's about pride in workmanship, not money.

[tsells]

Um actually no, he's not that far off. I have built themes that smoke the majority of the paid themes (not my words just reposting what has been said) and have not much more than about four or five hours in each of them total. I have yet to put one out that is not functional or crisp when it's loaded. If the developer says it takes him 20 to 30 hours to come up with a theme and is not making his own icons or hand coding it, he's slower than Christmas. The thing is...very few around here hand code. Unless they are trying something totally unique, that is a waste of time.

Oh and before anyone thinks I'm attacking paid theme makers, I'm not. I do it for the very reason I know what I like and if it turns out like I want it to, I'll share it with everyone. I just choose to make them look as professional as I can. It's about pride in workmanship, not money.

Just curious (since this is a Torch thread), where are your Torch themes that were made in a few hours that "smoke the paid themes"?
(I am sure you are aware that Torch themes are made with a beta ThemeBuilder that's extremely buggy.)
But I would love to try one of your "smokin' themes! If they're that good I'd be more than happy to buy one.

[gmkahuna]

I'm sure if you read back, regardless of where this thread was posted, it was not only for torch themes. It specifically said paid versus free sport. As for my themes, no I haven't created a Torch theme, but then you knew that didn't you? Just like you seem to know everything else oh wise one.

As for my themes, you're no rookie here. Try a search.

[sloboban]

There used to be so many free themes on crackberry. now everyone wants to charge (and not even like .99)! CB needs to create a separate thread for premium and free. I don't want to even look at the premium themes.

COME ON CRACKBERRY NATION!

I agree with you. It would be great to have paid and free themes in separate threads. Unfortunately I do not see it happening because, judging by the self-interested behavior of displayed in most replies to your post, the "Crackberry Nation" has been taken over by people who are more interested in making a buck than helping others.

[tsells]

I'm sure if you read back, regardless of where this thread was posted, it was not only for torch themes. It specifically said paid versus free sport. As for my themes, no I haven't created a Torch theme, but then you knew that didn't you? Just like you seem to know everything else oh wise one.

As for my themes, you're no rookie here. Try a search.

It's a Torch thread my friend!
I was pointing out that a quality Torch theme cannot be made in a few hours as you stated, as hand coding is necessary and the beta Themebuilder requires an extreme amount of work to get the bugs out.
And I apologize if I came off as "knowing everything". I have lots to learn and I have never made my own theme. I was just trying to point out to the OP that TORCH themes require lots of hours of work (not 4 or 5 hours as you stated), and therefore paying $4 is appropriate for one's time!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[quillhill]

You know, this is a perfectly reasonable line of thinking. There are plenty of people who will never buy a theme for whom having the forum split into free and paid makes perfect sense. And, it's a vBulletin forum, so it wouldn't be hard to do it and move free threads to one place and premium to another. Other forums separate paid from free themes without issue.
For some people it would be convenient.
I prefer them all together because I peruse all the new themes to see if they interest me so it wouldn't be convenient for me and it seems some users don't mind that everything is in one subforum.
I don't know if it's something the admins/mods in the forum would be willing to do but that doesn't mean it isn't a valid or unreasonable request. It doesn't hurt to ask though it's really kind of a personal preference so I suspect it's more likely to stay the way it is since it seems to work generally speaking.

[homer1475]

Yes, because I want something done more efficiently I must be lazy. Tell that to GM (or any efficient business for that matter)

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Efficient by who's standards? Splitting the forum again into another sub forum doesn't seem very efficient to me.

Sub forum of a sub forum of a sub forum(that's 3 clicks to get to just this theme section, now you want to add 2 more?)... hmm seems like a lot more clicking to get where I want to go instead of just reading the thread titles. Not very efficient in my eyes. Although I'm in no way not saying it isn't a good idea now that I think about it. Besides if it was your way most people would never look at the pay themes, thus the same themers wouldn't make free themes because they wouldn't be making any money on their premium themes.

[KahneFan]

For anyone wanting to peruse the "free" themes only, feel free to use the link below...

http://forums.crackberry.com/search....rchid=29268986

I used the advanced search function for this section of the forum to search thread titles for "free" and then I copied the link. I tested it in a browser which I was not logged in to CB with and it still worked, so it should work for everyone (?).

You can do the same with "premium" as long as all premium authors put "premium" in their title. However, if you're looking for a premium theme you're probably like me and don't mind sifting through the free themes. I think the link above will serve its purpose for those who don't want to pay.

[BBThemes]

what i always use is the crackberry appstore app for your phone, that has sections for apps, themes, games and accessories, apps, games and themes have a `top free` and `top paid` section, so you can see free themes (and apps and games) very easily there, you can also view the categories and search price low to high which starts with free themes.

just browse to m.crackberry.com on your device and follow the store links to download. it really is a great app .

as for splitting the forum i cant see it happening, as someone has said previously crackberry is run off the sales of goods as it pays for their infrastructure and costs as they take a percentage of anything sold on the site, so by purchasing a theme (even for $1) your helping support crackberry.

[dfairlite]

^^the more I think about it the more I think this is incorrect. Most of the links for premium apps in the threads link to other sites (like the owners site with all their themes) from where the theme can then be purchased. I think for CB to get a cut it has to go through their (CB's) site.

The mobile CB app doesn't browse the threads (unless its changed since I last used) it browses the app store in which many free themes aren't listed.

@homer
I think it would only add 1 click 9800 themes>free or premium. And you would get more of whichever on you picked on the first page, so by navigating to a second page you are then up a click. I think.
I really like the idea of just making the thread creator select free or paid so its easy to search whether labeled in the title or not

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[BBThemes]

^^the more I think about it the more I think this is incorrect. Most of the links for premium apps in the threads link to other sites (like the owners site with all their themes) from where the theme can then be purchased. I think for CB to get a cut it has to go through their (CB's) site.

sadly your right, however the rules of posting themes state that paid themes must be given a link to the crackberry store. free of course can be any link as long as its an actual download link not to another site to link from there.

i agree that sadly not everyone sticks to the rules, but i`ll also say iv never purchased from any of the others that link to other sites, mainly due to the support in place for the crackberry/mobihand stores and the fact that it does support this site

[SlcCorrado]

Paypal's so easy... I know this doesn't help, but there are some cheap ***** on these forums haha

[AxKxB]

I did leave out in my previous post that the free themes that you post and also the free ones from DMac are excellent ones.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

thats a great compliment. thank you

[Blacklatino]

No, I still think it would be better to have separate forums or a way to show free first. You can't trust the reviews on themes. What 'works' for one CB addict doesn't for another.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

As far as the prices of themes. I use free and paid themes and never had a problem telling the difference the way the theme forum is right now. You should review the current policy that went into effect for also addressed labeling which ones are free or premium: ThemePostingGuidelines Updated 07/01/09 I see no problem the way the guidelines are written and addresses your "which one is free or premium" concern. Also, it should not matter which one is first- whether free or premium.

[Blacklatino]

thats a great compliment. thank you

tellsells is right. You and DMac design excellent themes.

[IchigoMochi]

This has been an interesting thread. Why not make a poll in each device subforum about how they feel about having separate sections for free and premium themes? People are a lot more likely to answer polls than they are to read everything and comment.

[curve1967]

As far as the prices of themes. I use free and paid themes and never had a problem telling the difference the way the theme forum is right now. You should review the current policy that went into effect for also addressed labeling which ones are free or premium: ThemePostingGuidelines Updated 07/01/09 I see no problem the way the guidelines are written and addresses your "which one is free or premium" concern. Also, it should not matter which one is first- whether free or premium.

I checked the first page at around 1230 and found the following

22 Themes listed (12 Free, 10 Paid)

6 Free Themes follow the posting guidelines
6 Free Themes take you to other sites when you click 'OTA Download'

4 Paid Themes take you to the CrackBerry Store
6 Paid Themes take you to other sites

2 of the Paid Themes were not marked as FREE or PREMIUM
1 of the FREE Themes was actually a PREMIUM Theme

So not even 50% of the posts follow the posting rules.

[Blacklatino]

I checked the first page at around 1230 and found the following

22 Themes listed (12 Free, 10 Paid)

6 Free Themes follow the posting guidelines
6 Free Themes take you to other sites when you click 'OTA Download'

4 Paid Themes take you to the CrackBerry Store
6 Paid Themes take you to other sites

2 of the Paid Themes were not marked as FREE or PREMIUM
1 of the FREE Themes wast actually a PREMIUM Theme

So not even 50% of the posts follow the posting rules.

Not surprised at all. It's a big site. Just one of several policies that are not being adhered to by posters. But, if someone is having an issue and never report it(just hit the box in the post) so that it can be addressed, then, this is what happens. Perfect? No. Does Crackberry have theme MODs? I have no idea. But, I have no problem searching. As far as the policing of the policy, PM a MOD or hit the box.

[kella223]

Dfairlite, I totally agree with you. He isn't asking for only free themes, just a section for free themes. I, myself, love akashs's themes, and I thank him for giving out to others who cannot create things like he can. This totally went out of hand. I am in college and I don't have little dollars to throw around for things I do not need. I believe it would be easier for a category for free themes instead of fishing around and clicking around for free themes. I do want to compliment all individuals who create themes; It does take hard work and time. But not everybody wants to pay for them. Chill outt and stop flipping dfairlite's request around.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[kolonji]

*sigh* This comes up every few months .. its not gonna happen .. finito

[AxKxB]

tellsells is right. You and DMac design excellent themes.

Always love hearing from you my friend Thank you yet again.

[dfairlite]

Thank you all for your input. I don't think it'll happen either, but maybe one day a mod will read this and make it happen. Anyway, thank you to all those that make and share themes (premium or free) and peace folks!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[sadosdesigns]

ok being an ex theme maker i understand both sides.. the theme maker and the theme user.. some themes id say they r worth paying for cause alot of work has gone in to them plus the SVG design to make is no joke.. i still cant do it.. but its true that 5 and 7 bucks is tooooo much.. id say a good price range for a great theme would be 3 bucks.. and for good ones around 1-2 bucks... for simple themes free is a good price... welll my themes used to be 99% free

also true that crackberry should make two sections for premium and free themes.