Ok, so I do a lot of different stuff with WordPress. I have at least 50 personal websites right now, all running on WordPress. I’ve skinned WordPress blogs for static HTML and Joomla sites, I’ve created client sites using WordPress. I’m really not the type of person to even bother with premium themes. I have a few here and there from websites I’ve bought off of Digital Point, but I’ve never actually gone to the trouble of buying a premium WordPress theme. Nevertheless, I was always a little curious about the WP Remix theme. For one thing, I was already a fan of R.Bhavesh’s work. His WP Premium theme, which is free, is a very high quality theme and I have used it quite a few times in the past. He has also done a great job of setting up www.wpremix.com.I had a project I was working on and decided to pull the trigger and purchase WP Remix to take the project to the next level. I was almost considering buying the full developer license. Thank god I didn’t. Anyway, I’m going to start with a few reasons why I bought WP Remix, and what I like about it, then go into my beef.
First of all, the thing that really stuck out to me above and beyond was the fact that he has created a matching skin for BBPress. I was really excited for the possibility of integrating my blog with a BBpress forum and keeping the design 100% consistent. He has also hinted at future e-commerce compatibility, which is interesting to say the least. The only thing I can think of that i actually liked after trying the theme for myself was the fact that you could pull up a template in the WordPress editor. Definitely a really cool feature, although I don’t know how much it matters, and I don’t even know if it’s an advantage for everyone using the theme.
That’s it for the good. Now on to what I absolutely hated about the theme.
WP Remix doesn’t integrate easily with an existing blog, fully populated with content and using a regular WordPress theme. In my opinion at least. My blog was composed of almost 100 posts, probably 75% videos, and a handfull of random pages. What I originally wanted to do was change my blog into a regular looking website with a variety of differnet pages besides the blog. I found this very difficult to do. For one thing, the template system is actually a little confusing, and it seemed to me that it didn’t work 100% properly. To make a long story short, I did not even get close to what my original intention was. I think, if I had set everything up like this for a brand new site, before actually adding content, it would be a lot easier, but I found that it was taking so much time to try and get everything formatted properly, I was losing money by having my site offline.
So I decided to totally scrap that idea. As part of the deal Bhavesh also includes several different “Magazine” style blog themes with the WP Remix package, so I thought I would give that a try instead. Again, not only did it seem overcomplicated, I really don’t feel that there is anything particularly special about the look and feel of the magazine style remix themes he includes. These days themes like that are a dime a dozen, and the main problem with Magazine themes in general is they are a pain in the ass to set up, many of them take longer to post to, and they still don’t look that much better than regular free WordPress themes.
The last thing that really bothers me about the theme is that he puts a WP Remix favicon in there. I’m really not a fan of putting a branded favicon into a theme package. I do a ton of work with Joomla and it’s one thing I just can’t stand about it. Now I can remove a favicon in 10 seconds, but not everyone knows how to do it, and I think it’s just a little bit shameless – especially for a theme that someone has to pay $75.00 for.
Ok so that’s mainly what I hated about it (keep in mind that all this took place about 3 months ago, which is why it is difficult to get into too much detail). In a nutshell, I spend a good percentage of my week working with WordPress and I found it to be difficult to use. Not impossible, but if you’re not WordPress savvy, or you have plans to migrate an existing blog which is already well established into the WP Remix platform, it may not be a breeze. I also think it lacks creativity overall as far as the design goes. At first I was intrigued by the “WordPress as a CMS” line they tout over there. Especially considering I am in the business of selling people websites. Unfortunately, the reality is, if you’re in the web development business, or planning on starting a web development company, and the premise of your business is to use WP Remix as a platform for all of your client sites, I don’t think you’ve really thought the idea through very well. In my opinion it would be a lot harder to develop all your sites using WP Remix and try to make them all look 100% unique than it would be to simply learn how to code PSD to WordPress.
The Interesting Side Note
I’ve always had the idea to start WP Contempo – a site where I can share my WordPress themes and give away WordPress pointers. I create themes for myself, to use on my own blogs, and ultimately I have no reason not to share them with others. I run into problems and need to research solutions to things all the time – no reason not to post my solutions for others who have the same problem. Before I even started this blog, I sent an email to R.Bhavesh. I already knew full well that WP Remix was not refundable before I bought it. I told Bhavesh that I had purchased the theme, given it a try, and found that it was not something I would be able to use. I asked him if he would allow me to give away my license in a contest on my blog. It took quite a while to get a response back, but of course the answer is no. So instead of giving away a free WP Remix license which would have given both he and I free promotion, and been a win win situation, I’m writing this review, and I have a copy of WP Remix sitting in a folder collecting dust on my computer.
I don’t think WP Remix is necessarily awful, and it has a lot of features, updates and support for only $75.00. On the other hand, I think Elegant themes has some of the nicest premium themes out there and Woo Themes also has great stuff if you can afford it. If you must use a premium theme, that’s probably what I would recommend checking out.
Really, I don’t endorse any kind of premium WordPress themes other than the free ones. That’s why you don’t see any 125×125 banners for Woo Themes in my sidebar like every other WordPress site has. I only endorse products I actually use myself. If you want something really cool and original, make it yourself. If you don’t know how to make a WordPress theme, make up for it by spending a lot of time to find the right free theme for you. Your site is actually going to be a lot less original if you use a premium theme because there are a ton of people using the same thing. There’s probably 10′s of thousands of Free wordpress themes sitting out there right now that nobody at all is using.
Popularity: 29% [?]
Tags: WP Remix, WP Remix Review
I also have tried developing with the REMIX theme, and have hated it! It’s so clunky and the CSS overlaps all over the place, so simply changing a text color or size sometimes involves up to 3 different CSS files with conflicting styles. I wrote a quick review on my blog too: http://www.varloodesign.com/logo/wp-remix-review/
I am sorry, but I have to agree 100%. I could get it to work, but it was way too much of an effort to make it worth it. I just consider the $75 lost in the research budget.
Hey thanks for the review, too bad I bought it before I read this review.
And yes as you mentioned it is hard to set this up, I simply gave up and
went back to free themes… Would you let me use this review on my site?!
Don’t worry I will provide track backs and credits… Whatever you decide
please let me know.
Yeah, no problem go ahead and use the review on your site. It definitely can’t hurt to spread the word. Although, to be fair, I’ve heard that they have completely switched management since I originally tested the product and I have no idea what the latest version is like.
I was excited by the wpremix design and purchased it.
It’s then i realized the biggest mistake i made in buying this theme.
It took me nearly TWO months for me set up the theme with so many failures to launch it.
Even the wpremix support was not able to clear the problems, even after giving my site & ftp login details.
Finally i asked for a refund and for which i never got a reply at all.
Somehow i managed to make it work after two months with great difficulties.
It’s definitely a theme with a lot of potential, but it is really one of the least user friendly themes I’ve ever worked with. Studiopress themes are far superior in my opinion, and I have never used the Thesis theme, but I would wager to guess that it blows Remix away.
Just wanted to say thank you for the review – I am a real noob-lamer with this coding stuff ( i currently use homestead – dont, I KNOW!) but hey, it has served me well. I need to move on now – I was just about sold on WP Remix…..but I think I may have managed to avoid a bad mistake!
So thanks again !
Hey Tony,
Glad I could be of service. I definitely wouldn’t recommend Remix if you’re not really familiar with coding, and WP Templates. You may want to play around with some free themes. Otherwise, I personally use StudioPress themes, and I do give them a positive recommendation, and I have not used ElegantThemes.com themes, but they are very affordable and their themes are high quality.
Sam
thanks again – I’ve followed up on all comments made hear and “thesis” looks cool – not the cheapest. I’m not sure if its the best place for a novice to start though?:|
Any advice on tutorials [idiots guide to...], or maybe you’d like some extra work?
Yes, thesis is a popular theme designed by one of the top web developers (in my opinion). I have many colleagues using this theme on a wide variety of sites, so I can definitely give it a good recommendation as well.
I’m always available for customization work.
Hi …..thanks for the review
quite interested about developing websites for people …….so in your opinion do you think i should migrate and stick to Joomla,
i have tried elegant themes …nice designs but difficult to customise in my opinion……so is joomla it……am not that good at css or php …..iam just a very good graphics designer trying to develope good looking websites fast for people ….so i need some very good advice
@Dipo
If you aren’t very technical, then avoid using Joomla. It is far more complicated than WordPress both for development, and as far as administration goes. The best advice I have for you is to keep practicing WordPress. The best way to learn is to take a PSD of a web design and code it into HTML, then code it into WordPress. This is exactly how I taught myself several years ago, and I continue to learn more and more as I go. Once you have a complete project under your belt, you will probably be much more confident using WordPress. In my opinion, there is no other content management system that even comes close to the capabilities and ease of use that WordPress offers, and it’s only getting better!
Hey mate, thanks for the heads up! I was almost SOLD to their sales pitch, but i guess, it was a wise decision to do another search for reviews before i clicked the ‘Buy’ link on their website. Furthermore, a no refund policy clearly indicates their dubious intentions. I think, Thesis makes better sense than this remix crap,although its certainly not what you’d call ‘cheap’.
That being said, you mentioned learning to code PSD to wordpress makes more sense than learning how to use wpremix. I’m a designer by profession (not much into codes though) and I’d really be grateful if you could tell me how i could get started with coding my psd designs to workable wordpress themes.
Any help on this matter will be highly appreciated.
Thanks again!
Hey Sunny,
Great question. If you already know how to code PSD to HTML, then learning how to code wordpress themes shouldn’t be too difficult for you. I personally taught myself how to do it about 3 years ago when I decided to add a blog to my website, and I wanted to match up the look and feel. All I did was spend some time searching the Internet and worked on my site until I got the end result I was looking for. Once you do the first one, it gets a lot easier. And the more you do, the better you will get, just like anything else. When I learned how to code WP it was 3 years ago, so I’m sure since then there have been a ton more free resources added out there. I’m would wager to guess that a quick Google search will probably find you a good tutorial, and of course if you have any questions along the way don’t hesitate to ask.
I actually got my website to look pretty great using WP Remix, but here is the big kicker. My site takes 130 seconds for a 56k modem to load it.
That’s insanely slow. The template loads every last image available in the template options. Most of those images aren’t even being used.
Next best option for a theme that gives as much pre-built functionality? Ability to do the CMS job?
Thanks!
Jim
I would look at the studiopress themes for starters, but any theme can be a CMS – it’s all a matter of how you use it.
You are right. I purchase this product. Product is good, but it has such bad customer service. When you post a question in the support forum, most of the time you will get mocked by the moderator called Randy. For those who are thinking of getting this product, you better think twice.
Couldn’t agree more. I stumped up for the developers license to use on a client’s site – she wanted to be able to have different sidebars on each page and WP Remix seemed to offer that.
Well the sidebars are indeed different, but I have had to learn CSS (a stock response in the so-called ‘help’ forum) to achieve that.
My client has virtually no chance of editing things herself – ‘Insert a page layout by a single click. Edit them in visual editor and publish’ – is a bare-faced lie on their sales page.
Randy is downright rude in the forum and if you have a WP Remix problem which they can’t fix (after trying to blame everything from your hosting, version of php, plug-ins, {insert lame excuse here}) – he will delete the post without explanation.
WP Remix is nothing short of a scam.
Hi Raghava,
A question about your post here. Can you client update his/her website after you design it with WP Remix? Assuming your client does not know any html, css, php…
Thanks,
John
Yes she can – but only in a very limited way.
The theme doesn’t work with Tiny MCE Advanced plugin – so using the visual editor for tables and the like is very difficult.
You definitely need html and the ability to use Firebug to tweak the css.
Look guys. Does anyone ever stop to think why Randy behaves the way he does? Poor little always right customers . . . listen up. I did not fall out of bed yesterday and decide I was going to be a real Ba_ _ _ _ D to anyone that asked me a question in our support forum.
Remember that a forum is a linear communication medium. Everyone acts like they are the first to notice a problem without looking to see what has come before theme to realize a perfectly robust discussion has already occurred before them. Search the forum, is that to much to ask?
Not to mention human communication being what it is hap-hazard at best in a forum where we have discussions in a text format without the benefits of any voice inflection or facial expressions.
I was not always the moderator of the forum. I was a customer first for a product that was languishing behind the times. (what was then version 2.3 remix). I even thought as many did then that I had spent my money too quickly and would never see another update. No moderator at the time . . it just could not be any worse. I was offered the moderator job and accepted it. Since then questions are answered faster than many other forums, usually within less than an hour of the question being asked.
It’s great you guys came over here to have a discussion about me without inviting me to the party personally. Make sure that those who have commented negatively belly up with the reality of what actually occurs when I reply.
Realizing that WordPress attracts a specific demographic (easy power-point user types) that who often don’t have a clue as to how to use WordPress. Maybe they should not go out and jump into a theme that requires a knowledge of CSS to fully benefit from it capabilities before learning WordPress. Not making any excuses for the product, it clearly needs to be improved and it is happening. WPRemix has not been without it’s growing pains since it’s creation. Even now our programmer is lagging in his latest update to 4.0 of the theme. This problem has been solved, as programming is going Stateside US since clearly control half a globe away in India is not possible.
I have recently assumed the responsibility of Product Manager and believe me, there would be no Remix without me. We are not a large company, only three people now two with the programmer hitting the road. We have a replacement so that setback will be temporary. The commitment to the product is alive and well.
Don’t forget before you judge others that there is a difference in Web Development and Theme Support, only one of them is FREE. I have gotten people throw nothing short of a tantrum because they do not understand why I’m not going to entertain their action item list of change to the theme with custom CSS. Still they try and when they are told sorry, they get miffed and then they get my bad attitude. I have given so many off-line FireBug tutorials, many times for 2 to 3 hours that no one ever hears anything about.
Remember just like in school what is happening is not everyone else’s business. All I ask is that you search the forum, is that too much? How about understanding how to unzip a theme instead of assuming that it all goes up and then chokes WordPress. Not all themes are packaged the same, depending on it’s contents.
If I was rude to you you started it not me. I genuinely like all people I meet and hold no grudges even to those who have spoken ill of me here.
Keep your eye on WPRemix it will improve in the near future. It already has since 2.3 with 3.0. 4.0 is gong to be even better.
In closing I would like to say, search your own post for that dig that prompts my pissy responses. I am not there for your verbal abuses that close with a left handed compliment that is supposed to make all the negative innuendo they posted just before somehow okay.
I recently got a guy in our forum who came in ranting his plug-ins were out of date and reporting they may be security risks if not updated. He blamed all this on the theme. He had a paranoia of being hacked at any moment and I quote him, “I get up every day fully expecting my site to have been defaced or hacked”, come on get a life. As if everyone is out to get him for some reason. He continued to berate Remix and the length of time it was taking to get out the 4.0 update. Neither does he program or dictate what, how and when we do anything with our product. Then had the nerve to threaten me because I deleted the trashy post with pulling our SEO rankings down with his own reviews. Yeah sure, I’m gonna be nice to this guy right? I don’t think so. If you take the time to behave like a real person, instead of hiding behind the anonymity the Internet provides and fill out your damn profile so I could contact you off line in a better venue. If you would rather toss all the dirty laundry around in public because you think it’s effective communications, you’re wrong, not to mention you’re not exactly endearing yourself to the guy who answers your tech questions.
Be cool guys I will help anyone who want’s it but you gotta help me help you. Give me a url and don’t ask me to read your mind and then get upset if I toss a friendly dig at your all too thin skinned sense of humor, by saying I can’t pull a rabbit out of my hat without one.
If you like, here is my Skype ID for any who want a one on one with any concerns they may have. I will even answer the phone number of (704) 248-3508 East Coast Time USA.
Chill Out, I have more positive references than negative and would be glad to provide them to anyone who want’s to vet them for authenticity.
ROFL
I think you just proved the point that you are a rude, sarcastic, patronising, waffler.
QED
Hey, is that at me or with me? Look Sam, your dead on with your assessment of the Remix theme, it needs work. I guarantee you it will be much better after our next release. It will then be what most people expect of their themes.
I inherited all the issues of the theme and fully intend to fix them.
I commend you on approving my comment, maybe it was to give me enough rope to hang myself I don’t know. But I’m a real guy out here who does care about what I get for my money just like anyone else. So I don’t get any pleasure from hearing anyone say they are dissatisfied with their Remix purchase, I honestly want to make it right for them. As you know this takes time when virtually changing everything from the loose marketing hype, to fixing bugs which by the way all belonged to RB Havesh, our fault lies in not getting things squared away as quickly as I think everyone would like. We are working hard to make things right/better so cut us a bit of slack guys.
Would just like to make everyone aware that the new owners are spending money on new coding to expand the Theme Feature Options to be more user friendly and rich with improvements. I personally will be developing some 250+ “How To” Video Tutorials for the novices who may need more help than others.
Sam, if you would like to provide me with any feedback as to features you personally feel worth considering I would be more than happy to listen. I welcome proactive customers who ask questions before they rant about what we can do to make things right.
Sam, I will gladly provide you with a copy of our new theme release when it’s ready for review. I personally can’t get it done fast enough as it is sorely needed to reset the lost expectations some people have formed of the Remix theme.
Thanks Sam,
Hope your ribs aren’t too sore from laughing.
Yeah, it was kind of at you. I wrote this post in 2008 and at that time hadn’t touched WP Remix in probably 3-6 months, and I still haven’t touched it since then, so none of the issues I was referring to were related to anything that has to do with the new ownership at all. What I was laughing at, was that I had been getting comments from other people regarding you on the forum and based on the tone of your comment here, it makes it pretty clear what they were talking about. I wouldn’t want to be in your position trying to provide support for this product, but it seems like if you’re in the business of providing support for a product like this you have to expect that there are going to be some people that are a real pain in the ass and need to be treated with kid gloves.
I think its good that you’re working hard on it and planning to do a lot of tutorial videos. You’re welcome to spread the word about it here if you like. Like I said – this is an old review – the only thing keeping it up to date are other people’s comments. I’m perfectly happy to give it another shot when the new version is ready. I don’t really have a whole lot of suggestions or feedback, but if you want to touch base, you can email me any time at sam@webcontempo.com.
I’m pretty open about what I feel and where we are going with the product. I felt like you were pretty objective in your assessment of the product further up the thread. Yeah, I have been like a beast backed into a corner trying to defend the indefensible, problems that really came before me. I realize the only thing that’s going to fix anything is to just get the product right, per industry standards and potential customer expectations.
Sam, the real story here is the all too typical issues doing business with the few people that belong to that old saying “You can make some of the people happy some of the time but never all of the people happy all of the time”.
This url http://wpremix.com/support/topic.php?id=2278 to a thread will better explain some of the back and forth that goes on with the happy and unhappy people who have bought WPRemix. Realizing there can always be room for improvement, is there any one opinion in the thread above more valid than the other? BTW, You might pay close attention to where the guy on my support.
You simply cannot make everyone happy no matter how hard you try. And if every theme was the same . . . well then, it would be a really interesting world we live in now wouldn’t it? If your theme is different because it’s actually a bad product that’s a different problem. Though Remix needs improvement, I don’t think that is necessarily the case with Remix.
I own many different themes, one of them is Thesis. It’s a great piece of programming. But it isn’t for every user of the application anymore than Remix is. The fact of the matter is it’s best to own several themes if you can afford it, kinda of like having the right tool for the particular job you are working on. Too many people source a theme incorrectly, and then try to bend it to their needs, ultimately creating their own negative experience with it, which they then expect the developers of the theme to take credit for. If a theme doesn’t have the features you need don’t but it people.
Why Havesh did not work with you on your offer is something of a mystery to me unless it was purely profit motivated, and then I guess it would be obvious why. I don’t have such reservations and would be glad to provide you with a copy of the product when we get the new version out. Good or bad I think there are times when you have to be able to stand behind what you think is good and see what others think as well.
Kid gloves or not, I think people should subscribe more to “you get more help with honey than vinegar. I always help people when they need it, I’ve even gone through the trouble to try and locate them either thorough the WHOIS Twitter, Google and FaceBook or no matter what it took to give them more one on one personalized service off-line. Correct me if I’m wrong but that rarely happens if at all when your support forum profile is blatantly empty. Do you think the more than adequate support over at Thesis would go to such lengths? I doubt it somehow.
If you see anyone else dissatisfied with their experience with Remix by all means feel free to extend my offer to make it right with my contact info.
For now, I’ll be hard at work, thanks for the venue, and remember there is a lot of reading between the lines and two sides to every story when someone complains without the other party to the issue being present.
Well Randy, when I did complain on the forum the post was deleted.
No wonder we come here to express our frustration.
When you create an expectation such as
‘Insert a page layout by a single click. Edit them in visual editor and publish’
only to find out that you need a working knowledge of css to do anything meaningful, you have to expect some kind of backlash against such barefaced lies.
Customer Service definitely sucks. Here’s the reply from “Randy” when I criticized his approach to his support forum. If Dale Carnegie is Christlike, then this guy is the anti-Christ:
“Do you want a refund sir, I can arrange it with my flippant methods of doing things.
You do not understand the scope of involvement nor the attitudes I deal with on
a day to day basis. I do not need a lecture in customer service. The WordPress
product attracts a certain demographic of people who expect the world of a $75
dollar theme. I’ve got a suggestion for you, get some thicker skin and quit reading more
into the posts than is there. Read all of the post including the positive. I dedicate
much of my own personal time off-line which is not seen anywhere in the forum teaching
people literally hours, how to make changes to CSS and how to use editing tools like
FireBug with the browser FireFox.
When people do not follow the guidelines after numerous requests to do so, and
they expect me to design their website after I explain the difference between
web development and tech support for the theme they get what they inspire.
Please keep your personal opinion to your self when I provide you with technical
support after the purchase. Making threats about dinging our SEO rankings in petty
complaint Blogs and other bitch venues seems to be the order of the day. This occurs
when people do not read before they buy what the return policy is. They also go out
and buy the most technically challenging theme when they haven’t even learned WordPress
and then place the blame on our product. The fact is our product is not for everyone
especially those who seem to think our product and the way we support it should be like
other products and forums. Our support forum is not an open discussion free for all,
it is a private technical product support from the developer forum. Their are no open
discussions in our forum with groups of people. I am fair if dealt with fair . I have raised
the previous non-existent support to the highest level it has ever been. My responses are
often less than an hour (when I’m awake) to questions. And if I sense the user is going to
be struggling with the product, I offer an off-line over the phone training session that has
no time limit. All of which I might add is done when I’m two months behind in being paid
for my services by the theme owner who made me a minor partner with profit sharing which
I have not seen either. Not complaining as I am working to make the product easier for the
novice and enthusiast alike. Or I could just quit so you feel better when I’m gone and you would
have no support at all. There is only me and the owner, so cut me some slack my friend.
I support all who behave in a civil manner in kind.”