Premium Wordpress Themes From Theme Spinner
When most people order a review on John Chow dot Com, they are looking to highlight a single product or get some feedback on their up and coming blog. The focus is typically singular. Theme Spinner, on the other hand, is trying to extract maximum value from their review, getting me to take a look at no fewer than four of their premium Wordpress themes. Talk about getting your money’s worth!
Spinning out the Wordpress Themes
As you’ve undoubtedly already figured out, Theme Spinner produces a series of premium Wordpress themes that are supposed to be a step above the innumerable free themes that are available on the Internet. If you want to be taken seriously as a blogger, having a unique theme can go a long way. Interestingly, Theme Spinner has some free Wordpress themes for you to consider as well.
When you purchase a premium theme from Theme Spinner (prices range from $29 to $69), you are typically also given all the required PhotoShop files, fonts, images and so on, in case you want to further customize the pre-defined theme. It’s also helpful that Theme Spinner has set up a series of FAQs to help you with this process.
Tauren: The Most Advanced Theme
The Wordpress theme that is featured right at the top of Theme Spinner’s homepage is Tauren. Instead of looking like a personal blog, the Tauren theme appears best suited for an online magazine of some kind. Tauren Pro ($69) comes with a professional-looking Flash slideshow near the top that will help you feature a number of your most important articles. This is similar to the style that you would find on websites in the IGN network. If you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t even know that Tauren is built on the Wordpress framework.
I’m not a fan of the sales copy featured at the top of the Theme Spinner homepage. It reads: “Tauren is our most advanced theme, hence the price!” This comes off sounding cocky and not customer-oriented at all.
There is also Tauren Standard, which sells for $49. It lacks the Flash Slideshow and looks more like a conventional blog. I found that this was the general theme, no pun intended, of all four premium Wordpress themes.
Chimera: The Best Seller
Like Tauren, Chimera comes in two versions: Chimera Pro ($59) and Chimera Standard ($39). The former has the same Flash slideshow near the top of the page and then the main content follows after that. The two sidebars on the right provide space for advertising and widgets. Chimera Pro, like Tauren Pro, is best suited for online magazines and similar websites. I can totally see a news site running this theme.
Chimera Standard, with its lack of a Flash slideshow and dual featured story boxes underneath, looks much more conventional by comparison. I’m not personally a big fan of three-column layouts, so despite the fact that I like the black, red, and grey color scheme, I don’t like the overall feel of Chimera Standard.
Shade: Keeping It Clean and Simple
For something a little less bold and a little less in your face, you might want to consider Shade Pro ($49). The default color scheme is much softer with its light blue “featured home” banner at the top. Shade Pro looks like it might be suitable for something like my freelance writing business, because it would let me feature recent work, testimonials from recent clients, and so on. Shade Standard ($29) keeps things very simple and uncluttered too, if that’s your thing.
Neko: Five Dynamic Color Schemes
Last but not least, we have Neko Pro ($49) and Neko Standard ($29). The former has a nice online magazine feel to it and visitors to your blog can dynamically swap between five different color schemes by clicking on the color boxes near the top right. Because the articles are broken up into different sections, Neko Pro could work quite well for newspaper-like sites. Neko Standard does not have this color swapper.
Discounts and Affiliates
Without a doubt, I prefer the “Pro” versions of the premium Wordpress themes from Theme Spinner over their “Standard” counterparts. The Flash slideshows in the Tauren Pro and Chimera Pro themes are particularly attractive.
The prices for all the themes sound pretty fair to me, but maybe you’d be interested in a discount. If you use the coupon code “JOHNCHOW” (without the quotes), Theme Spinner will knock 10% off of the price. Furthermore, you can recoup the entire cost of your Wordpress theme purchase by promoting Theme Spinner through their affiliate program. You get 50% of every sale, either via check or PayPal. You do not need to buy a theme to join the affiliate program.
- Posted in Reviews, The Net
- 71 comments what's your take?
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Both Tauren and Chimera look nice, although I’m not looking to change at the moment.
MrAchievement
Reply to this commentStanley Bronstein
Attorney, CPA, Author, Blogger & Professional Motivational Speaker
I agree, those pro themes look the best and the use of flash would certainly differentiate amongst other wordpress sites. They seem quite reasonably priced too.
Reply to this commentThe designs are lovely, but I have to bash them on using tables to structure a layout when tables are made to display tabular data.
But aside that how the layout is being structured I like how the design is being structured and everything is in its own place.
Reply to this commentExcellent review of the site. I guess Mike must have also earn big bucks for this review hehe. So how much did John share you Mike? Lol Just kiddin man.
Reply to this commentNice theme, maybe I will use it for one of my future clients.
Reply to this commentI m sure you will not change coz you alreday invested with “Unique Bog design”–am i right? How much did they charge you? Must be at least $1000 or $1500..Am I right or wrong?
Reply to this commentI m also searching for nice theme…
Those themes look very good, but I’m not sure if they’re worth buying. There are many good free WordPress themes out there and you can modify them any way you want if you know a little PHP and CSS. I’m using the Coffeespot theme (http://wpthemepark.com/themes/coffeespot) but I made so many changes that there is no longer any coffee remaining. The colours are also predominantly blue instead of the original brown. A little knowledge can go a long way in theme customization.
Reply to this commenti agree - these themes are beautiful but with some effort and a little luck you can probably find a free theme that accomplishes the same thing.
Reply to this commentI think they have some nice themes, however none of them would work for me. I think if they are launching they should really have a better selection of themes otherwise their advertising dollars are going to waste. Four themes isnt many to pick from. Thats my two cents
Reply to this commentThose themes are really great. It’s just that, I don’t really think themes should cost more than $50 dollars. The makers just do them for what, about 3 days or less. It’s not much work especially if they are really pros. Though they do look great anyway.
My theme cost me nothing. I learned how to do it myself. It’s not much but I’m proud of it.
Reply to this commentI am a theme designer myself, and I must say these themes look very professional and are definitely worth the money for someone who’s looking for a pro theme. And with their use of flash, I am actually surprised they charge so low. I know many people who would charge around $140+ for a theme like Tauren Pro.
Reply to this comment
Great themes, nice and professional, but I don’t think it worth such a price too… I’m using mandigo theme, provided by Tom (http://www.onehertz.com/portfolio/wordpress/), looks professional and customizable too! You guys may want to try out 
Reply to this commentThese themes are nice. I just change new theme. So that i do not like to change it in more times because i need time to fix picture with big size to fit new theme. thanks for sharing this info.
Reply to this commentthey’re indeed great themes to be put on consideration when we’re thinking to have new look for our blog, or for new blog. well thanks for the reviews, i’ve bookmarked.
Reply to this commentwow, it’s like better than common wp themes. Look alike more complex from any tipe of contents, maybe news or sport news. hmm.. just try it.
Reply to this commentThose themes are real nice but I’m not looking to change my theme at these moment.
Reply to this commentI’m looking for a new theme to launch my blog with, I think I just found the answer, thanks for the review!
Nice affiliate program to
Reply to this commentI’m not a WP user, so I don’t think so…
Reply to this commentYou should be
Reply to this commentThe Tauren & Chimera themes look nice, but I think it’s best to come up with your own if you want to be taken more seriously. Or if you do use a theme, at least change it up so that it doesn’t look like the original.
I just think it sucks for people that use themes/want to be taken seriously & when you look at their site, you realize that you’ve come across that very same theme 95793464753 times. It just looks so unoriginal & makes me wonder exactly how serious they are about their site.
Reply to this commentyou shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. not everyone is a php wizard, or has the money to buy custom themes… (not that $50 is much) but what IS important is the content. if someone has a blog whos theme i’ve seen before, but the content is all well written and original, then i’ll return.
Reply to this commentI think John’s site proved that you’re absolutely wrong. He was using a standard free theme that many other blogs used and yet his site grew into a huge success. Sure it’s better for branding etc to have your own unique theme but it’s far from a requirement for success.
Reply to this commentI never said the content isn’t important.
And I also never said that people shouldn’t use themes. You brought John up - he did exactly what I said, which is taking a popular theme & changing it up. He made it his own. It doesn’t look EXACTLY like the original.
Reply to this commentGood stuff. I’m switching to Wordpress, so I need three new themes. These look like good alternatives to the Revolution Themes I’ve been considering.
I don’t know why people wouldn’t want to pay a little extra to get a professional looking blog. It’s not like these things cost a fortune anyway. If I find a good free theme then sure, I’ll use it, but I’m not going to choose a free theme over a better one just because it will save me a few bucks.
Reply to this commentLooks like they made you work Micheal… They do have a good collection, but comparing them to revolution theme is just insulting the talent of Brian Gardner. The themes by Theme Spinner still doesn’t have that graphic edge…
Reply to this commentYes, the themes look rather nice. I am going to see what free themes they have to offer. It looks like they offer good themes for the money. Not bad prices.
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Reply to this commentThe best way to make money online is to have a unique blog theme and design. You have to stand out. Spending $50 or $60 on one of these themes is a great investment. The affiliate program also sounds real good.
Reply to this commentIt’s definitely not the “best” way. It helps with branding, etc, but there are some things I would do far before buying a blog theme. However, once one reaches the point of traffic where branding becomes even more essential and the money can be earned back relatively quickly it is worth it.
Reply to this commentyou have to understand that the themes above are not unique themes … these are premium themes (which means these themes will never be released for free) But more than one person can have it on their site if they pay for it which doesn’t make your site unique.
A better investment would be to save the $50 and $60 you were going to invest into this … and get yourself a custom design by adding a bit more money to that amount because at the end of the day you will get more benefits from a custom theme rather than this.
Reply to this commentYeah right, look at the crappy designs you do, this designs even though are not unique are highly customizable and super cheap … why waste like $300 + to hire a n00b like you and get a crappy ass design when you can buy one from this guys ( or any other good design ) and customize it ha ?
Reply to this commentDude if you can’t take criticism then why would you pay to have your site reviewed?
Reply to this commentAll to all, this guy went far enough to harass me on my instant messengers … in the end I had to block him. He blatantly asked me to stop commenting on John Chow if I dont have anything nice to say …. I think if John have issues with my comments he’ll ask me to stop ….
This is ridiculous … People don’t reply if you don’t like his theme because he will literally stalk you and harass you..
Reply to this commentfair enough, you don’t have to order my themes … I dont have any issues if you dont like my themes because beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. …
My client has liked my work and continued to return
Reply to this commentSo I don’t have a link on my URL because ThemeSpinner has one of the worst ordering systems I’ve ever seen. I paid for one of their themes yesterday, and it still won’t let me download it…says my license code is either not active or expired. Let’s hope it’s not expired. Their site and service looks good, but I’ve yet to be impressed……I hope they email me back soon…I used the Contact Us page to try and get some help…
Reply to this commentI completely agree with Hannah & Syed. That’s what I said up above. And if you do get a premium theme, at least make some changes to it.
Reply to this commentI’m not currently at a stage where it’s worth it to me to pay for a layout, but I am very impressed by these. I like the more “community” feel they give, rather than being just a blog. Problogger’s theme works the same way, and I really like it.
Reply to this commentThe Slade theme looks like a blatant ripoff of the WordPress.org home page.
Reply to this commentI wouldn’t say it was a rip-off, my idea here was to design a theme that many bloggers would recognize. The new design at wordpress is awesome and i think many bloggers out there would be looking for a similar theme
Reply to this commentUm when you have to look closely to notice things that AREN’T the same, it’s what I would call a rip off. Just because many bloggers out there might be looking for a “similar” theme doesn’t mean you can rip off someone else’s design and sell it.
Reply to this commentOkay… I admit, the header is very similar to wordpress.org - but what else on the site is? The content area isn’t, the sidebar isn’t and the footer isn’t! So hmm, 30% of the design resembles wordpress.org and that makes it a rip-off?
If I use a white background, am I ripping Google?
Reply to this commentlooks like ?? I would go ahead and say it is a rip off wordpress theme……
Reply to this commentHey..
Reply to this commentWhat abou your own blog?
Do you consider it unique?
Your logo and presentation is similar to Shoemoney..
Similarity is one thing, the slade theme is a blantant copy of the WordPress.org site design.
Reply to this commentI’d say your site rips shoemoney more than Shade rips wordpress.org. Only the header is similar to wordpress, nothing else
Reply to this commentNothing else? Are you serious? The footer is different, but the main page also looks the same. The only difference I see there is that there are two columns on Shade & three on Wordpress. Come on now.
Reply to this commentOK first let me establish WPBlogger is a different person than I am and I don’t know if his site looks like shoemoney. I have mentioned at the start of my blog that my blog is inspired by Shoemoney …. While I have the similar style as shoemoney, Balkhis have an original look.
Shomoney have a superman $ whereas my logo doesn’t have anything that makes a super diamond … I don’t know what you see there … Color combo are generally the same… though layout and everything else on the blog is entirely different …. Second of all, I am not going out to public saying hey buy this theme this looks like shoemoney … to make a few bucks unlike you who are completely ripping off wordpress’s design and claiming the header is same only .. whereas your entire design is the same…. Point to be noted not similar … Ditto Copy of wordpress
Reply to this commentAm I to assume that the anonymous comments here are by the designer of those themes? If that’s the case, someone obviously can’t take criticism very well.
Reply to this commentthese themes imho are light years ahead of 98% of blog themes out there. and for price is damn good. i seen places that charges 300+ for the same quality of work. but yes a nice theme is good but content is what sells a blog . take john theme for example is at average at best lol but john knows how to market and gets the most out of his theme. so if you cant make a theme work for you it doesnt matter how much you spend crappy content equal average blog
Reply to this commentI really don’t see how these are ahead of the Premium News themes by Adii or the Revolution theme or even the theme being sold by Solo Stream. In fact, there are so many out there like this right now that it almost seems like more of the same.
Reply to this commentkeyword 98%
Reply to this comment98% is still a huge amount … which I don’t agree with that these themes are better … as shade theme is a blatant rip off of wordpress homepage
Reply to this commentIs this the same anonymous commentor (the theme designer) that responded to my remarks above? No wonder you think so highly of your themes.
You can try to justify your 98% remark but my point is, it’s certainly nothing special and nothing we haven’t seen several times before. Unless you’re going to do a better job of the magazine theme than Revolution or Premium News, then your themes aren’t going to be noteworthy.
Besides that, as mentioned above at least one of the designs isn’t your own which makes me question the others.
Reply to this commentHaha - what an hilarious statement! One of the themes isn’t our own? The only thing that’s similar to wordpress.org is the header, nothing else.
Look at the footer, the sidebar, the content area!
As for revolution themes, yeah he’s got a really good selection, but damn, people like variety, give theme buyers a range of different styles/options.
Should Pepsi stop selling drinks because Coca-Cola is more successful?
Remember, everyone has there own opinion, maybe you don’t like our themes, that’s cool with us, don’t buy them!
Reply to this commentYeah I don’t like your themes … My Opinion … Deal with it rather than harassing people …
Learn how to take criticism because when you get a review on such a popular blog you can’t expect all positive reviews.
Perhaps you should’ve asked if you don’t like my themes don’t comment and than I would’ve stayed away…..
Reply to this commentI don’t expect people in the same/similar niche to like any sort competition.
As for you not liking my themes, judging by your taste - that’s no offence, actually a compliment!
The header is similar, not the same.
The content area is white, with a right sidebar, I wonder how many other sites our there have a white background with a right sidebar, am I “coping” all those sites too? The footer is completely different.
Accept it.
But yeah, constructive criticism helps me out a lot, but when you post 5 bad comments it goes a bit paste that, huh?
Reply to this commentChimera theme is nice. They are reasonably priced, so may be they will get lot of customers.
Reply to this commentI think for the price it is a great deal. I paid like $70 for my theme. I enjoy it and can do much more with it but think it was too high.
Reply to this commentThemeSpinner has produced some great themes and I’m looking forward to more. I bought the Shade Pro theme today for my latest blog (http://www.windowblindstips.com/) and it looks and works like a charm. ThemeSpinner does not release the standard run-of-the-mill Wordpress themes like most freebie themes out there.
Reply to this commentIf you want your blog to look professional and need something optimized for both your users and search engines, I think the way that they incorporate plugins like related posts with thumbnails and some of their other advanced features can’t be beat!
As for price … come on; if you aren’t willing to invest a measly $49 in a theme why bother putting a bunch of time into a blog and trying to do your own theme????
The best way to make money online is to have a unique blog theme and design. You have to stand out. Spending $50 or $60 on one of these themes is a great investment. The affiliate program also sounds real good
Reply to this commentThe chimera color matching very nice. Looking forward to have the themes on one of the site.
Reply to this commentThe Chimera theme looks very nice. If I start another blog I’d consider that one.
Reply to this commentThis is was a hell of a review. One of the best this year. Like I wrote on my write, if you have $500 to invest in advertisement is way better to pay John to write an review than spend over ad words. Good job John Chow.
Reply to this commentHey, looks nice, they even have an affiliate program that pays 50%, can’t beat that.
Reply to this commentSome of the themes look pretty good. There are a lot of free themes that look pretty good too. Most people go with a free theme because they’re free of course, there are so many to choose from and most don’t feel they can afford to spend money on a custom theme.
Reply to this comment~Terry
I really like the Chimera one. Pretty nice and the price is also ok
Reply to this commentI paid more than 400$ for my current theme but I don’t like it so much.
Reply to this commentat least it is optimized for Adsense.
The themes you show here John are nice but not very adsense optimized….
I am not a big fan of news site looking themes.
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Reply to this commentVery helpful post. However everyone must remember, its not the design what makes a difference but the content aswell.
Reply to this commentas long as it can make money online, i happy with it. thanks J.C to introduce to me this affiliate. in 7 days, i already make hundred of dollars through commission.
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