A Simple Suggestion :-)

[goodkarma]

Hey Mike, TJ and BuddyBoss Team –

It seems to me whenever I stop by the forum there are always a few people asking about the design of the theme – and how to emulate the look of the customized version of Buddyboss that does a great job of selling the template.

The truth is – I love the functionality of Buddyboss and the unique feature set – but without heavy aesthetic customization, it simply falls short in looks and sex appeal, when compared to the other top selling BuddyPress themes.

I have no idea how large your customer base is – but I know that some of the Themeforest BP themes have sold 3 and 4 thousand copies each, and working in a marketing capacity for a business that builds community and social sites using WordPress myself, I rarely hear Buddyboss mentioned as a recommended option due to it’s sort of remedial design aesthetic.

Why not create a few child themes that are a bit sleeker or that advance and evolve the original BB design a bit? Or just add a skin like “Easybuddy” that as a unique style and appeal?

Or, create a sticky space on the forum, like other theme clubs, for dedicated developers and CSS specialists who could earn a freelance income, while serving the BB community?

I know I’d love to use BB on few upcoming projects – but I know that I’ve got to pay to modify the theme considerably if I do. (which traditionally isn’t the case with premium themes today)

Just my thoughts – it’s a great community theme with great functionality – I bet a simple “sexy” skin like a few of the modifications I’ve seen over the last few days (realtychat.com being a great example) would skyrocket your sales and generate tons of buzz for Buddyboss to boot 🙂

[George]

+1 on all points. I have 2 buddyboss communities doing very well at the moment, but the look isn’t as good as the functionality. Let’s get more child themes, even sell them for $10 a pop and put a package up together on ThemeForest. EASY 1,000 sales fairly quickly.

[Michael Eisenwasser]

BuddyBoss 3.0 will be much nicer on the look side of things, in my opinion. And responsive. And then we’ll get to work on child themes 🙂 Also we will eventually separate the Wall + Photos functionality into a plugin so people can buy and use what they want.