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Thumbs Up by Brett Davies
If it’s the first time you are making a theme for ThemeForest it might be difficult to get approved, but it’s not impossible. The standards are really high these days, but if you really want to get approved you will.
Because getting approved on ThemeForest might be a bit hard, today I’m going to give you five tips on how to get approved. This article has been wrote with ThemeForest in mind, but some of this advices are also applicable to other marketplaces.
1. Value Feedback
In most of the cases the items are rejected because of their design. When it comes to design, opinions can be very subjective, but make sure you always listen to what the reviewers have to say. Even if you don’t agree with the reviewer, I guarantee you that your theme will end up thousands of times better.
2. Be Persistent
Be persistent and never give up. Many authors spend months until they get their items approved. One time, I spent a whole month trying to get my theme approved. And it got approved! It might be a bit difficult, but it worths the effort.
3. Wait
Wait for the perfect time to submit your item. Don’t submit your item in a rush. Take some time and review the item before submitting. I’m sure you will find some errors, that can make the difference between approval and rejection.
4. Find a Work Partner
Your item has been rejected because of the design? You aren’t a designer? Find a work partner! I did, and I’m extremely happy. Now I can focus on coding, while my partner takes care of the design. You will increase the chances of being approved and receive some important feedback from your partner.
5. Understand the Market
Understand what the market is looking for and create awesome products. Don’t create something that already exists, because it’s more likely to be rejected.
I guess the most important tip is to never give up. Remember that most of the authors got rejected at their first try.
Good luck!
Well I just got rejected. The design is the issue. I’ve created theme that gives you many design options and kept it clean and simple in the preview, but it looks like this was a bad idea. The reviewer is looking for something unique. I’ll take my time and give it to him
Exactly the same as myself, a blank canvas for a theme seems to be rejected, which is fine but I see so many ‘plain’ themes out there.
I’m (…MODESTLY) a world class designer, I’ve got a bunch of awesome designs and unique UEX ideas ready for development, but am struggling to find the right contractors to build to the standard required for resale, so if there’s anyone out there keen to partner with a designer, give me a shout.
A tip for when you created a clean or other style theme is look for effects and details:
mouse over effects, movements, gradients, animations, custom fonts, responsive, small details like a line, a pattern for example. Are things that make the difference between rejected or approved theme =D
Good luck for us!
Cheers, Rafael
Great suggestion man! I think I found my way out. I am going to work on the details now and get my theme accepted.
We’re always looking to collaborate with developers and designers on themes! Contact us on ThemeSumo.com if interested. Cheers.
We’d like to feature some of our upcoming themes on ThemeForest exclusively, a collaboration with some existing ThemeForest developers would be ideal.
Didn’t put one in yet but I hear the design must be original and smooth.
“Even if you don’t agree with the reviewer, I guarantee you that your theme will end up thousands of times better.”
This is a bunch of bullcrap.
I’ve seen so many approved themes recently that are performing very low in terms of sales and their designs are modified according to reviewer’s taste.
ReTox is right. The reviewers are hardly the arbiters of the design world. Unfortunately, they’ve gotten into a self-reinforcing pattern where they make their approval decisions based on what has been approved before. We see fewer and fewer original design ideas while the same old styles with the same old features (every single theme must have a jQuery slider!) get approved again and again. It would be good if that cycle could be broken, but I doubt industry-leading designers would settle for the reviewer pay.
Would definitely agree with the above points. I submitted my first landing page last year and got rejected – was definitely a downer…
After experience the all famous rejection, I picked myself up, took the feedback on board and submitted my new landing page template at the start of Feb this year.
I’m pleased to say, I made it on the Top New Authors for the month of Feb and am now looking forward to seeing more success
Keep at it guys and don’t give up!
Leo
Because your landing page is so sexy!
Wow congrats, nimbleo. I submitted my first theme and got rejected as well. The message from the reviewer was a default message that says the default things, such as your design is not unique (as the other items for sale at the marketplace are all unique), the structure is not…. bla bla bla.
With this feedback i don’t know what to repair.
Please help me with some suggestions.
I would really appreciate this.
Hi everyone,
I want to create my first template at themeforest, is it possible to submit a design first(jpeg file) and then they will review the design if its rejected or not before converting to html or wordpress theme.
Your Response is Appreciated!
Thank you,
jj
I think you first get feedback from other well supported users in Marketplace forum before upload final design..
“Don’t create something that already exists, because it’s more likely to be rejected.”
If this is the case then why reviewer does not mention this. It is like you guys have one standard rejection message
my theme rejected two times but i will try