GTI wrote: ↑Tue Aug 10, 2021 3:19 pm
After buying a premium style, I was disappointed to find it has several CSS errors, several HTML errors and on some pages there is even text that had been placed on the wrong template file.
Ooo, which one?
GTI wrote: ↑Tue Aug 10, 2021 3:19 pm
it's obvious that their coding validation checks are not the same as the ones done by the phpBB styles validation team.
Correct. ThemeForest validators will check for: aesthetic quality, documentation quality, does the theme / control panel install? and any clear & obvious display issues. If the item contains PHP they'll do a high-level check for vulnerabilities, but they won't fine-comb every custom line of code you write. Source: I was a senior leader on envato's customer success team for 4 years and know many of the validators personally.
phpBB validation is pretty similar, except there's more emphasis on template event support and version updates. Depending on the reviewer, small display issues might get picked up, although that policy was recently
changed to become more lenient.
From my experience, I'm not sure if paid validation is worth it as a value proposition. Customers buying premium styles will focus on:
- does it look good?
- is it updated regularly?
- is it cheap? ($20 or less)
- decent access to screenshots and live demos pre-purchase
- is help available if needed?
Few customers are concerned about code quality, providing that it works out of the box and you promise to fix any problems that come up