Template which are “Easy” compatible - The Big Picture?

Hello Support and fellow Easyies ;-)

This started of as an easy question but got a little out of hand

My original question was. How important is it that a template is “Easy” compatible??? But whatever...

Sometimes I have the feeling that there are more Joomla templates out there than stars under the sky. However to the best of my knowledge there are only a hand full that say that they support Easy Social & Co. I currently use Easy Social, Easy Blog and do not rule out that I might some day use Easy Discuss!!!

Option A - Select a template which claims to support pretty much everything i.e. ES, EB & ED

In my Easy Social months I bought a template that was specifically “Easy Social” compatible but the support was so excruciatingly slow that I gave up and then my subscription ran out. I could probably get them to help me with my unfinished questions but one way or the other I will not renew my subscription and wish to move on…

Option B - Select a template which claims to support one or more Stackideas components but not all

eg Last night I stumbled across a template that claims to support Easy Blog but no mention of Easy Social. So I could reason that maybe they support Easy Blog they might be open to any Easy Social questions. I could write to them and try and clarify before purchasing.

Option C - Select a template also when their is no reference to Stackideas products.

In my Community Builder years I bought a template from a company and when I ran into some formatting issues they said that they did not support Community Builder. My guess that most template developers would react the same. If they do not explicitly say that they support Easy Social & co and if you run into a problem (e.g. formatting) they can and have every right to wash their hands of said problem. I am inclined to avoid option C

There probably is no one right answer to this. It is just very frustrating having wasted several hundred euros/dollars/ringgits or whatever on templates and subscriptions with which I ultimately could not work with.

Options A & B that I have found so far (mostly found on the Stackideas Blog. I have done my best to be as accurate as possible but even I can make mistakes ;-) are listed below… I only went back to the beginning of this year. I´ve also put this in the Easy Social category as, I have to put it in a category but can post in Easy Blog if required. Technically I can not post in the Easy Discuss category as I do not have an active subscription as of now.

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Option A: EB & ES & ED

Appy from themexpert there Site is very flashy and i can not find a reference to a Joomla versions!!!

http://demo.themexpert.com/?theme=appy

They say they support both EB & ES & ED!!!

Membership system:

$49/$99/249$ for Basic/Standard/Developer for 3/12/12 months

Purity iii from Joomlart for Joomla 3 (I would have to update my Joomla version for this!)

http://www.joomlart.com/demo/#purity_iii

They say they support both EB & ES & ED!!!

It is free so I do not know how committed their support can be!?!

And there is a reference to T3 on the demo site

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Option B1.1: EB & ES

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JSN Corsa for Joomla 2.5 & 3.0 from Joomlashine

http://www.joomlashine.com/joomla-templates/jsn-corsa-joomla-template-details.html

They say they support both EB & ES

I had a bad experience with them but maybe that was just me?


PRO THEME for joomla 2.5 & 3.0 from optimumtheme

http://www.bestofjoomla.com/index2.php?option=com_bestoftemplate&task=demo&no_html=1&id=5346

http://www.optimumtheme.com/themes/pro-theme.html#theme

With respect to the first link they say they support EB & ES with respect to the second link I only see a reference to EB! But I guess that it is both.

They have a buy now option:
Starting at 24€ with no support

And a join the Club option:
39€/79€/149€ for Basic/Standard/Developer for 4/12/12 months

with respect to “Pro Theme” from their Site
“Pro Theme is powered by the T3 Framework. Mega menu, LESS, CSS3, HTML5, and RTL language are just some of the great features inclueded in Pro Theme.”

Sosyal Theme for joomla 2.5 & 3.0 from http://www.optimumtheme.com

http://www.optimumtheme.com/themes/sosyal-theme.html

They say they support both EB & ES

They have a buy now option:
Starting at 24€ with no support

And a join the Club option:
39€/79€/149€ for Basic/Standard/Developer for 4/12/12 months

With respect to “Sosyal” from their Site
Sosyal Theme is Bootstrap 3 integrated and supports HTML5, CSS3 and LESS coding, enabling you to customize it down to the finest detail. We recommend the Optimum Slider module included in the demo to present your images for achieving the maximum visual effect.

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Option B1.2: ES & ED

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Ja Sugite for joomla 2.5 & 3.0 from Joomla Art

http://www.joomlart.com/demo/#ja_sugite

They say they support EB


Right from ThemeRox for Joomla I do not know as I can not get to their Site!

http://www.themerox.com/themeforest/right/index.php/2014-03-11-12-22-54/community

(their site appears to be down at the moment and I do not think it is just me!!!

It's not just you! http://www.themerox.com looks down from here.

tested here:

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/http://www.themerox.com

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EB only:

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BT Magazine from bow themes for joomla 2.5 6 3.x

http://bowthemes.com/joomla-templates/bt-magazine.html

They say they support EB

JM-Startup from Joomla-Monster for joomla 3
http://demo.joomla-monster.com/225-jm-startup
They say they support EB

m-social, game & music-state for joomla 2.5 & 3.3 from Gavick

http://www.gavick.com/joomla-templates/m-social,134.html
http://www.gavick.com/joomla-templates/game,148.html
http://www.gavick.com/joomla-templates/music-state,138.html

Novus from Joomlabamboo

http://demo.joomlabamboo.com/index.php?theme=may14

They say they support EB

Simple Love and Lania from TemPlaza Partnership for joomla 2.5 & 3.0 from Joomla Art

http://www.templaza.com/simple-love-multipurpose-responsive-joomla-template/391
http://www.templaza.com/lania-responsive-joomla-template/360

They say they support EB


Also

3 more from Joomlart no idea what joomla versions. My guess is joomla 3.0

http://ja-bookshop.demo.joomlart.com/index.php/en/
http://www.joomlart.com/demo/#ja_appolio
http://ja-obelisk.demo.joomlart.com/index.php/en/

They say they support EB

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Finally I am wondering if it might be an idea to run a poll to see who is using what and how happy they are with their template? For e.g. I had a bad experience with JSN Corsa but maybe this was just me. This last question with respect to the poll is of course for Mark :-)

Similar to the speed poll that was posted recently.

http://stackideas.com/forums/want-to-boost-your-joomla-website-s-speed

I realise that speed is easy to quantify. You go from Slow to Fast. But surely there are enough people in here whose different experience we could cobble together to get some kind of clearer picture? With some criteria such as: Support? Ease of use? What ever?

I was thinking about this last night and apart from decent support there are a couple of things I would love/need.

- some how to have the login/online process integrated into the main menu bar. Like in Facebook. So that you can see at a glance if you are logged in or not.

- the option to have a secondary menu show up if you are logged in. Preferably attached to the main menu.

- the option to insert a banner up at the top of the Site

End of rant. Just hope some one responds to this rather long thread ;-)

thanks

Paul