4 ms·

Definitely beautiful, but the price point seems a bit strange. It definitely surpasses ThemeForest territory, but it's still built on an existing framework and

Definitely beautiful, but the price point seems a bit strange. It definitely surpasses ThemeForest territory, but it's still built on an existing framework and has that "cookie-cutter" vibe to it. Considering a few hundred more bucks will get you a completely custom Bootstrap theme on oDesk, I wonder about the target demographic for something like this. I think the killer app for this will be a bootstrap theme where a few easy parameters (so easy your grandma can do it!) can dramatically change the look and feel to make something actually feel unique. If that is possible, I can really see this taking off.

sgdesign 14y ago
I'd be very curious to see what kind of custom theme you can get for a couple dollars...
- drharris 14y ago
  For a couple dollars? Probably nothing at all. I've been outsourcing custom bootstrap themes similar to this (perhaps slightly less polished, but completely custom to the product) for around $400-500 for 4-5 different page styles and all elements (tables, forms, jquery widgets). Some are even partially responsive.
  - kristofferR 14y ago
    Where do you find such cheap (around $500) Bootstrap designers/developers?
    - drharris 14y ago
      On ODesk, you can find decent designers willing to work for $15/hour on Bootstrap. It's cheap, and the really good ones can easily do up a custom site in a work week or less, provided you have some existing assets (logo, screenshots, boilerplate text). Some do better work than others, but surprisingly, it's no longer a "get what you pay for" thing when it comes to outsourcing. Some are college students building portfolios, others are outside the country and willing to work for less. My suggestion is to first hire someone to design a logo (even if it's typeface-only, and reject any Lobster submissions) and a color palette, usually less than $100. Given that, a bootstrap pro can have you a custom site in a few work days.
macournoyer 14y ago
Creator of Dresssed here. You can get much cheaper themes specifically for Bootstrap here: https://wrapbootstrap.com/ https://wrapbootstrap.com/. But what I've noticed is that every theme based on Bootstrap is incomplete. Focus of my themes is to provide everything you need to build an app. Re-branding every component was a lot of work and trying to make them not look like Bootstrap was even more work.
- tucson 14y ago
  I applaud your service, but as a potential customer, I need something easier to use to provide websites on demand. Just thought this could be interesting for you to know. I have more than 500 hits per month, all small businesses who want to create a "website". For many a simple bootstrap theme would do... with very little parametrization.
  - macournoyer 14y ago
    Take a look at http://divshot.com/ http://divshot.com/. Someone pointed me to this today.
- drharris 14y ago
  Please don't misunderstand my comment for a lack of excitement about this domain. I'm going to keep a close watch on this to see where it goes. Absolutely agree about the state of Bootstrap themes, which is why I tend to go pure custom with outsourcing. One suggestion I would have is to really hit hard about how yours stand out. Clearly, they are well designed, but someone who would be a buyer at that price point (doesn't need custom, but needs something nice and flexible) may not be educated enough to know why they should choose yours over the cookie-cutter $30 theme. The custom form and tables are particularly nice, but they are buried in the demo. I've spent a lot of time digging through bootstrap themes, and it took me awhile to figure out what made this one more compelling; less experienced users will surely have the same issue. Good luck though; this is definitely an interesting space and I think you'll get some good results over time.
  - 14y ago
tucson 14y ago
"I think the killer app for this will be a bootstrap theme where a few easy parameters (so easy your grandma can do it!)" Absolutely agree. I have customers but don't have the skills to automate website creations. We need this gap bridged. Give me an API to build a website based on simple parameters: [ domain name, title, presentation text ]. (for example)
pbreit 14y ago
I'm surprised ThemeForrest hasn't done much yet around Bootstrap. Some of the designers have started using it but I would have expected a full-fledged category or section by now.
- soulclap 14y ago
  I am hoping that Bootstrap will become a standard base for most themes as well. Just makes sense.

sgdesign 14y ago

I'd be very curious to see what kind of custom theme you can get for a couple dollars...

drharris 14y ago
For a couple dollars? Probably nothing at all. I've been outsourcing custom bootstrap themes similar to this (perhaps slightly less polished, but completely custom to the product) for around $400-500 for 4-5 different page styles and all elements (tables, forms, jquery widgets). Some are even partially responsive.
- kristofferR 14y ago
  Where do you find such cheap (around $500) Bootstrap designers/developers?
  - drharris 14y ago
    On ODesk, you can find decent designers willing to work for $15/hour on Bootstrap. It's cheap, and the really good ones can easily do up a custom site in a work week or less, provided you have some existing assets (logo, screenshots, boilerplate text). Some do better work than others, but surprisingly, it's no longer a "get what you pay for" thing when it comes to outsourcing. Some are college students building portfolios, others are outside the country and willing to work for less. My suggestion is to first hire someone to design a logo (even if it's typeface-only, and reject any Lobster submissions) and a color palette, usually less than $100. Given that, a bootstrap pro can have you a custom site in a few work days.

macournoyer 14y ago

Creator of Dresssed here. You can get much cheaper themes specifically for Bootstrap here: https://wrapbootstrap.com/ https://wrapbootstrap.com/. But what I've noticed is that every theme based on Bootstrap is incomplete. Focus of my themes is to provide everything you need to build an app. Re-branding every component was a lot of work and trying to make them not look like Bootstrap was even more work.

tucson 14y ago
I applaud your service, but as a potential customer, I need something easier to use to provide websites on demand. Just thought this could be interesting for you to know. I have more than 500 hits per month, all small businesses who want to create a "website". For many a simple bootstrap theme would do... with very little parametrization.
- macournoyer 14y ago
  Take a look at http://divshot.com/ http://divshot.com/. Someone pointed me to this today.
drharris 14y ago
Please don't misunderstand my comment for a lack of excitement about this domain. I'm going to keep a close watch on this to see where it goes. Absolutely agree about the state of Bootstrap themes, which is why I tend to go pure custom with outsourcing. One suggestion I would have is to really hit hard about how yours stand out. Clearly, they are well designed, but someone who would be a buyer at that price point (doesn't need custom, but needs something nice and flexible) may not be educated enough to know why they should choose yours over the cookie-cutter $30 theme. The custom form and tables are particularly nice, but they are buried in the demo. I've spent a lot of time digging through bootstrap themes, and it took me awhile to figure out what made this one more compelling; less experienced users will surely have the same issue. Good luck though; this is definitely an interesting space and I think you'll get some good results over time.
- 14y ago

tucson 14y ago

"I think the killer app for this will be a bootstrap theme where a few easy parameters (so easy your grandma can do it!)" Absolutely agree. I have customers but don't have the skills to automate website creations. We need this gap bridged. Give me an API to build a website based on simple parameters: [ domain name, title, presentation text ]. (for example)

pbreit 14y ago

I'm surprised ThemeForrest hasn't done much yet around Bootstrap. Some of the designers have started using it but I would have expected a full-fledged category or section by now.

soulclap 14y ago
I am hoping that Bootstrap will become a standard base for most themes as well. Just makes sense.