I was thinking about WordPress themes this morning, and how hard it is to find a good theme. There are tons of themes that look great, but once I install them, I either have no idea how to set up the theme to look like the demo, or I’m presented with so many customization options that I say “whelp, nevermind!” and go try to find another one.
In theory, ratings are supposed to help you find better themes, but they’re so open to interpretation that you really only end up getting unfocused opinions. I like this, therefore, five stars. I hate Gutenberg, therefore, zero stars. It’s not really helpful.
What if theme ratings were more granular? For example:
Aesthetics
☆☆☆☆☆
Setup
☆☆☆☆☆
◻️ Someone set it up for me
Works as intended
☆☆☆☆☆
Did you encounter any bugs?:
Has the features I need
☆☆☆☆☆
Elaborate:
Helpful support
☆☆☆☆☆
◻️ I haven’t contact support
Optional Comments:
Every person using a theme is, of course, biased — so in some ways the ratings would still be arbitrary — but by providing some semblance of categorization, we might at least help people think about the theme experience.
You might be saying (because I am also thinking) — “oh, but Mel, it’s already hard to get people to fill out ratings. By adding more questions, wouldn’t it make it even harder?”
Partially, yes. Someone’s gonna look at that form and be like “nah, pass.” But for some, the additional structure might make them more likely to review. I hate being presented with a single star rating field and a comment field because it feels so unstructured, I never know what to say. Since my name is always included, I feel like I need to have a smart response or else someone’s going to come along and be like, “wow, Mel’s an idiot.” Having a guided form like the above helps me at least rationalize how I feel about something, and by breaking it down into specifics, I feel like I can provide a more accurate rating.
Anyway, just random a Sunday morning afternoon thought.