Anyone who goes online today uses job boards to find work, to find employees and to advertise job postings to interested candidates.  The web has become a part of how we search for work from freelance to full time and it only continues to grow.  Templatic recently released a WordPress Theme for those of you looking for a Theme that doubles as a Job Board called Job Board.

Templatic (formerly PremiumThemes.net) in recent months has started to produce WordPress Themes that by nature are website themes but with specific functionality built into them and even recently when they released their, Store WordPress Theme, their first ecommerce WordPress Theme it became clear that they are looking to target niche users such as people looking to start a job board whether it’s for their own recruiting business, something open to the public online job seekers or private as a part of an internal company job board.

So, getting back to the product review, this theme offers a good deal of functionality specific to running a job board including a general job posting list layout, category specific job posting lists, job search functionality, RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds to syndicate your job postings and a whole host of other features packed into the Job Board WordPress Theme.

So what makes this WordPress theme a great WordPress theme and why should you spend the money on this theme?  Well, for that you’ll just have to continue reading…

What makes the Job Board WordPress Theme great!

• Accept PayPal payments – If you are running job boards on the web than you want the option of accepting payments when people post a job on your job board and with the Job Board WordPress Theme now you can!
• Set job postings to automatically expiry – When you purchase this WordPress theme you can set postings to automatically expiry and save them as a draft of delete them.  This is a pretty useful function of this particular theme because if you are charging people and companies for job postings then having a way to remove them automatically will save you time allowing you to work on more important things.
• Displays recent listings on the dashboard – This is a useful function for the administrator of the website which shows the admin the recent listings that were added to the job board and the dates that they were added to the job board.

What makes the Job Board WordPress Theme NOT so great!

• It’s specifically designed to work as a job board – Because this WordPress theme is built to function as a job board you may be disappointed if you are buying it for any other reason than this.  If you are looking to do anything else with it that I would suggest searching for a theme that has what you need in terms of functionality.

Outside of that there isn’t anything else that I can say about this WordPress theme that’s really negative.  The speed and performance of the job board theme is very solid and browser compatible.

Our Product Rating

Cost:

9.5

Support and Documentation:

8.0

Usability:

7.0

Web Browser Compatibility:

8.0

Overall:

8.1

SpicyWebDesigners.com rates products on a scale from 0 to 10 with 0 being the worst and 10 being the best. A typical product review includes looking at Cost, Support and Documentation, Usability, Web Browser Compatibility (using Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer).

Why is buying this theme a good idea?

The Job Board Theme is really a strong WordPress theme and if you are looking for the ability to create and run a job board then this theme will deliver what you need it to do.  It allows you to accept payment for jobs that people want to post using PayPal, allows you to set up expiry settings on job postings and has a lot of other functionality built into it to help you build your own job board successfully

How much does it cost?

The single use license for this theme will cost you $65 and gets you the Job Board WordPress Theme from Templatic.  It includes the standard features like access to documentation and the single use license is only available to be used on 1 website.  If you are looking to use this theme on multiple website then checkout their multiple license for $99 which gives you everything the single use license does and more including access to the PSD (Photoshop Document) files.

If you are a fan of Templatic then consider paying for access to their theme club for $279 (regularly a $399 value) for an unlimited access membership to all the WordPress Themes that they produce over the next year.

Normally when I think of Ecommerce websites I don’t think of WordPress.  WordPress, after all, is primarily a content management system, so when I saw that Templatic had released “Store”, their Premium Ecommerce WordPress Theme yesterday I was interested in checking it out.  Now is this theme going to run a mid-sized to large ecommerce operation for a company? Probably not!  But if you are a company with a few dozen products in various product lines this is a definite possibility for your ecommerce operations.  Let’s take a more in depth look at it…

Major Selling Points of the “Store” Ecommerce WordPress theme

• Different Modes to sell – This theme offers currently 3 different modes that you can run an ecommerce website using WordPress including selling digital goods, using a standard shopping cart and catalog mode.  Let me explain each of these different modes in more detail.

Digital Goods – If you run a business selling “digital goods” like eBooks/PDFs, scripts, licenses, memberships, etc. this theme can not only help you sell your digital goodies but also control the style of the product pages and the buying experience your customer’s will see when they buy from you.

Shopping Cart – Much like this one sounds, you can give your customers the option to use a shopping cart to checkout of your ecommerce website so that they can enter shipping information, change product attributes like Style, Size or Color and complete a purchase of goods with your store.

Catalog Mode – This allows you the option to display the products on your website and require interested customers to contact you instead of accepting payments online.  This mode does NOT allow your customers to purchase things from your store and if your business pricing is subject to change or requires further feedback to quote interested customers you can use the Catalog mode to get them interested and generate leads.  This mode is not for every business owner out there but it’s really nice to see this option being including in this theme.  It’s not something that I expected to see in this ecommerce theme.

• Get your Coupons! – This theme allows you to create coupons with coupon codes to offer discounts when someone enters the coupon code during the checkout.  It’s a great feature to have if you are promoting your business.
• Bulk CSV Uploads – If you are looking to add multiple products at a time this theme will actually allow you to do this using a CSV (.csv) file.  Simply create a CSV file and upload it to WordPress and the Store ecommerce WordPress theme will do the rest.
• Solid Web Browser Compatibility – I tested this theme in Google Chrome, FireFox 3.x and Internet Explorer 6.x and I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that I couldn’t find any bugs with this theme.
• You can still blog! – Another good thing to point out is that you can run a blog for your company.  Since WordPress is the premier blogging platform out there it only makes sense that Templatic kept the functionality and definitely adds something to the fact that you are getting an ecommerce site with blogging capabilities because most ecommerce platforms don’t have this functionality available and most blogging software doesn’t allow you to run an ecommerce website with this many features.

Click here for a full list of features that Templatic’s Store Premium Ecommerce WordPress Theme gives you!

Major “Minuses” of the “Store” Ecommerce WordPress theme

• It wasn’t built for scalability – Don’t get me wrong.  This is a strong ecommerce theme that you can use on WordPress but it isn’t going to give all the features of an enterprise level ecommerce platform and if you are a larger scale ecommerce operation then it may not be fully scalable to meet your needs.
• CRM not included – Many ecommerce packages out there have the ability to store customer data but only a few actually have “full blown” CRM system.  A CRM system for those of you who don’t know what it is stands for “Customer Relationship Management” and allows you to manage your customers and market, view activities of specific customers and other data related to your customer base.  The store theme had limited capabilities to store customer data and if you are looking for an ecommerce solution that doubles as a CRM this may not be what you had in mind without a heavy amount of customization and cost on your part.
• Shipping Limitations – While you have the option to set shipping options with the Store WordPress Theme if you currently have shipping integrations with say FedEx, UPS or another shipping service it won’t be easy to integrate this into the theme without customizing the theme further.  Personally, this is something that you see in more “enterprise” ecommerce solutions so I am not surprised that it isn’t included in this theme but it would still be nice to see.

Our Product Rating

Cost:

9.5

Support and Documentation:

9.0

Usability:

7.5

Web Browser Compatibility:

8.5

Overall:

8.6

SpicyWebDesigners.com rates products on a scale from 0 to 10 with 0 being the worst and 10 being the best.  A typical product review includes looking at Cost, Support and Documentation, Usability, Web Browser Compatibility (using Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer).

Why should you buy this theme?

This is a great ecommerce WordPress theme when you look at the functionality.  Click here for a full list of features that the Store ecommerce WordPress Theme has.  I really like the fact that you can sell digital goods, use the shopping cart for physical goods and develop a catalog for customers to contact you directly.  This meets the needs of a lot of business owners looking for an affordable, “Do-It-Yourself” entry level solution and because it doesn’t require lots of money and offers terrific functionality it makes a highly adaptable theme for your online or physical business.

How much is it?

The Single Use License will cost you $65 and gets you the Store Ecommerce WordPress Theme.  You can only use this theme on one website but you’ve got access to the member access area to help you customize your theme and you also have access to detailed theme tutorials.  This is something I’ve always liked about Templatic’s WordPress Themes (formerly PremiumThemes.net); they support you past the initial sale and show you how and where you can customize it.

The Multiple Use License costs $99 and with this you get access to all the things mentioned in the single use license except you get the PSD files (Photoshop Documents) and you can deploy it an unlimited number of times.

And if you really like the themes that Templatic has, paying the fee of $279 (regularly $399) for unlimited access to Templatic’s Theme Club is well worth the money.  It gives you access to all the themes Templatic offers plus any new themes coming out.  It’s their best deal by far.

Many professionals today are using the web in new and interesting ways to promote themselves, their businesses and build a “network” for their businesses.  I ran across AgentPress which is a premium WordPress theme designed with the Real Estate professional in mind.

AgentPress was developed by the team at StudioPress whom I’ve had a chance to review in the past with some of their other Premium WordPress Themes.  AgentPress is not only a Premium WordPress Theme but also offers people who purchase the theme the chance to have it professionally installed and optimized for SEO with the latest and greatest WordPress plug-ins including the “All-in-one SEO Pack”.  I had a chance to look at the “inner-workings” of this website theme in action and review the pros and cons of the AgentPress WordPress theme.

What I love about the AgentPress Theme

Someone did their homework – It seems like someone did their homework about the Real Estate profession in general and applied it to this theme.  That’s the truly great thing about the AgentPress WordPress Theme.  From the page layout for multiple agent real estate firms to the “Featured Properties” content areas that are available on the main page.

Professional Image – Being professional calls for a website that can deliver a professional image and this WordPress Theme definitely does that from the header of the website down to the footer.  I like the fact that you can add your personal biography of people working at your organization with this theme.

The “Property Search” Widget – Now this is a cool feature that this theme offers.  When visitors come to your website after you’ve installed and are using AgentPress your visitors will be able to “Search by Price”, “Search by Type”, “Search by Location” and “Search by Bedrooms”.  From there you can set up listings for properties for sale that are in a certain price range, real estate based on its location which the search pulls by going through your website.  It’s some very useful functionality that could be applied to other sales professionals from automotive sales, specialty equipment or machinery just to name a few examples.

Not your “average” contact form – The contact form is also customized to grab specific information that someone looking for a real estate agent would give such as “Budget for purchasing a home”, “Reason for contacting” as well as the standard contact information.

Things that I don’t like about the AgentPress Theme

When I was reviewing this WordPress theme I had trouble finding flaws with it.  It’s a solid, standup theme and the only thing I can say is that it’s specifically gearing towards real estate agents so it may not fit your specific needs without some serious customization for your own business’ needs.  Naturally if you are going to buy a website theme like this some you are going to end up customizing it for your needs but if you are looking at this theme as the “be all” and “end all” for you this is something that could affect you putting together a great website.

3 Reasons why you should run out and buy the AgentPress Theme

Here is a short list of 3 reasons that you should buy this theme…

1. The “property search” widget is awesome and very useful
2. The functionality is very well aligned with the goals of the website theme
3. The ability to customize the theme for your needs

How much does it cost?

There are 3 pricing points that depending on what you are looking for offer 3 different options for the AgentPress Theme cover a wide range of solutions to fit your needs.  I’ve broken them down for you to understand what you are actually paying for depending on the option that you choose.

The AgentPress Theme costs $99.95 will get you the WordPress Theme, access to the support forums should you need any help with customizing your theme or any problems you are running into and the ability to enhance your website’s layout fast and intuitively.

The AgentPress Basic Package costs $199.95 and gives you some more options including WordPress installation (they will install it for you!), basic WordPress plug-ins (Akismet, Feedburner feedsmith and WP Database manager) as well as theme demo account.

The AgentPress Premium Package costs $299.95 and is the best option for your money if you are not up for installing WordPress and the theme yourself.  It also includes premium WordPress plug-ins including the ones from the basic package and the All-in-one SEO Pack (which I recently reviewed here) and Google XML Sitemap Generator.  If you aren’t a “techie” than this is the package for you!

Every once in a while a theme comes along that isn’t really a theme. It’s really just awesome. Squeeze Theme from the creators of unique blog designs got together and did an interesting job of creating the concept of a “squeeze page” into an entire theme.

For those of you who are new to the term “Squeeze Page” it’s a web page that collects information from the visiting audience where the information collected is used for follow up marketing. Signs that you’ve created or are looking at a quality squeeze page are that success stories help the prospect (visitor) complete a buying decision. Another top characteristic is that great squeeze pages have is that they distract a visitor (aka “a prospect”) keeping them on page longer using a video and a compelling story to supply their information, usually a name and an email address.

Now getting back to the Squeeze Theme. Now that we know what a squeeze page is we are able to see the Squeeze Theme for what it really is.

Things that I really like about SqueezeTheme

A clean, professional layout – This theme makes great use of space and even though if you buy this particular theme and customize it; it is very well structured and allows you to get things up and running very fast.

It’s all about the “Squeeze”! – In online marketing, it’s all about getting your customers to convert and give you their information so that you can market to them more effectively and increase conversion rates. I’ve seen 4 templates that the SqueezeTheme has in its arsenal and I am happily surprised by them all. Sometimes you buy a website theme that’s a rip off but that’s NOT the case with SqueezeTheme

Enough resources to help even the most novice web designer or internet marketer – Another cool thing that Unique Blog Designs did when they created this theme is that they offer a “Resource Center” allowing you to grab tutorials and enhance the template that much further. This is definitely a big selling point that most website template and theme creators miss so I am glad to see it hear

Testing All Squeeze Pages 1, 2, 3! – Another big point to make about this website theme is the fact that you can make and deploy multiple squeeze pages, test them and improve them. This is a great thing that Unique Blog designs decided to focus on because as any internet marketer can attest to its all about testing to increase conversions and SqueezeTheme gets a big “A+” for remembering and implementing this concept into this theme.

Solid Browser Compatibility – I don’t say this often enough but the SqueezeTheme passed my expectations when I viewed it using Google Chrome, FireFox and Internet Explorer. It’s very very safe for human consumption (and to use of course).

Things that I don’t like about SqueezeTheme

There really isn’t anything that I don’t like about this particular theme. One word of caution that I can think of is that if you are new to web design and internet marketing some of the features might be a waste for the money if you aren’t prepared to learn something new.

4 reasons to buy the SqueezeTheme

The Squeeze theme comes with a variety of tools including a number of different templates to help you create squeeze pages.  Here are 4 different templates that the Squeeze Theme offers.

Costs

The Squeeze Theme is a little more costly than your average website theme, selling for $147 (Currently they’ve got it on sale for $97 dollars). There doesn’t seem to be any developer license costs to worry about but they make up for it with a higher cost per theme sale. The price is definitely worth it to have a system to squeeze names and grow your online business.

PremiumThemes.net has supplied some fine premium WordPress themes in the past and their latest theme called “Gourmet” is an excellent addition. PremiumThemes.net does not follow the standard and sometimes boring subject matter for creating themes which is a strength that they have going for them. The “Gourmet” premium WordPress theme that they’ve designed is great for small businesses with a physical store front, that have standard hours and specifically restaurants that have a menu that they want to be able to manage using a CMS like WordPress that makes it really easy to do.

Things that I love about the Gourmet premium WordPress theme

Finally a website theme that thinks about a small business owner – A lot of themes seem to focus on blogging or a business that is completely online without a physical business location. With this theme you have the ability to show your store hours, location information and even the latest special your business is running.

The Word of Mouth factor – One of the strongest factors for any business is word of mouth. Are people talking about your business? If they are then the next step is showcasing testimonials which are something the Gourmet theme will allow you to do.

Things that I don’t like about the Gourmet premium WordPress theme

Some IE (Internet Explorer) breakage – I currently test the themes using IE 6.x and 7.x and most times what I find in the themes is that Internet Explorer has problems with the CSS which keeps parts of the page from rendering correctly. With that said, in the Gourmet premium WordPress theme the breakage is minimal restricted to the drop-down menu. This is just something you should be aware of when buying this theme.

Other than that there is nothing that there is nothing else bad that I have to say about the Gourmet theme as I think it’s a great theme especially for shop owners looking to have a theme that they can adjust to their needs.

Why should you run out and buy this WordPress theme?

The Gourmet WordPress theme from PremiumThemes.net is a well structured and thought out website theme that allows you to control information like store hours, menu, testimonials, directions, featured specials and things of that nature. If for no other reason than that you should buy this theme however the layout is very clean and friendly making it easy to navigate that I also think makes it a great website theme.

How much is it going to cost me and what do I get for that?

PremiumThemes.net offers the Gourmet Theme both in a Basic license for $59.00 and also a Developer’s license for $99 which is very affordable if you own a physical business and really want to showcase it successfully.