Existing Customer?
If you are an existing customer, you should go straight to our Member Area. You can download theme, ask questions, get information on how to install, use, or customize your theme, request refunds, and do just about everything else in the Member Area.
If you have other questions that are not answered below, feel free to contact us.
Index of Questions
QUESTIONS ABOUT WORDPRESS
What is WordPress and what is a WordPress theme?
Is WordPress difficult to use?
Will these theme work on my free WordPress.com account?
I need a domain name and hosting. How do I do that?
Are the theme compatible with the most up-to-date version of WordPress?
Are theme widget ready and compatible with existing WordPress plugins and widgets?
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE THEME
Are they difficult to use and do I need to know HTML?
Can I customize the theme (ie, change backgrounds, colors, fonts, etc)?
Can I use vertical images?
Can I set the blog as my home page rather than a slide show?
Do your theme integrate easily with social media?
QUESTIONS ABOUT PAYMENT
How does the payment process work?
How do I get my theme?
Can I just buy the theme, or do I need to be a member?
What is your refund policy?
QUESTIONS ABOUT INSTALLATION
I need a domain name and hosting. How do I do that?
For any other questions about installation, use, or customization of your theme, see our Member Area. Please note that we only provide support to active customers.
QUESTIONS ABOUT SUPPORT
Which browsers, browser versions and operating systems do you test the theme on?
Can you recommend a hosting service?
Can I call you?
What kind of support is offered with a purchased theme?
What if I have more specific questions about customizing or tweaking the theme?
How often is the theme updated?
RIGHTS AND LICENSING QUESTIONS
What kind of license / rights are included in the purchase?
Are the stock photos featured in the theme demo/preview sites included in the purchase?
Am I able to modify the theme in any way?
Can I remove the credits in the footer?
Can I use the theme on multiple sites?
How long do I have the right to use the theme?
Does my purchase include rights to use the NextGen plugin and the JW Image Rotator?
Can I buy these templates and use them to generate websites for resale or redistribution to third party clients?
QUESTIONS ABOUT WORDPRESS
WordPress is a free content management system that provides an easy way of creating and maintaining websites. WordPress is known to be one of the most user-friendly and flexible platforms for websites. You can see more information about WordPress at WordPress.org. A Theme is simply a web template for WordPress-based sites. In WordPress, you can change the overall look of your site with a few mouse clicks by changing theme. When you change Theme, all of your content (images, blog posts, etc) remain intact. Only the appearance changes. The Photocrati Theme are high-quality, feature-rich, optimized WordPress theme built for customers who want a polished design without having to pay thousands of dollars for a custom web design.
Is WordPress difficult to use?
WordPress is widely recognized to be one of the most user-friendly website platforms in existence. While it may take newcomers a few days to learn their way around, using WordPress is no more difficult than using office applications like Microsoft Word or Excel. When you start using WordPress, you are also joining an active community of millions of users who provide substantial support and guidance to each other online.
Will these theme work on my free WordPress.com account?
WordPress.com is a site that offers free blog accounts that are hosted for you on the WordPress.com. To use a WordPress.com account, you do not need your own domain name, and you do not need to install WordPress. Unfortunately, you cannot use our theme on a WordPress.com account. You can only use the Photocrati theme on a self-hosted WordPress blog – that is, a WordPress site that you’ve installed on your own domain.
I need a domain name and hosting. How do I do that?
If you do not have a domain name, we would suggest buying your domain name and doing your hosting through Bluehost. Go to Bluehost and click “Sign Up Now.” Bluehost will ask you to choose a domain name. If the domain you choose is not available, they will ask you to choose another. Once you’ve found a domain name, they will guide you through the process of setting up a hosting account. Once you’ve gone through their purchase process, they will set up your account and you will receive an email with log in information. Log into your hosting account at Bluehost and install WordPress using Bluehost’s “one-click” install process. For further information on WordPress installation and setting, you can visit our Member Area if you are an existing customer.
Do all the theme work with the most recent version of WordPress?
Yes, all our theme are compatible with the most up-to-date version of WordPress. Whenever WordPress releases a new version, we update WordPress on all our servers and demo theme to ensure things work smoothly.
Are your theme compatible with plugins and widgets?
Yes, our theme to be compatible with most standard plugins and widgets. But due to the sheer numbers of plugins and widgets available we cannot guarantee compatibility with them all. Thus, some plugins and widgets may cause the theme to “break” in certain browsers. We make every attempt to prepare our theme for them, but cannot guarantee it will work in every situation.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE THEME
Are they difficult to use and do I need to know HTML?
You don’t need to know any HTML, CSS or other code to use or customize our theme. We’ve developed a great options page that allows you to change almost everything about your site with a few intuitive mouse clicks. You SHOULD, however, be prepared to set up and manage your own website. If you decide to have your own website, you will need to set up a domain name and hosting, learn how to use your websites CPanel or administrative area, and learn how to use FTP to access and transfer files if need be to your website. It is possible to run a website with our theme without knowledge of FTP, but you will limit yourself. Buying into a self-hosted WordPress solution means being willing to learn what it takes to manage your own website.
Can I customize the theme (ie, change backgrounds, colors, fonts, etc)?
One of the best things about our theme is how easily they can be customized. We have set it up so you can easy change backgrounds, colors, sidebar sizes, font styles/colors, link styles, header logos, and almost everything else about your website easily with a few mouse clicks.
Yes, you can insert and use vertical images anywhere on the site, including the homepage slideshow. Our demo theme use all horizontal images on the front page slide show because we think horizontal images fit the look and feel of a home page better. But you can use any size image.
Can I set the blog as my home page rather than a slide show?
Yes, you can use your blog, a gallery page, your about page, a slideshow, or just about anything else as your home page. There is an option to specify exactly which page you want to show as your “home” page.
Do your theme integrate easily with social media?
Yes. On our options panel, you can copy in your Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and other addresses, and then click a button to automatically display social media icons on your blog’s sidebar. It doesn’t get much easier. Of course, if you want more complex displays for social media, you also have access to hundreds of freely available WordPress widgets that display things like Twitter or Facebook feeds on your sidebar and give you control over formatting of those feeds. Using basic WordPress plugins, you can also display “Share This”, “Digg”, “Retweet” and other icons along with each of your blog posts.
PAYMENT AND BILLING QUESTIONS
How does the payment process work?
We have a streamlined and highly purchase process that is entirely on our site. You are not redirected. Our payment process is secured by Verisign, and facilitated by Paypal. Both are global leaders in providing secured transactions. Your information is kept confidential and never shared with any third party. You may pay with any major credit card.
Immediately after your payment is processed, you will arrive at a confirmation page and you will receive an email that will direct you to our member area. You can log in to our member area at any time and download our theme from there. You will always be able to download the most up-to-date theme at any time. When we release updates, we will let you know via email and through your theme’s administrative area, and you can log in and download any updates. If we release new theme after your purchase, you will also be able to download those. And you will also have access to video tutorial, SEO tips, our support forum and database!
Can I just buy the theme or do I have to be a member?
Purchasing the theme automatically makes you a member of the Photocrati Community, and access to the Member area.
We offer a 100% No Questions Asked Guarantee. We give you thirty days from your purchase date to try your theme. If you decide it’s not the right solution for you, you can email us or contact us through the member area and we’ll issue a full refund. Easy. No questions asked.
SUPPORT QUESTIONS
Which browsers, browser versions and operating systems do you test the theme on?
We cross-test theme on current and recent versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. Regarding operating systems, our theme is independent of the operating system you use and will work as long as Wordpress is installed correctly.
Can you recommend a web hosting service?
We strongly recommend using Bluehost, which offers a simple one-click installation of WordPress. Just go to their homepage, click on “Sign Up Now” and they will guide you through the selection of your domain and the set up of your hosting service.
We do not offer phone-based support. This also enables us to keep our prices low for you the customer. We offer rigorous support though our support forum.
What kind of support is offered with a purchased Theme?
All members have unlimited access to our professionally-staffed support forum and our knowledge database with answer to hundreds of common questions. You’ll also have access to SEO tips, video tutorials, theme updates, and any new theme we release. We like to think of ourselves as your partners in helping you create, manage, and publicize a great website. You’ll also know our team of programmers and WordPress gurus is constantly working to add powerful new improvements to your site. It’s like having your own web design and programming team on call.
What if I have more specific questions about customizing or tweaking the theme?
We’ve designed our theme so most customization can be done easily without special technical knowledge. For those who want to go beyond the built in customization options we provide, our Support Forum is a great place to ask questions related to theme customization, and we’re happy to answer most basic questions about customization. We do ask that you are reasonable – we can’t help you redesign our theme to the point where they are essentially new websites. For those who want personalized one-on-one customization work, we do offer installation and customization packages at reasonable prices.
How often is the theme updated?
We update our theme any time we discover a bug or there is a new feature that we feel should be added. Anytime we release an update, we will alert you and provide instructions.
RIGHTS AND LICENSING QUESTIONS
What kind of license / rights are included in the purchase?
All our theme are licensed under the GPL general public license (see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html). Our theme may be used by our customers on as many websites as they like.
Are the stock photos featured in the theme demo/preview sites included in the purchase?
No. Due to licensing agreements, we cannot include stock photos/images in our templates. However, for top-quality, royalty-free and affordable photos, check out iStockphoto.
Am I able to modify the theme in any way?
Absolutely. The almost infinite possibility for customization is one of the most valuable aspects of WordPress. You are free to customize and modify your theme in any way you like. Our theme were created for development – this means that images, colors, fonts, layouts and anything else related to the design of the theme can be changed or modified.
Can I remove the credit in the footer?
Yes, you are free to modify the footer and remove our credit line, though it’s always nice to leave it in and we do appreciate it when people leave the credit there.
Can I use the theme on multiple sites?
Yes, you can use our theme on multiple sites.
How long do I have the right to use the theme?
You have lifetime rights to use your theme. There is only a 1 time payment of $79 for your theme and membership. As long as you remain a member (no refund has been submitted) you will have access to updates and support.
Does my purchase include rights to use the NextGen plugin and the JW Image Rotator?
Yes, but there are some limits associated with the JW Image Rotator. Photocrati theme make use of both the NextGen Gallery plugin and the JW Image Rotator. Both are excellent third party applications provided free by their respective creators under certain conditions. We have no copyright or ownership of these applications. The NextGen plugin, as a free WordPress plugin, falls under GNU licensing and may be downloaded, redistributed, and modified. Visit the NextGen Gallery Plugin homepage for more information.
The JW Image Rotator, which is the basis for slideshows in our templates, comes with more restrictive use rights, which you can find on the application’s homepage at LongTail Video. Longtail distributes the JW Image Rotator for free for non-commercial use, but charges a licensing fee for site’s that use the JW Image Rotator for commercial use. Photocrati has purchased an enterprise license from Longtail that gives our customers the right to use the file for any purpose, including commercial. Please note, however, that this license puts some limits on the redistribution of websites using our templates. If you have created a site that is legitimately for your personal use, and later decide to sell it, the license will travel to the buyer of your site. However, the license does not cover unlimited third party redistribution and resale – that is, buying our theme with the intent to develop and resell sites based on them. If you are a developer and would like to commercially resell sites based on our theme, you would also need to purchase a new theme for each of your clients (so they are covered by our license) or you will need to purchase an enterprise license from Longtail that allows you to commercially redistribute the JW Image Rotator.
Can I buy these templates and use them to generate websites for resale or redistribution to third party clients?
Unfortunately, no. As noted above, our theme make use of an enterprise license for the JW Image Rotator. NextGen depends on the JW Image Rotator to generate slideshows. Longtail Video, the maker of the JW Image Rotator, distributes it for free for non-commercial use, but charges for any commercial use. Our enterprise license covers any use by our immediate customers, but does not extend beyond our immediate customers to third party buyers except in the case of a legitimate sale of a customer’s site (ie, where our clients create a site that is legitimately for themselves, but later decide to sell it). Longtail recognizes it cannot prevent our customers from selling their own sites, but the license does prohibit the commercial redistribution of the Image Rotator (ie, making many sites based on the theme specifically for resale).