Comments on: Free WordPress Themes – With a Catch

By: Benjamin Huebner

Benjamin Huebner — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:52:18 +0000

I don´mind if there is a link in a free theme related to the theme topic. But in this case I totally agree with you.

This seems as someone is selling your advertising space, isn´t it?
Benjamin Huebner´s last blog ..Christmas Blog Templates – Free with PLR!

By: Sire

Sire — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:54:10 +0000

I came across something similar to this awhile back, and I didn’t feel guilty at all about removing the links. Having said that I decided later that the theme was no longer for me, as why should I send credit to the creator, I left that link in, when he had tried something so sneaky. He should have left it on the demo site so that people knew what they were getting.
Sire´s last blog ..Why I No Longer Link To The Likes Of ProBlogger And John Chow

By: ad space use on blog

ad space use on blog — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:33:17 +0000

[...] post recommendation of the day: Kikolani, whose real name is Kristi, wrote some days ago about “free wordpress themes with a catch” Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of free wordpress themes, I am using one myself [...]

By: SEO Company

SEO Company — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:20:21 +0000

nice themes while the time of theme selection keep in mind SEO benefit some theme give best structure for your internal linking it’s help full for getting PR nice article kristi!!
SEO Company´s last blog ..Dynamic Parameter Handling in Google Webmaster Tool

By: Premium WordPress Theme Clubs - Best Value

Premium WordPress Theme Clubs - Best Value — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:06:52 +0000

[...] these free themes contain links that quite possibly “evil” … as Kristi recently discovered in Free WordPress Themes – with a catch.Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in any way trying to imply that ALL free wordpress themes are “bad”. [...]

By: George Serradinho

George Serradinho — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:20:49 +0000

That is one of the reasons I don’t like using free themes, always problems with backlinks and encoded links. It’s always better to check the source code to make double sure that this practice is not being excerised on your site.
George Serradinho´s last blog ..Enhance Your Featured Posts using Smooth Slider WordPress Plugin

By: Keith@Norman Rockwell Art

Keith@Norman Rockwell Art — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:15:46 +0000

I would not feel guilty about the modifications. There is no telling what kind of intent the author actually had with that hidden code.

The fact that it would hijack your whole site when the links were removed or modified implies to me that the intent was not good.

Either way there should have been disclosure about the links and the encoding.
Keith@Norman Rockwell Art´s last blog ..Nov 22, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute, is home to Norman Rockwell painting

By: James White

James White — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:33:18 +0000

I think it’s becoming more and more common place. I came across something similar the other day, having never encountered it up until then. Glad you found a way round it and gave everyone a few hints on how to solve it themselves should they need to.

By: Ricky

Ricky — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:54:06 +0000

I am not shocked to see the result. I have tried many free themes and later I realized that it is good to make your own theme if you have enough coding knowledge or money in the pocket.
This is a usual case when somebody downloads illegal themes (paid theme from file sharing service like rapidshare) from file sharing service. It is best to download the theme from author’s website or trusted website only. Thank you for the insight.
Ricky ´s last blog ..Get Google Alerts Of Your Favorite Tweets According To The Keyword(s)

By: Basin Glass Co.

Basin Glass Co. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:56:35 +0000

That is a frustrating situation for sure. Normally I wouldn’t care much about what they put at the bottom of the page but as you mentioned you never know how Google may react to the outbound links. What confuses me is that the page designers are hoping to get some link juice over time from their theme but they are not thinking about who may use the theme? What if many of the users become shady sites in Google’s eyes- this ends up being counterproductive for the theme designers and their mission to get link juice.