Great theme, terrible support

  • ANOTHER UPDATE: Rarely have I seen a vendor dredge up so many shills to counter a negative review. DO NOT USE THIS THEME. When you leave negative feedback they will come out of the woodwork to shout you down.

    If I could give this theme negative stars I would. They are now arguing with this review and blaming me for my problems. THIS THEME IS NOT WORTH THE TROUBLE. If the best support they can offer is to tell you that THEIR forums are better than THIS forum then THAT’S A RED FLAG. When they say it’s not their fault if other themes successfully preserve data across upgrades and HTTP-to-HTTPS migrations THAT’S A RED FLAG.

    These guys are sloppy and unprofessional. PERIOD.

    Every time you have a problem with Weaver Xtreme you are told in the WordPress-dot-Org forum that they don’t monitor that forum very regularly and you should report bugs in THEIR forum. But creating an account on the Weaver forum is not so easy.

    I just don’t think this theme should be used by anyone until the lack of reliable support is addressed. Yes, we’re talking about a theme you can use for free, but there is the upsell. There are more stable themes out there.

    We originally started with Weaver, then had to upgrade to Weaver II, then had to upgrade to Weaver Xtreme. Every time we lost settings, found it impossible to work with older graphics, and had to learn a whole new user interface. We manage too many Websites to keep up with Weaver’s erratic behavior AND wait around for fixes for their bugs. I would give the theme ZERO stars if I could.

    Once you know how it works it’s pretty easy to set up a nice-looking site but you don’t know when something will break and then you’re stuck. Thanks, but no thanks.

    • This topic was modified 7 years ago by sffandom. Reason: Theme designer is trying to undermine the validity of this review
    • This topic was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by sffandom.
Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • appleisle

    (@appleisle)

    Hi Michael, I thought it important to provide an ‘unbiased’ feedback of your review as unfortunately I think you have gone off ‘half cocked’ as we’d say in Australia.

    Like yourself, I started with Weaver (about yr 2002) and initially purchased the “Plus” version at a very economical price. Then I have upgraded on ONLY the FREE Versions ever since and never had a support issue.

    I switched to Xtreme (Free Version) for at least 3 recent websites and had ‘zero’ issues, right now I’m in the middle of a new site. I was referring the client to review the Theme and thus found your post and just had to provide a balance feedback view.

    Never in 15 plus years have I found a support issue with the Weaver Forum. It’s not difficult to create a support account. Their platform is stable and if you take the time to learn from tutorials (of which there are many) the basic free theme is chock full of extras you just don’t get in other themes.

    Regards, Dennis

    Thread Starter sffandom

    (@sffandom)

    Given that many requests for help have gone unanswered for weeks or months on www.remarpro.com, the site where people are downloading the theme, I would say your “unbiased” feedback is missing some pertinent information.

    This is the site where people are asking for help. And if, like me, they have trouble signing up for the forum (for whatever reason), then this is the only site where some people CAN ask for help.

    And given the LACK OF SUPPORT that entails, reasonable people should see where my frustration comes in.

    I have to support Weaver Xtreme on dozens of Websites. I am removing it from them as soon as I can find suitable replacements (allowing for design preferences on each site). Weaver Xtreme’s latest faux pas, the nagging dialog that won’t go away if the Jetpack mobile theme is activated, is just one of many examples of poor user experience.

    The fact I have to constantly save the settings, and then they don’t carry over from an HTTP to HTTPS version of the site, is also annoying as hell. I really have having to save all the widget data externally and then reconfiguring them when I convert sites to HTTPS.

    The list of problems with the theme just goes on and on. Yes, it’s a FREE version and that entitles no one to much of anything. But people deserve to know about some of the problems that OTHER THEMES AVOID.

    Theme Author wpweaver

    (@wpweaver)

    The Weaver Xtreme’s own support site is one of the best available for any WordPress theme or plugin. Usually questions are answered within a few hours, a day or two at the worst.

    The HTTP/HTTPS issue you mentioned is 100% not theme related. Seriously. Handling HTTPS is entirely within the realm of WordPress core, as well as your original content. If you hardwire a URL with https://, then you will have to manually fix them. While switching from http to https can be non-trivial, that has nothing to do with the theme.

    As for the JetPack mobile theme warning, that is essential because that JetPack option totally breaks Weaver Xtreme. MANY users of JetPack had checked that option because of very confusing wording from JetPack about that option. Then we got a bunch of support questions because people’s sites were then broken. That warning is simply good policy.

    I’m sorry you’ve had issues. But our support forum is second to none, and the over flexibility and reliability of Weaver Xtreme is also second to none.

    Thread Starter sffandom

    (@sffandom)

    Given that other themes preserve the widget data when going from HTTP to HTTPS and Weaver Xtreme never does, it is CLEARLY theme-related. You missed something. And instead of chasing down the issue and seeing what you can do about it you’re arguing with someone who is reporting the problem.

    If you think THAT is great customer support, I assure you, it’s not.

    And, again, forcing people to deal with a nagging modal window is a SUB-PAR user experience. You should be taking this feedback as good reason to change what you’re doing because what you’re doing IS pissing off some of your once strong supporters.

    Michael, I have switched at least half a dozen Websites with Weaver from http to https and I have had no issue at all with missing widget data or any other hazzle. So I can assure you, whatever issue you have with switching from http to https, it is not within the responsibility of Weaver Xtreme.

    Plus, I totally agree that the Weaver-Support-Forum is one of the best Support Forums I’ve ever seen. And I don’t get what your issue is with registering to that Forum, as it’s simply registering and thats about it.

    And I am also with Bruce on the Jetpack-Warning: If some Plugin-Setup is breaking your theme, than that theme should clearly provide a warning on this. Some plugins are doing the same, e.g. YOAST if you have another Sitemap-Plugin installed that’s interfering. I do appreciate this, as it saves a lot of confusion in case this is breaking something.

    Thread Starter sffandom

    (@sffandom)

    And tell Bruce that sending more shills here just makes him look even more stupid. You people need to fix your damn theme and stop arguing with the universe.

    Theme Author wpweaver

    (@wpweaver)

    Sorry, Michael, I have not prompted or asked any of these other folks to reply to your messages. No shills here, just happy Weaver Xtreme users as far as I can tell.

    Not every theme is for everyone, but Weaver Xtreme remains the most flexible theme available with more options than any other theme. You can build virtually any design without the need to resort to child themes. No other theme can say that.

    Thread Starter sffandom

    (@sffandom)

    And yet magically you and they continue to bump up this discussion with unnecessary commentary. Accept the negative feedback graciously and improve your theme. Don’t argue with the people who find that it doesn’t perform as well as others.

    Hi Michael,
    Like many others I have been using Weaver for many years on a number of websites and have never had any issue with the theme.
    To expect a third party site to handle issues you might have is not the best solution. To open an account with Weaver is extremely easy and they are giving a fast response.
    I do not think your main issue is with Weaver, your issues sound more personal. I have not experienced any issues going from HTTP to HTTPS as you obviously have so for me Weaver is the Theme I’m sticking with unless something dramatically negative happens.
    The theme is the most flexible I have found and I am very grateful to the developers.

    Thread Starter sffandom

    (@sffandom)

    The problems I reported are with Weaver Xtreme. It would really be helpful if people would just stop trying to say I am wrong.

    YOU are wrong.

    The theme loses data during conversions. It happened on every conversion. The theme inserted a ridiculous and unnecessary popup. Yada yada yada.

    If you’re happy, great. I have to maintain hundreds of Websites. Weaver Xtreme is a bad solution for that kind of scale.

    • This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by sffandom.
Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
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