Unfair Hard Rejection – Request for Reassessment & Feedback

Envato Authors Theme Authors
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I am writing to you as an Envato Elite Author with over five years of experience on the platform. My name is Mohamed Ridhwan and I co-founded WordPressRiver, where I have successfully uploaded multiple WordPress themes to Envato Market.

I recently received a hard rejection for my theme, Agznko | Creative Agency WordPress Theme, in the Creative Category. The rejection email stated that my theme “needs significant improvements in terms of aesthetics and attention to detail,” which I found to be quite discouraging. After extensive analysis, I believe this rejection is unfair and inconsistent with the quality standards upheld by Envato.

This is my first time requesting a reassessment for a rejection, and I understand that the review process must be rigorous. However, I feel that Agznko is of comparable, if not higher, quality to several recently approved themes in the same category. After carefully comparing my theme to a **newly approved theme found several discrepancies that suggest a lack of consistency in the review process.

Below, I’ve outlined the key points that illustrate why I believe the rejection of my theme is unjustified:

  1. Design Aesthetics & Attention to Detail (Removed due to ToS) approved on 05/02/2025, contains basic design flaws, such as poor typography and inconsistent design balance. Despite these issues, it was approved, indicating an inconsistency in how themes are reviewed.

  2. Link Functionality
    The other theme contains several broken links, impacting its usability, whereas Agznko features fully functional links that provide a seamless user experience.

  3. Video Evidence
    I’ve attached a video that demonstrates the lack of design cohesion in the other theme, which was approved, compared to the well-polished Agznko theme.

  4. Compliance with Envato’s Standards
    My theme adheres to Envato’s WordPress theme standards, including the use of TGMPA plugin, One Click Demo Import, and passing the Envato Theme Test. Additionally, Agznko has been thoroughly tested and is fully functional, meeting all quality and coding requirements.

  5. Live Demo
    You can view the live demo of Agznko here: Agznko Live Demo

I have also created a support ticket with Envato (Ticket ID: 3788614) regarding this matter, and I have included a detailed PDF with screenshots that further illustrate the issues I raised and demonstrate the theme’s quality.

Given the above points, I strongly believe that Agznko should have passed the review process. I feel the current decision is not aligned with the quality that Envato upholds for its marketplace.

I have always valued Envato’s commitment to excellence, and I remain dedicated to contributing high-quality themes to the platform. I sincerely hope that my request will be given careful consideration, and I look forward to a resolution. @KingDog @BenLeong @Kristinbrodie @Will4490 @kailoon

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Best regards,
Mohamed Ridhwan
Elite Author – WordPressRiver

1 Like
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Thanks for sharing this topic. The same things happened to me continuously in the last 3 months. I am an elite author. From 2023 to the end of 2024, most of my items were approved without any soft rejection. But recently (In the last 4 months), most of my WordPress theme and Site templates got hard rejected, and I got the common message without any explanation. We always want good-quality items to be approved and low-quality items to be rejected. I always appreciate good quality items, but when I see some item got approved, which is much worse than my item (which was rejected), this makes me confused and this time I think about what are the main requirements and what I need to do.

Most item has two versions: HTML & WordPress. My average investment for each item is $600 minimum. I am investing here because I have 8 years of experience and have 80+ approved items, which is not bad for creating new items and investing in my business. For each rejection, I am losing my confidence and courage to invest.

I don’t have any problem with hard rejection. I also want good-quality items, but I will request the reviewer to approve only the quality items. WordPressRiver mentioned an item and I also have too many items link which is actually not fit for 2025.

Thanks

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@WordPressRiver

Clearly you are a talented author and I can understand your point of view. However, are you sure it was a Hard Rejection, because I always understood that hard rejections gave no reasons why a submission would have been rejected. In your post you stated that the comments were:

The rejection email stated that my theme “needs significant improvements in terms of aesthetics and attention to detail,” so that makes me think it was a soft rejection but that might be how I read it.

I agree that @KingDog or @BenLeong are best placed to help you understand this further. I am just a moderator LOL :wink: but well done it looks nice to me!

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Ben and I don’t do any of the reviewing, so like you we need to go with the recommendations of the Review team. It seems like the item has a long way to go with design to make it viable.

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Thanks for your reply. Yes it was a hard reject with default rejection mail for product which has been approved already in HTML category. The mail states “ Thank you for your submission. We have completed our review of “Agznko | Creative Agency WordPress Theme” and unfortunately we found it isn’t at the quality standard required to move forward, and you won’t be able to re-submit this item again.

Here is the feedback from our review team:

Unfortunately ‘WordPress’ has higher standards in terms of aesthetics. An approved design in other categories does not guarantee an approval under ThemeForest’s WordPress category. Your design has an interesting starting concept, but it needs significant improvements in terms of aesthetics and attention to details.

As higher quality items become available in the marketplace, approval requirements will increase to maintain appropriate marketplace quality.

While I’d be able to provide feedback as to how to get this approved, I can only do after it has crossed a certain threshold, quality wise. I’m sorry to say this isn’t there yet.”

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Thank you for your response.

Regarding your comment, “The design has to go a long way,” if you are referring to the video I sent, I would like to clarify that the theme shown in the video was already approved in the WordPress creative category on February 5, 2025. Interestingly, my theme was rejected on the same day.

To provide further clarity, I am sharing both my hard-rejected product’s live link and the approved theme’s ThemeForest product link. You can compare them yourself and see how a design that seemingly does not meet approval standards was accepted, while mine was rejected. Additionally, if you review the video and the attached PDF, you will notice how basic the approved design is compared to mine.

Could you kindly clarify why my item was hard rejected while a theme with a lower-quality design was approved in the same category on the same day? Does Envato consider my design to be of lower quality than the approved one?

Additionally, I would like to bring up another concern. Envato’s average turnaround time states 5 days, but in reality, the review process took 8 days. I understand that the stated time is an average, but after checking with other authors, many mentioned that their reviews took between 8–11 days as well. Could you please clarify why this discrepancy exists?

Lastly, I want to highlight an experience I had with a previous submission. One of my items was hard rejected on October 31, 2024, with the same rejection message. However, I re-uploaded it the next day with only minor changes, and it was directly approved for sale. That theme is now generating over 100 sales per month. Had I not re-uploaded it, I would have lost a valuable product due to what seems to have been an error in the review process.

I appreciate your time and look forward to your response.

Best regards,
Mohamed Ridhwan

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I think this was over done, when entering your page I feel like I seen it again too many times maybe this is the reason, the marketplace is saturated with this kind of design?

Also it seems like a copied/modified idea from Gixus | Business Consulting & IT Agency WordPress Preview - ThemeForest

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As I am not directly involved in reviewing items here, I am not in the best position to comment on individual cases. However, to clarify a few other important points raised:

Regardless of the evidence (as there will always be examples), the sheer volume of submissions and the inherent subjectivity of the process make it impractical to allow appeals for every decision.

If as below you are concerned about review times now, imagine how much longer they would be if authors were able to challenge every verdict?

Regarding review times – these are beyond Envato’s control, and some variation is inevitable. Envato could employ more reviewers, but equally authors (in general, not referring to anyone specifically) could also take greater care in assessing the quality of their submissions. There is simply not an absolute, black-and-white approach to regulating this process.

Finally, calling out specific authors or items is not permitted for obvious reasons and should be upheld.

1 Like
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I appreciate your feedback and understand your concerns. However, I’d like to clarify my post. My point was not just about my design being hard rejected—I’ve faced multiple hard rejections before and have always used them as opportunities to improve and launch new products.

This time, I raised questions because I noticed similar designs getting approved, and I wanted to ensure fair evaluation across the marketplace. If my design truly did not meet the required standards, I fully accept the rejection. However, I believe consistency in the approval process is important.

Regarding your comment about the design being copied or modified from Gixus, I’d like to clarify that the Gixus theme was designed by @validthemes, while the Agznko design was created by @orbitaps. Since both are different authors from whom I sourced designs, there is no possibility of copying.

I’m always open to constructive feedback and committed to improving my work, but I also want to ensure that the review process remains fair for all authors. Thanks again for your input!

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You can’t argue with the reviewer I heard this the hard way, I worked on a theme eight months and got a hard reject no reason, it was a horrible experience.

I am sorry for your reject but in a na oversaturated market we need to come up with original stuff to be sure a hard reject will not happen!

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I appreciate your response and the clarification provided. However, I’d like to address a few key points:

  1. This was not a normal appeal just because my item was hard rejected. I have faced multiple hard rejections in the past—both before and after my first approval—and have always taken them as opportunities to improve. I never complained but instead refined my work. However, this time, I could clearly see that some themes with basic designs were getting approved while mine was rejected, which raised concerns about consistency in the review process.

  2. My mention of review times was not a complaint about Envato’s review process but rather about the accuracy of the displayed average review time. The website states 5 days, but in reality, it takes 8–11 days. While I completely understand that reviewers work hard and review times can vary, providing a more accurate estimate would help authors better manage expectations.

  3. I agree that authors should ensure their items meet the highest quality standards. In my case, I took great care to meet all technical and coding requirements, yet my item was hard rejected solely based on design. After making only minor adjustments (about 2 hours of work) and resubmitting, it was immediately approved. This suggests that the review process is sometimes subjective, even when an item is already well-prepared for approval. I highly respect the reviewers’ valuable time and always ensure my submissions are of the highest quality to avoid unnecessary resubmissions.

  4. I sincerely apologize for mentioning a specific item, as I now understand the guidelines against this. My intent was not to single out another author but to highlight the quality standards set by Envato by referencing recently approved products. I was only trying to understand what is considered acceptable.

I appreciate Envato for addressing my ticket and providing valuable insights. They have assured me that they will review the decision to ensure it aligns with their normal standards and policies. While they cannot guarantee a different outcome, they acknowledged that it might have been a case for a soft rejection instead of a hard rejection, or the original decision may still stand.

I especially want to thank Stephen Cronin – Content Specialist (Web | Code | Security) for taking the time to reply and assist me in understanding this issue. Their willingness to review my concerns means a lot, and I truly appreciate their effort.

For now, I am awaiting their final decision. If my item truly deserved a hard rejection, I fully accept it and will take this as an opportunity to further improve my work and meet even higher standards.I appreciate Envato for addressing my ticket and providing valuable insights.

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@WordPressRiver

I think having caught up on this topic and the amazing detailed answers given to you by other trusted forum members, that yes you did the right thing by wanting to challenge the outcome of your submission.

You clearly are wanting to make sure that your scripts/themes are of a high quality and I can see how you might feel having a setback or rejection.

Keep the faith because without authors like yourself, then perhaps the marketplace and the forum would not be as good as it is.
Have a nice weekend!

2 Likes
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Do you not think that if Envato were to review same/unchanged item because the author disagrees sets a dangerous precedent?

I mean this entirely separate to this individual case and the evidence that @WordPressRiver is providing

If they do it for one then they have to do it for everyone.

There are tens of thousands of submissions every month, the majority get rejected, in a sizeable % of cases where the author disagrees and often does not have the experience to understand why…

If even 1% of those currently rejected start asking for reviews of the decision it would create chaos.

Right or wrong and there will never be a flawless method without errors, the current process is the only realistic solution

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The review process is very bad! They just send one premade email for any hard rejection type! ("Unfortunately ‘WordPress’ has higher standards in terms of aesthetics… " ). So how we should understand the problem!!!

They should have multiple readymade emails and send a related email for any kind of rejection. Examples:

  1. It is similar to other items
  2. It has weak typography
  3. It has a copywriting issue
  4. It has poor design
  5. it has a code issue
  6. etc

Or describe the problem in one line paragraph. Does it take a lot of time??!!

Every time we got a hard rejection email, we were confused and didn’t understand the problem.

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They sort of already do this with soft rejections that are closer to the standard.

Your case as a proven author may be an exception but generally speaking items hard rejected are deemed too far off the standard to make feedback effective.

The gap means that there is too much chance that the author will not be able to correctly understand or action what is said, which in turn is most likely to lead to even further confusion and delays.

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I believe my submission was unfairly rejected—could you please review it again and share some feedback?

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With respect this is exactly why authors are not and should not be allowed to request repeat reviews.

No one in the forums can assist with the process but you can share your demo link here if you want feedback on what the issue may be.

2 Likes
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Topic closed - reason for doing so is as @charlie4282 for clearly stated, authors should not be allowed to request repeated reviews. If your item is not accepted, then that is it and you have to move on!