Why was "Boo - Multipurpose WordPress Theme" removed from ThemeForest?

June 20 I discovered the Boo - Multipurpose WordPress Theme and then the next day, June 21, it was gone. How come? Will it come back?

This was unexpected and I have a bad feeling it is not coming back.

We have based a big site on this theme for an organization that took us months of work and now the clock is ticking till we need to change theme because of lack of updates - the same for Modern Events Calendar used in the same project - gone too. Both had good sales.

I do not know why the Theme was removed but this level of insecurity with items purchased here leads to other solutions. I will never again use any “small” theme from Themeforest for anything serious and will look elsewhere or custom for any bigger projects.

I am not saying that this is Envato’s fault but uncertainty is the last thing we need in our work. I am really disappointed right now and there is no explanation given either.

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Unfortunately as per T&Cs envato cannotmguarantee the lifespan and availability of items.

They do their best (and more than most) to protect buyers via guaranteed 6 months support free but unfortunately it is a downside to the business model…

Because envato don’t own copyright to any items for sale here they are able to offer greater quality and quantity at generally more competitive costs.

The downside is that this means that authors are free to remove their items at will and envato cannot allow future access to files once removed.

We’ve bought thousands of items and it’s not that common for items to be taken down.

It’s really a question of options - buyers take a risk that items may not be supported or live forever BUT pay less than $100 for something which custom built would be thousands if not tens of thousands of $. Also it’s worth considering that custom builds need updating too which usually cost more than the cost of a theme from here several times over.

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As I mentioned earlier I am not blaming Envato for the item removal but it just happened that two popular items used on the same site (which was BIG) got removed within 2-3 months.

I know custom solutions cost thousands but depending on the size of the customer this might be relevant or not. We are developing a custom solution right now + an app for a client and I am fully aware of that.

In any case I am also aware of the fact that Authors can remove their items with no notice but a proper “phase out” or even a notification when you have sold 4-5K + licenses just out of respect for your clients would be nice.

Such occurrences keep reminding me of the “Risk” of going with non Power Elite Authors for any bigger project which is bad. If everyone buys only the Big Names just to minimize risk then this hinders innovation.

My problem is not the amount of money paid for the Theme. This is minimal. The problem lies with the fact that we have to move a website with more than 100 Pages and more than 1,000 Lines of Custom CSS + Javascript to a new theme. This can’t be cheap. This is damage incurred because we chose not to buy the biggest Theme int he market which is here to stay, at least more than the small guy.

Dear ThemeRella Family,

From the first day, Themerella missioned “creating value by developing the best WordPress themes in the market.” We have helped over 14000 customers users to have their ideal website over 5 years, motivated by this mission. Our latest project Boo theme, we always proud of, is a product of more than two years of development which has been featured by Envato newsletter.

A few days ago, Envato deactivated our account without any notice. We’re still trying to understand the issue and resolve however Envato is a bit slow with their responses. Furthermore, we have already explained how critical the situation is for our users as they cannot download the item, unfortunately, what we all get is generic responses.

We want to announce that, we’ll never disappoint our users whatever the result is. Support and updates will be ongoing. You can track our Twitter and Facebook pages for updates. Moreover, one more thing to remind, we’ll never give up on our mission and vision.

Warmest Regards,
Your ThemeRella Family.

#StayStrong

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Good luck! Only the best

This is really good news! Boo is a really nice Theme to work with and we want to buy more licenses (already got 2) of it.

Maybe a Copyright issue with a library or something not that apparent to the “naked eye”.

Come on Envato work through such cases at a faster pace - these are “live” products and deactivating them like that is not good for anyone.

Could someone from Envato please chime in here? @KingDog @dtbaker @envato_emily @trent-aus @Sarah_G @Mini_Lou @jacobbednarz @SelinaKyle1 anyone???

It has been almost 2 weeks ago the Theme went offline. I cannot imagine an organisation like Envato is this slow? Is something else going on? Why not more transparency?

But what is wise for users / clients? Do we (do I) look for another template? Can we get our money back (if bought between now and 3 months ago)?

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I am really disappointed with the way they are handling this. It is like they don’t care about our customers and I mean our own customers not Envato’s.

They are selling “live products” that can disappear anytime without notice. So we can go to our customers and tell them about this “Joke” now while we have to spent literally 100s of hours or thousands of $$$ to migrate to another theme.

To be fair, Themerella stated that they will continue so this is ++++ fro them and will also support them but what they are telling me is the following:

“Avoid anything but the top 10 best selling themes here for anything big or more serious than a really small project because it can disappear into thin air without notice”

Am I wrong to believe this or will Envato sent me some people to correct the damage?

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Holy macrolle. Are you serious? Envato’s customer support is saying “to avoid anything but the top 10 best selling themes”? If so, can you post a screenshot? It’s not that I don’t believe you at all. I just really don’t understand. When I spoke to Themerella offline, they said their account got removed due to a “misunderstanding”. Based on the customer service by Envato vs Rella… I’d have to say the latter. I’m glad I got the theme from them directly… and am happy with their support so far.

But you’re right, we can’t just accept this as the answer. Even if Envato could respond with something like “The situation is being handled by representatives of Themerella and Envato”, it would be a response - albeit an unfair & insufficient one, but a response nonetheless… I think we deserve that, right?

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I am supporting Themerella all the way. They really produce some fantastic themes and their customer support is top notch even though they could just go quiet like other themes and leave any issues to be dealt with by Envato.

Envato is really dropping the ball here and I am pretty disappointed. They need to provide better updates when things like this happen, as it is clearly upsetting quite a large number of people. I have seen several posts on Facebook and Twitter complaining about this very issue regarding Themerella.

Hopefully, things get sorted out, but if not, I hope Themerella start selling their themes directly… I would be the first to buy another from them. @ThemerellaTeam keep doing what you doing… you have some of the best themes out there and myself and others are ready to buy more!!!

@KingDog - What is going on? Can we please get some support here? An update of any kind would be appreciated.

The reason I am even mentioning the “Top 10” is because given their sales they theoretically “could not be removed” that easily - it would be a loss. I am all in for supporting every author that produces quality work and prefer to stand out.

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Hey,

I’m not really sure of the details, but even if I was, it’s not something we would discuss on the forums likely being an account issue :smile:

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I just had a theme removed that I had 3 licenses for. I understand that themes get removed by for various reasons but we should be told WHY. Was it malicious code? was it something that can effect our SEO? Are the coding standards not up to par?

In my case the theme is being offered for download off the developers website. But how to buyers know the theme is safe to use now?

As buyers we deserve to know the reason a product we paid for is now gone from our inventory.

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While I can see @KingDog s comment about this not ever being something discussed in forums, and as someone who has had a number of purchases removed - at the end of the day envato are not the copyright holders and as such don’t have the right to disclose any information about what is happening or why an item is removed.

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Because envato don’t own copyright to any items for sale here they are able to offer greater quality and quantity at generally more competitive costs.

I love Envato but that is simply untrue. Many copyright holders sell themes for around the same price as themeforest and with some you get truly amazing products with unlimited licences to use on as many sites as you want.

But no matter what themes/page builders we try, for most projects we still come home to themeforest. I love this place.

@KingDog - So, scenario. A marketplace rents space for vendors to sell products. Each day people walk in and out of this marketplace, scoping out the new products, etc. One day, one of the more popular vendors’ spot is vacant. Gone. No sign. No reason. Just gone.

So, then, people who have the vendor’s business card contact them, and ask what’s going on. The vendor says “We’re working things out. This was unexpected and is due to a misunderstanding.” Then… a week and a half later… while doing a daily stroll through the marketplace, one of the staff announces that they are “not really sure of the details” and that even if they were, “it’s not something we would discuss” here since it’s a vendor issue…

How exactly are people supposed to feel safe making future purchases, if the marketplace itself doesn’t even provide the slightest inkling on why the vendor is no longer allowed to sell their items in the marketplace.

Maybe I’m the only one here, but there is some real concern when no reason is given… because as @ThemeCompare said “…how do buyers know the theme is safe to use now?” CLEARLY the code within the theme is somehow tainted in a way that invalidates it from being sold on Envato Marketplace… so, how exactly is it NOT our business that the theme was removed?

If :clap: Envato :clap: got :clap: profit :clap: from :clap: an :clap: item :clap: then :clap: they :clap: owe :clap: an :clap: explanation. :clap:

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UPDATE: Looks like Themerella have been providing a few updates on Twitter - it also seems like we are not the only ones who are upset with Envato and the way they are handling things.

From what I understand, Envato closed the account, not due to an issue with the code or license, but instead because some ridiculous new rule that inhibits restricted countries… some of the members on the Themerall support team are from one of these restricted countries, such as Turkey or Ukraine.

It seems as though This has happened before to other themes on Envato, and the issue has been fixed pretty quickly. But in this case it is taking far too long… Themerella are just as frustrated as we are as they are losing sales and are deciding to start selling the themes off of their own website instead.

I fully support this and you guys should too. Themrella make amazing products and clearly work really hard at them. They have been around for few years and their support team are better then Envato’s! I will be the first to buy several licenses once their own shop launches.

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It looks like Author has parted ways with Envato.
— @envato_help

Ya… y’know what, maybe it’s time we “parted ways with Envato”, too. This is ridiculous. Are we to believe @Themerella is lying, and it’s not because @ThemerellaTeam are from “restricted countries”? Wow… just wow. Epitome of slander / libel to say something like this if it’s not true, because now it makes Themerella look like a liar.

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