RocketTheme is one of the well respected template providers for Joomla! In fact, one of their lead designers is a member of the core Joomla! development team. RocketTheme subscribers tend to be enthusiastic users of the site, which says a lot about the user community that has built around the excellent guidance provided on their forums.
Almost all the templates come with bonus components and modules to get the most out of your Joomla sites, and they were first to proved an streamlined installer package (they call it their RocketLauncher) that not only installs Joomla on your site, but installs the template, components and modules along with demo content to get you hooking along with a minimum of fuss.
What’s Included:
What Joomla Version do the templates work on – Joomla 1.x or 1.5 ?
There is still a huge amount of Joomla sites out there using the older Joomla 1.x as there are some great modules still not available for the new Joomla 1.5. RocketTheme know this, so all of their new themes are both 1.x and 1.5 compatible. However if you are using Joomla 1.5 and it’s enhanced features, you get an extra level of usability and features from your RocketTheme theme. If you like some of their older templates and have installed 1.5 then don’t worry, the older themes are being ported to 1.5 with added features.
How many templates are there and how often do they get updated?
Tons. As of May there is 66 and you get access to all of them. RocketTheme release a new theme every month, and each one seems to top the previous. That means if you sign up today for a year, before your membership runs out you will have access to up to 79 professional Joomla templates.
How good are the templates and how much can I edit them?
RocketTheme’s templates, especially the past 12 months, have been some of the most versatile and customisable templates on the market. In fact, they sometimes suffer from being too complex due to the amount of customisations that can be done. They provide you with numerous variety in module styles and module positions, and this allows you to take the basic RocketTheme theme and turn it into something unique for your site. Want to make it even more custom? Then leave a message in the forum and have one of the developers help you out with your custom changes.On top of that all source files are supplied so you can easily customise the theme further to suit your needs.
What other cool bonuses are offered?
One of the selling points is the previously mentioned user forum. Here you have access to not only the theme developers, but hundreds of users who are all willing to help each other out.Also you have access to some specially modified versions of their templates suited to specific uses (video game web sites for example), as well as a collection of free Joomla components.
How much does it cost and are their any restrictions on how I can use the theme?
RocketTheme offers three levels of membership
* 3 months $50US
* 12 months $75US
* Developer 12 months 250
Discounts apply for renewal of memberships.
It must be noted that on the basic memberships you are limited as to how many web sites you can concurrently use the templates. As stated in the RocketTheme Terms and Conditions:
Limited usage granted: Your membership grants you the rights to use the RTTC templates on as many concurrent sites as described in the matrix below. For example, a 3 month membership entitles you to use any RocketTheme theme on a maximum of 2 sites. If you renew your membership for 1 year, you are entitled to use the templates on an additional 2 sites, for a maximum of 4 sites. Even after your membership expires, you may continue to use the templates on these 4 sites, so the templates are not time-limited. If you wish to use a theme for a non-profit site, they do not count against your maximum concurrent theme usages.
Now while I do not particularly like the limited license, it is standard fare across most theme clubs.
Final Opinion
RocketTheme is likely my favourite theme club at the moment. They provide toprate templates, with amazing features yet manage to maintain the ability to customise the site for your unique stylings. Many times I have been stuck for inspiration for a web site design and played around with a RocketTheme theme and come up with something striking and individualunique. Although like most theme clubs the limited license is a setback, I believe the expense worth it for access to such a great user and support community. If you do only join one Joomla Template club, it is hard to go past RocketTheme.
