Why NOT to buy a template from Algozone

I bought a template from algozone and they have made some serious errors with it, and yet when i asked for support in correcting them, i was told,
"Please note that, we do not provide in depth free customization support. We can help you with detailed questions, but you need to know what you are doing if you decide to edit the core of the template.

If you are interested, we can assist you in making the changes based on paid support . If you provide us with additional details, we will provide you with an estimate."

Paying to have errors corrected???? I don't think so!!

1. I have found typo's on variables, with height spelt hight.

2. Changing the size of images in product info, also changes the size of product listing, featured, specials, and new as they have called MEDIUM_IMAGE in all places.

3. They have also completely remove the option to change the number of columns per row by hard coding it.

These are just the ones i have found so far, and correcting any of them, they deem as customising the template!

So they remove basic core functionality, then expect to be paid to put it back in.

Vote with your feet and save yourself the hassle.
Don't buy from Algozone, you will regret it!!!

Here is the email i received from them regarding the issues:

Thank you for choosing AlgoZone.

I checked the link you gave but it is not using the ZC04A00458 template, I need to see it for me to replicate the issue you have encountered in your images.

About the product listing, yes indeed this is hard coded, so you can't control this at Admin. If you want to modify it the file is located at includes\modules\ZC04A00458\product_listing.php.

Please note that, we do not provide in depth free customization support. We can help you with detailed questions, but you need to know what you are doing if you decide to edit the core of the template.

If you are interested, we can assist you in making the changes based on paid support . If you provide us with additional details, we will provide you with an estimate.
We aim to always serve you better so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact one of our representatives. Thank you.

And my response:

I suggest you actually read the message left! I clearly stated that it was not on a live site, and you don't need to see it to know there is an issue.
I suggest you check your coding as I have already found the cause of the image size problems. You have made all the images display using the variable that is set for the product details.

I'm really not pleased that you have hard coded the product_listing.php file. You should have made this information freely available to purchasers as they would naturally assume that the functionality still there.

I wasn't after free customisation support, I merely expect the template to work without functions having been hard coded or removed.

I will be sure to leave as much info as I can on the zen-cart forums and other such places advising everyone to be VERY CAREFUL if they consider buying a template from algozone.

I will also be contacting my bank regarding a refund if YOU do not restore the functionality of columns to my product_listing as I am not prepared to pay for a template that has been dressed up to look fancy, yet performs badly.

strelitzia:

3. They have also completely remove the option to change the number of columns per row by hard coding it.

Understandable, probably because I bet when you put in more rows it will completely mess up the fixed design of the template which you chose in the first place.

And the reason you would have to pay is because Algozone didnt make these templates, they are simply a reseller.

Agreed, if they have used relative positioning it could cause issues with alignment, but a simple css edit can usually rectify this. It would have been far better to leave it as a configurable option though and advise clients that straying from the recommended four column layout could cause alignment problems.

I could even have forgiven them if they had made a point of stating that it was "fixed" as a four column layout so that potential buyers were aware of this.

Regards
Steve

Sadly, this is an all-too-often situation with many commercially-available templates.

The people who build these templates force then to be "rigid" in order that the "cosmetics" remain fixed - and they do so by:-

1. removing or disabling core functionality.
2. hard-coding is vast quantitles of poorly-structured php, css and html.

Then they create some fancy graphics to "skin" their demo sites, and wait like vicious spiders for unsuspecting prey to fly into their web.

Their customers are mostly novices, who are seduced by the "appearance" of the templates, who then fork out cash - only to discover later that the inherent flexibility of core zencart does not exist.

The irony is that most of these templates have a "look and feel" that can be created within ZC's core parameters. Agreed... it still takes some skill and expertise to re-create these looks - but it can be done.

The best advice for novices is to keep well away from most commercial templates.