A jkdevstudio theme reaches you through one of three channels: the jkdevstudio store, ThemeForest, or the WordPress.org theme directory. The theme files are the same. What differs is everything around them.
#The three channels
| jkdevstudio store | ThemeForest | WordPress.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edition | Pro | Pro | free |
| Automatic updates | yes | no | yes |
| Integrations | all of them | only those marked for Envato | no |
| Demos | all of them | only those marked for Envato | free demos only |
| Feature requests | yes | no | no |
| Support included | 12 months, priority | the marketplace window, six months by default, one thread, lower priority | community forum |
| Sites per purchase | you choose | one | unlimited |
| Files live in | your Hub account | your Envato downloads | your own admin |
The direct purchase is the whole product. The marketplace one is a subset of it.
Everything in that table marked "no", "lower priority" or "only those marked for Envato" for ThemeForest is part of the direct purchase in full, and the marketplace list may grow as new features are added. Voting on published roadmap entries stays open to everyone.
#Which one you want
- You want the theme as it was designed
Buy from the jkdevstudio store. Updates arrive in your admin, every integration and every demo is yours, you can send feature requests, twelve months of priority support is included, and you pick how many sites the key covers.
- You want to try before spending anything
Install the free edition from the WordPress.org theme directory, if the product has one. Not every jkdevstudio product ships a free edition, and a free edition is a complete theme, not a trial that expires.
- You already bought on ThemeForest
You hold an Envato license: the same files, with the support period Envato sold, only the demos and integrations marked available to Envato, and none of the other direct extras in the table. You can move up later from your account without buying again.
#What a theme license is for
The theme files themselves are GPL licensed, which is a requirement for anything built on WordPress. That explains what you are paying for.
You are not buying permission to use the code. You are buying a license: a permanent right that belongs to your account, and the services attached to it. That is why a theme downloaded from a pirate site can be installed and still be worthless: the files run, and nothing behind them does.
This is how nearly every commercial WordPress theme works, on any marketplace.
A license is permanent. Support is the only part with a clock.
Nothing is ever renewed to keep the theme working. Twelve months on a direct purchase is the support window, and a marketplace purchase carries the shorter period Envato sold with the item. When either closes, the theme, the license and every version you own carry on exactly as before.
#After you have bought
Two things still have to happen before the theme is doing anything for you:
Install the theme
On AppearanceThemes, click Add Theme, then Upload Theme, choose the zip and activate it. The zip you upload matters: a marketplace download can be a package containing the theme, the documentation and the license files together, and WordPress rejects that package with "No valid theme stylesheet found".
Activate your license
Open the theme menu in the WordPress sidebar and activate on the License screen. Until that is done, the site has no way to check anything.
#Common questions
Can I use one purchase on more than one site?
On a direct purchase, yes: you choose how many activations the key carries and can add more later without changing the key. A marketplace item license is one production site per purchase.
Why do automatic updates, feature requests and the full set of demos and integrations only come with a direct purchase?
The marketplace keeps most of the price of a marketplace sale, and those features are what a direct sale funds. The arithmetic behind that, and where the line is drawn, is written up on the main site.
The list is set on our side rather than by the marketplace, so it can grow.
Can I still influence the roadmap without buying direct?
Yes, by voting on entries already published there, which is open to everybody. The direct tiers add the ability to send a new suggestion of your own.
What is the difference between the two support windows?
Length, priority and how many conversations. A direct purchase is twelve months, answered first, with the allowance your tier carries.
A marketplace purchase is the period Envato sold with the item: one thread for that product, answered after the direct queue, and it cannot be extended on Envato.
Do I lose my site if support runs out?
No. The theme keeps running exactly as it is, the license stays valid, and every version you own stays downloadable. What ends is the ability to open a new support request, and a new window can be bought whenever you want one.
Is the free edition a trial that expires?
No. A free edition in the WordPress.org directory is a complete theme with a smaller feature set, and nothing in it switches off after a period of time.
I bought on ThemeForest and want the rest of it
Open the license in your account and take the Premium offer. The author share of your marketplace purchase is applied as credit, so you pay the difference rather than the full price, and the purchase code does not change.
I cannot find my download
Look in the account of the channel you bought from: your Hub account or your Envato downloads. If the purchase appears in neither, send a support request with the email address you paid with and the approximate date.
#Still stuck
Open a support ticket and say what you tried and where it stopped. Your product, your domain, a screenshot and the exact message you saw are usually enough to settle it in one reply.
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