These main forums are mostly volunteers and we don't have any of the premium themes, so we cannot support them, and even so, part of what you are paying for is that special direct support.

Can this feature be tidied up or totally got rid of unless you actually click inside a post?
I dont mind them appearing within each post but on the front page it looks quite messy with them appearing - especially so spaciously aswell!

The best example of potentially using the theme out of scope is point A.

The theme seems to be designed like a major news site where you'd only want just a few featured articles highlighted, not a running category. Think like major editorials on current events. You'd only want the freshest of the fresh articles to be featured.

Of course, that's just my opinion, and the developer could certainly decide to change that.

As for issues with Premium Themes, let's keep those in the Premium Themes forum. You already have one support topic for Headlines outside of the Premium Themes forums, but I can understand why you made it.

It's much easier for us to provide support (and much quicker for you to receive support) on an issue when it's brought up in one correct location, as opposed to three separate locations.

If you don't care about: (A) not actually being able to feature more than 3 or 4 posts without causing there to be a huge amount of white space on your home page (B) not being able to read the categories listed in the top navigation bar, because they are practically ghosted out, (C) not be able to have the title of your blog scroll all the way to the right and (D) not be able to read the subhead because the font is too tiny then you will like this theme.

I'm not being negative ... I really do like the look of this theme and WANT it to work which is why I'm waiting for the developer of this theme to get back with me to tell me he can fix all these issues with the main one being the issue of too much white space.

I would want someone to give me honest feedback as I am giving you so that they (you) can make an informed decision. Hope this helps!

Can we try and then if not happy get a refund if its not as editable and flexible as we are led to believe? (not suggesting that you are saying things that it doesnt actually do!)

PS loving the demo!

djleekee, 1. Yes, there is also a sidebar widgets area.

2. The featured posts are excepts, and the other home page posts are full content (unless you use the more tag) by default. You can see an example at http://headlinesdemo.wordpress.com/

There is an option to enabled/disable auto-excerpts on both the home page and the archives.

1)is it only the footer that allows widgets or can i put them in the side bars aswell?
2)how do the excerpts work on this theme? are there many options?

Also ive been looking at creating a template from scratch and have been looking at Headway Theme and their videos make it look really simple. My blog needs a makeover but cant decide which direction to go down....

Thanks for reading.
Lee
http://www.djleekee.co.uk

I'll see what we can do.

Besides, if you change the link in that Support doc to link directly to the Premium support forum, I would assume that it would redirect to the main forums if that person hasn't purchased a Premium theme. Just a thought...

There is a large notice that pops up when the theme is purchased, a similar notice exists below the theme on the Appearance page, and there's also the "Premium Themes" forum section visible only to users who have purchased a premium theme to the left on the main forums page.

As many of our users probably won't be purchasing premium themes, a prominent link to a private forum that merely redirects to the main forum for non-approved users may cause more confusion than it solves.

As for the stickies, that's a good question. I think it's definitely time for a cleanup.

(BTW-speaking of stickies, are all the stickies at the top of the forum front page still needed? Has the Datacenter issue been resolved? What about the HTML markup topic?)

"Need some help? Visit the Premium Themes support forum to get expert advice."

You can click the "Premium Themes support forum" link to be taken directly to the private support forum.

Lance, you said:

"Support is here on WP.com in a dedicated support forum only available to site owners who've purchased a theme. When you activate Headlines you will see a link to it in your Dashboard, or when you are on the Forums homepage.

All the support is handled by the theme authors themselves, here on the WP.com forum."

Having MacManX around here so much is actually more an exception than the rule. For the most part, we can go many weeks without seeing any evidence of a staff presence here in the forums.

I'm trying to change that. ;)

Staff says they monitor the forums, but they have learned to walk on rice paper without leaving a trace, so we never know if or when they are here, or even if they are.

Speaking of who ... thanks Mac for the link. It will be exciting to see all the new themes that come up. I probably will take one of my blogs and try and play with it on a WP.org self-hosted site just to see the difference. Eventually I have to have a web site (I have 23 domains!) so I will have a landing pad for all my blogs and other creative projects.

Will WP be offering any more down the road or are they just waiting to see how well these two do?

We hope to expand the collection of themes on WordPress.com in a big way in 2011. Look for a significant number of both free and premium themes coming your way this year.

The lowdown on the Headlines theme stated that it featured a slider across the top that featured different posts. I didn't see that in the Preview. Should I be concerned or will it show up (or have it as an option) when I buy it?

It's definitely there, but has to be enabled via theme options after activating. You can see it in action at our demo: http://headlinesdemo.wordpress.com/

Will WP be offering any more down the road or are they just waiting to see how well these two do?

We Volunteers don't have a clue what may happen next. We Volunteers don't have any information above and beyond what any other members have. Auttomatic is monetizing WordPress.com and will be rolling out products that they think they can find customers for just like any other business does.

All good things to consider for sure. Just curious, what do YOU think of the new Headline premium theme? Will WP be offering any more down the road or are they just waiting to see how well these two do?

Also, with 4 sites, you have to buy 4 domain names (unless you plan on having three of them as subdomains or subdirectories off the main domain name). 4 domain names at $15 per year would be $60 per year.

Also realize that you would then have to take care of all installations, all upgrades, all backups and all troubleshooting on 4 blogs, even if you go with subdomains or subdirectories. Here wordpress.COM takes care of all the backend stuff and all you have to worry about is blogging. Take it from someone who is now managing the backend on 11 wordpress sites that this can be a good amount of work.

Also, read all the fine print on the theme you want to use on the self-hosted blog. Not all theme designers allow you to use the theme on more than one site. I've got several installed on client sites where you are only allowed one installation. The theme itself is GPL, but the javascript, CSS and images used in the themes are under a different license, and that is how they can limit you to only using the theme on one side. You could use the base theme without all the javascript, CSS and the images on multiple sites, but all you would have would be a blank white theme with no styling and none of the bells and whistles.

Sorry, I misread jennifer's post ... she said," like what is being done on some of the free themes."

RE: One theme, one blog (site). Bummer! I actually asked that because many themes sellers/designers let you use one theme for more than one site! (That's what my initial research showed anyway.)

So then I guess one has to think, "Gee (if "one" says "gee")...maybe I should go to WordPress.org and buy a template there for $35 that I can use on at least more than one blog site. (I have at least four blogs I'll be developing.) Sure, I will have to self host but maybe that's worth it? I'm just asking ... always open to different view points. :)

RE: Support. LIke the fact that the theme designers themselves are helping you. That's the case with some WP. org blogs too, but certainly not all.

(Though I'm not sure why you called it a "free themes" since Headlines isn't free.)

Where does it say that?

but can we use this theme for other blogs...without having to buy a copy each time?

The cost is per theme, per site. So if you want it in other places you'd buy it again for the other site.

1. Support is here on WP.com in a dedicated support forum only available to site owners who've purchased a theme. When you activate Headlines you will see a link to it in your Dashboard, or when you are on the Forums homepage.

All the support is handled by the theme authors themselves, here on the WP.com forum.

2. Refunds are the same as all our upgrades, 30 days.

That would help my purchasing decision to be sure though I'm not sure I can wait that long cuz' baby wants her new toy and wants it NOW!

So, I think I will take the plunge and buy it. Like I said, it looks great for my needs. Now this may be a dumb question, but can we use this theme for other blogs...without having to buy a copy each time?

Also, Lance next questions are for you:

(1) If I have problems/questions re: Headlines, where is the quickest, most-likely-to-get-the help I need resource for this theme? Woo or you? (Sorry, couldn't pass that one up.)
(2) If it turns out NOT to be right one for me for some unforeseen reason that only a novice WP'er would experience, can we get a refund?

BTW, I tried the other new premium theme (I think WP only has two thus far, right?) that in theory might have been cool...writing samples scrolling across the screen on what looks like a bookshelf of sorts but unfortunately it did weird things to my images.

Okay, that about does it. Questions asked, answers most appreciated.