I simply CANNOT believe you have discontinued the Tooslet Starter Theme!!!
What makes me really cross is I've not received any notification that this was going to happen and what's worse is I've absolutely NO idea what I'm supposed to use now.
Not only have you pushed out a major change to the way toolset plugins work right at a time when we're all grappling with GDPR but you take away a key element of my setup and I'm now looking at a total re-write of all my sites!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
I think we all deserve a statement from Amir about this situation.
How can the company:-
1. tell us in April 2017 We’re not stopping to maintain our own Starter theme?
2. allow us in May 2018 to "simply discover" without warning that the Starter theme is now deprecated?
3. work on a major overhaul of the toolset plugins and during the correspondence about the changes fail to mention its intentions regarding the Starter theme?
4. allow support staff to respond to questions/issues about the Starter theme 4-5 weeks ago without mentioning it would become obsolete 2 weeks later?
This is so NOT the professional approach I've come to expect from Toolset and I'd appreciate an official response from Amir to my questions. I think we'd all also appreciate knowing what processes the company intends putting into place to ensure we're not left high and dry again in the future.
Here is the feedback from our 2nd tier supporters:
We apologize for the inconvenience, and we will update our related documentation (integrate toolset layouts, integrated themes, and eventually more) with detailed information on the situation (that the theme is deprecated, why, and how to move on).
This doesn't address all my questions and concerns. It's not just about the documentation or explaining why the theme is now deprecated. It's about why you just dumped this on us all with absolutely no warning. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect an explanation.
I am also shocked by the sudden depreciation of the Toolset Starter Theme!
I would like to call on all Toolset Developers to join me to get Toolset so continue support for their Starter Theme.
I, as many longtime Toolset Developers, has MANY sites that currently run on this theme. It will be impossible to convert all these sites to new themes without spending thousands of dollars to do so.
I personally do not what to work with other themes developers. That is just more support I have to deal with.
Also, none of these themes is basic enough to be completely creative. They all have their own headers and footers and I, as many others, would like to build my own headers and footers and have full control over my site without another theme standing in my way. This is the reason I bought a lifetime membership with Toolset. So I can create and not being locked into a theme and all its options.
My biggest concern is if compatibility issues arise in the future for the Toolset Starter Theme. Who is going to help us? In my case, if my sites go down with an automatic WordPress Update, It will cost us Thousands! These Lead Generation Sites is our bread and butter DAILY!
I ask Toolset to please reconsider supporting the Toolset Starter Theme. It will not be that much work since it is so basic and it gives people like me who are heavily invested in the theme to sleep well at night.
I think we should start a conversation between us Longtime Supporters/Developers of Toolset and Amir. Simply dropping support like this without us having any say in the matter is simply unacceptable. We are a community of Developers and our voices should be heard.
Hi Wicus Spies
Thanks for your input; it's good to know I'm not the only one unhappy about the plug being pulled with no warning.
I read something in one of the other forum posts (can't remember which one now) posted by a member of support staff along the lines of toolset's skills being in plugin development not theme development. After 8 weeks of working with a different theme, I have to say I agree and I wouldn't now want to go back to using the toolset starter theme.
That doesn't justify the way toolset have treated its users where the withdrawal of the starter theme is concerned but I wouldn't now waste any energy on trying to get it reinstated. IMHO you'd be better using that effort to find an acceptable alternative no matter how daunting or time-consuming.
I'm still waiting for a decent apology from the developers or Amir though........................
the 'why you dropped it' is not the issue here - it's the 'why you dropped it WITHOUT INFORMING ANYBODY that you were going to or that you had done so' !!!
and still no decent apology or assurances that you won't simply drop something else without warning and leave us to pick up the pieces
We noted down your concern and we will pass this to concern person and we will try to make sure next time to update users before we decide if any thing we have will be not supported and retired in near future.
No notification is a HUGE blunder and causes your users time, energy and grief.
Plus, I still have a lack of knowing what a good replacement will/can be. Julie: What is that 'Different Theme' you now like? Can you please share info?
