I received the following comment a few days ago and did not see it until today due to my Webhost kindly taking my site down for no reason. I feel that this is an issue that is very personal for many designers and is quite a strong attack on me, so I felt I should address it on an open forum due to the gravity of the issue.
I have noticed viewing your work that you seem to copy and use a lot of other peoples stuff. To claim yourself as being a web designer I would second guess a lot of your work. You are currently using someone elses Wordpress theme for your own site even. Also, your whiteboardframework.com website is using a ripped and stripped copy of WP-Coda theme… not even your own framework is being used on either of your sites…. That just plain looks bad… I am sure you really will not approve and post this comment, but you should at least read it and be aware that many others on other sites are talking about it as well. Figured I would be nice and give a heads up at least. Use your own stuff, make it and design it yourself. You will get further. I know your framework got made popular but in reality that itself isn’t even yours. It is a ripped down theme as well. Please be respective of other peoples work.
-Efril Mohgan
(who did not have the curtsey of leaving a valid email so I can discuss the issue)
First off, the theme I am using isn’t stolen.
It is a beautiful theme called Modern Clix designed by Rodrigo Galindez and is free for download on his Web site that I found via Smashing Magazine. I am by no means using a stolen theme for plainbeta.
The only reason I am using someone else’s theme is because I haven’t had time to make one, but I am trying to make time and am making progress - though it still needs a lot of work.
I am indeed in the process of building my portfolio and am trying to fill it with just my work and that is original as possible - which is why you won’t find the current plainbeta.com design or whiteboardframework.com design in there. They are both currently under development and will both be built on my Whiteboard Wordpress Framework.
Yes, much to my dismay, whiteboardframework.com is a stripped down wpcoda theme - which I don’t believe to be a violation for a few reasons. It is a free theme and there is even a downloadable plugin for that pop up. The design is completely my own and I tried to use as much of my own mark up as possible; just a very small amount of the code was by wpcoda, which I point out again is free for download.
Yes, the Whiteboard Wordpress Framework is a stripped down theme - but I built it from the ground up. The whole premise of it is a stripped down theme. My Whiteboard Framework is in no means violating any copyright laws in any way, I made sure of that.
If I am wrong in any of my reasoning, please point it out.
I want to remain above reproach and am working on my own themes as much as I can with my busy schedule.
