My 2 cents: cannot filter by number of columns or left/right sidebar, and results are wayyy to slow to check out (it would be better to be shown small screenshots and decide which theme you actually want to try live)
Hey thanks! Re number of columns and left/right sidebar, a lot of themes are customisable in this respect (particularly the sidebar bit). I'll look into it though - it's a good point.
Re result loading... yeah :( I have tried to improve this by 'buffering' the next theme in a hidden div, but it doesn't always work.
Actually, the loading screens are really just set on timers, so sometimes 5 seconds is too long, other times it's not long enough... I initially didn't have a loading screen on there at all, but it kind of ruined the user experience a bit if someone clicked the next button and the theme hadn't even started loading - they were basically just staring at an ugly grey screen with nothing happening.
Ultimately the problem with the current approach used on both my and the OP's site is that we're really at the mercy of the servers we're loading the demo themes off. Some are super quick, others are insanely slow. I think that I may have to do as you suggested and move to some kind of a screenshot / thumbnail first system.
Re result loading... yeah :( I have tried to improve this by 'buffering' the next theme in a hidden div, but it doesn't always work.
Actually, the loading screens are really just set on timers, so sometimes 5 seconds is too long, other times it's not long enough... I initially didn't have a loading screen on there at all, but it kind of ruined the user experience a bit if someone clicked the next button and the theme hadn't even started loading - they were basically just staring at an ugly grey screen with nothing happening.
Ultimately the problem with the current approach used on both my and the OP's site is that we're really at the mercy of the servers we're loading the demo themes off. Some are super quick, others are insanely slow. I think that I may have to do as you suggested and move to some kind of a screenshot / thumbnail first system.