First, I look at the bones of the template. Will it allow me to do what I want (1 or 2 sidebars, menu layout, etc). I want to make sure the key things I wish my visitors to see are in the right areas. I usually have a vision of what I want before I even start looking for a template (design-wise). Then the search begins to find a template which fits my vision.

Second, I look at reputation. When someone or a company has an already established record and everyone likes them, it’s a good chance you can trust the code – which brings me to my next point.

We need to be careful which themes we use. Remember, we are trusting someone else’s code. If they code it wrong or are sneaky, they could code in spying elements, which isn’t good. Luckily, I haven’t come across this just yet. (Same goes with Plugins).

As for price, as long as it’s not much over $100, I’ll pay for it if it’s what I want. One of the worst things you can do if you’re trying to make money and start a business is try to think you can build everything on free. It’s a way of thinking I really wish people would start reconsidering.

I would say also that you should think about the number of columns you want, but if you are unsure to go with 3. It is generally easier to remove a column by just removing the call for it (usually in the footer) and tweek some CSS.

I have found this from my personal experience and accomplished just what I described. I have linked to the original theme in the footer on my site so you can compare the original theme to the current look. You would never guess it started out looking how it did.

I opted to go for One-Theme.com who has been great with feature requests and support. They are currently testing there OnePanel plugin which is a plugin which would be an admin interface which you can use all there features on any theme. A theme is an important way to get your image across, even newbies should think along that line.

Thanks for the info.