You may remember that late last week I introduced you to Michael of Solostream’s newest premium WordPress theme creation, WP Vybe.  Well, Michael’s theme has been such a hit with WordPress users already that he has decided to offer up a couple free WP-Magazine or WP-Vybe licenses to our readers!

Here are the prizes Michael is offering:

1. 1st Place - Developer’s License for either the WP-Magazine or WP-Vybe themes.
2. 2nd Place - Premium License for either the WP-Magazine or WP-Vybe themes.
3. 3rd Place - Basic License of either the WP-Magazine or WP-Vybe themes.

You can see my reviews of both themes here:

WP-Magazine Review

WP-Vybe Review

In order to be considered for one of these great theme licenses, all you need to do is write a review of either theme on your blog.   In your review, make sure to link here to this post (so we can track entries) and also to Michael’s theme page.  We will then review the entries this weekend and pick 3 winners, so you’ll want to publish your review by the end of the day Friday.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments below!

After close to six months since his last theme release, it looks like Michael of Solostream is back with his newest theme release, WP Vybe.  Michael advertises this new theme as the most advanced premium theme Solostream has released, and after looking through the theme I have to agree.

Here are the listed features that come with WP Vybe:

• Theme settings page in your Wordpress control panel.
• 2-column or 3-column layouts.
• 10 different color options with control panel setting for further customization.
• Optional featured article glider for home page.
• Gravatar integration.
• Optional banner ad integration.
• Optional built-in post thumbnails.
• Optional logo/header image integration via control panel.
• Built-in site search.
• Built-in drop-down navigation for sub-categories and sub-pages.
• Built-in author page and author profile with Gravatar support.
• Widgetized sidebars.
• Comment and trackback separation.
• Post author comments highlighted.
• Basic SEO techniques integrated.
• Original Photoshop files (PSDs) available for download via control panel.
• And much more …

Here are some screenshots of WP Vybe, including a screenshot that shows all 10 different colors you can choose from:

WP Vybe Homepage

WP Vybe Post Page

While the look of WP Vybe speaks for itself, where this theme really shines is within the control panel.  I’ve had the privilege of being able to look through a lot of premium WordPress themes over the past year, and this one definitely takes the cake of those I’ve seen so far.   Though WP Vybe works fine without making any settings adjustments, as you can see from this picture you can control just about everything from the built-in control panel:

Each of those links takes you to a section of the control panel.  I’m serious when I say you’ll have to scroll for close to a minute to reach the bottom of the page.

Despite all these new features and functionality, Michael has chosen not to raise his prices, and instead is offering WP Vybe for his standard pricing of $99.00 (Single-Use), $199.00 (Mulitple-Use), and $299.00 (Developer’s Pack).

Earlier this week, Mehmet of Gabfire Themes offered up a few free single-use licenses of his popular NewsPro theme to two of our lucky readers, simply for leaving a comment on that post.   I have to say that the participation was great and I appreciate everyone taking the time to comment.

In speaking with Mehmet, he was really impressed with both the responses and participation that his offer received, and decided to give away an additional two licenses, making a total of four single-use licenses that will be given away!

Here are the four winners of the free NewsPro premium WordPress themes:

1. Dave (Comment #5)
2. Ahmad (Comment #6)
3. UncleLar (Comment #22)
4. Rajesh (Comment #35)

The winners should receive an email from me later today (at the email address provided with the comment) with instructions on how to claim your free themes.     Thanks again to everyone who participated and congratulations to the winners!

Though the number of premium WordPress themes being released seems to have slowed recently, one of the newcomers to the market is Mehmet of Gabfire Themes, who is the author of the popular NewsPro theme, as well as the WP-Showcase theme.

In honor of Mehmet’s release of NewsPro version 2.0, he is celebrating the occasion by offering our readers a chance to win a free single license copy of NewsPro for your private use!  Before I get to the details, here is some of the features you get with NewsPro 2.0:

• Installation guide
• Ad Optimized
• Built in Flickr Support
• Video Spot
• Ajax tabs
• Unique newspaper style design
• Easily customizable using CSS
• Advertising Space (125×125 sponsor ads)
• Custom 404 Error page
• Gravatar support
• Dropdown navigation
• Widget support for sidebar
• Valid XHTML
• Valid CSS
• Support by e-mail & chat

Here are a couple screenshots of NewsPro 2.0 (which is available in Blue, Green, and Red colors)

NewsPro Homepage

NewsPro Post Page

NewsPro is normally available for $59.00 (single use), $159.00 (multiple use), and $259.00 (developer’s license), but as I mentioned above, Mehmet has a special offer for our readers.  In order to obtain a single-use license of NewsPro (which includes all three colors), you simply need to leave a comment on this post!   That is it.   We will then pick two winners at random among all the comments.   If you decide to comment, just make sure you use a valid email address so we can contact you if you win.

For those of you that participate in the Revolution affiliate program, I just wanted to give you a heads up that Brian is currently offering a special promotion.   Basically he is offering a 25% payout bonus for one week on all sales!    See this post for additional details.

As a quick side note, I know some of you have purchased one of Brian’s themes.   If you’ve bought a single license and have thought about upgrading to the All-Inclusive Developer package (get all of his themes, plus future releases), he is temporarily offering an upgrade option for just $200 (instead of the usual $320). This offer ends at 12:00 midnight Friday July 11th CST.

After speaking with my good friend Adii of Premium News Themes, it looks like he has made a bold, yet wise decision to move his Premium News business to the new domain Woo Themes.  Obviously moving your website to a new domain can be a big hassle (I’ve done it 4 times in the past year for a few of my websites and it was a lot of work), but in this situation I really think it was the right and necessary move for the growth of his business.

So, why did Adii move his online business to a new home?  One very important word…brandability.  When he launched Premium News themes, it was originally to sell One Theme, the original Premium News theme.  Since then, his business has expanded drastically, and that domain was limiting him to releasing only news WordPress themes.

So, now the Premium News Themes can be found over at Woo Themes.   What other changes were included with the domain transfer?

1. Woo Themes Team Grows - The Woo Themes team has added a new member named Elliot Jay Stocks.   I’m not familiar with Elliot’s work, but more people probably means faster theme production and more choices.
2. Woo Themes Club - This is an interesting idea for a subscription-based WordPress themes club that appears to be set to replace the concept of an All-Inclusive Package we’ve seen other designers do.  The cheapest membership is $150.00 quarterly, but that gives you access to all existing Woo Themes as well as any new themes.
3. Regular Theme Releases - The Woo Themes team is committed to releasing at least 1 new premium theme each month, with many months have 2 new premium themes.
4. Two New Premium Themes - You can now purchase two new premium WordPress themes.  They are VibrantCMS and ProudFolio.
5. New Prices - All Woo Themes (previously Premium News themes) are now available at premanently reduced prices.  You can get a single license for $70.00 or a developer’s license for $150.00.

Overall, I am impressed with the new setup and I think it will be interesting to see how this changes the premium WordPress themes market.  How will having a team instead of an individual improve both production and support?  Will their price reduction force the competition to reduce their prices?  Will their twist on the theme club idea take off?

Check out the new and improved Woo Themes.