At risk of going off topic, it would be great to know what niches aren't currently being filled (eg, theme features available for 5.6—or Wordpress!) that aren't yet available for c5.7+. You may well motivate developers to address the gaps.

Yes, I agree it is a shame that the available themes are looking a bit dated compared to Wordpress. It would also be nice to see more add-ons regularly added to the marketplace.
I suppose it is driven by sales and demand.

Not every developer is a designer, nor is every designer a developer. So you need to have the right combination, otherwise you have a failed theme. You can surely have a developer team up with a designer, but don't think that happens really often. A theme also takes quite a lot of time, since customers of the theme want LOADS of options and want visible demos. I'm guessing these are the main factors why there aren't that much available/being added.

@studio108, you want more Add-Ons added to the marketplace? There are quite a bunch added by now.. Not saying it comes anywhere near the WordPress amount, but most of them should be pretty good quality (since PRB members review the Add-On & code).

We average a 2 or 3 new addons or themes approved each week. Seehttp://www.concrete5.org/about/marketplace-news... - a page that is relegated to the footer nav.

Part of the problem is perception. The default 5.7/v8 marketplace listing is most popular first, so we have a positive feedback loop for items appearing on that first page. Sorting other ways is not obvious like it was in 5.6. Other stuff only gets found when site owners specifically look for it.

For the Google play store, google bumps up the rating of newly-submitted content (eg, Android apps) for a while. This somewhat mitigates the rich-get-richer and stagnant store phenomena.

As a PRB member, I can say that there are currently 2 themes under review. One of which will be an ecommerce theme that will be compatible with Community Store.

I am now employed full-time, so I don't have much time available these days to develop new themes.

I have a few themes available for free, but even those need to be updated.

I do BOTH design and development. I have recently created some themes for my employer's projects, but they aren't marketplace-ready yet.

I too would like to see more themes. I have a number of themes and addons planned, but my availability is very limited these days, so it will take a while for me to get around to it.

Although there are plenty of general purpose themes, there is definitely a need for more themes for specific niche markets.

If you ever need some help update your themes I would be more than happy to help.

@DBKG it might be time to learn how to build out a custom theme. As a ui designer and developer, I make custom themes from scratch. Most of the themes in store don't really work well for my clients needs. In my opinion from a design perspective most of the themes in wordress, C5 and Drupal are pretty generic. Plus the amount of time it would take to adapted it to my client needs, its just faster and cleaner to make a custom theme.

All that being said. I think when I get sometime I will start looking into creating themes for the marketplace.

My observation is that developing a successful theme for the marketplace is an awkward balancing act. To appeal to many site owners it needs to be highly configurable. However, the more configurable a theme is, the less of a cohesive design there is. Ultimately, we could end up with just two 'configure 100% from the dashboard' themes, one for Bootstrap and one for Foundation.Would they really be themes or theme toolkits? Who would supply the graphic design imagination for such?

I often see web-shops that have a favourite amongst the current highly versatile themes and buy the same theme over again for each customer, configuring it differently for each site they produce. With imagination, some of the current themes can look fresh every time. But I expect that is where your original comment is targeted.

Some of my favourite themes on 5.6 were simple concepts with little or no configuration. Just a good eye for design from the designer. Did they sell well enough to justify their development?

Thanks for everyone's input. @stewblack23, I may develop some themes on my own. It's been a little while, so I would have some homework to do. Thanks for your offer and the suggestion.

Websites are not the primary focus of my business. But concrete5 has enabled me to offer existing clients web design, and I have obtained new clients because I have confidence that I can deliver a robust, functional, creative site that will meet their needs and usually exceed their expectations. All with existing themes in the marketplace. I don't want anyone to think that I am complaining. Concrete5 helps put food on my table.

I have converted a few clients from the Weebly/Wix world, as well as a few WordPress devotees. I may customize their interaction with concrete5, but I have never tried to fully white label a site. Because I sell them on concrete5. Of course, when I pitch concrete5, I am always greeted with a blank stare. (With the folks I deal with, quite honestly, I might get the same reaction if I say "joomla" or "drupal.") One of the first things they do is go to the concrete5 site, and I may get an email or a call with a "Meh, not much there compared to....."

I can handle those calls. But I guess underlying part of all that is a concern about the "public" perception, and maybe my own, about the health of concrete5 third party development. Loading up with junk themes or add-ons to create an impression of plentitude would obviously be stupid. For me, the curated marketplace is one of the better features of the concrete5 universe. (The c5 community is another.) Not a lot of free stuff, but vetted tools that won't crash your site because they aren't compatible with someone else's. I would just like to see more of them! And maybe I just wanted some reassurance that the post 5.6 development world is strong and moving forward.

Anyway, thanks again, everyone, for your thoughtful insights.