Why is it so difficult to change themes in Prestashop?

[falken76]

I don't understand why it is so difficult to get a theme installed in Prestashop.  Some of them work just fine, but when I find one I actually want to use it never works, it always has an error with not being able to find configuration files.  Here is a screenshot of what happens nearly everytime.

 

Why does this happen so consistently, this is on free themes.  Is this a strategy used by theme authors to get people to just pay them to install it?  I'm trying to install this free theme from this site right here:

https://classydevs.com/myshop-multipurpose-prestashop-theme/

There are no special instructions for installation

I downloaded the theme, went to back office, go to themes, click Upload zip from your computer, select the file and get the above error.  I look inside the zip and there are two more zips in there, one called "Myshop,zip" and "Crazyelements_templates.zip".  So I extract those files out of the zip and try to upload "Myshop.zip" and get the same error again.  I look through the archive for install instructions and this is all I can find:

"# PrestaShop Classic Theme

The Classic Theme is the default Theme for Prestashop 1.7 and onwards.
It is built upon the Starter Theme which is not maintained anymore."

This excersize in frustration represents almost all of my attempts to install custom themes, they've all been free so far.  They have constantly broken the website forcing me to have to restore the VM.  I'm hesitant to buy a theme now because I'm under the belief that they're all broken in one way or another.  What am I doing wrong?  Are there no standards to follow for a theme author?  Why is the failure rate so exceptionally high?  Is there some secret guide to fix broken themes?  There must be, the consistency at which they don't work is so high, there has to be a way to fix this.  I'd pay for a theme now, but nobody can install it in a reasonable time, I want this going now, please.  Someone explain to me why the failure rate on themes is so high and how do you fix these issues that seem to be so common?

 

Why is this difficulty so consistent?

[falken76]

I found the instructions, they were not in the archive, they are on a website

https://classydevs.com/docs/myshop-multipurpose-prestashop-theme/getting-startted/how-to-install-2/

I actually did what were in the instructions and still got the configuration file error.  IS this because it is Open Source?  Is it common for things to break all the time?  Am I doing something wrong, or did the software update and they haven't updated the webpage so this is no longer compatible with prestashop?  I just want this damn website up so I can stop spending so much time on this.

[JBW]

Look inside the file, they are often zipped twice - main zip contains instructions and other files together with the real theme zip file

[Mr Rick]

The problem with free theme is the maintenance with latest versions of PrestaShop as the developers of the free themes tend to ignore it. In case of paid themes, the developers updates them regularly.