Designing and submitting a marketplace theme

Theme design is one of the more rewarding ways to earn on LinkStacked passively, but it's not for everyone. Before you spend a weekend building a theme, get honest about whether your design instincts and audience overlap with what the marketplace rewards.

You'll likely do well if:

• You have a strong visual aesthetic and can describe it in a few words
• You're comfortable iterating on small details until something feels right
• You have a creator audience that already engages with your visual work
• You can promote the theme yourself — marketplace discovery alone is rarely enough
• You can commit to maintaining the theme over time (small fixes, format updates)

You'll likely struggle if:

• You're hoping to "submit and forget" — the marketplace rewards active creators
• You're mainly interested in the income; the time-to-first-dollar is real
• Your aesthetic is generic 'clean minimal' — that space is saturated with free options
• You're not willing to test on multiple devices and screen sizes

Go to Appearance → My themes → Create new theme. You'll be prompted to choose a starting point — pick the one that's closest to your end vision so you spend less time fighting the defaults.

• Blank canvas — complete creative freedom (recommended only if you have a strong vision)
• Minimal base — clean defaults you can build on (good for first-time theme creators)
• Bold base — high-contrast starting point (good for distinctive looks)
• Duplicate an existing theme — iterate on something proven (great for variations on a successful aesthetic)

The visual editor is split into panels: Background, Typography, Links, and Profile. Each panel controls a distinct aspect of the theme. The order below is the order I recommend working in — establish the foundation (background, typography) before iterating on the details (links, hover states).

Background

• Solid color — easiest, fastest to load
• Linear or radial gradient — adds depth without distracting
• Image background — most distinctive, highest risk of looking dated
• Mesh gradient — modern, soft look (popular in 2025-26 themes)
• For image backgrounds: use high-res images (min 1440px wide), dark enough to contrast with text, with a tasteful overlay

Typography

• Choose from 40+ Google Fonts in the picker
• Set size scale for name, bio, and link titles independently
• Control font weight, line height, and letter spacing — small details that add up
• Pair fonts thoughtfully (one display, one body — don't use three different display fonts)

Link buttons

• Shape: pill, square, soft-rounded, outlined, or ghost
• Background colour, border colour, text colour
• Shadow style and intensity
• Hover animation: lift, glow, dim, scale, or none
• Inner spacing — affects feel of density vs breathing room

Profile (avatar and header)

• Avatar: shape (circle, rounded square, hexagon), size, ring or border
• Display name: font, size, weight, alignment
• Bio: width, alignment, optional max-width
• Spacing between profile and first link

Use the device toggle in the editor preview to check your theme on phone, tablet, and desktop sizes. Themes must look great on all three — but mobile is by far the most important. Over 85% of profile visits are on phones.

Test scenarios that catch most bugs

• Long display name (20+ characters) — does text wrap cleanly or overflow?
• Many links (10+) — does the list remain readable and well-spaced?
• Long bio (3+ lines) — does the layout stay intact?
• No profile photo — does the layout degrade gracefully?
• Mix of link types (URL, social, embed, product) — do they all render consistently?
• Dark mode — your theme should respond predictably to the dark/light toggle (LinkStacked auto-derives the variant; verify it looks intentional)
• Phone in landscape orientation
• Older Android devices (limited test suite — at minimum check Chrome on a 5"–6" screen)

Edge cases worth catching

• Special characters in names ('María Núñez', 'Lê Nguyễn') — does your font support them?
• Emoji in bios — render correctly across iOS, Android, and desktop?
• Very short bios (5–10 characters) — does spacing still look intentional?
• Profile with 1 link only — is the page still composed-looking?

A compelling listing increases purchases meaningfully — especially for paid themes where the buyer needs to commit. Go to Marketplace → Submit → Theme details.

• Theme name — max 40 characters; evocative names outsell generic ones (e.g. "Midnight Velvet" vs "Dark Theme")
• Description — max 200 characters; describe the mood, the use case, and who it's for. Don't list features — sell the feeling.
• Tags — up to 5 (e.g. minimal, dark, neon, aesthetic, professional, brutalist, y2k, soft)
• Price — free ($0), or $1–$49; most successful themes are priced $4–$12
• Demo URL — a live profile using your theme. Link to a real profile, not a placeholder.

Screenshot strategy

Upload at least 3 screenshots showing your theme with different content types. The first screenshot is used as the marketplace thumbnail — make it count. It's the single biggest factor in browse-to-detail conversion.

• Screenshot 1 (thumbnail): a real-looking profile with a face, name, bio, and 5–6 links — full mobile view
• Screenshot 2: a different profile to show versatility — different colour palette adapted to the theme
• Screenshot 3: a desktop or tablet view to show responsiveness
• Optional 4: a close-up of a unique theme detail (a specific button hover, an animation frame, a typography detail)

Once your listing is complete, click 'Submit for review'. The LinkStacked design team reviews all themes for quality, contrast, and policy compliance.

• Review takes 3–7 business days
• You'll receive an email notification when approved or if changes are requested
• You can make edits and resubmit if rejected — rejections include specific feedback
• Approved themes appear in the marketplace within 24 hours of approval

Common rejection reasons

• Insufficient contrast ratio between text and background (WCAG AA)
• Theme breaks on mobile at 375px viewport width
• Screenshot shows placeholder/generic content (real profile required)
• Name or description violates content guidelines
• Theme is too similar to an existing approved theme
• Hover/animation effects cause visible jank or layout shift

Once approved, your theme is live in the marketplace. Go to Marketplace → My submissions to track performance.

• Creators earn 70% of every sale (LinkStacked retains 30% to cover Stripe fees, hosting, marketplace operations)
• Payouts go to your connected Stripe account on the standard weekly schedule
• You can update pricing, screenshots, and descriptions at any time — minor changes go live immediately, structural changes go through a quick re-review
• Theme ratings and reviews are public — respond to feedback to boost trust

Marketing your theme outside the marketplace

Marketplace discovery alone rarely produces best-seller volume. The themes that do really well are the ones whose creators promote them externally — Twitter posts showing the theme in use, a TikTok demo of the design process, a YouTube tutorial walking through customisation.

Building a portfolio

You can submit multiple themes. Top marketplace creators earn $500–$5,000/month from a portfolio of 5–15 themes across different aesthetics. The math: 10 themes at $8 each, selling 30 copies/month = $1,680/month at the 70% creator share. Some themes will be hits; some won't. Diversification across styles is how the top earners build durable income.