*UPDATE 11/02/11* – The Cloisters site will remain open for the time-being as an archive for those interested in the themes, but ongoing support for the themes will not be provided. As of April 2011, Mina is no longer affiliated with the site.
A message from Mina:
The Cloisters opened for business on August 1, 2008 with the publication of the Maiden Voyage theme. That was the beginning of over 2 years of a fantastic journey. Along with having a lot of fun I contributed to a community that gives a lot to millions of people. My themes were much more successful than I could have ever imagined and for that I am truly grateful. I also am happy to have met many wonderful people who have taught me much. Therefore it is with great sadness that I have to announce that I am closing the doors. I’ll leave the forum up for a while as there is some good information there via other’s questions, but registrations are closed and the board will be read-only.
There are 2 main reasons for this, financial and personal which I’ll explain a bit.
With the downfall of the economy things have been getting tougher and tougher. The cost of all living expenses has gone steadily up over the past few years while my income has basically remained the same. For a while I kept the server going with donations from many many kind folks and by hiring out to do custom themes, but everyone is feeling the pinch these days and that just isn’t enough. I’ve already cut unnecessary things out of my budget and still need to lose more. Having held on to my server for as long as I could it’s now time to cut it…next will probably be my internet connection itself. I’m not destitute but I have to put important things first. I’m sure many of you know what I’m talking about. My server is still paid for several months yet but I feel it’s best to do this now.
The personal reasons I won’t go into in detail but with everything going on at my job (which is still uncertain) and in my life, I just don’t have the energy or the time to come up with good solid themes anymore. The inspiration seems to have gone on vacation or something and hasn’t given me a return date.
I’m hopeful that things will pick up in every aspect in the future and maybe I can make a comeback. Until that time, I just wanted to thank the WordPress community for making this great software available for us and a huge thank you to all the people who have used my themes and shown support both monetary and in other ways. You’ll never know how much I appreciate it all.
Thanks and take care,
Mina