What makes WordPress the most trusted CMS are the numerous plugins and themes that enhance the platform. One of them is called the GeneratePress WordPress theme. For those who want to build rock-solid WordPress sites, GeneratePress is a perfect choice. It is trusted by many experienced WordPress developers who use it in their projects. This GeneratePress review will give you its overview and some of the features that make it a preferable theme for most developers.
I will focus on the GeneratePress premium version of the theme because it has all the necessary juice needed to make a WordPress site efficient. I will highlight its advanced features and later dive into deeper details.
Benefits of GeneratePress Theme
GeneratePress is for users who want to customize their sites to have full control over their appearance. The theme allows you to do almost anything on your website with performance being its main focus. Sites built on it will have fast loading speed and great user experience. That is why experienced WordPress developers love this theme. Coupled with any WordPress page builder and you can use it in any type of website. However, GeneratePress may not be a good choice for those looking for a perfect out of the box theme. For instance, if you are running a restaurant blog, it would be proper for you to choose a theme that is developed particularly for a restaurant. It may be an easy to use theme due to its pre-built Site Library but it still looks barebones when installed.
5 Unique GeneratePress Features
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Optimized Performance and Fast Page Load Times
Of all its features, outstanding ones include clean code and excellent performance. The theme is also lightweight (30kb) making it the smallest WordPress theme. The GeneratePress theme doesn’t have code dependencies, and users can avoid the render-blocking error that is often mentioned by Google Pagespeed Insights. Pair these two features up and the results would be a super-fast website.
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Customization is Done in The Real-Time using WordPress Customizer
Besides performance, another awesome feature that makes this theme stand out is its customization options. Users can easily see all changes made in real-time since GeneratePress uses the WordPress customizer for its customization. Although the free version has a couple of options, the paid version allows you to customize almost everything on your website. For instance, the Layout area allows you to configure detailed settings for:
- Header – The header can be moved around and its style can also be changed you can move your header around and change its styling
- Navigation – There are two different types of navigation include sticky menus
- Layout – you can use one or two sidebars
- Layout in blog posts – you can customize the size of the image and Metadata
- The layout of footers – you can decide which widget to include or not to include
The Typography area allows you to control fonts and other elements like buttons.
GeneratePress Font settings
If you are a beginner, you will be overwhelmed by all the customization options. You can control even the color elements of your WordPress website. No other theme gives you so many customizable options like GeneratePress. Its learning curve is a bit complex but once you master how it works you will fully control the appearance of your site.
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Control over Each and Every Aspect of the Content using the Page-Level Settings
Usually, with most themes, pages and posts will use the same settings. Although you may get some custom templates or formats, control of your site stops there. Not with the GeneratePress WordPress theme. This theme gives users a new Layout Meta box for every single post and page. You can use the Per Post Controls to change the number of sidebars you want to use in your site or the sidebar orientation where you can change the sidebar from right to left. You also get to decide the number of footer widgets you want to use. Enable or disable certain elements such as the navigation menu, header, post titles, footer, or post featured images. You can a special “container” for your page builder. You will fully benefit from these controls if you are using a WordPress page builder. You can create a proper baseline for your page builder design, by disabling certain elements. This makes it easy to create the needed custom content.
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Site Design made easy Using Pre-Made Starter Sites
On previous occasions GeneratePress sites were only built from a blank canvas, making it hard for casual users to set it up. However, in 2018, a new Site Library feature was added by its developer. This was done in the paid version of the theme and users could easily import any of the 25+ pre-built demo sites.
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Modular Approach and other Advanced Premium Extensions
Besides the numerous style controls in the WordPress Beyond giving you more style Customizer, the Premium version also has many other features including:
- Elements – This unique feature allows you to create custom hooks, layout templates, or page headers
- Page Header – With Page Header you create a unique page header per-page
- Sections – This is a lightweight page builder used to create separate “sections” on a page. Each section has its layout and column settings
GeneratePress Pricing
GeneratePress price is quite affordable and you can use it on unlimited sites. You can get the free version at WordPress.org. However, if you want to benefit from its advanced functionalities, the Premium version is a perfect choice. The free version lacks some customization options and you can’t have full control of your site. You will also miss out on the premade Site Library. Settling for Premium will cost you $39.95 and you can use it in as many sites as you want. Renewing it will grant you a 40% discount after the first year. GeneratePress gives you great value for money considering most WordPress themes go for $60.
Final Thoughts
This is not a theme for everyone since you will have to work further on it after installation. If you are looking for niche-oriented themes, it is probably a good idea to avoid GeneratePress and go straight for a theme that fits your business requirements. But if you are comfortable changing settings and having total control of your theme then this is a perfect option.
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