What I considered when selecting my new theme.
“GeneratePress is a lightweight WordPress theme built with a focus on speed and usability. Performance is important to us, which is why a fresh GeneratePress install adds less than 10kb (gzipped) to your page size. We take full advantage of the block editor (Gutenberg), which gives you more control over creating your content. It is completely compatible with all major page builders, including Beaver Builder and Elementor. Thanks to our emphasis on WordPress coding standards, we can boast full compatibility with all well-coded plugins, including WooCommerce. GeneratePress is fully responsive, uses valid HTML/CSS, and is translated into over 25 languages by our amazing community of users. A few of our many features include 60+ color controls, powerful dynamic typography, 5 navigation locations, 5 sidebar layouts, dropdown menus (click or hover), and 9 widget areas.
FACTORS & FEATURES
I was first drawn to GeneratePress as many themes do not actually have any reviews on WordPress, let alone as many positive ones as GeneratePress does (1,425 5-star reviews as I type this)! When first creating my website, I ran into many issues as the weeks went on with plugins not working with my chosen theme, or my theme not updating with WordPress. I also wanted to focus more on a website look that was clean and easy, but offered many customization options. I knew I needed something simple and professional.
I played with GeneratePress’s customization options and was very impressed. My last theme only offered 2 types of widgets! Here, I could change and add things to my heart’s content, with so many color, layout, and widget options. I appreciated that it was easy to add my own custom CSS to set a background image instead of color for the home page. I feel much more in control and can see how much I can continue to edit it if I need to.
CUSTOMIZATIONS AND EFFECTIVENESS
I focused mainly on Header and Footer widgets so my page would stay relatively simple with all the content and verbiage that would be present. By default, there are already 3 sidebar widgets as well. I chose to add an image to the header (not as a header background image) so I could add a bit of liveliness to the page while keeping easy title readability. I also added a tagline text widget underneath the website’s title to further explain my purpose. For the last widget, I added social buttons in the footer (including a theoretical Amazon storefront) to increase engagement.
All GeneratePress’s color options will give me so many choices in the future if I feel in a “purple” or “pink” mood, so to speak. I won’t need to keep with one theme or color scheme and customize to keep things fresh for me and my site visitors. It also has an ability to translate into more than 25 languages, which will potentially increase the types and amounts of people who come to my site. I like how by default it is very clean: effective for a business-style website. Though I loved the colors from my old theme, I’m glad I can achieve the same look should I choose to. I might look more into all the different types of widgets it offers and experiment with my site’s look.