Intro Free WordPress Themes Download 2016
Over the previous 10 years, I’ve used a great deal of different WordPress topics and have been really disappointed. Up till recently, I had been utilizing MyThemeShop, which was pretty excellent. However, I still had to perform a lot of customization to allow it to do and operate the way I wanted it to. A couple of weeks ago I decided to give GeneratePress a try, and let me just say, it’s by far the best WordPress theme I have discovered in 10 years. I had been dismissed and am moving all of my websites to GeneratePress. I will enter precisely why in my in-depth GeneratePress review below. And if you’re wondering, yes I have tried Genesis, Astra, OceanWP, Avada, X theme, Divi as well as many other lightweight and thicker multicolored themes. Free WordPress Themes Download 2016
To Begin, Click here to download GeneratePress.
GeneratePress Review
GeneratePress is a free WordPress theme made by Tom Usborne, a programmer from Canada. I have really seen it for years from the WordPress repository. Most of you realize that I’m pretty picky when it comes to web performance, and so I tend to ignore everything in the repository. Typically because a lot of stuff on there is not that great, or not supported for long. Nonetheless, in this circumstance, that was a mistake. The theme currently has more than half a million downloads, 80,000+ busy matches, with over 500 5-star ratings. So clearly Tom is doing something right here.
I Really set up the free version of the theme and in a matter of 15 minutes purchased the premium version. I could tell right off the bat, the developer was thinking precisely how I was imagining a theme should get the job done. And I will go into that more below, but let’s first look at some of the qualities. I’m going to be covering the superior edition of the theme, since it’s worth . Actually, Tom, if you read this and so are seeing Scottsdale, Arizona, java on me.
Features
Super lightweight and fast. Modular design allowing you to enable/disable items you do not want running. This is one of the biggest reasons I love GeneratePress.
Responsive, looks great across all devices.
Schema built-in, for better outcomes in SERPs.
Dramatic integration with the WordPress Customizer. I haven’t been a fan of the customizer previously, but Tom does it correctly.
Compatible with all popular plugins, Yoast SEO, WooCommerce, EDD, BuddyPress, bbPress, and WPML. Fantastic browser service back to IE8.
Additionally, it works great with the favorite fast-growing Elementor page builder. If you would like to dive into even more customizations, these are a terrific combo. I’ve also read that people using Beaver Builder have had success.
Resumes prepared.
Font awesome built in.
A lot of filters and hooks which make it great for programmers.
Great active support from the programmer. On average, 3 updates per month.
The Documentation can be incredible. Besides have good documentation on their site, the subject has existed long enough that everything I Googled during the setup procedure was found within a few seconds from their own forum.
Diving Into GeneratePress
Now it’s Time for the fun part! I always test a new theme right out of the box without any customizations to just see how quickly the base is. This tells me a lot of what I can expect by the time I add everything for this. Running the inventory GeneratePress WordPress theme on Kinsta hosting clocked in at a whopping 265 ms load time. I was very impressed.
One Thing I was worried about with GeneratePress was that the modular layout was going to generate a lot of big files, but that isn’t the case. You can tell that Tom actually worked hard on ensuring every record loaded in GeneratePress is as small as possible. With HTTP/2, the number of files isn’t as significant. But the dimensions is! Have a peek at some of the core GeneratePress files under:
/generatepress/css/unsemantic-grid. min.css 2.9 KB
/generatepress/style. css 7.1 KB
/generatepress/css/mobile. min.css 1.6 KB
/generatepress/js/navigation. min.js 1.1 KB
/generatepress/js/dropdown. min.js 1.5 KB
This is a developer that cares about functionality! And I have Seen exactly the same throughout all the premium add-ons. They are as small as you can possibly get them. In fact, Font Awesome is probably the largest file contained. And that is not even his. With Font Awesome 5 arriving around the corner, we can anticipate that to get smaller too.
The premium add-ons Are setup in what I’d call a modular design. It is possible to activate/deactivate anything you are not using to guarantee they don’t load on your website. Since the co-developer of the perfmatters plugin that has a script supervisor built-in, I felt at home with this. Everything should be designed this way.
If You are interested, I’m using the next add-ons on this website:
Website
Shades
Copyright
Hooks
Page Header
Spacing
Typography
No Child Theme Needed
One of The best features of GeneratePress is that I no more need to use a young child motif . This makes my life so much easier. No longer editing my functions.php or header.php files. I can literally upgrade my GeneratePress motif this very moment and not shed one customization. The hooks add-on certainly can help make it possible. It allows you to add custom code/PHP everywhere throughout your WordPress website. Free WordPress Themes Download 2016
Other Things I Love About GeneratePress
On each Page/post you have a great deal of alternatives. You are able to change the sidebar layout and the footer widgets.
You Can easily swap a page involving the default option to a complete width page, in addition to disable components.
The WordPress customizer options is where GeneratePress really shines! Remember, a lot of these choices are permitted by the superior add-ons. I can not show you everything, otherwise, we’d be here daily. However, allow me to show you few which really come in handy.
Responsive Columns
Another Plugin I highly recommend grabbing is your free Lightweight Grid Columns. Not to my surprise, this is also created by the same developer as GeneratePress. It enables you a super easy way to incorporate responsive columns into any page or post. Features include:
Desktop grid width
Tablet grid thickness
Mobile grid width
Insert custom courses
Insert custom inline styles
Equal height columns
Here is An example below:
You May Want to Also catch his amazing WP Show Posts plugin too. See my featured articles on the sidebar of this website? That is using the WP Show Posts plugin. I have it set to display posts from a specific”featured” category. You can also have it show last modified/updated articles, recent posts, etc.. I’m using the free version and it works great.
To Begin, Click here to download GeneratePress.
Sections Add-on
The Sections add-on in the premium edition of GeneratePress lets you do all sorts of things concerning design. Consider it like a webpage builder without the bloat. GeneratePress is certainly not just for blogs! I am in fact using GeneratePress for our ecommerce website (perfmatters.io) that is running Easy Digital Downloads. Don’t hesitate to check it out. However, as you can see below, it looks nothing like a blog.
Speed Tests
For all those Of those that are regular readers, you likely didn’t even notice that I changed the whole theme that forces woorkup.com. It only took me about an hour to get GeneratePress to mimic my MyThemeShop motif which I had spent a year customizing. Here is a comparison under.
woorkup.com Old MyThemeShop Theme
My older MyThemeShop theme was already pretty fast, but I spent a lot of time customizing it. In reality, I’ve gotten a lot of emails from you guys asking me to print all my customizations. My advice now is, simply get GeneratePress!
woorkup.com New GeneratePress Theme
Together with the New GeneratePress theme I was able to attain faster speeds and 600 fewer lines of code! And keep in mind, I do not have a child theme. Each of the customizations were made using the wonderful GP hooks and snippets plugin (both CSS and PHP).
Like the WordPress theme I’ve running on woorkup? You’re in luck. Tom asked if he can make a copy of woorkup to your brand new GeneratePress blog library. I’m pleased to allow you to know that now you can install my woorkup theme in your own GeneratePress site with just a click! It’s known as the Marketer theme. Get started using a fantastic blog layout instantly.
brianjackson.io Old Array Theme’s Theme
Additionally, I Moved over my private site, brianjackson.io, to GeneratePress. Previously I had been using a theme from Array Themes. It’s a pretty basic minimum website, as I do not use it for much. Since you can see it already loaded pretty quickly.
brianjackson.io New GeneratePress Theme
I was Able to duplicate the entire look 100% in GeneratePress in under one hour. And as you can see it loads faster! Amazing. I was even able to eliminate a few plugins which weren’t needed because of GP.
forgemedia.io Old Array Theme’s Theme
Additionally, I Moved over our business site, forgemedia.io, to GeneratePress. Previously I was using a motif from Array Themes. It is a pretty basic minimal site, as we simply use it to our LLC. As you can see it loaded pretty quickly. Free WordPress Themes Download 2016
forgemedia.io New GeneratePress Theme
I was Able to again move everything over and get it looking exactly how I wanted it in under an hour. And as you can see it loads even faster! Amazing. I managed to get rid of a total of four plugins and it dropped my whole page burden 2x!
I can’t express my Excitement about finding GeneratePress and I am moving over all of my sites for this (which comprises some EDD e-commerce sites). Once I have my 9 websites all running in GP without any child themes, my life will be a breeze! The programmer has revived my faith in multi-purpose themes, which when done the correct way, can actually perform quicker.
And The best news is, I finally have a billion more options to choose from than I did before.
What GeneratePress Is Great For…
GeneratePress Is the ideal alternative for performance-focused users that want to have the ability to personalize and control exactly how their site appears.
You Can make GeneratePress do pretty much anything. And since GeneratePress has a focus on functionality, the site that you build will have a great foundation to make it load quickly.
Because Of that, people who assemble WordPress sites for a living love GeneratePress. They will normally pair it with a WordPress page builder and use it for literally any kind of website.
But GeneratePress Might Not Be A Fantastic Fit If…
…you Need something that will instantly appear perfect from the box.
For Example, if you realize you want to create a style blog, you may be happier picking out a niche theme that is developed exclusively for trend bloggers.
While GeneratePress is becoming a lot simpler to use, thanks to its pre-built Website Library, GeneratePress still looks very barebones when you initially install it.
So To make GeneratePress look how you want it to, you will most likely will need to go in and customize things. And though the significant benefit of GeneratePress is how customizable it is, many users, particularly casual users, do not like having to make those changes .
GeneratePress Features Which Make It Unique
Here Are a few of the particular characteristics that clarify why GeneratePress is indeed common.
Lots Of Customization Options From The Real-Time WordPress Customizer
Past Functionality, another place where GeneratePress does well is its customization options.
GeneratePress Utilizes the WordPress Customizer for customization, which can be convenient because you’ll have the ability to see all of the changes that you create in real time.
The Free version of GeneratePress gives you adequate options, but if you have GeneratePress Premium, you’ll have the ability to customize pretty much all about your website.
For Example, if you go into the Layout region, you can configure comprehensive settings for your:
- Header — you can move your header round and change its styling
- Navigation — GeneratePress gives you two different navigation options, such as sticky menus
- Sidebar layout — you can use one or two sidebars
- Blog post layout — such as featured image size, metadata, etc..
- Footer layout — just like the number of widgets to add
Similarly, That the Typography place lets you control the font to get every single element on your website, such as buttons:
And You also get a thorough area to control the colour of every single element on your website.
All Whatsoever, GeneratePress will provide you much more customization choices from the WordPress Customizer compared to most other themes. This level of detail might be a bit overwhelming if you are a newcomer. But as soon as you understand the way the settings come together, you will have full control on how your site looks.
Optimized Performance And Quick Page Load Times
Across All of its attributes, GeneratePress consistently has a focus on exceptional performance and clean code. The entire motif is less than 30 kB, and it will be about as small as you’ll ever find for a WordPress theme. Even most other optimized WordPress topics are still 200+ kB. And some poorly coded themes can even exceed 1 MB!
GeneratePress Also has no code dependencies, which helps you avoid the leave obstructing error that Google Pagespeed Insights often cites.
Put That collectively, and you obtain a superfast-loading theme. How fast? To give you a sense, I conducted a small test.
First, I set up a vacant website utilizing a haphazard popular WordPress.org theme (Envo Magazine). After analyzing its performance with Pingdom, it:
- Had a performance grade of 77
- Loaded in 1.05 moments
- Had a page size of 243.9 kB
- Had 15 requests
That’s Not bad in any way! But GeneratePress can do better.
Next, I activated GeneratePress on the exact same test site without altering anything else. Here is how GeneratePress failed:
- Had a performance grade of 87, 10 points greater
- Loaded in 666 ms, ~37% quicker
- Had a page size of 26.8 kB, ~90% smaller
- Had 9 requests, ~40% fewer
If You perform that same test with different topics, you are going to continue to find that GeneratePress is among those fastest-loading WordPress themes in existence. Free WordPress Themes Download 2016
Other Helpful Premium Extensions, Plus Much Modular Approach
Beyond Giving you more design controls in the WordPress Customizer, GeneratePress Premium also comes with a lot of other helpful features like:
- Elements — a unique feature which lets you create customized hooks, page headers, or layout templates.
- Page Header — lets you create a unique page header onto a per-page basis.
- Sections — that is kind of like lightweight page building. It lets you create separate”sections” on a webpage, each with their own layout and column preferences.
To Remain lightweight, GeneratePress also provides you a modular port where you can pick and choose exactly which characteristics you would like to activate.
That Way, you do not need to slow your site down for a quality which you’re never going to use.
Pre-Made Starter Sites Make It Easier To Design Your Website
In The last, you needed to construct GeneratePress sites from a blank canvas regardless of what, which made the theme difficult for casual users to set up.
Earlier In 2018, though, the programmer added a new Site Library feature for GeneratePress Premium users that lets you easily import any one of those 25+ pre-built demonstration websites .
You Can import them right from your WordPress dashboard.
Yes this site still uses GeneratePress! All I did was click on a few buttons to import a demo site.
Page-Level Settings Give You Comprehensive Control Over Each Bit Of Content
With Most topics, every page and post will use the same settings for the most part. You may have some custom formats or templates — however you don’t have very much control past that.
GeneratePress Changes that by giving you a brand new Design meta name box for every single page and post:
You Can utilize this meta box to:
- Change the number of sidebars your site uses, or the sidebar orientation (like altering the sidebar from right to left)
- Choose how many footer widgets to utilize
- Disable certain elements, such as your header, navigation menu, article featured image, post title, or footer
- Produce a special”container” to your own page builder
Where These controls would be the most useful is if you are using a WordPress page builder.
By Disabling certain components, you’re able to produce the correct baseline for your own page builder layout, making it effortless to create custom articles as needed. Free WordPress Themes Download 2016
GeneratePress Replies: Cheap And Works On Unlimited Sites
The Core GeneratePress theme is available for free at WordPress.org.
Nevertheless, If you’re seriously interested in utilizing GeneratePress, I believe you should buy the GeneratePress Premium plugin, as that’s what produces the theme so flexible. The free version does not give you almost as numerous settings in the WordPress Customizer. And you will also miss out on the premade Site Library.
GeneratePress Premium can be still quite affordable. It costs only $39.95, which provides you use on infinite sites. You’ll also get a 40% discount if you want to renew to continue receiving support and updates following the initial year (you can, obviously, keep using GeneratePress following the first year without renewing — you just won’t get any more updates).
When You believe the normal premium WordPress theme will usually cost around $60, GeneratePress offers a fantastic value.
Summary
As I mentioned, I don’t think GeneratePress is for everybody.
If You want a niche-specific motif, you can probably save time by purchasing a theme that satisfies your needs for your niche from day one.
But If you’re willing to spend time altering settings, GeneratePress’ mode controls give you the flexibility to turn it into any type of WordPress site. Or, you may even have the ability to find a starter website that fulfills your needs to save a little time.
Additionally, It is among the fastest-loading WordPress themes that you will locate. So if you’re seeking the best performance possible, utilizing GeneratePress as your WordPress site’s foundation is a great choice.
If You blend it with fast-loading hosting, you should have no difficulty making your site load in under one second. Free WordPress Themes Download 2016
To Begin, Click here to download GeneratePress.