Tag: wordpress

  • 11 Best Photography WordPress Themes in 2023 (Compared)

    Whether you need a photo-heavy website as a designer or blogger or want to feature photography on a client’s website, portfolios are often the best means of doing that. There are image gallery plugins and portfolio plugins available that can add portfolios to almost any WordPress theme. But for those looking for a theme designed with photographers in mind, a photography theme will have many of the features you need already built in. This will make it easier to get your site up and running with less time. Since there are a lot of themes out there, we’ve rounded up the best photography WordPress themes to save you the hassle.

    The 11 Best Photography WordPress Themes

    If you want to get your photography noticed, it must stand out in today’s world of Instagram filters, AI art generators, and stock photography on the Internet. Creating a professional portfolio using one of the themes listed below will give your website a high-quality, super-polished look worthy of the photography it features.

    1. Kamera

    KAMERA, a WordPress photography theme

    Kamera is a powerful photography theme that could be considered one of the best photography WordPress themes available for photographers. Firstly, the theme comes with 23 unique and powerful demos that make starting your photography website a breeze. Secondly, you can quickly build your website visually with WP Bakery or the native drag-and-drop builder. This makes customizing the various areas of your website a simple process. Furthermore, Kamera has a wide array of portfolio and gallery layouts. You can showcase your work in a myriad of ways. The theme’s header is flexible, allowing you to showcase your menu in 8 styles. Additionally, Kamera provides powerful client-facing features that do not require additional plugins.

    Key Features:

    • 23 one-click demos
    • Multiple gallery and slider layouts
    • Project presentations for clients
    • Client portal and proofing area with password protection
    • Dark and light skins

    Kamera client proofing area

    Best for:

    Professional photographers who need additional client tools and support on their website will enjoy using Kamera. In addition to showcasing their work in unique ways, photographers will be able to provide their clients with portals and the ability to submit feedback that can provide a solid user experience.

    Pricing: $158 per year

    Get Kamera

    2. Lens

    LENS, a WordPress photography theme

    Lens is a clean and modern photography theme for those who want to showcase something different to their audience. Featuring a grid homepage layout, Lens gives you a different homepage design with a vertical left-hand menu that will make your website stand out to clients. As a Pixel Grade theme, Lens comes with a powerful customization tool. This allows you quickly and easily change the branding of multiple elements across your website at once at the click of a button. Lens also has a beautiful masonry grid layout for its shop layout, allowing you to sell your beautiful products with WooCommerce.

    Key Features:

    • Six gallery styles
    • Three portfolio styles
    • Fully integrated with WooCommerce
    • Organize photos with slideshows and grid-based galleries
    • Photo proofing for clients

    LENS color customizer

    The customization tool for Lens makes it easy to change multiple elements across your site in one go. From mouseovers to hovers, link colors to the hover color of your social icons; you can edit these by simply changing the primary theme color. With the tool, you can also set the number of photos or elements that should appear in your portfolio and galleries.

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $75 per year

    Get Lens

    3. Divi

    Divi, a multipurpose, photography theme for WordPress

    Divi is our photography-friendly website builder and theme here at Elegant Themes. What makes Divi so popular is how easy it is to build your next website project without learning a single line of code. This includes building a website for your photography-based venture. Divi has several native modules for filterable portfolios, carousel sliders, and image galleries that can be customized with powerful design options. This gives you the flexibility to build your perfect photography website. Additionally, Divi comes with hundreds of website layout packs that allow you to build your photography website with ease. Our Photographer, Photography Studio, and Wedding Photographer layout packs are a few examples.

    Each of these kits can be easily edited visually with the Divi page builder. And you can find more kits, child themes, and modules on the Divi Marketplace.

    Divi Photography Portfolio Child Theme from the Elegant Themes Marketplace

    Divi Photo Portfolio is a Divi child theme that allows you to create a clean and minimal photography website on Divi (read our review). With a dark and light mode, 6 home layouts, 2 video galleries, and consistent updates, you can easily build a unique photography website for your needs. And always remember: with Divi’s page and Theme Builder, your customization options are limitless!

    Modula Divi Integration

    Furthermore, Divi integrates with dozens of third-party services, tools, and plugins that can take your photography website to the next level. The popular and powerful gallery plugin, Modula, integrates with Divi through a custom module. With this integration, you can use Modula’s galleries natively in the Divi builder — no shortcodes necessary! This will give you the ability to create powerful galleries where you can custom text, shadows, and more in a few clicks.

    Key Features:

    • 5+ photography full website kits
    • 30+ photography-related layouts
    • Portfolio custom post type
    • Native portfolio, filterable portfolio, gallery, and slider modules
    • Large library of photography child themes and plugins in the Elegant Themes Marketplace

    Best for:

    Building your photography website with Divi is best for the creative who wants complete control of design and flexibility of integrations for their website. Whether you want to simply show your art, or build a multimedia masterpiece, Divi is the right tool for you to use to build your photography website.

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $89 per year

    Get Divi

    4. Inspiro Premium

    Inspiro WordPress Photography theme

    Inspiro Premium is one of the best photography WordPress themes created by WPZoom. The theme works well with the page builder plugin Elementor, so building your pages becomes simple with this drag-and-drop builder. A vital factor of this theme is how well it plays with and uses video. Video features like video backgrounds, sliders, and support for both self-hosted and hosted video platforms (Vimeo and YouTube) and paramount to this theme. While this theme focuses on using and presenting video beautifully, this does not slow down the site. Built with performance in mind, Inspiro is a lightweight and speed-optimized theme that will use your hosting resources well.

    Key Features:

    • Ten unique one-click starter sites (including a portfolio and photography starter site)
    • Deeply integrated with Elementor, including 25+ Elementor-specific widgets
    • Multiple header and portfolio styles
    • Video autoplay on mobile devices
    • WooCommerce ready

    Inspiro Premium video background features

    Inspiro takes video seriously. Firstly, the theme allows you to use self-hosted YouTube and Vimeo videos throughout the theme. For example, you can set custom video thumbnails for your portfolio or galleries. Additionally, Inspiro integrates with GIPHY, pushing the limits to what you can do with video within this theme.

    Best for:

    If you want to use Elementor to build your WordPress photography – or specifically videography website – you should consider using Inspiro. Additionally, suppose it is essential for you to be able to showcase your video and photo projects well. In that case, Inspiro is the best photography WordPress theme that you can use for your website.

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $85 per year

    Get Inspiro Premium

    5. Timber

    TIMBER, a WordPress photography theme

    Timber is a unique photography theme that allows you to showcase your work and website uniquely. Its film strip layout lets users use their mouse or keyboard to browse their photography portfolio vertically. Additionally, Timber comes with interesting page transitions that help create a different experience each time a visitor visits your website. Furthermore, Timber allows you to create a private viewing area for your clients. With a password, your customers will be able to proof their photos, download them and send their feedback back to you.

    Key Features:

    • Smart galleries that can combine landscape or portrait photography, videos, and text
    • Auto EXIF Data
    • Native bulk image upload functionality
    • Smooth page transitions
    • Integrates with WooCommerce to sell photography online

    TIMBER WooCommerce integration

    Timber gives you a unique shop layout. Sell your prints and artwork online in a striking manner. Powered by WooCommerce, you can quickly sell your products online with various payment gateways and WooCommerce plugins that can make your beautiful website a revenue-generating platform for your business.

    Best for:

    Creative professionals who want to share their work online will like Timber’s uniqueness. Also, if you want to sell your artwork online in an uncommon way, Timber’s shop layout combined with WooCommerce will be an excellent place to start.

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $75 per year

    Get Timber

    6. Coastline

    Coastline, a WordPress photography theme

    Manage your online photography with elegant tools and the Coastline photography WordPress theme. With integrations for both Gutenberg and Elementor, you can build any layout for your portfolios, posts, and pages for your website. Supported by the Gutenbee plugin, you can decide on the number of columns, item layout, AJAX pagination, and more for your portfolio layouts. Coastline is mobile responsive, so you know that your beautiful grid homepage layout will look beautiful on small and large screens equally. Select and curate the perfect visual identity for your site with over 30 different color and typography options for your new photography website built on Coastline.

    Key Features:

    • Integrates with Gutenberg and Elementor
    • Built-in portfolio custom post type
    • WooCommerce support for digital and physical products
    • Flexible portfolio layouts through the Gutenbee plugin

    Justifed gallery block

    Options provided for the portfolio and gallery blocks with Coastline help build your perfect photography website. You can get pixel-perfect with your gallery or determine what happens to the last row in your gallery. You can decide on your image aspect ratio and determine the margins. All these tools can help you meet your website’s specific goals and needs without having to deal with complex code snippets or additional premium gallery plugins.

    Best for:

    Coastline is one of the best photography WordPress themes for those who want to use the Block Editor to build their website. The Gutenbee plugin that supports Coastline gives you additional support that can help make building your website an easy process.

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $49 per year

    Get Coastline

    7. Bridge

    Bridge creative multipurpose and photography theme

    Bridge is one of ThemeForest’s best photography WordPress themes and the best-selling creative theme on the site. With over 600 one-click demos available, Bridge has a website for everyone. When building a photography-forward website, Bridge has got you covered with a vast array of portfolio, gallery, and slideshow modules in creative and out-of-the-box styles. Additionally, Bridge has many native plugins that you can use to extend your website further. One such plugin is the Qode Slider which you can use to show off your beautiful photos in your customized slider. Packed with flexible header areas, page titles, and even mega menus, Bridge is the perfect photography WordPress theme that does more than display your photos beautifully.

    Key Features:

    • Works with WP Bakery or Elementor
    • 100+ portfolio and photography-centric demos
    • 10+ slider types and 10+ portfolio layouts
    • 200+ page builder elements
    • Ajax page transition animations and smooth CSS3 animations

    Bridges 100+ portfolio and photography themes

    Bridge has 600+ demos, and this is great news for those building photography-forward websites. Of the 600-plus demos available, almost 20% of them are focused on photography. Luckily, if you see a feature in one that you admire, you can mix and match various demos together to make your perfect photography website. Combine this with your page builder of choice, and you can create your dream website in no time!

    Pricing: $138 per year

    Best For:

    Bridge is best for the person who wants a photography website that does something more regarding its page-building capabilities. From our list, Bridge has the most demos and elements that can be rearranged to build a visually appealing website that displays photos beautifully online.

    Get Bridge

    8. Lense

    Lense CSSIgniter Photography theme

    Lense is a photography theme by CSS Igniter that comes with many options to show off your work in a gallery. Additionally, Lense integrates with popular WordPress plugins like WPForms, Yoast SEO and WPML. Lense works with both Elementor and Gutenberg. Additionally, you can further expand the power of the Block Editor by using their free Gutenbee plugin, which comes with 25 more modules for the Block Editor. Lense comes with various layouts for portfolio pages and gallery layouts. Though it is a simple theme, you can still create quite a work of art with Lense.

    Key Features:

    • Works with Elementor and Gutenberg
    • Four gallery layouts, including grid, masonry, and justified
    • Three portfolio page and single portfolio item layouts
    • Portfolio custom post type
    • Flexible portfolio detail and listing options

    Lense site layouts and options

    Lense makes good use of WordPress’ Customizer panel. The Customizer lets you control your site’s layout, colors, and fonts. Additionally, you can decide the layouts for your blog and portfolio pages and your site layout as a whole.

    Best for:

    For those who want a simple way to manage their portfolio online, consider using Lense as your WordPress theme. With simple features, you can efficiently build a complex-looking photography website.

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $49 per year

    Get Lense

    9. Photography WordPress

    Photography WordPress, a WP photography theme

    The current best-selling photography theme on ThemeForest, Photography WordPress, is a theme that effortlessly combines function and elegance. To begin, the theme comes with ample light and dark theme demos. Secondly, Photography WordPress comes with powerful and intuitive client-proofing features. Manage multiple clients, create custom client pages, and add password protection. Also, the theme integrates effortlessly with Instagram and Flickr. Therefore you can showcase your work from these two platforms on your website. Additionally, Photography WordPress comes with two premium lightbox plugins to give you various options for your lightbox needs.

    Key Features:

    • 70+ gallery and portfolio layouts
    • Direct purchase link for photo galleries
    • Proofing gallery with password-protected client archive pages
    • Image drag and right-click protection
    • Progressive image loading for higher website performance

    Photography WordPress Lightroom integration

    A powerful and unique feature of Photography WordPress is its integration with Adobe Lightroom. An essential tool for photographers everywhere, being able to sync your Adobe Lightroom photos into portfolios and galleries on your WordPress site. No need to download and then re-upload hundreds of photos; you can use your WordPress site to connect to Lightroom and start building your galleries with ease.

    Best for:

    This theme is one of the best photography WordPress themes for creative who wants a powerful photography-specific theme that allows them to manage their clients, sell their prints online, and have a beautiful website that they can edit and manage without having to install more plugins or use code.

    Pricing: $118 per year

    Get Photography WordPress

    10. Core

    Core Photography WordPress Theme

    Core takes a simple yet elegant approach to the WordPress photography theme. While it may not have deep functionality regarding integrations and client proofing, it still gives you a beautiful website to display your wares. It has a unique collection of layouts and styles for your galleries, homepage, and portfolio pages. Secondly, it has custom post-type support for portfolios allowing you to organize them into various categories. Thirdly, Core has widgets for a wide array of social media networks like Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, and Flickr, to name a few. Core uses unobtrusive jQuery-powered effects so that your site functions well for users. With a built-in shortcode generator plugin, Timthumb support, and the ability for multiple image uploads to your galleries, Core makes building your photography website an easy task.

    Key Features:

    • Three homepage layout styles
    • Six gallery templates
    • Deep social media and social sharing support
    • Light and dark skins
    • Video portfolio support

    Core password protected gallery

    While it may not be the most robust proofing feature, those who want a simple website approach will appreciate Core’s password-protected gallery feature. It works as it should and adds to the minimalistic and clean take those Theme Goods have toward the design of this theme.

    Best for: 

    For those looking for a minimalistic, simple theme for their portfolio, Core is the best photography WordPress theme for you.

    Pricing: $78 per year

    Get Core

    11. Novo

    NOVO Photography WordPress theme

    Novo is a photography theme that comes with 12 demos that are available in both dark and light modes. Powered by Elementor and WP Bakery, you know that you’ll be able to quickly build your portfolio pages and blog posts easily and quickly. The theme comes with more than 12 different types of galleries, five menu types, and five different blog page layouts. Novo comes with a styled 404 page and a built-in coming soon page. It also works with WooCommerce, so you can quickly sell your photography from your website.

    Key Features:

    • Six different homepage layouts
    • Password protection and built-in right-click protection
    • Custom watermarks
    • Multiple portfolio styles, including masonry, slider, flow, grid, and more
    • Native photo optimization for performance and space

    Booked and Novo Integration

    Novo connects and comes with Booked, allowing you to allow your clients to book slots and appointments with you. This integration allows you to sell sessions, classes, and more, providing another way to monetize your site and website.

    Best for:

    If you want to take monetizing your skills as a creative either by selling your services or your artwork, consider using Novo as your WordPress theme. It has deep functionality and tools to sell your time and prints – both physical and digital – making Novo the best photography WordPress theme for artists who want to monetize their art.

    Pricing: $118 per year

    Get Novo

    What is the Best Photography WordPress Theme?

    Kamera is the best photography WordPress theme for photographers. With its deep client-facing features and modern and unique demos, this is one of the best themes to consider if you are a photography professional. Lens is your best bet for a unique grid homepage and deep color customizations to your site. Lastly, Divi is one of the best photography WordPress themes for the creative who needs absolute control over their website. With tools from the Divi Marketplace and powerful integrations, Divi is the clear choice for photographers who wants more for their website.

    ThemePriceFree Option
    🥇Kamera$158/year❌Visit
    🥈Lens$75/year❌Visit
    🥉Divi$89/year❌Visit
    4Inspiro Premium$85/year✔️Visit
    5Timber$75/year❌Visit
    6Coastline$49/year❌Visit
    7Bridge$138/year❌Visit
    8Lense$49/year❌Visit
    9Photography WordPress$118/year❌Visit
    10Core$78/year❌Visit
    11Novo$118/year❌Visit

    When building a photography website, it is important to optimize your images for SEO and compress image sizes for faster page loads. Here is our list of the best image optimization plugins for WordPress.

    So, what do you think? Have we missed any photography themes that you thought should be mentioned? List them down below in our comments section!

    Article thumbnail image by ArtKrisShapovalova / Shutterstock.com

    The post 11 Best Photography WordPress Themes in 2023 (Compared) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

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  • Understanding and Overcoming Common WooCommerce Challenges: A Guide for Store Owners

    Despite the many benefits of WooCommerce, online store owners often face a myriad of challenges that can hinder the growth and success of their business. Understanding and overcoming these common obstacles is crucial for not only maintaining a seamless online shopping experience but also for ensuring a thriving and profitable e-commerce venture.

    The post “Understanding and Overcoming Common WooCommerce Challenges: A Guide for Store Owners” first appeared on WP Mayor.

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  • 10 Best Real Estate WordPress Themes in 2023 (Compared)

    WordPress is a great platform for building a website for realtors and real estate agencies. All required features are readily available, and many themes have the features already built in. But, the vast number of themes can make finding the perfect theme for your real estate website challenging.

    In this article, look at some of the best real estate WordPress themes available today.

    Why Choose a Real Estate WordPress Theme?

    The best themes for real estate agents and agencies include helpful features such as property listings, easy and advanced searching of listings, maps to show locations, galleries to show multiple images, multiple agent profiles, featured listings, and MLS/IDX integration.

    These features can be added to most themes using plugins, but real estate themes would have them built-in and ready to use. The layouts are designed specifically to showcase real estate properties, and the integrations are smooth with no compatibility issues. However, it should be noted that for deeper features, you may want to look into the various IDX or real estate plugins available for WordPress. For a review of some of the top real estate plugins, see the best WordPress Real Estate Plugins. Additionally, check out these IDX plugins if you’re looking for MLS/IDX integration.

    The Best Real Estate WordPress Themes

    Here’s our list of the best real estate WordPress themes. They cover a variety of uses in the real estate field. For the individual realtor or the property manager, the mortgage broker, or the real estate startup, we’ve got a theme for you.

    1. Realtyna WPL Pro

    WPL Pro is a real estate platform by Realtyna that provides the most powerful real estate themes available for WordPress. In fact, we rated the Realtyna WPL plugin as the top pick for WordPress real estate plugins! Theme 28 and Sesame Theme are both native themes that come free with WPL Pro. But there are other premium themes as well. Each of the themes for WPL Pro has all the features and add-ons needed to create a robust real estate listing website that looks great and is easy to manage. The built-in listing management system allows you to manage all your data in one place.

    Adding a new listing using the WPL Real Estate plugin

    Adding MLS functionality, advanced search, and agent/broker management are all easily handled with the WPL Pro platform and themes. The platform includes a dynamic location system for displaying listings on interactive maps. You can add new content using custom widgets for displaying custom listings, search bars, carousels, agents, and more throughout your website. And it has page views and templates for displaying property listing details dynamically by pulling data from the backend.

    WPL Pro is also compatible with popular website builders like Divi and Elementor, which brings drag-and-drop functionality to your real estate website so you can focus more on sales and less on coding.

    Key Features:

    • Listing management system within WordPress theme
    • Advance search bar with dynamic search parameters
    • supports an unlimited number of users
    • Can handle 100,000+ listings on most servers
    • Plenty of premium add-ons for flexibility
    • Built-in SEO settings
    • Supports organic MLS/IDX integration for WordPress

    Pricing: $199 (one-time fee)

    Get WPL Pro

    2. EstateEngine

    EstateEngine by EngineThemes WordPress Real Estate Theme

    EstateEngine is a WordPress real estate theme that allows you to list, manage, and monetize your properties from your WordPress website. Easily manage various property listings and build a feature-rich real estate website. Its Google Maps integration allows for deep customization of maps at various points on your site. Users of your site can submit, claim and manage their property listings on your site. You can also charge a fee to list or claim a property. Alternatively, you can set up your ad network on your site, allowing users to pay you for ad space on your website. Regarding the best real estate WordPress themes, EstateEngine is a force to be reckoned with.

    Key Features:

    • Advanced search bar settings and configurations
    • Property list and grid view, plus image and video galleries
    • Property details (number of rooms, area, etc.)
    • User/realtor profile pages with frontend property submission
    • Charge users to list with custom payment plans or through a native ad network

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $89 per year

    Get EstateEngine

    3. Divi

    Divi, a powerful customizable theme to use for your real estate business

    To build the best custom real estate website, we’d recommend using our powerful Divi Theme. In addition to being the ultimate website builder for WordPress, Divi’s flexibility and integrations can take your real estate website to greater heights.

    WPL Pro and Divi

    When coupled with extensions like Toolset and Realtyna, you’re on the road to building a dynamic, unique real estate website for your next project. In this tutorial, we show you how to use Divi and Realtyna to add property listings to your Divi site. This tutorial also customizes several layouts within our Real Estate Layout Pack. With the power of WPL Pro and the freedom of design with Divi, you can build a real estate website that matches your needs and your branding.

    Motopress and Divi

    If you want to take bookings on your website, our integration with Motopress will help you! The MotoPress Divi plugin helps users easily book, list, and handle rental properties on their Divi site. This lightweight add-on seamlessly converts MotoPress shortcodes into bespoke Divi Modules with its innovative functionality. These modules are convenient tools to incorporate and manage all your listings and booking content on your website.

    Ultimately, with an arsenal of dynamic extensions and limitless design capabilities, Divi is the clear choice for the real estate professional who values functionality and form for their website.

    Key Features:

    • 10+ real estate-specific page layouts
    • 20+ Woocommerce-specific modules
    • 200+ page builder modules
    • Visual click-and-drag page and Theme Builder
    • Deep integrations with real estate-specific plugins and tools

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $89 per year

    Get Divi

    4. Listable

    Listable, a WordPress Directory theme

    For a modern take on the real estate directory theme, Listable is for you. With customization tools that allow you to switch your branding and typography, Listable combines beauty with functionality for your real estate website theme. Whether you want to build a site for your locality or are thinking global, this WordPress real estate theme can help you build a beautiful site. Monetization is also a key feature of Listable. You can charge a fee to users for listing. Or, you can claim a percentage of their service fee. In each case, you can generate revenue from your real estate website. Build a solid real estate website with Listable and enjoy the benefits of one of WordPress’s best modern real estate themes.

    Key Features:

    • Powerful listing cards system
    • Multiple ways to monetize your site
    • Advanced search and interactive filtering system
    • Drag and drop layout and listing page builder
    • Fast-loading and SEO-friendly

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $85 per year

    Get Listable

    5. Oikia

    Oikia WordPress Real Estate Theme

    Integrations are where Oikia stands strong. Use your favorite plugins like WPForms, Yoast SEO, Toolset, and more to amp up the power of this WordPress real estate theme. You can visually build your real estate website with the Block Editor or the popular page builder plugin Elementor. As such, you have access to an extensive library of elements and block patterns that you can use to create custom post, page, and listing layouts for your site. Create unique property page listings and utilize the extensive list of taxonomies that Oikia has made available. Users can browse through the listings of realtors or agents on your site and go on to contact them directly.

    Key Features:

    • Integration with Elementor and Gutenberg
    • Property custom post type
    • Numerous real estate taxonomies
    • Built-in property search and filtering system
    • Attach agent profiles to profiles

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $49 per year

    Get Oikia

    6. RentalHive

    RentalHive Real Estate WordPress Theme

    RentalHive makes it easy to create a rental marketplace website. If you want to build a website similar to Airbnb, RentalHive is the real estate WordPress theme you need. RentalHive makes it easy for your users to book their rentals on your website. They can search listings by distance, location, and availability. They’re able to message listings owners and leave feedback after their stay. As an admin, you can make it simple for your vendors to manage their bookings and listings. With a front-end management dashboard, your vendors will be happy that they chose to use their site for their short-term listings. As the admin, you can modify the RentalHive theme to make it your own. And you can do all this without using a single line of code!

    Key Features:

    • Vendor management portfolio
    • Monetize your website through custom fees, booking confirmation fees, vendor payouts, and more
    • Custom booking forms and fields
    • Allow users to book and sell listings
    • Users can bookmark, message, rate, and review listings and listing owners

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $178 per year

    Get RentalHive

    7. WordPress Real Estate Theme

    PremiumPress WordPress Real Estate Theme

    PremiumPress’ WordPress Real Estate Theme lets you make a website similar to Zillow. The theme comes with advanced search and filtering functionality, making it easy for your users to find the properties they are searching for. This theme has a powerful search and filtering system that you can customize to turn features on and off. Alternatively, you can add your custom fields to match your business case. The theme is also mobile-friendly and will work on various screen sizes. You can personalize the members’ area for agents and users of your site easily. Property listing pages can also be customized using the native drag-and-drop builder or crowd favorite Elementor. With 1,000 components, more than 250 page sections, and 300+ admin customization options, this theme is for you if you want to build a complex real estate-focused site quickly.

    Key Features:

    • Built-in bookings workflow automation
    • Agent profiles and descriptions
    • Pricing tables, upgrades, and memberships
    • Advanced Ajax search and filtering system
    • Dedicated members area with analytics and more

    Pricing: $99 per year

    Get WordPress Real Estate Theme

    8. Houzez

    Houzez WordPress Real Estate Theme

    Houzez is a full-featured real estate WordPress theme with powerful customization features for search, profile pages, and more. Of all the themes on our list, Houzez takes customization to the highest level. Take, for example, the Houzez Search Builder. This tool allows you to build a custom search bar with the specific queries, options, and taxonomies you need. Secondly, this theme has numerous calculators, customizable email notifications, and a built-in CRM.

    Houzez has a library of pre-built websites for real estate brokerages, individual agents, or real estate professionals. All of which can be edited without coding via the popular page builder Elementor. Truly, Houzez is one of the best real estate WordPress themes available today.

    Key Features:

    • 85+ real-estate specific drag-and-drop widgets
    • Feature-rich Houzez search builder
    • Advanced filters with Ajax search
    • Lead generation and property page forms
    • Mortgage calculator and currency switcher

    Pricing: $138 per year

    Get Houzez

    9. WP Residence

    WP Residence, WordPress Real Estate Theme

    WP Residence was designed for both independent agents and real estate agencies. You can place property location markers on Google Maps. It has an advanced properties search feature with custom fields and a dynamic URL. Agents can submit properties and floor plans through the front end. You can allow users to upload for free or by a fee-based membership system that’s included. Payments can be accepted through PayPal or Stripe. Property searches can be filtered using AJAX filters. Users can receive email alerts for saved searches. It also has 37 included full-site demos for you to build your real estate website quickly. WP Residence is integrated with Elementor, so you can use the page builder to fine-tune each demo and build beautiful, expansive property listing pages and other aspects of your site.

    Key Features:

    • 90+ real-estate-specific Elementor widgets and modules
    • IDX/MLS Sync
    • Extended Google Maps integration
    • Supports multiple payment processors through WooCommerce
    • WpEstate CRM with Hubspot integration

    Pricing: $118 per year

    Get WP Residence

    10. RealHomes

    RealHomes Real Estate WordPress Themes

    RealHomes is another popular WordPress real estate theme from the Themeforest marketplace. More than 30,000 users call RealHomes the best WordPress real estate theme for their uses, and with good reason. The theme is a powerhouse for real estate developers, agents, agencies, or anyone who wants a real estate booking solution. RealHomes allows you to monetize your site by charging a fee for accepting listings, among other ways of revenue generation from the site. Additionally, RealHomes has a robust property management system. This allows frontend property management by your website users, acceptance of payments through WooCommerce, and deep frontend dashboard features. Powered with Elementor, you can build your headers, footers, listings pages, and more with the visual builder chosen by many. This theme suits those who want a high level of features that they can customize with little to no code.

    Key Features:

    • 50+ real estate-specific Elementor widgets
    • Advanced search form design with Elementor
    • Handle bookings, rentals, and appointments natively
    • Build custom listings and property pages
    • Expansive property management system

    Pricing: $138 per year

    Get RealHomes

    11. WP Rentals

    WP Rentals WordPress real estate theme

    When building a powerful real estate booking site, WP Rentals is one of the best WordPress real estate websites you can use. For starters, the customization options for your booking calendar are endless: you can set pricing per day or hour; you can require a minimum number of days per stay… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Additionally, this is one of the few real estate themes that integrates with Google Maps and Open Street Map, providing you with an open-source map alternative. Like many themes on our list, you can get creative with your pages using popular drag-and-drop builders Elementor and WP Bakery. WP Rentals is truly a powerhouse of a theme for those who want to maximize their options for setting up rentals for their properties.

    Key Features:

    • 15 ready-to-use website demos
    • Elementor and WP Bakery are ready
    • Advanced booking system with extensive customizations available
    • Advanced Google Maps and Open Street Map integrations
    • SMS Twilio integration for text notifications

    Pricing: $138 per year

    Get WP Rentals

    Who are the Best Real Estate WordPress Themes?

    That’s our list of some of the best real estate WordPress themes. All these themes have what you need to build a great-looking real estate website with WordPress and get your website running quickly. Whether you need a website for a few rental properties or a fully staffed real estate agency, you will find what you need from this list.

    ThemesPriceFree Option
    🥇Realtyna WPL Pro$150 (one-time fee)✔️Visit
    🥈EstateEngine$89/year❌Visit
    🥉Divi$89/year❌Visit
    4Listable$85/year❌Visit
    5Oikia$49/year❌Visit
    6RentalHive$178✔️Visit
    7WordPress Real Estate Theme$99❌Visit
    8Houzez$139❌Visit
    9WP Residence$118❌Visit
    10RealHomes$138❌Visit
    11WP Rentals$138❌Visit

    Consider using Divi as your theme (since it is so flexible) and a real estate plugin (instead of a theme) to get you all the necessary functionality. This may be an excellent way to future-proof your website. If you’re looking for a solid directory theme for your real estate business, EstateEngine is your theme. For the more modern among us, check out Listable. Its attention to detail, vast branding options, and unique style make it a top choice for those looking to build a sleek, feature-rich real estate website.

    Do you have a favorite theme for realtors and agencies? Let us know in the comments.

    Article thumbnail image by Boyko.Pictures / shutterstock.com 

    The post 10 Best Real Estate WordPress Themes in 2023 (Compared) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

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  • WordPress Turns 20

    WordPress is 20 years old today, an estimable milestone for open source software running on the web. Parties are happening all over the world – in Geneva, Los Angeles, Istanbul, Bangkok, Lahore, Jakarta, Mumbai – in over 150 different locations.

    The software has been downloaded more than 2.8 billion times but the most impressive stat is the project’s staggering 112,000 contributors, past and present, who have improved and energized WordPress with their passion, talent, and hard work.

    None of the global collaboration we enjoy today would exist without the inspiration and leadership of co-founders Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little. They worked in a distributed way from day one, having never met when they started WordPress. This way of working created the foundation for a global contributor base that now supports 43% of the world’s websites.

    WordPress has had a profound impact on the lives of millions of users, giving them a voice on the web and the tools to launch businesses, create jobs, and bring ideas to life. The #WP20 hashtag is replete with stories of how WordPress and its community have given people a place of belonging and launched them into successful endeavors.

    Does WordPress have 20 more years in its future? Two of the biggest challenges ahead are capturing the hearts of the next generation of builders and maintainers, and preserving the open web where WordPress has thrived. The project’s 2022 annual survey showed that the respondent demographic is aging. The percentage of respondents under age 40 has decreased every year, as WordPress enters its third decade.

    Ensuring that WordPress remains resilient and relevant to future generations has required some courageous leadership decisions, like introducing the block editor, and may bring some significant shifts down the road, as we enter a new era of AI-powered innovation.

    Major milestones are are a good time to acknowledge the efforts that made all of this possible. Thank you, dedicated contributors, for lending WordPress a little bit of your fire and a lot of your patience, nurturing, and support. The code under the hood may look very different from the early days in 2003, but WordPress is still that same scrappy, irrepressible force of good on the web that users can count on for years to come.

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  • WordPress Dynamic Content: 3 Best Plugins to Set It Up

    If you’re not using WordPress dynamic content on your website or blog, you’re missing out! Dynamic content is a great way to keep your site fresh and engaging, and it can help you attract new readers and followers. This article covers everything you need about it and how to easily implement it on your website using free plugins.

    The post WordPress Dynamic Content: 3 Best Plugins to Set It Up appeared first on Themeisle Blog.

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  • WordPress Turns 20: Empowering People to Success Online

    While age is just a number, we couldn’t be more excited about the 20th anniversary of WordPress on May 27, 2023.

    Meetups, WordCamps, and a call for block art submissions are being held to honor the platform’s first release two decades ago. These activities are nicely mapped and documented on WordPress’s official anniversary website, so WordPress community members across the globe can see how they can get involved in the festivities.

    Here at Hostinger, we celebrate this anniversary by contributing to the Five for the Future project. With this post, we also want to celebrate our customers who use WordPress to elevate their online presence. We talked to four of our inspiring customers about how WordPress and our services help them succeed online.

    How Hostinger Supports WordPress Users

    At Hostinger, WordPress users get the best out of their favorite CMS with our optimized WordPress hosting plans. Thanks to LiteSpeed servers and the LSCWP cache plugin, all plans are built for speed, helping users achieve better UX, better SEO, and higher conversion rates.

    On top of that, there are plenty of ready-to-use advanced features to help anyone start their WordPress journey in no time. These features include a 1-click installer, automatic WordPress updates, a staging tool, and security measures like automated daily backups and a malware scanner.

    Let’s see how our clients make the most of WordPress with Hostinger.

    Lotte Johansen – Web Accessibility Advocate

    Since 2014, the Norwegian government has stipulated a law that deemed inaccessible websites illegal. This means websites that are designed or redesigned after 2014 must follow most of the A and AA criteria in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0.

    Lotte Johansen, who was working as a developer in marketplace Finn.no at that time, instantly thought about how the company would apply this new policy in their work. She noticed there wasn’t much done regarding web accessibility, so she took matters into her own hands. That was how the accessibility group at Finn was formed and the beginning of Lotte’s journey as an expert in the field.

    “Web accessibility is good for everyone. That’s what I like about it,” she explains about what motivates her to delve deeper into web accessibility. The goal is to offer everyone the same experience when accessing a website, regardless of their ability or disability.

    Since the advent of the accessibility group, Lotte’s interest in the field has kept growing. She started doing presentations and workshops, first internally at Finn and then externally. Nowadays, she is still working at Finn as the Engineering Manager, and her public speaking role has become her side job.

    homepage of Lotte Johansen's website

    It only made sense for Lotte to create a website to present the topics she can speak about and to display where she’s been featured in.

    Since she’s more of a back-end developer, it became important for her to use a website-building platform that can help her tackle the front-end side quickly and beautifully. And that’s where WordPress stepped in.

    Hostinger’s 1-click WordPress installer made her site-building experience fast and easy. That, combined with the well-priced three-year hosting plan and the included domain-based email addresses, solidified her choice to use Hostinger.

    And naturally, Lotte’s WordPress site is all about accessibility. She ran her site through several accessibility tests, passing them all with flying colors. That being said, she hopes there can be a way to easily adapt and test accessibility in WordPress in the future.

    We’re positive the accessibility features will continue to improve in the future. After all, WordPress is committed to it, even having a dedicated Accessibility Team to ensure the best practices are applied in the platform.

    Verônica Naka — Architect and CEO of Nakasa

    Verônica Naka is an architect from Peruíbe, a city on the south coast of São Paulo, Brazil. In 2021, with more than 10 years of experience in architecture and interior design, she decided to venture out and found her own company.

    She named her new project Nakasa, based on her Japanese last name, Naka, which means “inside”. Also, “casa” means “home” in Portuguese, so it was a great fit for the company.

    Nakasa specializes in combining the sophistication of contemporary style with the well-being of its clients’ environment. “As architects, we need to help our client to find their style, what they like, and to translate all their needs into an environment,” Verônica explains.

    Now, Verônica’s team consists of 14 people, including architects, civil engineers, interior designers, and administrators.

    The team has proved that a small city company like Nakasa can work as hard as a big city business, with equally excellent quality services and effective workflows. There are not many architecture and interior design agencies in Peruíbe, and the team often has to face clients who don’t yet understand the value of interior design and the service price. Many think of interior design as merely adding pieces of furniture to a space. However, Verônica sees this as both a challenge and an opportunity, since her company is a pioneer in the field.

    homepage of Nakasa's website

    To expand Nakasa’s audience reach, the team created a website to showcase the agency’s portfolio – something very important for architecture agencies. The website is also used as the point of contact for clients: they can fill out a contact form, allowing the team to learn more about the project and set up a meeting with the client.

    Initially, Verônica wanted to put as many pictures on the website as possible, but then she realized she must prioritize the overall user experience. She decided to collaborate with a developer to create Nakasa’s website, and the developer chose WordPress as the platform.

    “It’s intuitive and easy to use. Now my team manages most of the website content, like adding photos of our new projects in our business portfolio,” Verônica says. “Now we are focusing on the SEO side, too, with the help of a digital marketing agency.”

    Verônica agrees that her WordPress website really helps her company to grow. This is because, due to the price and complexity, people tend to search for architectural services on search engines, not social media.

    She emphasizes further, “Your website stays there as your storefront. It won’t go away after 24 hours. It will appear when your customer searches for your product on Google.”

    Phoebe Poon – CEO and Co-founder of Liker Land and Web3Press Plugin

    People generally associate NFT with one-of-a-kind visual digital assets, such as artwork. But the future is here: please welcome literary NFTs.

    Phoebe Poon and her colleagues established Liker Land in 2017, pretty early in the blockchain space. The company positioned itself as a decentralized publishing infrastructure. The platform has an NFT bookstore where visitors can collect NFT books and content, and writers can publish their work. There’s also a WordPress plugin called Web3Press that publishes blog posts as NFT content.

    The team aspired to bring blockchain technology into publishing after realizing that the Internet is very centralized. When content creators post their work on social media, the content does not actually belong to them – they’re actually controlled by the platform being used. And when the platform is gone, so is their content.

    That’s why Phoebe and her team wanted to empower creators to have more ownership over their content and provide another option to monetize it.

    They created International Standard Content Number (ISCN), which works like International Standard Book Number (ISBN). It’s a registry protocol for digital content. This identifier contains metadata that includes the author, title, and the place and time of publication. The ISCN is publicly available for anyone to verify or check whether a specific person actually owns that content.

    homepage of Web3Press's website

    Moreover, Liker Land and WordPress’s missions are basically running in the same vein – Liker Land with the goal of “decentralizing publishing” and WordPress with the plan to “democratize publishing”. It’s actually one of the reasons why Phoebe and her team create Web3Press for WordPress users.

    The team has also worked with a lot of independent media. These media outlets faced censorship issues, and the team wanted to offer them a tool that could help them create archives for their websites. WordPress enabled the media outlets to do just that, as well as have full freedom with site customization.

    Meanwhile, as a WordPress plugin, Web3Press enables users to store their site archives as decentralized storage IPFSs. This makes it harder for a centralized authority to wipe out online content since it is already public on a peer-to-peer network.

    In the future, Phoebe wishes to see the option for applying the ISCN system across WordPress’s native site. This way, whenever people open their WordPress site, they already have the option to register their writing on the blockchain. She suggests this will be beneficial for people who want full ownership of their content and retain their right to the freedom of speech.

    Web3Press’s website itself is powered by WordPress and hosted on Hostinger. Phoebe loves that you can share the hosting account with other team members without limitations, making her team’s workflow more efficient.

    She also loves the stability and ease of setup, maintenance, and troubleshooting. Plus, her Hostinger plan integrates with the necessary SaaS. “I think for the fast-paced tech environment, you just want to have the best user experience so that you don’t need to spend too much time finding your way around,” says Phoebe.

    Michelle Frechette – Marketer and Podcaster of Audacity Marketing

    In the words of Matt Mullenweg himself, Michelle Frechette is “the busiest woman in WordPress”. And for a good reason – she’s been making waves all around the WordPress ecosystem for a while.

    In addition to her work as the Director of Community Engagement, she’s also the president of the board of a nonprofit organization, an author, a business coach, a frequent organizer and speaker at WordPress events, and a co-host for several podcasts. One of her podcasts, Audacity Marketing, aims to help businesses succeed with bold, community-led marketing strategies.

    Michelle hosts Audacity Marketing together with fellow marketing professional Hazel Quimpo. Hazel and Michelle publish a new episode every couple of weeks, discussing how people can make big, bold moves in marketing and how to pivot if things aren’t going well.

    “Making a bold move doesn’t always guarantee success,” explains Michelle. “Sometimes we have to have backup plans and determine what we will do if a certain way doesn’t work out. How will we redirect ourselves, our efforts, and our resources into a more profitable direction?”

    Besides being a podcast, Audacity Marketing is also a consulting service. People can sign up for a session to pick Michelle and Hazel’s brains or hire them to work on projects like creating a marketing plan or a brand audit.

    homepage of Audacity Marketing's website

    One of the reasons why Michelle loves WordPress is because it’s so flexible. Whatever theme is being used, there are many possibilities for the look and feel of the finished site. The custom post type feature and content organization by category and tag also enable her to neatly showcase Audacity Marketing’s podcast content and information about the consultation services.

    Audacity Marketing’s website is hosted with Hostinger, and Michelle loves how easy it is to start setting up and using WordPress with Hostinger. She doesn’t even remember if she ever had to contact support.

    “I don’t think ever we’ve run into any issues. It’s all been very seamless,” Michelle says.

    There’s another aspect that Michelle loves about WordPress. “Part of me wants to use WordPress because of the community. I’m myself part of this community because I like how the software works,” she says.

    She loves how people in the WordPress community help each other to make the most of the CMS. To commemorate the platform’s 20th birthday, Michelle wishes WordPress continues to grow and improve by ensuring diversity and inclusion in its ecosystem. She would love to see more people from all walks of life represented.

    “Every product and every service gets better when we are taking into account all human experiences and not just isolated, homogenized groups. If we’re not seeking to always improve, then we stagnate, right? So we need to make sure that we are a diverse group of people, gender-, ethnicity, and abilities-wise, no matter the shape, size, or age,” Michelle elaborates.

    Everyone can chip in – it’s easy to start contributing or simply attending a WordCamp. “It can be scary to be the first person that looks like you in a new space. But to know that it means other people look at that space and see that it’s including you, too – to me, that’s what’s super important,” she says.

    After all, WordPress is for everyone – it just takes some courage for new faces to take the first step.

    What’s Next For WordPress

    So, after the party hats have been retired and the cake has been cut, what can we expect to see from WordPress in the near future? The major development to look forward to this year will be Phase 3 of the default block editor of WordPress, Gutenberg.

    This new phase will address one of WordPress users’ main concerns: collaboration within the editorial workflow. This update will enable asynchronous editorial collaboration à la Google Docs, making it easy to suggest edits and tag other team members inside the editor. These features will definitely streamline workflows, making online collaboration better than ever.

    Want to stay on top of all things WordPress? Subscribe to our WordPress newsletter for weekly WordPress insights, security news, best plugins, and much more.

    The post WordPress Turns 20: Empowering People to Success Online appeared first on Hostinger Blog.

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  • WordPress at 20: The CMS that revolutionized the web!

    WordPress is turning 20 years old, and we can’t help but reminisce on all the years so far. Our favorite CMS has come a long way since its beginning, celebrating its 20th anniversary on May 27, 2023. A content management system (CMS) can help its users create a great website, and WordPress is the one we keep returning to. This blog post offers a brief history of WordPress and describes Yoast’s significant role in the WordPress project and community.

    History of WordPress

    Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little started and announced WordPress on May 27, 2003. In those days, it was a simple blogging platform built on the b2/cafelog software. Its popularity grew due to its user-friendly interface, customizability, and flexibility, letting users easily create custom themes and plugins. This made it a top choice for bloggers, freelancers, and small businesses. This was when competitors like Joomla and Drupal were doing pretty well.

    Screenshot of what WordPress 0.7 looked like
    The WordPress editor back in 2003, screenshot by Web Design Museum

    WordPress 1.5 was launched in 2005. In this release, users could change the design of their blogs without needing to know HTML or CSS. Over time, WordPress further grew in versatility. The 2010 release of WordPress 3.0 added custom post types. Users created various content types beyond posts and pages thanks to custom post types. The feature enabled SEO experts to design custom landing pages and product pages. They could also optimize URLs for better search engine visibility. Additionally, WordPress 3.0 allowed site owners to create multiple sites using a single installation with its multi-site feature.

    In 2018, the Gutenberg editor debuted with the release of WordPress 5.0. This new editor has improved the user experience by introducing drag-and-drop blocks. Thanks to these blocks, users create visually appealing and engaging content that gets more website traffic and engages visitors. Today, the block editor powers the full site editing feature slowly rolling out in WordPress.

    The importance of open source

    We can partly explain WordPress’s success due to its open-source license, which is core to its development philosophy. The license allows users, designers, and developers to access, modify, and improve WordPress’s source code. As a result, it created a vibrant and inclusive community that propels its growth and accessibility.

    Thousands of developers worldwide contribute to WordPress, creating plugins and themes that enhance the platform’s functionality. This approach has made WordPress the preferred platform for businesses of all sizes. It also helped stimulate best practices among its users and developers.

    The open-source model has become the foundation of WordPress’s success as a leading content management system. The community working together to create a powerful, easy-to-use, and adaptable platform for everyone has made it one of the most recognizable open-source projects in the world. The philosophy of openness and inclusivity will continue to drive WordPress’s growth and development into the future.

    Key moments in the history of WordPress

    Let’s take a closer look at some of the significant moments in the history of WordPress.

    The initial launch of WordPress (2003)

    WordPress launched in 2003, marking a pivotal moment in the history of the web. It also started a new era of sites. Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little co-founded it as a fork of the b2/cafelog blogging system. They wanted to offer something more user-friendly and flexible than what was already out there.

    Designed to be modular and adaptable, WordPress gained popularity as a CMS for bloggers of all skill levels. Developers were attracted to it to create custom themes and plugins. Its simplicity set it apart. The intuitive interface and basic features made publishing and managing content online easy, even for users lacking technical skills.

    Although it had its initial issues, the efforts of Mullenweg and Little paid off. The WordPress community grew, improving the platform’s flexibility and refining updates to fix bugs. Developing plugins and themes further enhanced its capabilities and drove its popularity.

    The launch of WordPress 1.5 (2005)

    2005 saw the release of WordPress 1.5. This significant update introduced themes, revolutionizing how users could personalize their WordPress sites. Before themes, altering a site’s appearance required creating CSS stylesheets, a time-consuming and elaborate process only feasible for expert users.

    Themes introduced an accessible and practical way for WordPress users to modify their sites’ designs without learning HTML or CSS. The update marked a turning point in WordPress’s history, further boosting its popularity and user-friendliness.

    The update came with a default theme, Kubrick, by Michael Heilemann. This became the go-to choice for users due to its groundbreaking design and easy customization. Additionally, WordPress 1.5 had a new database structure that offered better performance and scalability. This allowed faster, more efficient handling of more extensive data storage.

    With the introduction of static pages, users could create pages beyond the prior limit of posts in chronological order. Now, we see the addition of standard pages like About us, Contact us, and more. Themes empowered non-developers to personalize their sites, making WordPress 1.5 more accessible than ever.

    Launch of the WordPress plugin repository (2005)

    The concept of plugins was introduced in WordPress 1.2. The launch of the WordPress plugin repository in 2005 marked a turning point for the platform. The repository vastly expanded its capabilities and popularity. Before the repository, WordPress users were limited in customization options, relying on built-in functions alone.

    The plugin repository changed everything. It enabled developers to create and share their plugins with the WordPress community. This opened up limitless possibilities for expanding and personalizing functionality. The library now offers users a broad range of plugins, from social media integration to eCommerce, to enhance their WordPress sites.

    The plugin repository streamlined the installation process. It replaced the considerable effort of downloading files and transferring them through FTP with a single-click installation from the WordPress dashboard.

    One plugin that greatly impacted site owners was WordPress SEO, later called Yoast SEO. After all these years, our plugin is still the most important tool for optimizing on-page content and doing SEO. This plugin provides features like content analysis, XML sitemaps, and social integration to enhance visibility and increase website traffic.

    The plugin repository also fostered and strengthened the WordPress community by encouraging sharing, communication, and collaboration between enthusiasts. Today, it is a vital cornerstone of the WordPress ecosystem. It has a broad selection of over 60,000 plugins, continuing to enrich WordPress’s capabilities and development community.

    The first ever WordCamp is held (2006)

    The WordPress community is very active online but also loves to come together offline. Instrumental in this was the introduction of WordCamps, which are events that focus on everything related to WordPress. WordCamps are informal conferences that are organized all over the world, by people from the community. And this is still very much happening to this day.

    During these events, WordPress enthusiasts come together to meet like-minded people, share ideas and work together on improving WordPress. And one of the reasons for its ongoing popularity is that everyone’s welcome, from developers to casual users. Every contribution is welcome and everyone can contribute!

    WordPress 3.0 (2010)

    WordPress 3.0 was a significant moment in the platform’s history. This release featured many new tools that gave users greater website control and flexibility. Custom post types were among the most critical introductions, removing the previous post and page limitations. This made creating product pages, event listings, and the like easier. It reduced the complexity or requirement of hacking the platform. 

    Multi-site functionality was another significant update, allowing users to create multiple sites with a single WordPress installation. This made site management more accessible and more centralized for owners. Additionally, WordPress 3.0 offered an improved menu system. A more sophisticated site design is now possible, giving users greater control over arranging individual menus. The update enhanced performance and security, providing better caching, response time, and security features.

    The WordPress Foundation was founded (2010)

    In 2010, Matt Mullenweg founded the WordPress Foundation, a charitable organization to further WordPress’ mission. Which is to democratize publishing through open source. The goal was (and is) to keep ensuring free access to the software projects that WordPress supports. To create a stable platform for future generations and to make sure the source code doesn’t disappear when the current contributor base changes.

    This means that the foundation is responsible for the protection of the WordPress and WordCamp trademark (and related trademarks). But it also focuses on educating the public on WordPress and the importance of open-source software.

    Five for the Future is launched (2014)

    The Five for the Future project is an initiative that promotes contributions to the WordPress platform. It encourages organizations to contribute five percent of their resources to WordPress development. Being the open-source project that it is, WordPress benefits from and relies on people all over the world contributing to it. Five for the Future helps make this happen, with participation more than quadrupling since its launch in 2014.

    As is often (if not always) the case with WordPress, everyone can contribute. There is always a way to get involved, regardless of your experience level. This gives people the opportunity to learn alongside other, more experienced contributors who enjoy sharing their knowledge. It’s possible to contribute to Five for the Future as an individual or with your organization.

    The Gutenberg/block editor (2018)

    In 2018, WordPress 5.0 brought the revolutionary Gutenberg editor. Gutenberg introduced a block-based system to replace the traditional WYSIWYG editor, improving accessibility and democratizing website creation.

    The block editor broke down content creation into blocks, allowing better template design and layout precision, separate from content styling. This enabled customization options like images, heading, and shortcode blocks to easily create complex content like charts, forms, and call-to-actions.

    Initially, the rollout met some resistance due to significant change, but people slowly learned to accept it due to its superior user experience and versatility. It has since become a staple feature with the release of custom block-building capabilities. The block editor provides limitless design possibilities and improves website designs.

    The platform has undergone further development with the release of reusable blocks, block patterns, and full-site editing, expanding customization options. Reusable blocks allowed the saving of frequently used blocks, while block patterns provided a selection of pre-designed blocks with customization options. Finally, full-site editing allowed users to create site designs using the block editor seamlessly.

    The transformative addition of Gutenberg brought unprecedented ease, customization, and adaptability to WordPress, making it an essential tool for website creation and evolution. With its current state and potential for updates, Gutenberg will continue to play a crucial role in WordPress’s future growth and success.

    All-women & nonbinary release squad (2020)

    Every new release of WordPress comes with its own release squad. In 2020, the squad for the WordPress 5.6 release only consisted of people who identify as women or nonbinary. This was done to increase the number of women and nonbinary people who have experience on a release squad and also return as a contributor to WordPress. The WordPress 5.6 release, named “Simone”, was the first ever to have an all-women & nonbinary release squad and this was quite a success!

    It’s also good to mention that right now, the community is preparing for the next women & nonbinary release squad. So if you’re interested, make sure to sign up!

    Full site editing and the future of WordPress (2022 and beyond)

    The main focus of the WordPress project is to build a full-site editing feature. With this, users create sites visually using the block editor. Full site editing debuted in WordPress 5.9. Users could choose visual options such as font combinations and image filters through the adaptive navigation block.

    WordPress 6.0 followed and improved the user experience by introducing a block-locking UI and improved export theme functionality. Meanwhile, WordPress 6.1 brought improvements to the full-site editing functionalities. The latest release, WordPress 6.2, introduced a new Site Editor and additional functionality.

    While ongoing concerns over stalling adoption rates, the legacy codebase, and UX issues, among others, exist, the WordPress project remains optimistic about the future. Performance has also become a new focus, making WordPress faster, with support from Google. Despite challenges, the WordPress community remains committed to enhancing the platform, cementing its position as a leading CMS.

    Yoast and WordPress

    Yoast and WordPress have a deep-rooted history, and their future is interdependent. Without WordPress, the Yoast SEO plugin and Yoast, the company, may not have existed. Joost de Valk, Yoast’s founder and ex-CEO, created the SEO plugin for WordPress. He actively contributed to the WordPress project and community from early on. Today, Yoast has a team of dedicated WordPress developers who have been prolific contributors to WordPress, closely following Automattic’s contributions.

    We do everything we can to improve WordPress. For instance, we formed the WordPress Performance team with a team from Google. The team identified and addressed common performance issues to put performance front and center. The goal is to keep WordPress from falling behind competitors in performance. Making WordPress faster benefits everyone, from website owners to visitors, leading to increased engagement and revenue opportunities.

    Of course, Yoast played a critical role in WordPress’ success in the SEO industry. Today, our plugin has over 14 million active downloads. It provides technical improvements, on-page optimization, content analysis, XML sitemaps, social media integration, and much more, simplifying SEO processes and enhancing online visibility. By sponsoring numerous WordCamps and meetups, we demonstrate our commitment to the WordPress community.

    WordPress’s open-source platform allows us to create user-friendly products that meet the community’s needs. The dependency on the WordPress project and Yoast continue to shape our futures, evident in our commitment to the ecosystem. Yoast and WordPress are intertwined in history and remain pivotal to each other’s future. Together, we’ll continue to drive innovation, and growth, and develop the community.

    Thanks for 20 good years, WordPress, and here’s to the next 20!

    WordPress has evolved incredibly since its inception. It’s now a dependable CMS that powers over 43% of the internet. Regular updates and new features continue to make it the best tool for publishing and optimizing content for search engines.

    As WordPress celebrates its 20th birthday, we’d like to congratulate everyone who has participated in this success — whether as a contributor, a developer, or a user. At Yoast, we are particularly proud of our contributions to the success of WordPress and its community. WordPress has significantly impacted the internet by simplifying the process of developing, publishing, and promoting online content. We can only hope that the future is just as bright!

    Read more: Yoast & WordPress »

    The post WordPress at 20: The CMS that revolutionized the web! appeared first on Yoast.

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  • WordPress 6.2 Core Performance Analysis Finds Improving Template Loading for Classic Themes Could Make a Major Impact

    WordPress’ Performance Team has published a summary of a core performance analysis they completed in order to identify and prioritize areas for improvement. As part of this process, contributors created a methodology with a standard set of tools that can be used to collect and share profiling data for various components of the application.

    The team tested a classic theme (Twenty Twenty-One) and a block theme (Twenty Twenty-Three) configured with the Theme Unit Test data. They tested out of the box functionality, in addition to different scenarios such as a homepage displaying the latest posts, a basic text-only page, a page with a large set of images and default blocks, and a homepage and a basic page with translation.

    These tests uncovered numerous performance issues which the team has documented with related trac tickets and detailed in the summary of the findings. The first priority identified for improvement is template loading for classic themes.

    Although WordPress contributors are blazing forward on the project’s roadmap for the block editor, with most of the headline release features focused on site editing, block theme adoption is not where one might expect it to be more than four years after Gutenberg landed in core.

    “A majority of websites still use the classic theme architecture, so improvements made here could have the largest horizontal impact,” 10-up sponsored WordPress Core Committer Joe McGill said in the summary.

    McGill referenced data collected in April 2023 for the HTTPArchive which uses a query based on a new HTTP Archive custom metric to detect block theme adoption. Based on this information, improving template loading and rendering for classic themes should remain a high priority. Most of the WordPress-powered web is still running on classic themes.

    The summary highlights the improvements for template loading that would make the most impact:

    In the classic theme tested, the most expensive process is related to locating and rendering template parts. This starts with get_template_part(), includes the process of locating the template part files with locate_template(), and rendering the content for each template part. This whole process accounted for approximately 30–60% of the entire server response in the test results, with much of that time spent handling filesystem checks (e.g., file_exists() is responsible for 4–9% of all time measured and can likely be optimized with a cache), rendering widget blocks, etc. Given many of these filesystem checks aren’t likely to produce different outcomes often between requests, there are likely opportunities to find substantial improvements here.

    These improvements are the first of five priorities the Performance Team identified as the result of analysis. The second recommendation is to improve translation loading, as more than 56% of all WordPress websites are using translations.

    The other three priorities include improvements for block-powered sites, with the first two ringing up as the most costly operations in terms of performance:

    • Improve handling of block registration from metadata
    • Improve resolving block templates
    • Improve rendering of block widgets

    “These efforts will likely require additional research and architectural design before engineering begins,” McGill said. “All other items identified could be worked on directly through individual Trac tickets as capacity allows.”

    The Performance Team is considering making the tooling for performance profiling more broadly available so other contributors can extend their work. In the future, they may also consider contacting hosting companies to get them to run analysis on their infrastructure and examine additional use cases, such as PHP versions, Object Caching configuration, and more. Once the methodology used for this analysis is nailed down, future efforts to improve performance may become more frequent and easier to produce.

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  • 11 Best Multipurpose WordPress Themes in 2023 (Ranked)

    There are plenty of niche-specific WordPress themes out there. You can easily find themes dedicated to specific topics like education, travel, and more if needed. But what if you want something a little more flexible? That’s where knowing and finding the best multipurpose WordPress themes come in.

    You can use multipurpose themes across a vast array of verticals. That means you can invest in one single multipurpose theme and use it over a variety of personal or client projects.

    But nowadays, everyone and their mother are calling their themes multipurpose. So how can you separate the wheat from the chaff? Easy – with this list of the best multipurpose WordPress themes.

    What Makes the Best Multipurpose WordPress Themes?

    While choosing what I think are the best multipurpose WordPress themes, I focused on a few critical criteria:

    • Sales/download numbers (when available): I view it as a positive when a theme is popular. It usually means a more vibrant community and indicates that the theme will continue to receive support and updates.
    • Reviews/star ratings (when available): Good ratings are always positive.
    • Adherence to modern design standards: that is, things like following responsive design principles, modern aesthetics, etc.
    • Ease of using it as a multipurpose theme: When multipurpose themes include templates or demo content, it is easier to use the theme across various niches. If a multipurpose theme takes lots of hacking to use, what’s the point?

    The Best Multipurpose WordPress Themes

    Now that you know what we considered while going through the different themes, let’s dig into the list!

    1. Divi

    Divi, premium WordPress website builder plugin

    Are you an Elegant Themes member? If so, you’ve already got access to a great multipurpose theme. It’s called Divi, and you might have already heard of it. Divi is flexible enough to create any website you throw at it. You’ll also get neat features like Divi Leads for A/B testing and the Divi Role Editor, which go far beyond what’s baked into most multipurpose themes. With Divi, the possibilities for the type of sites you can build are endless. If you want a one-page website, you can build that. If you want to launch a blog or your online portfolio, Divi can also help you imagine that.

    Divi Full Website Packs

    Additionally, we have more than 300 full website layout packs for various sectors and businesses. Non-profits, blue-collar businesses, or even web design agencies can all use Divi to build fully featured websites without using code. Powered by more than 2,000 individual page layouts and counting, no matter what the purpose of your website is, Divi has a place in your web design toolkit.

    Other features include:

    • Divi Builder for visual and backend page building
    • 300+ full website layout packs
    • 2,000+ page layouts
    • Tons of child themes and third-party designs
    • Heaps of free header and footer options

    Pricing: Paid plans start at $89 per year

    Get Divi

    2. X | The Theme

    ThemeCo Pro and X Premium WP Themes

    X Theme is one of the all-time best sellers at ThemeForest, coming in with over 200,000 sales and a 4.8-star rating.

    It comes with the Cornerstone page builder and tons of standard and expanded website demos across various verticals, such as churches, restaurants, and spas. No matter the industry you’re in, X Theme has a website demo that you can install, modify and use on your site, without having to learn a line of code.

    X Theme also uses the WordPress customizer for easy real-time editing. Additionally, you’ll also get custom shortcodes and various header/menu layouts.

    Other features include:

    • Proprietary Cornerstone visual, frontend builder
    • 15+ full site demos
    • 30+ additional premium plugins
    • Four unique shop designs
    • Responsive styling and controls
    • Native slider builder

    Pricing: $138 per year

    Get X | The Theme

    3. Bridge

    Bridge Premium WordPress Theme

    Bridge is one of the best multipurpose WordPress themes for those who love using the WP Bakery page builder. Deeply integrated with this builder, you have over 200 elements to build your pages and posts. Bridge has over 600 demos, so you can quickly build a website for any sector.

    In addition to its vast library of demos, Bridge also has native plugins to help you enhance your site. It has a music module to connect with popular music platforms like Spotify and Soundcloud. Its native LMS module brings online learning to your website without an additional plugin needed. As a multipurpose WordPress theme, Bridge takes you further than most.

    Other features include:

    • 600+ complete website sets
    • 200+ web design elements
    • 24 layout concepts
    • 7 portfolio list layouts
    • Build pages with Gutenberg, Elementor, or WP Bakery

    Pricing: $138 per year

    Get Bridge

    4. Astra

    Astra responsive WordPress theme

    Proclaimed as the most downloaded and popular WordPress theme of all time, Astra balances its free and pro feature set very well. Astra has over 200 website templates available for a variety of sectors. Designers, bloggers, small businesses, and others can easily find a free – or premium – Astra website template to begin building their website.

    Astra is performance-focused, so your site will perform well for visitors and search engines. You can build custom headers, footers, page templates, and more with its native builder. Alternatively, you can use page builder plugins like Elementor and Beaver Builder to build your website.

    Other features include:

    • Gutenberg compatible
    • Header Footer Builder
    • Multiple blog post layout options
    • WooCommerce integration and customizations
    • Integrates with LifterLMS and LearnDash

    Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $59 per year

    Get Astra

    5. GeneratePress

    GeneratePress best WordPress theme

    With a focus on performance and an excellent working relationship with the Block Editor, GeneratePress is the best multipurpose WordPress theme for those who want to build a supercharged website. While it may not have many fancy modules, it emphasizes accessibility, clean code, and usability. GeneratePress has a site library where you can find several professionally designed starter sites. Whether you’re looking to build a business website, blog, or online store, GeneratePress can help you build all of the above.

    Other features include:

    • Works well with Gutenberg, Beaver Builder, and Elementor
    • Block-based Theme Builder
    • Integration with WooCommerce
    • Extensive library of professionally designed websites
    • Multiple menu and navigation controls including off-canvas, secondary navigation and sticky options

    Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $59 per year

    Get GeneratePress

    6. Genesis Pro

    Genesis Pro by StudioPress

    Another theme that leans into the Block Editor is Genesis Pro. This multipurpose theme makes it simple to create and use content quickly. Equipped with prebuilt sections, custom page layouts, and more, you can build any website with the Block Editor and Genesis Pro. While it does have a free version, the Genesis framework, Genesis Pro, gives you more power and guidance. It’s an enhancement to WordPress’ Block Editor, allowing you to speed up your design workflow while adhering to clean coding standards. If these aspects of web design are essential to you and your business, Genesis Pro is one of the best multipurpose WordPress themes for you.

    Key Features:

    • 15+ optimized blocks for the Block Editor
    • 50+ pre-built, full-page layouts
    • 130+ pre-built sections
    • Premium block library through Genesis Blocks plugin
    • Advanced block fields

    Pricing: $360 per year

    Get Genesis Pro

    7. Hello Elementor

    Hello Elementor responsvie WordPress theme

    Hello Elementor is a free multipurpose WordPress theme that works perfectly with the page builder Elementor. If you’re looking to keep costs low for your next WordPress project, you can use Hello Elementor with the free version of the page builder and still build a unique and feature-rich website for your needs. Powered by Elementor, out of the box, you receive more than 100 widgets that you can use on your pages and posts. It is also a lightweight WordPress theme, so you don’t need to worry about page speeds as you build your site. By upgrading, you’ll get access to Elementor’s kit library, which has more than 100 ready-made designs for any business, project, or site you’d like to create.

    Other features include:

    • 100+ ready-made designs and website kits
    • Drag-and-drop visual editor
    • WooCommerce Builder
    • Loop builder for custom post types
    • Global fonts, colors, and CSS

    Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $59 per year

    Get Hello Elementor

    8. Ultra

    Ultra WordPress Theme, and one of the Best Multipurpose WordPress Themes

    Themify’s Ultra is a powerful multipurpose theme that makes it easy to customize every aspect of your site. It ships with several “skins” that help you quickly create a website for niches like restaurants, weddings, fitness, lawyers, and more. Ultra comes with preset typography that you can use for your site. Alternatively, you can also choose from over 600 Google Fonts. You can create your own color palette that can then be used globally throughout your site. Regardless of your industry, website requirements, or branding, you can use Ultra to build the site of your dreams easily and efficiently.

    Other features include:

    • 60+ pre-designed layouts
    • 30+ design skins and demo sites
    • 17 header/page styles
    • 5 single post layouts
    • Themify Builder for drag-and-drop page building

    Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $59

    Get Ultra

    9. Avada

    Avada Premium WordPress Theme, and one of the best multipurpose themes on ThemeForest

    With over 880,000 sales, Avada is the #1 selling theme of all time on ThemeForest (among all themes, not just multipurpose themes). It ships with many demos, making it a “Swiss army knife” of WordPress themes. Avada comes with several builders for various site functions. There is the Header and Footer Builder, which is self-explanatory. It also has a native popup and form builder, eliminating the need to add additional plugins to your site. Having these tools integrated into your WordPress theme makes Avada one of the best multipurpose themes available on the ThemeForest marketplace for people who want more control and customization in their WordPress theme.

    Other features include:

    • 90 pre-built websites
    • 120+ design and layout elements
    • Avada WooCommerce Builder
    • Visual Mega Menu Builder
    • 6 premium plugins included

    Pricing: $138 per year

    Get Avada

    10. Flatsome

    Flatsome Premium WordPress theme and one of the best Best Multipurpose WordPress Themes for eCommerce

    Flatsome is one of the best multipurpose WordPress themes for eCommerce. While many of the themes on our list are integrated with WooCommerce, Flatsome focuses on online selling. Yet, you can build a capable website without a store with this theme. Flatsome is mobile and speed optimized, so your WooCommerce store will perform well for your users and search engines. Flatsomes UX Builder is 100% compatible with the Block Editor. It is a live page builder with an extensive element library. You can build any online store with Flatsome, but you can also build any site with this theme.

    Other features include:

    • 300+ pre-defined layouts and sections
    • Drag and drop header builder
    • Live visual page builder
    • Multiple product grid and portfolio layouts and styles
    • Built-in slider and banner system

    Pricing: $118 per year

    Get Flatsome

    11. The7

    The7, one of the Best WordPress Multipurpose Theme
    Trusted by more than 280,000 users, the7 may be the last on our list, but it is certainly a contender as one of the best multipurpose WordPress themes available today. It integrates deeply with Elementor, extending its widget library, theme builder, and WooCommerce editor. This gives you greater control over all aspects of your site. The7 also has an extensive library of demo sites, so you can quickly and efficiently build any site you need. This theme has also created several custom post types like testimonials, portfolios, teams, etc., and has corresponding widgets to showcase them on your site. If you want to amp up the power of the Elementor page builder plugin, The7 is a great theme to use.

    Other features include:

    • 60+ demo sites
    • 25+ content widgets
    • 20+ WooCommerce widgets
    • Works well with Elementor and WP Bakery
    • Easy custom post-type layout builder

    Pricing: $78 per year

    Get The7

    Multipurpose Theme Price Comparison

    Here is a brief overview of the rank and price of each theme to help make your decision

    ThemesPriceFree Option
    🥇Divi$89/year❌Visit
    🥈X | The Theme$138/year❌Visit
    🥉Bridge$138/year❌Visit
    4Astra$59/year✔️Visit
    5GeneratePress$59/year✔️Visit
    6Genesis Pro$360/year✔️Visit
    7Hello Elementor$59/year✔️Visit
    8Ultra$59/year❌Visit
    9Avada$138/year❌Visit
    10Flatsome$118/year❌Visit
    11The7$78/year❌Visit

    What is the Best Multipurpose WordPress Theme?

    Without question, our Divi theme gives you tons of flexibility for creating multipurpose designs! And it is a great choice for newbies and professionals alike. For another epic live building experience, you can count on X The Theme to make building your new site easy. Finally, consider Bridge if you’re a fan of WP Bakery and want an extensive library of demo sites to lean on.

    We hope you enjoyed the list of the best multipurpose WordPress themes! As mentioned earlier, there are heaps of multipurpose themes out there nowadays, so we hope we helped you filter down the field to only the most popular and best-reviewed.

    Article thumbnail image by olesia_g / shutterstock.com 

    The post 11 Best Multipurpose WordPress Themes in 2023 (Ranked) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

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  • Podcast With Tammie Lister: How Gutenberg Evolves and the Future of WordPress

    Tammie Lister is our guest on the latest Hostinger Academy podcast. As a product creator, open-source designer, and core contributor involved in WordPress releases, we discuss how Gutenberg evolves and empowers its users.

    WordPress is almost synonymous with websites. After all, the CMS makes up 45% of websites on the internet, and over 70% of Hostinger clients use it to build their websites. As WordPress keeps evolving and growing its user base, we talked to Tammie Lister to find out how the core contributors are working to improve WordPress and bring more value to its users.

    Tammie has been involved with WordPress since the project’s early days. She started using WordPress for blogging after someone introduced it to her as a solution for a customizable CMS, and she never looked back.

    After attending WordCamp in Portsmouth, she started contributing to WordPress herself. She described her WordPress contribution journey as a beautiful spiral as she became increasingly involved until she eventually became a full-time core contributor.

    Fast-forward to today, Tammie is contributing as a hobby and working between design and development, as she is interested in the product side of things.

    In this podcast episode, Hostinger’s Head of Content, Emma Young, sits down with Tammie to discuss how the core contributors are working to improve WordPress to bring more value to its users. Tammie also shared some insights into the future of WordPress and Gutenberg.

    Watch the Full Podcast

    Watch the full podcast on the Hostinger Academy YouTube channel.

    Subscribe For more educational videos! Hostinger Academy

    The Importance of Experimentation and Feedback

    Experimentation is at the heart of Gutenberg. After all, the tool exists because people with different visions and ideas experimented for five to six years before the project officially began.

    Tammie uses the old parable to describe the process:

    “The whole process resembled the story of the blind men and the elephant. The men are all trying to describe what an elephant looks like without being able to see one in the flesh. Someone probably got the trunk right, and someone figured out the leg, but they all had to work together to piece out the complete elephant”, she explains. That’s what happened with Gutenberg – the project combined input from various contributors together to bring us the final result.

    Experimentation will also be an important part of the upcoming Gutenberg development phase. After all, experiments could help develop game-changing features or uncover technical roadblocks that need to be fixed.

    Or, as Tammie explains: “Someone could come up with an incredible experiment that completely pivots our plans.” In order to create the best possible tool out there, experiments, together with community input and feedback, have become a staple with Gutenberg and WordPress core updates.

    For the project to be successful, it needs to cater to different users – from agencies and product people to multilingual users, and so on. Initially, it was difficult to get feedback on new developments, as the team didn’t organize calls for testing. Organizing in-depth feedback sessions can be time-consuming, but the team agrees that the benefits outweigh the hassle. Now, they are trying to make testing calls a habit.

    “So we’ve had testing tables and tried to get different people to participate. Ideally, the people who are developing certain features would also attend to hear what users think first-hand. I did some user interviews in Japan. That was amazing,” Tammie shares her experience in gathering feedback. She agrees that it’s all about getting into the habit of collecting feedback rather than just expecting someone to report an issue or share their two cents with you.

    And thanks to that habit, the project now has initiatives focused on user feedback. Full Site Editing (FSE) calls for testing are a prime example of this. People can run a user test at home, do tasks on WordPress, such as building a front page, and send feedback. This feedback is powerful because it can come from anyone, not just the contributors. “You don’t create the next evolution of WP just by listening to the people who are full-time contributors”, Tammie says.

    Testing and sending feedback are also great ways to contribute to WordPress. Contribution is often tied to a specific WordPress team, like core or design. But in Tammie’s mind, contributing means you move the project on in some way or another.

    Maximizing Gutenberg’s Potential

    Tammie sees Gutenberg as a toolkit that should provide the bare minimum to help you achieve what you want. Ideally, the tool should have all the features for site editing, from beginners to pros and beyond.

    Tammie’s main advice for WordPress users is to not go against the Site Editor, as it’s more of a sliding scale. Users don’t have to do everything with it – they can use it just to colorize the text or use theme.json for development. Ultimately, it’s in the user’s hands to choose their own adventures.

    Beginners don’t have to learn everything either to get started. Tammie recommends using a default theme and core blocks, and getting to know how they work by using them. There’s also the Create Block Theme plugin that helps you create a child theme. If you feel brave, you could just start editing the theme itself, making it your own. It’s the easiest way to learn how to edit a theme without learning to code.

    The Gutenberg and block themes have also grown, with more theme options available in the WordPress repository.

    “Look at the themes that are out there and look at people who are building on top of them to start building one yourself,” Tammie says. Browsing for themes can open up more design options for you, and seeing how people build a website based on one can inspire your build, too.

    Keeping your website light from the beginning is also important. “Don’t load too many blocks to start off with. Know the core blocks,” Tammie advises. While there are plenty of great block library plugins, it’s highly advisable not to install them before knowing what you can already do with the core blocks. Determine what you need first, and see if the core blocks fit them.

    The Future of Gutenberg and WordPress

    WordPress is celebrating its 20th anniversary on May 27, 2023, and Tammie shared her hopes for WordPress for the next 10-20 years with us.

    Ideally, Tammie would have more diverse groups of people involved with WordPress. This way, younger people could also share their views and perspectives on the project. It’s clear that involving a wider range of people is key to developing WordPress further. “I want most of the things I’ve put into WordPress to not exist anymore – because then that means other voices have become part of WordPress,” explains Tammie.

    Welcoming more investment in the WordPress ecosystem in the future is also a great way to bring in diversity. This also allows people who need a job or who want to pivot their career to find it in the WordPress community.

    Tammie also expects more frequent changes in interfaces. In Tammie’s opinion, we tend to be tied to the interfaces, which can be a problem in terms of usability.

    If we stick closely to an iteration of an interface, its extensibility will be limited. One size doesn’t fit all when considering accessibility and usability, especially with both aging and younger users coexisting in the WordPress ecosystem.

    Meet Tammie Lister and Hostinger at WordCamp Europe 2023

    Tammie will attend the WordCamp Europe 2023 in Athens, Greece. She’s looking forward to hearing some thoughts from other visitors and will also participate in the Contributor Day. She wants to be involved in many different teams, as more interesting discussions happen when you get multiple teams together and start talking together.

    If you’re coming to WordCamp Europe, it’s your chance to talk with Tammie face-to-face. She will also be a part of the WordPress 6.3 Release Squad, so if you have any feedback or ideas for the upcoming updates, you can share them with Tammie.

    Hostinger will also be in WordCamp Europe as a Super Admin sponsor. Be sure to visit our booth – we love to talk about all things WordPress and web hosting.

    The post Podcast With Tammie Lister: How Gutenberg Evolves and the Future of WordPress appeared first on Hostinger Blog.

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