Greetings, WordPress community!
I am currently searching for a new WordPress template to start a blog with. As a beginner in the field, I know the advice at the start is: write, write, write … and write even more. However, since I also enjoy visual creativity, I would like to prevent a false start in terms of design. So, while reading up on themes and page builders, I actually became a bit overwhelmed! There are so many options!
As someone who values speed, versatility, and minimalism, I am looking for a theme that is lightweight, fast, and easy to customize. Some themes that have caught my eye include Astra, GeneratePress, and OceanWP. They seem fast, flexible, and (relatively) easy to customize. In addition, their optimization for performance renders the impression that they should be SEO-friendly!
In addition to themes, I also considered a page builder to customize/create custom layouts and designs. I have read positive things about Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Divi. These page builders allow for easy drag-and-drop customization, which seems pretty beginner-friendly.
So, in contrast to the often asked question: “What is the best theme/page builder to start a blog with?” I thought to turn the question around:
**Why shouldn’t one start a blog with the Astra (Pro) theme (without a page builder), and which hurdles are to be expected if one does?**
In the past, I have experimented with Avada. However, I think the learning curve for more advanced features was a bit too steep for easy use, the theme didn’t seem future-proof, and the system seemed somewhat bloated. Well, all-in-all, a valuable lesson.
If you have any additional recommendations or advice for the optimal lightweight, fast, and versatile template for starting a blog, I would be grateful if you could share them too. Your insights will be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance for your help.
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Hello theme for Elementor
Have a look at Kadence also.
i can vouch for Astra. it’s been great on my sites
I hear many good things about Kadence as well. I have used their blocks plugin with Astra and it’s done well
GeneratePress is my go-to theme. Any of the popular choices should be fine for a blog. Stay away from page builders like Elementor or whatever for a blog. The built-in block and/or classic editors are plenty good, and the third party builders will only slow down your site with bloat unless you’re very good at optimization.
A good quality host and a proper caching setup are arguably more important than the site theme for performance purpose.
I researched this years ago, and settled in GeneratePress. It’s extremely fast, has a library of child themes to start out to website builds, and it works in the default WordPress builder with its own blocks.
I inherited a client’s Elementor site, and I can’t wait to rebuild it in GP. Also, Elementor is not fast in my experience. And the builder feels very foreign to WP.
GeneratePress is the simplest, and best on this list. Astra is fine, but GeneratePress is better IMO. I manage maybe 30-40 sites using astra, and we have constant update issues with them. Every update a few of them (not the same ones, seems random) need manual intervention to go re-generate theme styles afterwards. Every single update. Wouldn’t be a big deal for a single site, but is a pain when trying to automate at scale.
GeneratePress (premium) with GenerateBlocks plus Greenshift plugin = and you’ll be on the sunny side of WP.
Add SiteOriginCSS and CodeSnippets and you’re on the safe side as well.
Of course, good hosting, OpenLiteSpeed server, proper version of PHP (8.1), reddis/memcache, HTTP2 and WEBP image format will improve speed.
LiteSpeedCache with quic.cloud CDN.
My two cents.
GeneratePress
bricks
After 9 years of working with a multitude of WordPress themes, including all on this list, I’ve settled on the Kadence theme. I use it along with Kadence Blocks to build and rebuild most of the websites I work on. I’ve built roughly 80 sites using Kadence. GeneratePress is very good also but I prefer the header/footer control you get with Kadence among other things when it comes to building websites.
Do a quick google search of GeneratePress vs Kadence and you will often find that many reviewers conclude that Kadence is preferred for websites and GeneratePress is an ideal choice for blogging which is what your stated intent is.
I’d recommend taking a look at [Page Builder Framework]) or [Bricks]), depending on your needs.
GeneratePress defines the most light weight theme I’ve ever used in 15 years.