Thanks, this was really helpful! I'd love to see you make a side-by-side direct comparison between the Ollie theme and Spectra One theme sometime - showing the feature differences, pros and cons etc. That would be great to help decide which theme is best for a particular scenario. :)
Great review, guess two things could be mentioned: local hosted google fonts (coming in wp 6.5), block variation options in the style editor. Spectra One is great, but heavilly dependant on spectra blocks for the patterns, Ollie has a great pattern library, but tied to local variables (meaning, not changeable site-wise by using the style editor), 2023 is the overall best, but lacks google fonts, unless one installs twentig or another plugin. Greenshift is great speedwise, but it's pattern library is both tied to it's blocks plugins and based in local variables, so no site-wise changes. One great thing in Greenshift is auto-hide fixed header / reveal on scroll-up.
Thank you! I have been using Elementor and I have been really interested in learning block editing but it has been a bit overwhelming! Just trying to find one or two themes I might use to try it out... and really enjoying your channel. So many web geek channels get kind of intense with their opinions, I really like your videos and style. It makes it feel more approachable.
Thanks Jamie. Another useful video. Selecting the best starting point for a WP project isn't easy,. Your factors are great, and to my mind findng some appealing design patterns and solid leverage of Gutenberg features are a must have to get on any shortlist. After that the most critical are ease-of-use features, good quality ongoing support, and compatibility with a wide range of blocks. I've been trialling Ollie and Spectra One and agree with other comments asking you to do a head-to-head comparison video. I love the design elements of Ollie, but Spectra is better in some subtle ways. For example it supports google fonts out of the box, no plugin required. And the Brainstorm Force support has been great, helping with issues and keeping it updated as new versions of WP are released. It also comes with a site template library to help wth different use cases. Ollie is great too, but essentially it's been developed by a one or two-man operation and I worry about long-term support and development.
Nice video like always, Jamie! Looking forward to see side-by-side comparison of block themes. I just finished customizing TT3, something I always avoid and kinda what many people "scare" of. Lol. Even though Block Editor is my first go-to builder, I'd prefer pairing it with classic themes and Gutenberg addons. Tbh it was confusing at first. But after spending some time, I changed my mind. It's really great to know that we can build beautiful websites right off the box. Without relying anything else! I've tried almost every builder out there and I'm amazed at what WordPress has to offer. Thanks for inspiring people to get into Gutenberg, Jamie!
Thank you very much, great to be able to preview 2024 and play a bit with several themes though I'm still pretty happy with Ollie.. Though the 2nd time I logged in I don't see Spectra?
The only thing I don't like is Block themes right now are too basic... look Divi on the other side of the road (with too much additional features). However you can do almost anything with Divi (I don't use it by the way). For example only few of the have sticky at to cart.
Popularity does not account for sustainability. Does the developer have a way to have a constant and stable income, in order to fix bugs, add features, adapt to the constantly changing WordPress ecosystem.
"Do you like the design" ... But what is the best Theme choice when you do have a design at first that you have to follow and to apply on the website that is just 1 communication channel of many your customer has. Do I jump to custom made theme, or block theme ... or are there (block) themes out there ready to set easy to your hand? I'm used to use GenesisWP, with all these new WP transformations, I'm doubting this is still the best bet/choice. How do you see that Jamie?
@@jamiewp Sorry, I expressed myself poorly. Let's say I'm considering choosing a block theme, for example Ollie, how can I understand before I've even used it that it's reliable from a performance point of view?
Ah understood -- i would just install it on something like instawp and take it for a spin - or use the link in the description where i've set everything up@@carolmaI1mn
IMHO, now that we have FSE, the core team should stop making a new theme each year. Instead just keep the current theme updated with the latest features and review for security, performance and bugs. If it needs some design freshness, then add another Style. Make the default theme the best theme, not the latest theme.
Ooh I missed the Fluid text feature in Twenty Twenty Three somehow, trying it out, works way better than breakpoints. Finally a reason to use those S/M/L/XL/XXL sizes! I had all of that switched off and was using CSS. Still have to for some things. I wish they'd make that something you could more easily change in the UI, rather than theme.json...a bit like some commercial themes have breakpoints or sizes for different devices. That might help with say, margins, cos I want to have different margins/padding for mobile and wide screens. At the moment that's mostly what I use breakpoints for, but it's fiddly. If they really want to 'replace CSS with json and blocks' they need to have that built in.
That's a great point about editing the json file. I'm been considering building a plugin that adds an nice simple abstraction to .json so that anyone could make changes to breakpoints, and editor settings without having to dig into code.
@@jamiewp Thank you for your response. I just blank-page tested a new empty install of WP-bakery and Kadence and the Kadence came out drastically on top. No cache plugin or any other altering features installed. Would you put WP Bakery in the "fast block builders" category?
Is it possible to create different sidebars for different pages? I previously used the Genesis Framework and the Genesis Simple Sidebar plugin to achieve this. What I don’t want to do is have cookie cutter sidebars on every page of the website under Gutenberg and the FSE experience.
Isn't there a missing feature in FSE that, even though the theme developer offered alternative templates for, say, the Page; you can't set one of them to be the default for new Pages. So, even though they might offer a Page and a Page with Sidebar, you end up customising the Page to add a sidebar - see what I mean? Or have I missed a setting somewhere?
Very strange both this video and your previous one started about 20 sec into the video (right at the end of the PMP ad.... does YT have some AI to jump over intro-ads?!
I'm tossing up between kadence, bricks and breakdance. Prefer breakdance but no lifetime plan. Kadence very expensive. Bricks is OK but I found quite learning curve and for life of me couldn't get the mobile close button where I want. 100 times easier in breakdance.
@@jamiewp I'm using Elessi Theme. At the time, it was one of the most conversion-focused themes available. Although right now it's very slow... it depends too much on JavaScript
Thanks, this was really helpful! I'd love to see you make a side-by-side direct comparison between the Ollie theme and Spectra One theme sometime - showing the feature differences, pros and cons etc. That would be great to help decide which theme is best for a particular scenario. :)
Thanks Jeremy that's a great idea - i'll try to get it done 👍
Great review, guess two things could be mentioned: local hosted google fonts (coming in wp 6.5), block variation options in the style editor.
Spectra One is great, but heavilly dependant on spectra blocks for the patterns, Ollie has a great pattern library, but tied to local variables (meaning, not changeable site-wise by using the style editor), 2023 is the overall best, but lacks google fonts, unless one installs twentig or another plugin. Greenshift is great speedwise, but it's pattern library is both tied to it's blocks plugins and based in local variables, so no site-wise changes. One great thing in Greenshift is auto-hide fixed header / reveal on scroll-up.
Fantastic points Alexandre - thanks so much for sharing 👍
Does 2023 have a great pattern library?
Thank you! I have been using Elementor and I have been really interested in learning block editing but it has been a bit overwhelming! Just trying to find one or two themes I might use to try it out... and really enjoying your channel. So many web geek channels get kind of intense with their opinions, I really like your videos and style. It makes it feel more approachable.
Great to hear! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙏
Thanks Jamie. Another useful video. Selecting the best starting point for a WP project isn't easy,. Your factors are great, and to my mind findng some appealing design patterns and solid leverage of Gutenberg features are a must have to get on any shortlist. After that the most critical are ease-of-use features, good quality ongoing support, and compatibility with a wide range of blocks.
I've been trialling Ollie and Spectra One and agree with other comments asking you to do a head-to-head comparison video. I love the design elements of Ollie, but Spectra is better in some subtle ways. For example it supports google fonts out of the box, no plugin required. And the Brainstorm Force support has been great, helping with issues and keeping it updated as new versions of WP are released. It also comes with a site template library to help wth different use cases. Ollie is great too, but essentially it's been developed by a one or two-man operation and I worry about long-term support and development.
Thanks for watching Grant and great comments 👍 It's a shame the core font library isn't now coming in WordPress 6.4, but it will be there in 6.5 🤞
Thank you! I have been hoping you would do exactly this video for a couple weeks!
Thanks Kristin 👍 if you have any specific questions let me know
Thanks Jamie. Don't agree with you all the time, but OllieWP theme is great! 👍
Thanks Doug 👍
Nice video like always, Jamie! Looking forward to see side-by-side comparison of block themes. I just finished customizing TT3, something I always avoid and kinda what many people "scare" of. Lol. Even though Block Editor is my first go-to builder, I'd prefer pairing it with classic themes and Gutenberg addons. Tbh it was confusing at first. But after spending some time, I changed my mind. It's really great to know that we can build beautiful websites right off the box. Without relying anything else! I've tried almost every builder out there and I'm amazed at what WordPress has to offer. Thanks for inspiring people to get into Gutenberg, Jamie!
That's great to hear, thank you so much for taking the time to write. On first look 2024 is shaping up to be a fab theme.
Excellent insight Jamie... Lots of important things to consider when choosing a Theme.
Thanks Richard 🙏
Thank you, useful information!
👍
Thank you very much, great to be able to preview 2024 and play a bit with several themes though I'm still pretty happy with Ollie.. Though the 2nd time I logged in I don't see Spectra?
Thanks for watching - specta should still be available on the 1 click website
@@jamiewp nope, it isn’t. But I can do my own demo. Thanks for making it this far
I've added Spectra One now, thanks for the 'heads up' 👍@@e.rohner5704
The only thing I don't like is Block themes right now are too basic... look Divi on the other side of the road (with too much additional features). However you can do almost anything with Divi (I don't use it by the way). For example only few of the have sticky at to cart.
Good point - what other features are missing you for Manuel ?
Popularity does not account for sustainability. Does the developer have a way to have a constant and stable income, in order to fix bugs, add features, adapt to the constantly changing WordPress ecosystem.
Yup good point , but it does indicate that it’s likely to be sustained
"Do you like the design" ... But what is the best Theme choice when you do have a design at first that you have to follow and to apply on the website that is just 1 communication channel of many your customer has. Do I jump to custom made theme, or block theme ... or are there (block) themes out there ready to set easy to your hand? I'm used to use GenesisWP, with all these new WP transformations, I'm doubting this is still the best bet/choice.
How do you see that Jamie?
Very good content, thank you!
Thank you
Hi Jamie, really nice video, thanks! One question, how can I test or understand the performances without using a specific theme?
Hi , sorry not 100% clear on the question?
@@jamiewp Sorry, I expressed myself poorly. Let's say I'm considering choosing a block theme, for example Ollie, how can I understand before I've even used it that it's reliable from a performance point of view?
Ah understood -- i would just install it on something like instawp and take it for a spin - or use the link in the description where i've set everything up@@carolmaI1mn
IMHO, now that we have FSE, the core team should stop making a new theme each year.
Instead just keep the current theme updated with the latest features and review for security, performance and bugs.
If it needs some design freshness, then add another Style.
Make the default theme the best theme, not the latest theme.
That’s a very interesting point 👍
Ooh I missed the Fluid text feature in Twenty Twenty Three somehow, trying it out, works way better than breakpoints. Finally a reason to use those S/M/L/XL/XXL sizes! I had all of that switched off and was using CSS. Still have to for some things.
I wish they'd make that something you could more easily change in the UI, rather than theme.json...a bit like some commercial themes have breakpoints or sizes for different devices. That might help with say, margins, cos I want to have different margins/padding for mobile and wide screens. At the moment that's mostly what I use breakpoints for, but it's fiddly. If they really want to 'replace CSS with json and blocks' they need to have that built in.
That's a great point about editing the json file. I'm been considering building a plugin that adds an nice simple abstraction to .json so that anyone could make changes to breakpoints, and editor settings without having to dig into code.
@@jamiewp sounds like a great idea, I'd use it!
👍@@realfingertrouble
I hope to see a rapid website recreation episode with WooCommerce!
Hi Tom, i did Nike.com - here's the link if you want to take a look 💪 ua-cam.com/video/BENvzW7M7gE/v-deo.htmlsi=0nXf-lZkjMODIlpj
Would you make any considerations regarding Core Web Vitals?
Yes 👍 but all block themes I’ve ever used are very fast
@@jamiewp Thank you for your response. I just blank-page tested a new empty install of WP-bakery and Kadence and the Kadence came out drastically on top. No cache plugin or any other altering features installed. Would you put WP Bakery in the "fast block builders" category?
@@Mokkel73 wp bakery is not anything to do with blocks, or block themes 👍 You can find block themes here wordpress.org/themes/tags/full-site-editing/
Is it possible to create different sidebars for different pages? I previously used the Genesis Framework and the Genesis Simple Sidebar plugin to achieve this. What I don’t want to do is have cookie cutter sidebars on every page of the website under Gutenberg and the FSE experience.
Yup , one way is to create custom templates - then these can be applied just to specific page - see the section in the video about custom templates.
Tank You!
Isn't there a missing feature in FSE that, even though the theme developer offered alternative templates for, say, the Page; you can't set one of them to be the default for new Pages.
So, even though they might offer a Page and a Page with Sidebar, you end up customising the Page to add a sidebar - see what I mean?
Or have I missed a setting somewhere?
Yes if I understand, if you wanted to add a sidebar you’d just add that into the main page template - does that make sense ?
kadence or blocksy and postx pro
Thanks! I'm a block head now.
Cool - love that phrase btw 😀
Very strange both this video and your previous one started about 20 sec into the video (right at the end of the PMP ad.... does YT have some AI to jump over intro-ads?!
Hmm that it strange - i don't see that this end - does anyone else see what is happening to Tobias ?
Both videos started at the very beginning of the ad for me. So maybe you have an ad blocker that's specific to UA-cam?
@@lisastangroom67just an old Safari browser on an old Mac no ad block (don’t even know how to install one) so that’s strange!
Kadence Pro all the way especially with the extras like Kadence Elements, Kadence Shop and Kadence Elements
I'm tossing up between kadence, bricks and breakdance. Prefer breakdance but no lifetime plan. Kadence very expensive. Bricks is OK but I found quite learning curve and for life of me couldn't get the mobile close button where I want. 100 times easier in breakdance.
What about mobile menus?
Do you mean different menu items in the mobile menu to desktop menu ?
For me The fastest and Additional funtionalities😮😮😮😮
Which theme are you using?
@@jamiewp I'm using Elessi Theme. At the time, it was one of the most conversion-focused themes available. Although right now it's very slow... it depends too much on JavaScript
thanks for letting me know 🙏@@ManuelHernandez-en3xy
TT4 FTW!
Yup it's shaping up to be a beauty - full review coming soon !
@@jamiewpDo we have a release date for the 2024 theme?
It should be November 7th at the same time WordPress 6.4 is released@@surjaa.c
Thanks @@jamiewp! Looking forward to your full review of the theme 🙂
Custom theme 😊
Check out the section on technical debt 😉
According to you elementor is Overripe bananas
I’m not sure I’ve mentioned elementor ?
no you didn't @@jamiewp
You are dong amazing work i am big fan of you but i heard you do not prompt elementor like tools. Why is that@@jamiewp
right 😉@@myrules3376
The best theme is the one with the least amount of bullshit code in it. Barebones, Html5 Blank, Underscores.