Today we are proud to announce the long anticipated v7 release! Since our last major update (v5), we've been planning to further improve the pagespeed and performance of our themes and the Builder. The v5 update focused on the frontend pagespeed, whereas v7 is for the backend performance. The main goal is to make our themes faster and with better stability. We've re-coded many components in the backend to optimize the overall code — less database queries and lighter code (PHP/Javascript/CSS). We are happy to see many of our user sites getting A+ score on Google Pagespeed Insights (see some of our featured user sites and showcase). This update will make our themes much faster and better!
A significant frontend change in v7 is the Builder row grid system. We've replaced the old CSS flexbox to CSS grid to handle the Builder grid system. Using the CSS grid gives more layout possibilities such as adding unlimited columns, column re-ordering, and creating tiled-like grids.
This is a big update, so we jumped from version 5 to 7. Due to the data structure and grid system changes, we highly recommend not to downgrade your theme once it is upgraded to v7 (read the important notes at the end of this post for more details). Please be advised that all Builder addons and Builder Pro must be updated as well in order to use with v7. Testing the theme update on a development/staging site is recommended.
AFTER UPDATE: If you have any cache plugin or server-side cache and CDN tools (eg. Cloudflare), please remember to clear their cache. If you have Cloudflare Rocket Loader, server cache and mod_pagespeed enabled and experiencing issues, try to disable them.
Since Google has officially made page speed and user experience as a ranking factor in search engine results page (SERP), having a fast loading site is very crucial as part of your SEO tactics. If you want to rank higher than your competitors on Google search, it is time to pay attention to your site's pagespeed!
Aside from the SEO purpose, pagespeed can also affect user engagement and conversion. No one wants to see a slow site. Reports show that slow load time can reduce conversion and increase bounce rates. In other words, if your site is slow then your visitors and customers are more likely to exit your site and move on to your competitors' sites.
If your site can not get a 90+ Pagespeed score, check out our flagship themes, Ultra and Shoppe. As seen in our demos and our customer showcase sites, there are a lot of fast loading sites built with Themify. Also see our pagespeed showcase round 1, round 2, round 3, and round 4. (more…)
We might seem quiet lately, but we are actually working very hard on a major framework update. It is so BIG that we had to skip a version. We've jumped from version 5 to 7. The reason we skipped a version is because we don't recommend downgrading your Themify themes after upgrading to v7. For this reason, we are releasing a beta version so you can try it before updating your themes.
The last v5 update focused on the frontend performance and we are happy to see many of our users' sites getting A+ score on Google Pagespeed Insights. In this v7 update, we re-coded a lot of components in the backend to optimize the framework and Builder's performance. Another significant change in v7 is the Builder row grid. We've changed the Builder row to use CSS grid in replacement of flexbox in the old version. Using the CSS grid gives more layout possibilities such as adding unlimited columns, column reordering, and creating tiled grids.
The Beta theme is based on Ultra using the latest v7 framework. Please help us test it on your staging/development sites (do not use it on any live site). As a friendly reminder, the Beta theme doesn't work with any of the current Builder addons and Builder Pro yet (please disable them prior to your test). Have fun with the beta version and let us know what you find.
We are thrilled to announce more new features in the recent framework updates. In this round of updates, we've made the Builder's Post module more powerful and dynamic with the new hook content and query filter function. The tooltip feature has been requested by many users before and we are happy to fulfill that demand. Lastly, we have 2 new time saver features: a quick lightbox to add new Builder pages and a child theme generator. If you haven't updated your Themify theme yet, update it to the latest version to experience all these new features.
Are you looking to create a stunning custom WordPress design? If so you’re in the right place. We’re revealing how to achieve exactly that with WordPress.com and Themify Ultra!
Whether it’s the first time you’re creating a website or you frequently work on custom WordPress design for clients, beautiful aesthetics are a must-have.
If you’re brand new to the web building game, you're likely wondering: which website builder will best suit my needs? But even veteran web designers are continually looking for new ways to simplify customization, site responsiveness, SEO - the list goes on...
There are loads of website builders out there that provide everything you need to build a fully functioning website. But as well as basic web design features, there are other significant factors to consider. (more…)
Since the release of Themify v5, we have received an overwhelming amount of positive feedbacks about the pagespeed and performance improvements. We've helped many users achieve a 90+ pagespeed score on their sites, which they weren't able to with other themes. In this post, we will present a pagespeed comparison of Themify Ultra versus Divi, Elementor, Avada, Beaver, Astra, OceanWP, all of which are extremely popular themes and page builders in the WordPress market. We are presenting an unbiased comparison using the builtin features from each theme, without any third party cache or minify plugins. The pagespeed test was audited using Google Pagespeed Insights and we've recorded the whole process, which you can watch below. When it comes to pagespeed, we are thrilled to show how Themify outperforms other themes and builders.
