Hey guys, and welcome back to Make that Sea Change. As you are probably aware, one of the main focuses of this site is to assist you in finding good ways to earn money online so that you can fund your own sea change in whatever fashion that may be for you. Those of you familiar with my work will also know that I like to point out what it good and not so good out there so in terms of tools and resources that may assist. Hence, when I find a little piece of software that I have used, I like to share some details about it in case it may or may not assist you as well.  So with that in mind – welcome to my GeneratePress Premium Theme Review.

Ok, so there are two main things I want to check out here – firstly, can it meet the extra needs I had for my website? – And secondly, is the $59 I paid for it worth the money?

For this review, I will run you through:

• What it is
• How it works
• Pros and Cons
• Cost
• My recommendations

Quick results

Can it meet the extra needs I had for my website? Absolutely it did – I did try others but this one just worked for me.

Is it worth the $59? – Yep – in fact, it is definitely one of the better priced options out there in terms of cost.

Do I recommend it? – Yes

Now, in full disclosure I am an affiliate of GeneratePress. I did however only become so after using their themes on my websites over a long period and found it to do everything I needed with ease and without bugs.

I will elaborate more on all of this below…

What is GeneratePress Premium?

Generate Press Premium is a the premium upgrade to the GeneratePress WordPress theme. As with most WordPress themes, premium version are available that provide access to greater functionality and customisation options.

What are WordPress themes?

WordPress themes form part of the WordPress website creation platform that allows for site creation via a visual editor without the need to write or edit code. Themes assist in the management of the overall appearance of the site including:

• Colours
• Layout
• Inclusions
• Speed
• Navigation
• Menus
• And so on

There are 1000s of themes available on which to base a WordPress site with many available in both free and paid upgrade versions. One thing to keep in mind here however is that in general, most WordPress themes are created and sold by third party developers as compatible addons to the main website editor.

Why upgrade to a premium theme?

As above, almost all WordPress themes are available in two versions – free and premium. Premium themes provide access to greater customisation and functionality options in similar fashion to most software platforms where basic functions are provided for free with advanced options available at a price.

These are not always required and are usually only considered as the site grows and more options are needed (such as in my case). Additionally, many new websites chop and change between themes a number of times until the developer settles on one they like. Only then would I recommend upgrading to the premium version of your chosen theme.

Note: In this instance we are discussing the process of paying for an upgraded version of your theme in order to add some extra functionality and customisation. This does not include theme updates which are implemented by the theme developer from time to time for reasons such as fixing bugs, improving functionality or enhancing user interfaces etc.- you should never be charged for a plugin update.

GeneratePress Free features

In order to make a comparison between the GeneratePress Free and Premium versions, let’s quickly just list the basic customisation options are available:

• Plugin management
• Base functions of WordPress Editor
• Site Identity customisation
• Layout management
• Colours
• Fonts – Body and headings
• Main menu customisation
• Site-Wide Widget management
• Home page settings

What do you get?

Ok, so once you purchase and install the GeneratePress Premium upgrade, you are then able to access the following:

• All premium features (see below)
• Full access to the Site Library featuring ready-made templates
• Access to increased site builder capabilities such as block editor
• Updates
• Premium support
• Use on up to 500 websites

Premium Features

The GeneratePress Premium theme includes the following enhanced features:

Added functionality is then found within each menu item as per the below example in regards to Layout options:

And below we can see the premium Layout options with extra functionality added:

How much does it cost

Costs to upgrade to the Premium version of GeneratePress are as follows:

At a glance

Pros

These are the pros based on my experience (note that some are inclusive of the free version as well)

• Free version customisation options are better than many others
• Templates are well-built and easy to use
• Site has no theme based speed issues
• Premium version customisation options are very good

Cons

• Although much more that some others – customization in free version is still limited
• Some customization options are not in menus that I have expected them to be (based on online instruction for different functionalities)

Why did I upgrade?

Ok, so whilst I would love to sit here and outline all of these amazing, technical reasons for upgrading to the Premium theme version (such as WooCommerce integration or the ability to work within the advanced hook system for example), for me it was menus. Yep… Menus

You see my website had started to grow and the free version limited me to just one navigation menu. I wanted to add a footer menu and was unable to do so without the premium version. This led me to one of two options:

1. Finding another theme that allows me to do what I can do.
2. Upgrade to the premium theme to allow me to make my changes.

I chose option 1 – three times. And each time whilst I could indeed add a footer menu, I lost some of the other customisation options that GeneratePress had given me even with the free version – such as site colours and typography settings. So I upgraded and went to town with my menus.

However, since then I have actually taken advantage of some of the other features including:

• Copyright text customisation
• Increased font and auto update functions to enhance on page SEO
• Granular colour and background settings
• Various other visual functionality as needed

Do I recommend it?

I have used a lot of themes in my time and have found this one to be the best for my sites (blog sites) in both the free and premium versions. For those of you looking to set yourself up with a clean, easy to use and customise (even within the free version) theme, then you could do a lot worse than this one.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my honest review and appraisal of the GeneratePress Premium Theme. I hope it has been of assistance but as usual, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out by commenting below.

Are there any other programs you have been looking at but want to know more about? If so, please comment below and I will do my best to get some details for you.

Until next time

Have fun

Paul

Note: If you make a purchase from this page, there is a very good chance that I make a commission from it – these commissions do not increase your sale price. This many include sales made via Wealthy Affiliate or GeneratePress. I am an affiliate of GeneratePress and this site is built using the GeneratePress Premium Theme.