Kadence WordPress theme review

Our path to the Kadence WordPress theme: After using Divi for many years, we had switched to Elementor in combination with the Blocksy or Hello theme. To be honest, although the integration of Elementor in conflicts with several plug-ins was an improvement compared to Divi, it did not bring the flexibility and reliability that we were looking for. So we started a real search for the ideal theme (and Builder to replace Elementor).
The search went from Blocksy to Astra, GeneratePress, Breakdance, Bricks and many others, to Kadence. Kadence Theme is definitely one of the best WordPress themes in our opinion. What also makes Kadence distinctive is that it is a 100% Gutenberg compatible block theme. The moment you get off a page bug such as Elementor, Divi, etc. and use Gutenberg, you become part of a delicious and flexible Zen experience called Gutenberg Blocks.

Market share

The Kadence Theme is relatively new. I write relatively because it has been around for a few years now. The theme has a lesser user base, such as the Astra Theme. However, the Kadence theme is developing steadily and shows constant growth. It has a very loyal clientele and an extremely active Facebook group. Currently, it is considered one of the best WordPress themes there are! This is also because it is a WordPress block theme, which is considered by many professionals to be the future of WordPress.

Why the Kadence theme? I searched for a theme that offered me the simplicity of Blocksy, but the uses of total page width and blocks are not limited as Blocksy does. In addition, I needed two menus, it had to offer support for dynamic fields, offer good support for Learndash and WooCommerce and be free from compatibility problems with the Geodirectory Plugin.

Finally: it had to be compatible with a good pagebuilder because Elementor caused me too many headaches and gave too many issues.

My first impression of Kadence theme was relief and peace … Zen.

This was a theme that I really liked. Many adjustment options and yet, everything in logical places; Everything is easy to find. I could remove all my custom CSS code because everything was as it had to be! Of course, my wish list changed over time, so I found new reasons to add some CSS… But Kadence theme is not Divi or Elementor, and this time I used CSS to make things more beautiful, not to compensate for shortcomings or disasters.
The only issue I found, was that I could easily ruin my header. No idea what I did, but I succeeded twice. By ruining, I really do not mean being able to repair it, and it had to be rebuilt. Although it is only a few minutes of work, I am still surprised why it happened. Glad to say that I discovered the backup function of Kadence… Kadence has a button to Export all settings.

Developer

Kadence is part of a larger network of companies; Stellarwp.
StellarWP is also known for: – SolidWP – Learndash – The Events Calendar – GiveWP – Restrict Content Pro

Costs of this great WordPress Kadence theme

• Kadence Theme has a free and a Premium (Pro) version.
• The free version is one of the most complete free themes that I have ever installed on a website.
• The Pro version offers several options that the free version does not have, of course. Like Elements, the advanced header block, custom fields, and much more.

Functions

Design options

Choose from pre-built designs or adjust your layout: font, colour, social icons, choices for folding menus and more. Changing the header and footer is just dragging and putting down; In most cases you will be ready within a few minutes. And of course, the Kadence theme offers a transparent and sticky header. Typography Use the settings of the Kadence theme to create perfect typography for your website. Within the WordPress customizer you can easily adjust fonts, heads, buttons, couplings and much more.

Page and post layout

Manage your layout to the pixel with the layout settings of the Kadence theme. Set site wide options for pages, messages and even customized message types. Decide between wide, narrow, or sidebar layouts; It only requires a click or a button in the customizer.

Global colours and buttons

Use the global colour palette of the Kadence theme to easily apply global colours on your site. Simply change button styles, including Typography button, edge, edge radius and colour.

Very fast theme

Let’s start with the fact that the Kadence theme is fast. By fast, we mean really fast. No heavy JavaScript files, no superfluous code.

Compatible with

• Gutenberg
• Elementor
• Beaver Builder
• WooCommerce
• Learndash LMS
• LifterLMS
• Tutor LMS
• BBPress
• Restrict Content Pro
• Pre-made content

The Kadence theme offers many advanced designs. Maybe you need inspiration, are curious about how to do things, or just a little lazy … they offer start templates and a design library with pre-made blocks.

Responsive

Kadence is fully responsive. From a small phone to a large desktop monitor; You can manage the style and adjustments for desktop, tablet, and mobile as desired.

Scroll to top

Kadence offers a button to scroll to the top. Activate this, choose a style and a location for the icon.

Perfect WooCommerce-integration

We use WooCommerce, even with Learndash, and the entire WooCommerce experience immediately worked “out of the box”. The Pro version offers even more adjustment options.

Kadence Pattern hub

This is not included in the Pro version and not even in the Essential Bundle. It is part of the (slightly more expensive) full bundle. Kadence Pattern Hub gives you a personal cloud space for your designs, templates and even adapted blocks. It works just like the Kadence Library, but this space is completely yours. Use your designs on every website, upload, search your content, download, you have full flexibility.

Support by Kadence

Kadence theme support is excellent. Despite the growth they are experiencing, they have an active support team that also know what they are doing. There is an active Facebook group where you can learn a lot, and, in turn, share with others.

Positive

A great theme. It is fast, offers sufficient support and yet almost complete freedom. It is not FSE (see the negative note) but is designed in terms of underlying technology so that it offers many possibilities. Give a block of “total width”, despite a set page width? No problem. Give another header in the pro version pages: no problem. We have been able to replace all our sites (formerly Divi and Elementor) with the Kadence theme. With respect for the old design style, only 10 times as fast and without compatibility problems.

Negative

The only drawback of a theme like this, is that the makers (just like a number of other excellent themes) are balancing in the FSE Twilight Zone: flexibility, the traditional limitations of a theme and FSE are in a kind of battle. FSE is not necessarily the solution, but a 100% Builder functionality including the entire header, footer, etc., just like Bricks and Breakdance, for example, would not be improper for this theme. The good news: they are actively working on it.

Conclusion about the Kadence theme

If you are looking for a (classic) theme that offers a clean interface and speed, and has all the options you need, Kadence is an exceptional choice. Yes, the paid version is slightly pricier than some other really cheap themes, but you can use it on more websites (unlimited) and the quality of the theme is incredible. The Kadence Theme is one of the flexible, logical, easy to adjust themes. In addition, it is also unimaginably fast. Even the free version already offers a lot, but the paid version is, of course, more extensive. And if you really want a pleasant Zen experience, choose the combination of Kadence Theme Pro with Kadence Blocks Pro.