#Artpip alternative upgrade#
#Artpip alternative pro#
#Artpip alternative free#

There is no good reason to not combine these two and free up some room in the customizer. The one annoyance with the homepage options is that the theme author created a separate “Homepage” panel, which can easily be confused with the existing core “Homepage Settings” section.

There will be a day when adding these types of layouts do not require nearly as much effort. It reminds me to applaud theme authors for the years of work they have put into non-optimal systems. Carousel-style featured posts.Īfter working with block-based themes and the site editor so much over the past few months, these customizer settings feel ancient - both from a developer and end-user viewpoint. However, carousels, where it is clear there are extra posts to view, are sometimes an exception to the rule. I am typically not a fan of slider-like sections. Users can also choose a carousel of featured posts instead of the grid via the customizer. This unique layout was what immediately drew me into the theme. A large featured post sits in the middle while the others are aligned on either side of it. Upsell the added value of having all these extra layouts/patterns premade and available at the click of the button.īy default, the homepage displays a five-post grid. Provide all the capabilities in the free product.

This is the direction that theme design should be going.

#Artpip alternative pro#

Editing creative-style Artpop Pro homepage design.

However, if you know your way around the block editor, you can definitely build the layouts yourself.

#Artpip alternative upgrade#

If you would rather work with premade layouts, the upgrade is a mere $30. I even recreated the “creative” homepage design that ships with the pro version of the theme to see how easy it was. After two years of the block editor being in core, this should be the standard experience with all themes, but I cannot stress how much it isn’t. End-users can put together custom layouts that do not look broken. Where the theme gets things right is its coverage of block styles. Sure, it looks good in the demo, but it is not practical in the real world. With a 760px-wide content area and 16px font-size, comfortable reading is thrown out the window. The typography does not lend itself well to long-form content, despite being pushed as a blogging theme. The theme is not without a few design issues. Of course, I am a fan of the blockquote style, which is one area that theme authors can leave their signature: Blockquote design. It adds just enough small touches to make some elements pop. Simplicity is the name of the game, and Artpop has it in spades. For the most part, it has a clean and open design that provides users a lot of wiggle room to build out pages with the block editor. It is marketed as a block-ready WordPress theme for blogs, portfolios, businesses, and WooCommerce shops. My rational mind knows that it was just a weird twist of timing, but I am not discounting the supernatural.ĭesign Lab’s sixth theme, Artpop, went live in the theme directory this week. Not once, but twice this week, a new WordPress theme has managed to catch my eye. After I wrote a 2,000-word piece on the lack of quality themes in the theme directory, they decided to send a message. Perhaps the fates have stepped in to prove a point.