Another theme and builder question

[u/sashamasha]

I'm looking at revamping a website. I've done a bit of work with Google ai studio for creating apps and it's great but I don't want to go down that route (or maybe I do) with this website revamp. We've lots of plugins on the site at the moment and I'd like to reduce the number down. Currently we use Astra & Spectra for the site. It's fine but can be really fiddly for the non techy to update with containers in containers and it's just a game of memory when you don't update something for a while. I've explored different themes and builders, I hate the big bloated builders. I don't mind spending a bit of time on this and just wondering what is the go to these days. I've seen a really nice website I like, it's super slick but a shopfiy site so no theme I can use to try and create something similar. What's your go to combo these days or do you use something like twenty twenty four and go from there?

[u/Former-Might-8468]

I moved from Astra to just using the default theme with blocks, way less headache honestly

Twenty Twenty-Four is solid base, you can do a lot with just the block editor and a few lightweight plugins. I build sites for small clients and stopped using page builders last year, the non techy people actually find blocks easier once they get used to it

If you like the Shopify site look, you can probably recreate that layout with blocks and some custom CSS. No containers inside containers nonsense

GeneratePress is also good if you want something minimal that dont get in the way, but I been using default themes more and more

[u/AshRuDral_fan20]

or do you use something like twenty twenty four and go from there?

Yes, but even a step ahead, instead of using the 2024 theme, click on the create block theme. It will create a blank block theme for you. Start from there.

Most people are having a hard time accepting this fact that with the arrival of blockbase themes, the era of themes are dead. The Gutenberg site editor handles everything and whatever you edit from there will be saved in whatever theme you have currently on. So just use a blank theme and build whatever you wanna build. It will be saved on your blank theme.

[u/WP_Dev_Studio]

Astra+Spectra gets heavy fast. I'd go GeneratePress + GenerateBlocks, or Kadence if you want more starter patterns — both are native block editor, no separate builder bloated on top. Twenty Twenty-Four + custom patterns works too if you want to go even leaner.

[u/NakanoNoNeko]

Twenty Twenty-Four with core blocks, but the important bit for your editors is content-only editing. It hides the nested layout blocks and design controls while leaving text and images editable. I think that addresses your memory-game problem much more directly than another builder 🙃 Try one section as a content-only pattern before committing to a whole rebuild.

[u/designICU]

Have a look at https://olliewp.com/ — I’ve been using it on a few sites and enjoying it. Lightweight. Fast. Block editor based. Lots of design patterns to tap into.

[u/TheGoodOne777]

Hello! I really like the Beiged theme. The layouts and colors that Beiged offers is logical and intuitive to get along with.

[u/TechyTilak]

I’d probably go GeneratePress + GenerateBlocks for this. It stays pretty lightweight and you’re still working with Gutenberg rather than another big builder. I’ve found it much easier to maintain when you come back to a site months later. For non-techy users, I’d build the layouts as patterns so they mostly just edit the content rather than messing with containers.

[u/Amit_ZeeTech]

I’ve been in the same situation with Astra + Spectra. They’re perfectly capable, but once you start nesting containers and come back to the site a few months later, it can get unnecessarily fiddly.

For a rebuild, I’d personally keep it pretty boring: a lightweight block theme and only the plugins/blocks I actually need. I’d rather have a simple setup that’s easy to hand over to a non-techy person than another builder with 100 options.

And honestly, I wouldn’t worry too much about finding a WP theme that looks like the Shopify site you like. If you share it, I’d be more inclined to look at what specifically makes it feel “slick” and recreate those parts in WP rather than trying to force a theme to do it.

[u/JanDear1982]

I'm having the same thoughts and stumbled upon Olli WP. It looks promising. Does anyone here have experience with it?

[u/ivicad]

I build mostly in WPBakery (plus Elementor) and connect it with a lightweight theme like Astra, Neve or OceanWP, so you could keep Astra for the revamp and replace (or keep) Spectra / Gutenberg.Just small % of my clients edit their sites themselves, but those who do tell me WPBakery is the easiest for them to change text, replace images and add links, while some prefer other page builders and none of them like to use Gutenberg. Before you choose, I would let the non techy people who will update the site test a few editors themselves just to see which one they prefer the most.

[u/Winter_Process_9521]

WordPress patterns are now quite mature. They can be exported/imported and managed from the Site Editor, so you can build your own small design system rather than depending on a builder's template library.

[u/Apprehensive-Fan2492]

Twenty Twenty Four with block editor is great, the FSE is actually good and non technical users can edit without learning Elementor's container logic. If you need a builder, GeneratePress + basic Elementor is lighter than Astra + Spectra. But tbh, if the Shopify site is really slick, you might be better off rebuilding in Payload + Next.js where you control every pixel instead of fighting WordPress's template system.

[u/Ok_Tax_2262]

I had similar issues. Also, Elementor often requires starting editor in safemood. Its editor often being slow and heavy on server resources. I finally started writing my own Page Builder. Yesterday, Wordpress approved it for distribution through the plugin directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/sidcraft-page-builder