GeneratePress theme speed test featured image

GeneratePress Theme Pro

Tested on : February 2024
Theme version : GeneratePress 3.4.0
Pro plugin version : GP Premium 2.4.0

This post has affiliate links. If you buy something through these links, we may earn a commission. It’s okay – we love our recommended themes and page builders anyway, and you will too!

GeneratePress Theme Performance Overview

Average Mobile Performance

95.75
  • 0-49 : Poor
  • 50-89 : Needs improvements
  • 90-100 : Good

Metrics

FCP (First Contentful Paint)
1678 ms
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
1853 ms
TBT (Total Blocking Time)
64 ms
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
0
SI (Speed Index)
4385 ms
Server Response Time
340 ms
Page Total Size
415 KB
DOM Size
837 Nodes

GeneratePress excels in mobile performance, achieving an outstanding average score of 95.75. The FCP (First Contentful Paint) demonstrates rapid loading times with a recorded duration of 1678 ms. Similarly, the LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) showcases impressive performance at 1853 ms, contributing to a positive user experience. The Total Blocking Time (TBT) is particularly low at 64 ms, indicating minimal delays in responsiveness and ensuring a smooth interaction.

For a comparison between GeneratePress and other themes, you can check our WordPress Themes Speed Comparison page.

For detailed insights into our testing approach, refer to our WordPress theme speed test methodology.

User Experience

Our Overall User experience

(3.7/5)

Ease of Customization

GeneratePress prioritizes performance as its primary goal, resulting in a lack of abundance of features commonly found in other themes. Consequently, users not well-versed in coding might face difficulties, as the theme is tailored to a more developer-oriented audience. Even for developers, a learning curve persists, requiring reference to documentation for specific implementations.

Despite this minimalistic approach, GeneratePress remains a powerful option, offering essential settings. The admin section is simple, with key settings on a single, straightforward page, facilitating an uncomplicated setup process.

Navigating the customizer is generally user-friendly, yet there are instances where finding specific elements may be challenging, necessitating consultation with the documentation. For example, the "To Top" option resides in the "Layout/Footer" section, whereas it might be expected in general settings or as a top-level item within the "Layout" section. Additionally, the minimalistic nature of GeneratePress may lead users to search for settings that do not exist in the customizer, requiring finally the use of custom CSS.

These intricacies in GeneratePress are intentional, geared towards optimal performance. Therefore, most of the limitations listed in the next section could be considered as intended and normal, aligning with GeneratePress's commitment to delivering the best performance possible.

Bugs And Limitations

The theme is very stable, with only a few bugs during testing:
  • Buttons: Unable to inherit from the customizer settings, requiring CSS.
  • Mobile burger: An unexpected "Menu" text appeared even when no label was entered in the customizer for the mobile menu or off-canvas menu. A workaround involved entering a space in the label field, saving, then removing the space and saving again to make the label disappear.
In our evaluation against the list of requirements for the test page, we encountered several limitations:
  • Desktop sticky header lacks shadow control.
  • To top icon has no size control and necessitated CSS adjustments.
  • Navigation logo lacks max-width control, requiring the use of CSS.
  • Desktop submenu lacks animation control, requiring CSS adjustments.
  • Button in navigation cannot be customized from the customizer. A suggested workaround involves creating an extra menu item and applying CSS to achieve the desired style on desktop and remove the item on mobile.
  • Search modal in the menu required CSS adjustments for removal on mobile.
  • Off-canvas mobile menu: Styling options are not available in the customizer. All adjustments had to be made through CSS.
  • Footer: The number of columns for tablet view required CSS adjustments as the setting is not available in the customizer.
  • Footer copyright lacks top border control, which was added through CSS.

Overall, GeneratePress prioritizes performance, which can result in limitations and a steeper learning curve, particularly for non-developers. While it includes all the essential features, certain customization options lacks and require additional coding to be implemented. During our testing, 109 lines of custom CSS was necessary to achieve our desired homepage layout. GeneratePress is highly stable, with minimal bugs.

Do we recommend GeneratePress Theme Pro?

Stamp recommended green

**GeneratePress Theme Pro: Highly Recommended!**

GeneratePress is extremely fast, making it hard not to recommend! However, a word of caution is appropriate, this theme is developer-oriented and might not suit all audiences.

Why We Recommend GeneratePress:
  • Speed: GeneratePress sets the benchmark for speed, making it an ideal choice for those who prioritize website performance.
  • Developer-Friendly: Tailored for developers comfortable with coding, GeneratePress maintains a feature-rich profile despite its minimalist facade.
Who Should Consider GeneratePress:
  • Developers: People well-versed in coding seeking a performance-driven theme.
  • Speed Enthusiasts: Those who prioritize a swift and efficient website experience.
  • Page Builder Integration: GeneratePress also offers a Gutenberg page builder called GenerateBlocks. If you're looking for a seamless integration between a lightweight theme and a corresponding page builder, GeneratePress provides an excellent solution.
Who Should Not Consider GeneratePress:
  • Non-Coders and Coding-Avoiders: If you lack coding skills or prefer to avoid extensive customization through code, GeneratePress may not be the ideal choice.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *