If you’re searching for a WordPress theme, you’ll find a vast array of options. You can select from thousands of free themes or opt for a paid theme for additional features. However, choosing the right theme from so many options can be challenging.
With this in mind, let’s explore Kadence, a popular theme with a lot to offer.
What Is Kadence?
Kadence is a multipurpose WordPress theme available for free download, with a pro version offering more possibilities. The theme shop is also named Kadence, and the Kadence theme is their main product.
Besides the Kadence theme, they offer four other themes and a collection of plugins (about 15), with Kadence Blocks being the most notable. This page builder plugin enhances the capabilities of WordPress’s Gutenberg editor. Like the Kadence theme, Kadence Blocks is available in both free and pro versions.
For this review, we’ll divide it into two main sections to show what’s included for free and what you get if you upgrade to the pro version.
What Is Included in the Free Version of Kadence?
While there are countless free themes, Kadence stands out as one of the best. It’s a lightweight theme that helps your site load quickly and offers more design and customization features than most free themes. The customization capabilities truly make Kadence stand out.
Since Kadence is available in both free and pro versions, you might expect the free version to be limited, but that’s not the case. The free theme is quite capable and will meet the needs of many users.
Theme Settings
With the free theme installed, you’ll find the theme settings under the “Kadence” link in the “Appearance” tab.
There are settings in six sections available with the free theme:
- Global Colors
- Branding
- Typography
- Header Layout
- Page Layout
- Footer Layout
Clicking on any of these options leads you to the theme customizer, where you have full control over the settings.
Global Colors
The color settings offered by Kadence exceed what you’ll find in almost any other free theme. You can set the site background color, content background color, link color, and even set a full color scheme for your entire site.
With the color scheme settings, you can set two accent colors, multiple text colors, and background colors. You can choose from predefined color sets or customize any of the individual colors, giving you full control.
The value of the global color options can’t be overstated. With just a few minutes, you can have all the colors for your website set with no need for custom CSS.
Branding
Here, you’ll upload your logo and determine how it’s positioned and if it’s shown alone or with the text of your site name and tagline.
Typography
In the typography settings, you can choose the font (from Google Fonts) for body text and each of the headings h1-h6, and breadcrumbs. You can also set the font size and weight for each.
Header Layout
The header layout settings panel is a standout feature of Kadence. While you’ll get more options with the pro version, even the free theme lets you customize the layout and design of your header.
The settings are in two tabs: general and design. In the general tab, you control what elements you want in the header. To add an element, drag it and place it where you want it.
In the design tab, you can control the header background color (for desktop, tablet, and mobile phone) and the breakpoint for switching to the mobile header.
In the general tab, clicking on an element opens additional options. For example, clicking on “primary navigation” lets you set options related to the menu layout and design. You’ll be surprised by how many different options you have for most of these elements.
Page Layout
The page layout settings allow you to create a custom template used as the standard page layout. You’ll control the display of the page title, page width, sidebar visibility, sidebar location, featured images, comments, and more.
Like the header layout, the page layout settings are in two tabs: general and design.
Footer Layout
You’ll also control the elements shown in the footer and their design. Simply drag and drop the elements you want to include, then use the design tab to control their appearance.
Additional Customization Options
While the six sections above are accessible through the Kadence settings, you can also find additional options in the customizer (go to Appearance > Customize).
From here, you can customize the standard blog post layout, much like the page layout options covered above. You can also customize the layout and design of the archives and search results.
Overall, the customization and design settings of the free Kadence theme far exceed what you’d expect from a free theme. While it doesn’t match what you can do with Kadence Pro, it will be more than enough for some users. At the very least, it lets you try Kadence and see if you like it before purchasing the pro version.
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