The Best WordPress Theme for Beginners 🔥

In today's video, we run a competition between block themes and classic themes in WordPress.
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Specifically, I take a closer look at two popular themes: Kadence and Spectra One. As many of you may know, block themes have emerged as a new approach to customization, relying solely on blocks, while classic themes offer a more traditional way of customizing using the WordPress customizer.
Recently, I conducted a Twitter poll to gauge the community's opinion on the functionality and ease of use of both theme types. The responses were quite intriguing.
Meg took on the challenge of performing various tasks using both the Kadence Classic theme and the Spectra One block theme. The tasks ranged from adding a site logo and changing the header background color to modifying the blog column layout and altering font styles.
Throughout the testing, we observed interesting differences in usability and complexity between the two themes. It became evident that block themes, like Spectra One, posed more challenges for a beginner, while classic themes, such as Kadence, offered a smoother and more straightforward experience out of the box.
However, I believe there's a significant opportunity to improve the usability of block themes, allowing them to reach a wider audience and achieve mass adoption. In this video, I'll be sharing the results of our user testing and discussing the implications of these findings.

[@leokerr9784]

Illustrates how coders/computer literates screw up the user interface by making assumptions about users knowledge levels or interpretive skills - saw lots of this in early software development - you should pass this video to block theme developers Jamie to show them why so many are frustrated with the unintuitive nature of block themes. Great video.

[@heystenner]

Wow, it was such a relief to see that I'm not the only one who gets insanely confused by the FSE user interface. I love the block theme approach, but the usability still has a long way to go.

[@jamiewp]

Yup 100% agree

[@webgeneral]

I agree 100%! I was actually very happy when Kadence and Generate Press announced not to go down that road...

[@MarioGZito]

@@webgeneral Me too!

[@MarioGZito]

I think that Gutenberg and blocks system was a great change that despite FSE is already a great thing we can use in so many themes.

[@wherezthebeef]

I'm sticking with Kadence 🙂

[@Anon-gd4mj]

Agree with your analysis totally. I am a beginner and I tried to use block themes multiple times and gave up out of sheer frustration!

[@tim78723]

I agree with Megs, to me, when you start with nothing it's more difficult to wind up with something. I want to enjoy the block themes, but I don't have the imagination to see it the way that it's supposed to be. Great content Jamie. Thanks

[@j.singer8461]

Totally agree ! I'm not good at visualizing either.

[@timoti2]

Ha - found this as i'm into the second week of teaching design students WP… initially was going to teach both approaches, consulted a bit more with students - who are future focussed and so we opted to go FSE but heck it can be challenging - a lot.more than it should be, so far.

[@realfingertrouble]

Once you get the hang of it, it's way more flexible and wonderful (barring recent burps like the weird navigation update changing the way my nav looks on several sites - what was that about? And the recent block theme shortcode security nightmare) but certainly major learning curve. I've designed my own classic themes back in the day since 2004, know CSS and some PHP and the like, and even I really struggled with FSE (Create Block Theme would have made it 100% more easier but it didn't exist then). Usually around typography - they really need to build Google typefaces in rather than 3rd party.

[@vertimaron]

Everyone has their hobby, mine is creating websites! I don't use them, but I've had this passion for 3 months now and it's crazy how many tutorials I've watched and sites I've built. I learn something new every day without ever getting bored! And the best part is that I work on my Android smartphone. Luckily, it's possible to do this with page builders like Gutenberg and Spectra in WordPress, because it doesn't work with Elementor...( This is a translation with ChatGPT, I speak french)

[@mdashrafuddin2825]

How do you work with android?

[@clarebrody1]

Gutenberg has awful reviews.. are you really using it? Or am I missing a different plugin

[@binaryfire]

Fantastic video Jamie and Meg! Would love to see more like this. Really shows what the UX is like from a client's perspective.

[@jamiewp]

More to come!

[@naukadladzieci]

​@@jamiewpbut you need to alternate the tasks to be fair, she kind of had the idea already whe approached the kadence logo. Hope this video will teach developers something.

[@noliver4u2]

Loved the video! It was good to hear Megs opinion after completing the challenge.

[@jamiewp]

Thanks Nancy - it was a really interesting experiment for sure

[@FranciscoManuelMancera]

It's like Wordpress believes that end users want to be designers. In my experience, clients want something that doesn't complicate their lives, to be able to manage their content without having to worry about the design, just change some typography, colors, etc. Very basic things. I also see that as developers the FSE theme and block system is more difficult than the classic themes. It could discourage theme designers who are more focused on design and layout knowledge than pure programming. I've been wondering for months if Wordpress will remove the classic themes in two or three years.

[@thatgrrlca]

I've found very few web designers who actually know HTML. They heavily rely on WordPress. Without WordPress they couldn't build a site at all. I may not be a WP expert, but I can still build a simple site with HTML. I never went looking for clients because I felt I didn't know enough to do sites for someone else and didn't want to make cookie cutter sites. Now, they all look like cookie cutter sites really. Kind of funny. People could build their own sites, if they just took a little time to do so.

[@richmaniow]

Certainly share Megs frustration with site editing but interesting to see that once she started becoming familiar with certain icons (like the colour style - half white half black one) she became much quicker at editing elements plus she wasn't aware of the list view, which as you pointed out makes things much easier. It still feels like Block Editing has someway to go especially regarding Headers, Footers and editing the main theme but i feel it's pretty good in terms of page content editing now.

[@jamiewp]

Yup great points Richard 👍

[@dontrez8412]

Actually, this was a great tutorial video without meaning to be one. It shows what I would've probably done. It also shows some of the things I would've assumed to NOT do because of experience level, but would've been wrong as well. We kinda worked out a few kinks together the way this video was done. 👏

[@richardstenlund2431]

This really shows that block themes are a great idea but implementation and usability has quite a long way to go. I teach WordPress and every time I show my students how block themes works they all say: isn´t there a better way, it´s too complicated. Showing an older theme everybody thinks it is way better and easier to use.

[@jamiewp]

100% agree Richard - the learning curve needs to be squashed for sure 👍

[@HelenaDenley]

Very interesting to watch Megan trying to find things in Spectra compared to Kadence. I've tried a couple of times, starting out with a new site using FSE, but then I can't do all that I've been able to with Kadence, so I go back to Kadence.

[@comartse]

What a fantastic concept! It's enjoyable to keep up with. It's beneficial for my clients that I decided to use Kadence, as it encourages them to interact with their websites. Many thanks to both of you for your hard work on this!Great idea! Fun to follow. It seems helpful for my clients that I have chosen to work with Kadence because I want them to engage in their websites. Thank you, both of you, for your work on this!

[@jamiewp]

Thanks for watching 😊

[@erling5148]

The outcome would have been different when she started out with kadence ... something to do with pre knowledge

[@wherezthebeef]

I would not inflict a block theme on a paying client, I would expect instant buyer's remorse and demand for a refund.

[@jonbloor8661]

Love the video Jamie. Since discovering your channel and Club Pootle, I've persevered with FSE but have had to resort to a block theme to achieve the results I needed. I'd find a video about blocks and columns and containers helpful (I think you've covered it in some of your videos) to help me master the FSE approach.

[@jamiewp]

Thank you Jon 🙏

[@LjubomirTesic]

I was faced with the same dilemma when restoring an old website the other day. Although I like the concept of fse themes better, sometimes I get confused about a little thing and waste too much time digging through the options. Great video!

[@jamiewp]

thank you

[@abenjamin13]

Absolutely ❤the video Jamie thank you 🙏.

[@jamiewp]

Thank you - it was fun to make 🤩

[@MarioGZito]

I am one that believes block themes will have a better user interface one day but for now, they are too far from that. Blocksy, Generatepress, and Kadence are state-of-the-art, true masterpieces while block themes are like a craft with the potential to one day become a work of art

[@jamiewp]

There is certainly a learning curve atm

[@RecipesLive]

Have not tried or tested a block theme. 😢 I do not want to invest the time, to many other innovations to keep up with. 😮 ❤ love your work. 😊

[@jamiewp]

Thank you 🙏

[@jimnech5066]

Jamie, as always a great and informative video!

[@jamiewp]

Thanks Jim

[@AIContentHacker]

Love the way you compare themes! And the step rating is quite fun! But actually, when I use the theme, I kind of "hero thinks alike" with the DIVI theme. This could not be measured.

[@mshamirtaloo]

Very good way of exploring, I like it

[@jamiewp]

thank you

[@parmasampa1]

I liked this video where your daughter plays with spectra because i had the opportunity to see that it's not just me who has a little difficulty and i'm starting to learn about wordpress, i had difficulty how to hide the menu and footer using spectra block , can you make a video on how to create a land page with spetra one and spectra block, another detail that i find kind of boring in the free version of spetra block is the counter that i couldn't make it look pretty, or to appear in a modal.

[@visualmodo]

Truly good work!!!

[@jamiewp]

Thank you 🙏

[@orhancolak8688]

This seems more like a user experience comparison with the theme type rather than a theme comparison.

[@jamiewp]

Yes that’s exactly what it is 👍

[@marioStortuga]

I tried spectra one and went back to the Astra version. Spectra Block theme needs more work in the layout an usability. For new people I think Classic themes are better less of a learning curve

[@PatriciaBT]

Well, once Meg got used to blocks (which btw are also used in classic theme's content) she just went faster... FSE being the ability to use blocks in the other-than-content parts, it's difficult to compare really. At least with block themes, beginners do not need to learn 2 different ways to edit (in classic themes, the customizer for global things, then blocks for the content), without mentionning that all classic themes have different customizer settings... beside this, I find it lovely to have your daughter as a tester, my teenage kids do not want to hahaha

[@jamiewp]

Thanks Patricia - all great points👍 . I’ve actually got three daughters but I’ve failed so far to get Hetty (15) to appear (bribery hasn’t worked)

[@Terry-Adams]

great video and good to see the UI experiment with a complete beginner. I think the same can be said for most of the tutorials that are out there. Getting the core concepts down is difficult. Some things though are really much better Like editing and establishing the style sheet that will modify the whole site. Anyway, I just found your channel a couple of weeks ago, and wish I had found it a long time ago.

[@Terry-Adams]

Also in future head to heads don't forget to switch which goes first back and forth a bit. (maybe you did in the experiment).

[@jamiewp]

Thank you Terry, and welcome to the channel

[@anthonyrude]

Can you add drop shadows to text on the free version of kadence blocks?

[@ghostrunner9596]

This is a great video!

[@jamiewp]

Thank you!

[@alanjerram9258]

The FSE interface is so unintuitive, it's almost like they put a lot of effort in thinking of ways to make it confusing. And I don't this is the usual resistance to change. It's just not a good UI.

[@jamiewp]

Yup Wordpress 6.3 has a big focus on improving it, whether it moves the needle far enough, we’ll have to wait and see

[@clarebrody1]

Awesome video! So glad i found your channel. Is kadence wp one of your favorite themes?

[@jamiewp]

Thanks and yes Kadence is a great theme

[@labsecrets-spence]

20:38 FTW Kadence! ;-) 😂

[@jamiewp]

I made this one just for you Spencer 😅

[@realfingertrouble]

Defintiely 2, I think we're on the same sort of feature level as classic themes, maybe more - but it's far harder to use still. Definitely not 3. (EDIT: said that before watching the video, nice to be vindicated!)

[@jamiewp]

Thanks for watching - I agree with you

[@SingaporeMathsAcademyUK]

Great video, would have been good to see if Kadence blocks would have been quicker (which I think it would!)

[@jamiewp]

Thanks - do you mean quicker than core blocks ?

[@SingaporeMathsAcademyUK]

@@jamiewp yes definitely, I've managed to spend 12 hours to complete the layout of a website using Kadence pro. It looks stunning but I would never have been able to do this with a standard classic theme without blocks.

[@SingaporeMathsAcademyUK]

@@jamiewp also have you seen Sensei LMS? Jaw droppingly beautiful LMS that whoops all others in terms or pure aesthetics but makimg courses is a little more time consuming but in my opinion worth it. Hoping the actual functionality improves with further development but in terms of block LMS (some new content for you to cover? Ask them to send me a free Pro licence lol), hands down the best, right?

[@crazyworld7485]

Please help me about how to import template kits with full header & footer or how to edit main navigation menu on mobile i can’t edit stye or size menu navigation when show on mobile screen for me it is importance but never see how to edit from any video on KZbin. Please help ❤❤

[@gashumba888]

I wonder how she would have fared using Astra! Classic themes are not all the same, especially when it comes to the Customizer section. Block theme remove the fragmentation.

[@jamiewp]

Yup great points 👍

[@kbleivik]

I remember a fractal programmed i C. It was fast, but 100 times faster when an assembly programmer changed the code.

[@WineGiftBoxMaker]

Very entertaining AND TRUE. Someday I hope Kadence will feature voice actuated instructions to speed this up even more - "show me global background setting", I don;t like this font, please suggest 3 others that match my topic" , and finally disable autoLIKE my videos because the cats are getting FAT.

[@tobiaslofi]

Wow. Just showed me that WP in general is still very complex….

[@wherezthebeef]

WordPress has become: WordMess

[@freddymercury2259]

Which theme is faster, though? That is the main thing

[@jamiewp]

There's no real difference

[@freddymercury2259]

@@jamiewp I thought block themes are faster than classic themes?

[@jamiewp]

@@freddymercury2259 generally yes, but classic themes can also be very fast

[@aminproduct]

After watching all videos of spectra, still don't know about spectra, even I understand most of 3d animation tool, but don't understand spectra.😅

[@KomentarSaya]

ui/ux designer should be testiny by noob or newbie like this for better perspective

[@dontrez8412]

On the one hand, my kids 😒🙄don't even want to know how to do this stuff. The only way I could get them to do this with me is to tell them that they might go Tik Tok 💃 viral 🤑. On the other hand, over the years that he's been building websites, I think she has probably seen the customizer before. I'd like to see her do this with the OceanWP customizer. 🤭😜

[@realfingertrouble]

P,S, the Edit Page vs Edit Site IS really confusing!

[@pierres_blog]

The problem with trying to make things easier to use is that developers are making decisions. They need supervision.

[@jamiewp]

😬

[@esperandounmejorcielo4385]

more videos with meg! please, pretty!!!!

[@DiannaCheng]

Fun video but not a true usability test with you sitting next to her, leading her, speaking etc. 😂

[@jamiewp]

True 😉

[@wherezthebeef]

So Block Themes and Gutenberg are actually designed to waste our time... right? UX nightmare and total fail. Kudos to your daughter for being such a sport 🙏

[@jamiewp]

Well there’s a steeper learning curve at the moment but they open up a world of creativity if you get over that - check out my other videos to see some examples

[@wherezthebeef]

@@jamiewp I agree, all joking aside, but at this point it's not just a learning curve we're up against.. I love to lock myself in a room, pot of coffee, and go into Monk Mode to learn something new.. but the sheer confusion of terminology, and the feeling that in block themes, just trying to accomplish the simplest and most basic of tasks, it's like negotiating a mine field, maliciously designed and laid down by Automattic/WordPress in an attempt to trip us up and drive us out of our minds in frustration.

[@fineasfrogshair]

Block themes and especially Full SIte Editing themes suck!

[@jamiewp]

Well they’re the same thing but thanks for your comment 👍

[@TorstenMeise]

Hundreds of pointless clicks later I gave up on Spectra One. Never seen such an annoying theme.

[@jamiewp]

It sounds like a Wordpress issue rather than a theme issue

[@SzilviaVirag]

The block editor has ruined wordpress.

[@jamiewp]

Could you elaborate?