Elegant Themes Review: An Impressive Toolkit For WordPress Websites
Nick Roach founded Elegant Themes in 2008. The company started as a one-man operation, but now comprises a global team of WordPress developers, designers and support staff.
Elegant Themes builds WordPress themes and plugins that are available via their membership scheme. And as their brand name implies, their products focus on simple, beautiful designs.
In this review, we’ll see what the Elegant Themes Membership Scheme has to offer.
So, let’s start by taking a look at the products in the scheme.
What products are included
Themes
There are currently 87 WordPress themes and 1 Tumblr theme in the range:
The themes are categorized to help you narrow your search:
But right now, the two most popular themes in the range are Divi and Extra:
- Divi is the flagship theme for Elegant Themes. It utilizes the Divi Builder (see Plugins below), which means it’s suitable for creating most types of website:
Learn more in our full review of the Divi Theme
- Extra also uses the Divi Builder. It’s perfect for blogging and magazine style websites:
Learn more in our full review of the Extra Theme
Plugins
There are currently three premium WordPress plugins in the range:
- The Divi Builder – Create drag-and-drop layouts that work with any WordPress theme with the page builder plugin.
- Bloom Email Opt-Ins – Add opt-in forms to your website and manage the design and location of each one.
- Monarch Social Media Sharing – Get more social shares of your content and add more followers to your chosen social networks.
There are also three more plugins available in the membership download area:
- HandHeld Mobile – Create an alternate mobile-friendly layout for non-responsive WordPress themes.
- Anticipate Maintenance Mode – Create a “Coming Soon” page for your upcoming website, plus connect with visitors via email and other social networks.
- Elegant Shortcodes – Use the collection of Elegant Shortcodes with any non-Elegant theme.
Photoshop files
Elegant Themes includes the original design files used to create each theme. Developers wishing to customize the themes can edit the PSD Files in Adobe Photoshop.
Time to see what’s inside the Members’ Area…
What’s inside the membership area
The first thing you see when you log into the Members’ Area is a welcome splash page:
- In the left-hand menu are three options to navigate the membership area.
- To the right is a welcome message advising you of the downloads and support available.
Let’s take a look at the three menu options.
Downloads
The Downloads includes all the available themes and plugins that you can access in your account package.
Plugins
The first section is for the plugins. Here are the first three plugins in the list:
For each plugin you have four options:
- Download – Opens a popup box to download the plugin to your computer:
- Preview – Takes you to the plugin’s preview page:
- Documentation – Directs you to the plugin’s documentation page:
- Changelog – Opens a drop-down panel with the latest changelog information:
Themes
The next section is for the themes. Here are the first three of the 87 themes in the list:
The Theme Download section has the same format as the Plugin Download section highlighted earlier.
Tumblr Theme
Right at the bottom of this page is the single Tumblr theme from Elegant Themes.
[Note: The Preview option leads to Nick Roach’s Tumblr page.]
Account
The Account page provides all the details of your Elegant Themes account including billing and subscription information.
You’ll also find your API Key details, which you’ll need to activate and update your products in the WordPress Dashboard.
Support
The final menu item is the Support Forum. Here you can track the support issues reported by you and other customers.
The Support Forum contains four main sections:
- General Support – For general non-specific product issues
- Theme Support – For theme related issues
- Plugin Support – For plugin related issues
- Community – For customization showcase and help
Unfortunately, not all customers report their issues in the correct category. So, for example, you might end up with Bloom Plugin issues reported under the Divi Theme Support.
Aside of that, the Support Forum is simple to navigate.
Let’s take a look at the Plugin Support section as an example.
Plugin support example
Click the plugin you want help with. In this case, I’ve selected the Bloom plugin:
From there you can open a new support ticket:
Open a new ticket
When you click the button ‘Open A New Ticket’ you see a popup window prompting you to do two things first:
- Read The Documentation
- Search The Forums
These are both valid suggestions as the answer to your query may already exist. Plus the online documentation is excellent and is well worth checking before you report an issue.
Click here to open a ticket
If you can’t find your answer in the documentation, the next step is to open a new ticket. But first Elegant Themes asks you to complete some routine checks:
- Update Your Theme to its latest version
- Update WordPress to its latest version
- Disable All Of Your Plugins to ensure there are no conflicts
- Include Your Website’s URL In Your Post so the support team can see the problem
Again, this is good support practice. It makes sense for you to check some basic settings before reporting your issue.
Open tickets
The Open Tickets start with the most recent topic at the top:
- The orange text signifies a fixed information message.
- The green text highlights answered tickets.
- The black text denotes unanswered tickets.
Resolving tickets
If the support team needs access to your WordPress Dashboard to investigate an issue, you’re asked to install their special support plugin:
Overall, the Elegant Themes support team provides an excellent standard of service. They update the ticket conversations promptly and clearly.
Pricing
Elegant Themes has two membership levels to choose from:
- Yearly Membership– $89 per year
- Use all of the themes and plugins on unlimited
- Layered Photoshop Files.
- Lifetime Membership– $249 one time
- Use all of the themes and plugins on unlimited
- Layered Photoshop Files.
Each membership plan includes access to all the current and future products, plus enhancements and updates, plus ongoing technical support.
Elegant Themes pro’s and con’s
Pro’s
- Competitive pricing
- Excellent support service
- Easy to navigate members area
- Comprehensive product documentation, including video tutorials
- Access to all current themes and plugins, plus any future products
- Locked in renewal price when you join, or single payment lifetime access
Con’s
- The Support Forum software does not force users to categorize requests correctly
Conclusion
The Elegant Themes Membership Scheme offers exceptional value for money, even if you only use a single theme from the collection.
But it’s not just the pricing that is attractive.
Elegant Themes has developed a simple membership area that’s easy to navigate. It gives you quick access to the three most relevant options – products, support and account details.
The online product documentation, which includes both text and video tutorials, is top quality. And if you can’t find your answer there then the support team handle your other questions efficiently.
All of the themes and plugins are developed to the highest standard and continually updated, as reflected in the relevant changelogs.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means we may make a small commission if you make a purchase.
