Unfortunately, page builder plugins have been hammered into the brains of WordPress users through relentless advertising, evangelists, and supporters that have claimed they are a necessity.

Don’t get me wrong. WordPress page builders have served a need in the ecosystem for many years. However, their “need” is coming to an end. The introduction of full site editing and block themes within WordPress 6+ renders most page builders obsolete — when using the right theme.

Don’t worry. Page builders won’t go quietly into the night. They are too engrained within the psyche and workflows of too many WordPress users to simply disappear. And they shouldn’t disappear. The users that love their page builders should continue to keep using them. But I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss using WordPress blocks and a block-based theme without the use of a page builder.

A customer recently approached us, confused about switching themes and abandoning their beloved builder plugin. They wanted to simplify their WordPress page building experience. I proceeded to explain that we have a block-based version of the theme they were using — the Natural Theme.

However, they were struggling with the concept of no longer using their page builder. So, I proceeded to explain by providing the following response:

I’ll try to provide some clarification regarding page builders. If you’re using the latest version of WordPress (Version 6+), and a block theme like our previously suggested Natural Block theme, a page builder plugin is entirely unnecessary.
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​As of WordPress version 6, a new way of customizing a theme’s design and page layouts was introduced using the full-site editor in combination with a block-based theme. As a result, every aspect of a block-based theme can be customized directly in WordPress — without the need for a page builder plugin.
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​Unfortunately, there are not many block-based themes available yet in the ecosystem because this new approach to building WordPress themes is so different when compared to the way that themes have been constructed for the past 15+ years. Since the WordPress ecosystem is comprised of many third-party product developers (like ourselves), many companies that have aligned themselves with a builder plugin are reluctant to switch to this new way of constructing themes because it means changing their entire business model — and probably rebuilding all their products.
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Since ​we never aligned ourselves with any builders other than our own, we have remained more flexible in this regard. As a result, all our focus is now being poured into block-based themes and the new WordPress editor.
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​In truth, the new way of building pages in the block editor is superior to using a builder plugin. Essentially, builder plugins rose to popularity over the past 8+ years because a solution for customizing every aspect of a theme did not exist within the WordPress platform itself. However, that has all changed with the recent versions of WordPress. Plus, it’s getting better with every new update.
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​Builder plugins should still technically “work” with block-based themes and the latest versions of WordPress. And some still offer unique functionality you can’t find using blocks — yet. However, most builder plugins are unnecessary. In my opinion, they just confuse the process of customizing a WordPress theme by introducing a different user experience. I think the best way to simplify the page building experience in WordPress is to stop using a page builder plugin, and start using the WordPress block editor in combination with a block-based theme.

I wanted to share my response because I believe this a common misunderstanding amongst so many WordPress users. Like most things in our world these days, there is an overwhelming amount of information and misinformation regarding this topic.

Gutenberg, the full-site editor, block-based themes — they are all relatively new introductions to WordPress. And honestly, the introduction of these new features and technologies has created a rocky transition for many users, developers, and product providers like ourselves. Change is hard. However, as somebody who has been intimately involved in designing and developing WordPress products for nearly 15 years, I approached this transition with an open mind. I’ve discovered the new solutions are great, and they keep getting better. So, it might be time to abandon that clunky old page builder, and try a block-based theme.

It’s Business time! We’re excited to announce version 3 of our Business Theme!

We have totally rebuilt the theme, making everything more awesome along the way! The latest version features all new page templates, functionality, and theme options are now within the WordPress customizer for simple setup. Business offers custom post types for displaying your team members and employees, your latest projects, and any job listings. This theme has all the tools you need to run a successful business website.

We kept the design similar, but made several improvements for retina devices and responsive layouts. Upload your company logo, choose the alignment, change the colors, add your team and get started with your professional business website today!

Don’t forget to try the Business Theme with our Instant Setup service to get started immediately!

Our popular Photographer Theme has recently undergone a makeover. While we kept the clean and minimal design, virtually every other element of the theme has been improved upon vastly.

We have moved all theme options to the WordPress customizer for a faster setup process. New options such as logo alignment give you more control over the design of your theme. Licensing has been added so you can easily keep your theme up-to-date with new functionality or bug fixes. In addition, new page templates, improved shortcodes, an improved responsive framework and many more features are included with the latest version of Photographer.

The Jetpack portfolio post type has been added to Photographer as well, giving you another portfolio option in addition to the slideshows, portfolio page template and category pages. The theme also utilizes Infinite Scroll from Jetpack, if you so desire.

This latest update is sure to please new and existing customers of the Photographer Theme. Check out the demo to see the new version in action!

Among the first Organic Themes themes ever released, the Portfolio Theme has recently undergone its 5th major update to the design and functionality. With an abundance of new features including the Jetpack portfolio custom post type, new page templates, customizer options, shortcodes, licensing for automatic updates and much more — give your artwork the professional website it deserves!

Portfolio maintains the beautifully minimal design that has made the theme one of our most popular products. The responsive framework has been completely rebuilt for a seamless display across all devices. All theme options have been moved to the WordPress customizer for a quick and easy setup process.

We hope the revitalization of Portfolio will please our existing customers of the theme and attract new fans looking for a simple WordPress theme perfectly tuned for displaying art and design.

Start your online storefront using the latest version of the Shop Theme!

Version 3 of the Shop Theme keeps a clean, minimal design while improving upon several aspects of functionality. Shop now features more custom menu sections for adding product category navigation. The responsive framework has been reworked and improved upon. All theme options have been moved to the WordPress customizer for a seamless setup process. In addition to several other improvements, the theme now includes licensing for automatic updates as well!

View the demo to see the theme in action. Shop works with the popular WooCommerce plugin and the Exchange plugin from our friends at iThemes.

WordPress Customizer

The Adventure, Collective and Profile themes will now utilize the WordPress customizer to manage theme options instead of the previously used Options Framework. We plan to eventually convert all our themes to use the customizer for a few reasons:

• Seamless Theme Setup & Previewing — The customizer displays your changes as you’re making them. There’s no need to go back and forth from saving theme options to previewing the changes on the site.
• Faster Site Load Time — Since the customizer is integrated into the core of the WordPress software, there’s no time wasted on communication with bulky options code in the theme.
• Easier WP.com Transition — WordPress.com is placing a heavy emphasis on the customizer. Since our WP.com theme users are being conditioned to using the customizer, we want to make any transition between the .org and .com versions of WordPress as seamless as possible.

After updating to the latest versions of these themes, you will need to re-save your theme options under Appearance > Customize in the WordPress admin.

Theme Licensing

Now customers can easily upgrade these themes within the WordPress dashboard upon activating a theme license. The integration of theme licensing makes bug fixes and maintenance updates much more efficient for our customers.

We plan to eventually integrate licensing within all of our themes. Upon purchasing one of these recently updated themes or any of our newer themes you will be provided with a theme license via email, and within your Organic Themes account.

A theme license can be used on an unlimited number of sites, and we currently have no plans to restrict theme usage to a specific number of domains. Theme licensing is meant to benefit our customers by providing more efficient theme updates, and is also a way for us to prevent piracy and fraud.

Please Note: If you have previously purchased one of these themes, you will need to contact us directly to have a license generated for you.

Social Media Custom Menu

Previously our themes were each limited to a set amount of social media links within the theme options. We are retiring this method in favor of using the WordPress Custom Menus to create and manage your social media links within our themes.

The Adventure, Collective and Profile themes now take advantage of this new way of managing your social media links. Within the Appearance > Menus section of WordPress create a new menu, add your social media links, and save the menu to the Social Menu location. You can drag and drop the links within the menu to change the order in which they are displayed. The social media menu also works with RSS feed links and “mailto” links for email.

We hope our customers are pleased with these updates. Other recent theme releases and updates such as Purpose, Restaurant, Connect and more already take advantage of these awesome features! Stay tuned for more updates from Organic Themes by following our RSS Feed or subscribing to our newsletter.