Pro from Themeco is not the first WordPress website builder that I have used. And yet it convinces me in some areas more than other page builders for WordPress have done. Here is my overview of the pros and cons.

Pro is a website builder for WordPress that makes it very easy to create websites. The advantage of such website or page builders: You don't need any programming knowledge to customize your posts and pages. Pro has not yet achieved the popularity of classic WordPress page builders such as Elementor or Divi, but in my opinion it's still worth a look. Let's take a closer look at the reasons why:

• What is pro, how does it work and what are the disadvantages
• Advantages of Pro for use as a website page builder
• Difference between Pro and X
• Modern Sliders - Premium Course and Expansion Pack

What is Pro for WordPress and how does it work?

In combination with the ready-made templates and the Design Cloud, Pro is easy to use for beginners as the user interface is very intuitive. The professional look makes it a pleasure to work with and I use it for many WordPress projects.

With a website builder, the focus quickly shifts to creativity rather than purely technical aspects. You no longer have to worry about technical aspects.

The only limitation is your own experience. That's the beauty of the Website Builder core framework: You're not limited to a certain style or type of functionality. I can build anything I want with them.

With Pro, the code is so well written from my point of view that client projects for which I have created websites are at the top of Google and Bing for many long and exact keywords after a short time and rank for their topic. See the guide to keyword analysis here at wp unboxed.

Pro can become very complex depending on the project

Pro may not be suitable for every website, every project and every customer. Especially when projects become more complex - and more background knowledge of WordPress, HTML and CSS is required - it can be tricky. 

The code and functions are very well documented and there are plenty of Themeco support members in the forum who will provide a good answer within a day or two. If you need a quicker answer, you can also use the search function in the forum.

The license fee of $79 per website (Single Use License) or $399 (Unlimited Use License) for an unlimited number of websites is no bargain and probably not suitable for every budget, but for me personally it was still worth it.

Advantages of Pro as a website page builder

I love having a real-time preview of the page I'm creating or updating with Pro's WYSIWIG editor Cornerstone. Unlike other WordPress templates where you have to blindly edit the content. Cornerstone consists of only two parts: Workspace and Preview Area.

Working with these two areas feels as fluid as Photoshop:

• Individual customizations are easily possible, from editing the code for each individual page or even each individual element. 

• Unique style: I can create 90 percent of my clients' websites with Pro, and they all look individual and unique. No two websites are the same.
  
• Easy Plug & Play: You can start editing immediately, as it is easy enough even for beginners to edit the text or image content. Individual elements can be moved using drag & drop.
  
• Fast & Furious: Without any performance plugin, I have a GTMetrix score of more than 85 percent. Other themes I have tried, on the other hand, have a score of around 60 percent.
  
• Design Cloud: With access to individual design elements, entire pre-built sections or pages that can be easily modified, Pro can be used by anyone regardless of web design experience.
  
• Support: In my experience, customer support is competent and fast. In the forum, the team usually responds within one day.
  
• The documentation on the functions is very helpful - I always go there first before I ask a question in the forum. Because I get my answers there straight away.
• Free extensions: Pro includes a range of useful tools and plug-ins in an extension library for free use.

Difference between Pro and X

The Pro and X products both offer practical functions for creating modern websites. Here are the similarities between the two versions:

• Stacks: You can choose between four different design stacks: Integrity, Renew, Icon and Ethos. Good as a starting point and for beginners, as each design has its own unique styling.
• Theme Options: You can use this global control panel to customize the appearance of your website. Here you will find options such as typography, colors, layouts and you can make changes to the blog and portfolio.
• Portfolios: Create several different portfolio pages to give free rein to your creativity. Whether for art or photography, you'll find the right layout for your project here.
• Cornerstone: The simple drag & drop feature gives you control over the design, pages and posts. Simply drag the desired elements into the page preview and edit the content directly in the live preview. After saving, the content is immediately online.
• Color, Font & Templates: Here you can create and save page-wide presets for typography and color palettes. The big advantage is that you can use the content templates such as design or settings as templates elsewhere or simply export them to use them on another website.
• Global Blocks: For me personally, this is one of the best features that saves a lot of time. With global blocks, you can create specific blocks of content that are repeated throughout the website but managed in one place. When you make changes, they are applied to all instances.

Now to the differences. If you need to get things done quickly, the Design Cloud is a design library with many professionally designed assets created by the Themeco team. The library is constantly being expanded. X users have access to site, content and preset templates, while Pro users have access to site, header, content, footer and preset templates.

The main difference lies in Cornerstone and the new grid editor. Cornerstone includes its own header, page, footer, layout builder and grid editor. Pro users have access to everything and Cornerstone is natively integrated into the theme. However, X users must install Cornerstone as a separate plugin and manage it (it is included with the purchase of X).

With Pro's Grid Editor, you can create highly customized and complex layouts based on the CSS Grid specification. It is displayed as a grid in the element library. Themeco's Grid series on YouTube takes you through everything you can do with this innovative tool.

Who is Pro suitable for?

Both beginners and advanced users can use Pro, because we all have to start somewhere. But it's especially helpful for professionals or those who want maximum control over all the options. You can create as many custom headers and footers and layouts as you want to assign them to different places on your website - ideal for creating landing pages, unique designs and engaging (sales) funnels. 

For example, if you want to overwrite the template for a single blog post in X, then you need to use a child theme, be familiar with the WordPress template system and be equally familiar with editing PHP files for this to work. In Pro, you can design these templates natively with the Elements collection and assign them all within one tool. This can be used for blog archives, blog pages, taxonomy archives, store pages, product pages and more.

With the amount of control that Pro offers, you have the freedom to create anything you can imagine. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination and experience. Just like X, you can import premium assets from the Design Cloud and add your own custom code via live editors if you wish.

Who is X suitable for?

If you're a designer, content creator or developer who prefers to have more stylized choices (stacks) built in, X gives you a good starting point to create a website quickly. X includes pre-built headers and footers for you to choose from. It also has a diverse selection of design assets that you can import from the Design Cloud with one click.

Malicious tongues would say that X is a bit outdated and less modern. And that it would be better to start with Pro right away. However, this depends on your requirements and skill level. Regardless of whether you are starting from scratch or are a pro, you can create good-looking websites with minimal effort.

Modern Sliders Expansion Pack

Create sliders directly in Cornerstone with elements you already know and love? No more need for third-party plugins that bloat your code and make your site slow? In my opinion, the advantage of this slider is that the other WordPress website builders don't really offer a good solution here. Either the options are so limited that they are unattractive. Or the plugins are so bloated that you need a degree to use them.

My conclusion on the Pro WordPress Website Builder

Do you want to create a real-time display of websites in the browser, in the style of WYSIWYG ("What You See Is What You Get")? Pro is based on an app-like design and development environment, with WordPress as the basis. From the header to the footer and everything in between, it makes creating websites fun again.

The best thing for me: you don't need any other annoying plugins or additional add-ons. Pro has been the biggest time saver for our design studio so far. I'm looking forward to future developments. Have you already tried the WordPress Website Builder? I'd love to hear your opinion in the comments.