How can Astra help improve the functionality and appearance of your website? In this review of the Astra WordPress theme, we examine the pros and cons of the theme and how you can use them to your advantage. Lots of unique features set this template apart from the rest, especially if you need a lightweight WordPress theme.
Astra WordPress theme
What makes Astra so unique is that it’s the type of theme that can work in different niches. Many users have incorporated it into their online stores, portfolios, blogs, and more. It’s also remarkably accessible as it has paid and free versions with between 500,000 and 1,000,000 users in total.
This theme was originally designed by Brainstorm Force, a development company that works on top-notch WordPress themes. Its impressive integration is thanks to the innovative minds on the team who allow you to implement new and exciting features with ease. Users love the number of plugins that run seamlessly, which makes it ideal for a range of businesses.
With all of its functions, which we will examine below, it is impressive how easy the subject is. Compared to other templates, it works significantly faster without affecting your page speed rankings. According to the development team, your website should load in less than 0.5 seconds.
Who is this WordPress theme for?
There is no doubt that Astra is something that every website owner can use to their advantage. If you are looking for a site upgrade, this topic should be high on your list. Not only does it load quickly and respond quickly, but it also offers native support with WordPress’ page builders.
Adding plugins and customizing the website to suit your needs has never been easier. It’s a phenomenal place to start for beginners, especially if you’ve never tried building a website before.
However, Astra is also the type of theme that works perfectly for seasoned site owners. People who have tested older templates that only work with legacy page builders will surely be impressed. With the regular updates that this platform receives, you will find that when activated it adapts perfectly to modern pagebuilders.
What’s included
As mentioned earlier, Astra comes in both a free and a paid version called the Pro. Let’s take a look at the features of the Pro and Free versions.
Astra features (free)
This is what the free Astra theme brings you:
- Limited colors and backgrounds
- Limited typography
- Limited distance
- Two HTML elements
- Limited WooCommerce integration
- Limited LifterLMS integration
- Limited LearnDash integration
- Limited integration of Easy Digital Downloads
Astra Pro features (paid)
There are dozen of features that Astra Pro offers its paying users. With that in mind, we list some of the most popular things that you are likely to use to your advantage.
- 24/7 premium support
- Different typography, spaces, colors and backgrounds
- Sidebar and page background design styles
- Full width pages, padded pages, and fluid page layouts
- Custom headers and footers
- Custom 404 page
- Multiple header adjustments
- Multiple menu drop down options
- Exceptional blog management tools
- Large selection of shortcodes
- Full WooCommerce integration
- Several other integrations
As expected, the Pro package offers significantly more functions. These features allow you to build a phenomenal and professional WordPress site without an exceptionally high cost.
Overview of the functions
From the extensive selection of settings to the stunning design, Astra is a fantastic way to improve the quality of your website. Here’s a detailed look at its features:
If you’ve used WordPress themes in the past, you’re probably wondering how this development team made their theme so responsive. Astra was developed without the use of jQuery, which can be responsible for the slowdown in performance. Instead, the platform offers vanilla JavaScript to help you improve your performance.
It’s also important to note that the topic will take up less than 50KB of your resources. You will find that it is exceptionally responsive compared to other themes. On average, your website should load in less than half a second, which makes it the easiest option.
Another feature that will make your website load faster is that any Google fonts you use are self-hosted. You can upload the fonts to your site and save them on your local server. Once you have your website ready, you will find that your CWV (Core Web Vitals) is significantly better.
- Several layout adjustments
The uniqueness of your company’s website is one of the most important factors in standing out from the crowd on the internet. Astra allows you to fully manage the layout of your website, especially with the Pro version. Users can access the management of their blogs, individual pages, individual posts, and even headers.
The platform has several built-in header and footer options for you to play with. For example, you can set up a transparent header that puts your page in the best position.
As more and more people use smartphones and tablets to surf, creating mobile-friendly websites has become essential. With Astra, you can completely optimize your site for handheld devices right down to the headers. You can change header styles, personalize menu styles, and even import a different logo specifically for mobile devices.
Another important characteristic that can affect the quality of your website is the typography you use. Most companies have a font associated with their brand that makes them more easily identifiable. These typography adjustments allow you to set specific fonts and colors that will blend in well with your brand identity.
Signing up for a Pro account gives you access to all of the WooCommerce features you need. With full integration, you can redesign your entire shop to make it as effective as possible.
If you were interested in getting started with ecommerce, Astra is the topic you have been looking for. The WooCommerce integration gives you access to some great features with a Pro account.
You can incorporate grid settings to customize the look of your website, as well as infinite scrolling to load continuously searchable products. Quick View is another great thing your customers will love as it allows them to quickly view products without leaving the current page.
Maximizing the quality of your website’s content is a great way to grab the attention of new visitors. There are several features you can work with using the layout changes in this template. You can incorporate a fluid layout to stretch your entire site to the edges of the screen or to maximize its full width.
Plus, you have complete spacing control so you can manage the spacing around each element. There is also the option to add a box layout to distinguish different types of content on the same page.
It can be difficult to find a theme that supports all types of websites, be it ecommerce or blogging. Astra is specially designed for bloggers and has several great layouts and features.
First, you can choose from masonry layouts for a trendy look, or a more common grid style, similar to social media platforms. There is also the option of using a list layout that traditionally shows each post in turn.
One impressive feature that you probably won’t find anywhere else is infinite loading. This is a great way to ensure that your blog posts load lower down while your customers browse your website.
You need to keep your readers and customers informed of any new updates for your company. This is where web stories come into play, which allow you to present web content in an engaging way. The format is very similar to Instagram or Facebook, so the content can be easily browsed.
Access to integrations is essential for any site. With Astra, you have full SEO optimization with free and pro accounts and a schema markup implementation. Pro accounts also have access to the LearnDash and LifterLMS integration.
Advantages:
- Compatible with major page builders
- Incredibly faster
- Modernized functions for scalability
- Customizable advanced options
Disadvantage:
- Requires a Pro account for most features
- A little difficult to use for beginners
How to make the most of it
Astra has a ton of features that you’ll be happy to use to your advantage. Fortunately, getting the most out of your new topic is easy with the help of the company’s website.
You can search over 180 websites ready to import. All you have to do is find the right one. After that, you can make minor adjustments and learn how the topic works itself.
Astra is also known for its impressive support, which enables you to get expert guidance on integrating and customizing features. As with most types of web design, the more you work on it, the easier it gets.
Then you also have the option to search for online tutorials to help you customize your website. Fortunately, most of the functions are relatively simple.
alternative
Astra is a well-rounded product that has useful free features and lots of paid components. One of its top-rated competitors is Adobe Muse, which allows you to create and customize websites even with limited programming skills.
The core premise of Adobe Muse is to enable users to avoid general engineering difficulties associated with construction sites from the ground up. Muse has an impressive number of tools to help you create an interactive and professional website. The main tools you can access include:
- Navigational
- Text design
- Logo creation
- Footers and Headers
- Accordion menus
- Contact forms
- Slide shows
verdict
This review of the Astra WordPress theme shows that it is one of the most popular WordPress themes that you can use to create a unique website. Its extensive number of functions makes it easy for you to adapt your website to your needs. Plus, having a Pro account gives you seamless integration with all of your favorite plugins.
