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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.

1 elegant themes home

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:

2a elegant themes

The themes are categorized to help you narrow your search:

2b elegant themes gallery

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:

3a elegant divi theme

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:

3b elegant extra theme

Learn more in our full review of the Extra Theme

Plugins

There are currently six premium WordPress plugins in the range:

4 elegant plugins

  • The Divi Builder – Create drag-and-drop layouts that work with any WordPress theme with the page builder plugin.

Learn more in our full review of the Divi Builder Plugin

  • Bloom Email Opt-Ins – Add opt-in forms to your website and manage the design and location of each one.

Learn more in our full review of the Bloom Plugin

  • Monarch Social Media Sharing – Get more social shares of your content and add more followers to your chosen social networks.

Learn more in our full review of the Monarch Plugin

  • 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.

5 elegant psd files

[Note: Developer Membership Level only – see Pricing section for details.]

Time to see what’s inside the Members’ Area…

Whats inside the membership area

The first thing you see when you log into the Members’ Area is a welcome splash page:

6 elegant themes members area

  • On the left-hand side are three menu options to navigate the members’ area.
  • In the center, you have a quick reminder of your current account package.
  • On the right-hand side is a ‘special offer’ from a third party.

Let’s take a look at the three menu options.

Themes

The label ‘Themes’ is a little misleading. This should read ‘Products’ as it includes all the themes and plugins that you can access in your account package.

Plugins

The first section (in the Developer Package) is for the plugins. Here are the first four plugins in the list:

7 elegant plugin downloads

For each plugin you have four options:

  • Download – Opens a popup box to download the plugin to your computer:

8 elegant divi builder download

  • Preview – Takes you to the plugin’s preview page:

9 elegant divi builder preview

  • Documentation – Directs you to the plugin’s documentation page:

10 elegant divi builder documentation

  • Changelog – Opens a drop-down panel with the latest changelog information:

11 elegant divi builder changelog

Themes

The next section (in the Developer Package) is for the themes. Here are the first four of the 87 themes in the list:

12 elegant theme downloads

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.

13 elegant tumblr theme downloads

[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.

In this example, you can see that I have purchased the Developers Package:

14 elegant account

You’ll also find your API Key details, which you’ll need to activate and update your products in the WordPress Dashboard.

15 elegant api key

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:

16 elegant plugin support

From there you can open a new support ticket:

17 elegant bloom support

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:

  1. Read The Documentation
  2. Search The Forums

18 elegant bloom open ticket window

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

19 elegant bloom self checks

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 black text denotes unanswered tickets.
  • The green text highlights answered tickets.

20 elegant bloom forum

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:

21 elegant themes 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 three membership levels to choose from:

  • Personal Membership – $69 per year
    • Use all of the themes on unlimited
  • Developer 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.

Sign Up For Elegant Themes Membership

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.

Sign Up For Elegant Themes Membership

Pros

  • 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

Cons

  • The Support Forum software does not force users to categorize requests correctly

Summary: The Elegant Themes Membership scheme offers exceptional value for money. You can save several hundreds of dollars compared to buying the themes and plugins individually. And the option of a one-time payment for Lifetime Access is most attractive. The level of on-going support and the online documentation is top quality.

$69/yr+

RatingRated 4.5 stars

This article was first published here

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