Soledad Theme Review: This Popular WordPress Theme Just Got Better
In this Soledad theme review, we will examine one of the best-selling blog and magazine style WordPress themes at the popular ThemeForest marketplace.
Thanks to a recent update that saw many new features and extra functionality added to the theme, Soledad can now be considered a true multi-purpose WordPress theme that can be used to create almost any type of website.
Therefore, if you’re looking for a powerful theme that will present you with impressive options and choices, be sure to read this Soledad theme review in full to find out if this is the right choice for your project.
Who Should Choose the Soledad WordPress Theme?
As mentioned, Soledad originated as a blogging and news WordPress theme. Therefore, if you’re in the process of creating a busy blog or content rich website, Soledad is worth a closer look.
However, since version 3 of Soledad was released, this is now a much more well-rounded and fully featured theme. Thanks to many demos, page templates, and layout options that have been added, Soledad should be considered by anyone building any type of website with WordPress – including ecommerce stores.
You can build any sort of website either using drag and drop page builder called WPBakery Page Builder or WordPress Customizer or combine together both of them. WPBakery Page Builder which is a premium plugin is included for free with your purhcase which means you get a great deal with Soledad theme.
Real World Soledad WordPress Theme Examples
Buying a theme with an amazing set of features and a stylish design is all well and good. However, you will be disappointed if you can’t create a unique and individual WordPress website with your chosen theme.
As we’ll soon cover in this Soledad theme review, this theme has plenty of features to help you create a custom website that’s right for your project. However, to prove that Soledad can be used for various purposes, here are some examples of this theme in use out in the wild.
Origami Culinaire
The French www.origamiculinaire.fr website does a good job of using Soledad to create a stylish and interactive food blog. The blog post carousel feature is used to great effect, making it easy for new visitors to see some of the best content on the blog, right from the homepage.
The wide and spacious blog post layouts of Soledad give the content on this site plenty of room to breathe and stand out on the page. The social media features of the theme make it easy for visitors to see content from Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.
My Next Gizmo
My Next Gizmo is a powerful example of the type of news or magazine style website you can create with Soledad. Again, the homepage post slider makes it easy for visitors to find the best content. However, thanks to the customization options, the slider has a completely different style and appearance to other websites powered by Soledad.
Juweeltjes
The Juweeltjes online magazine takes the traditional blog style layout, giving it a unique look and feel. The mega menu feature works really well on this theme, upgrading the standard WordPress navigation bar into something much more useful. The inner posts of this busy blog make good use of the image gallery layout, giving the photos on the page a more interesting appearance.
Universe 326
The Universe 326 entertainment and news website is packed with content. However, thanks to Soledad’s layout and navigation features, finding your way around this website is very easy.
No matter where you are on the page, there’s almost always a link to click on that will take you to another article. If you want to create a website that keeps your visitors engaged and entertained for as long as possible, this Soledad-powered site is a good example.
Hopefully, these real world examples of websites powered by Soledad have given you a better idea of what’s possible with this theme, as well as some inspiration for your own projects.
Soledad WordPress Theme Features
As we’ve just seen in this Soledad theme review, this template can be used for a wide range of purposes. Now, let’s explore some of the features that make that versatility possible.
Library of Homepage Demos
The Soledad marketing materials claim you can create over 900 homepages with this theme. To help you achieve this, there’s 20 demo content files included in the theme package that can be imported into your WordPress website.
20 demos is a good amount and with options covering gaming, travel, music, fashion, cars, food, fitness, and a few other options, you should be able to find something that matches up with the focus of your site.
As we’ll see next in this Soledad theme review, if you mix and match aspects of the different layouts and options, it could well be possible to create 900 unique homepage combinations for your website.
Over 300 Layouts and Slider Combinations
When it comes to setting up your WordPress website with the Soledad theme, there are many possible layout combinations. It’s impossible to verify that there are in fact 300 layout and slider combinations as the marketing materials claim. However, thanks to the range of options on offer, the level of flexibility from Soledad is high.
Depending on which of the pre-defined content and slider configuration you choose – or create yourself – your content should be presented in a way that your readers will find easy to engage with.
Of course, with Soledad, using sliders is entirely optional. However, if you wish to add this popular feature to your WordPress website, you’ll have plenty of layout and configuration options.
Multiple Portfolio Layouts
As Soledad has become a true multi-purpose WordPress theme, it’s no surprise to see that it now has a good selection of portfolio options. No matter which of the 20 Soledad website demos you choose to install on your site, you can easily add a stylish and creative portfolio section.
When setting up your online portfolio, Soledad gives you many options to choose from. Among the portfolio settings, you’ll find different layouts, a range of styles, and the ability to publish a wide range of content in your WordPress-powered portfolio.
WordPress Customizer Options
If you’re looking for a highly customizable WordPress theme, then Soledad could be just what you seek. As this is a fully modern theme, all of the customization and personalization work takes place through the impressive WordPress Customizer interface.
The use of the WordPress Customizer means you can make changes to the appearance of your website, with the ability to see the results of your choices in real time. There’s no need to switch tabs or refresh browser windows when personalizing your website with Soledad and the WordPress Customizer.
The Soledad marketing materials claim over 250 Customizer options and settings and while this isn’t easy to verify, almost every aspect of your website can be modified. Some examples of the Customizer settings and controls include:
- Homepage and inner content layouts
- Navigation content and settings
- Logo and header options
- Featured slider settings
- Video and image background controls
- Color settings for multiple site areas
- Custom CSS modifications
- Widget controls
- Plus much more
The WordPress Customizer makes personalizing your website so much easier. Therefore, it’s great to see it being taken advantage of to this extent by Soledad.
Slider Revolution Slideshow Tool
The Soledad theme includes the powerful Slider Revolution plugin. This popular premium plugin gives you the tools to create advanced animated slideshows for your WordPress website. These slideshows can be seen action on some of the Soledad website demos.
As Slider Revolution is one of the most feature-rich slideshow builders available for WordPress, you can add any type of content to your sliders, including videos, images, post content, ecommerce store products, and a whole lot more.
Depending on how much time you wish to invest in creating your sliders, it’s possible to build advanced slideshows that use attention grabbing animation effects and then publish them throughout your website.
The Soledad development team has also included their own custom-built slideshow tool plugin, Penci Slider, with the theme. This is a more simplified slideshow creation tool, making creating basic sliders for WordPress easier.
Social Media Integration
Soledad makes displaying content from your social media profiles on your WordPress website very easy. Thanks to support for the leading social networks, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and more, you’ll have no trouble sharing your Tweets, Pins, and other social media content on your WordPress website.
Ecommerce Ready
To demonstrate further the multi-purpose abilities of Soledad, this theme is fully compatible with the leading WooCommerce plugin. By installing and activating the free WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress website, you’ll instantly have the ability to start selling products and services online, and do a whole lot more.
Although WooCommerce should work with any good theme, choosing a theme that’s been built with WooCommerce in mind has many benefits. For starters, all your products and store pages will have a look consistent with the rest of your website.
Additionally, with the best WooCommerce WordPress themes, you should also find a good selection of ecommerce templates to help give your online shop the right look and feel.
Soledad is no exception and if you want to create an ecommerce store with WordPress, this theme is more than up to the task.
Other Soledad Theme Features
The Soledad feature list is long. However, while it would be difficult to cover them all, some more interesting highlights from this multi-purpose WordPress include:
- 2 mega menu styles
- 3 sidebar content layouts
- 5 article layout styles
- Recipe publishing tools
- Review publisher
- Image gallery layouts
- 700+ Google Fonts to choose from
- Google AdSense ready
- 100% mobile responsive and retina ready
- Support for video backgrounds
About the Soledad Theme Author
Soledad has been created by Penci Design, a ThemeForest Elite Author with two WordPress themes in their portfolio. Both of their products have received very positive feedback from customers, giving a good indication that Penci Design is an author you can trust.
Soledad WordPress Theme Pricing Options
The Soledad WordPress theme can be purchased from the Envato ThemeForest marketplace for $59. This price includes access to all future theme updates – of which there has already been a few – and six months of support from the developer.
By paying an extra $17.70, you can extend the six-month support period by an additional six months, increasing the period where you will be able to contact the developer for help with the Soledad WordPress theme to 12 months.
It is possible to extend the support period after it’s expired. However, by purchasing the extra six months of support in advance, you can save yourself $23.
I recommend paying the extra $17.70 for 12 months of support as you never know when you might need it – especially if your website is vital to your business or serves some other important purpose.
Soledad Theme Review Final Thoughts
Soledad is a competitive option in the multi-purpose WordPress theme category. The big update from version 2 to 3 saw many new features added, helping to position Soledad as a genuine multi-purpose theme instead of focusing solely on bloggers and news and magazine websites.
When comparing the best multi-purpose WordPress themes, Soledad has many of the features you’ll find in the best themes of this type. This includes multiple website demos, slider tools, a library of layouts and configuration options, ecommerce support, and a wealth of customization settings and controls.
Choosing a WordPress theme largely comes down to whether its appearance and design catches your eye. So, if the look and feel of Soledad appeals, you’ll be happy to know that this is a great value theme with impressive features, from a reputable development team.
For what is worth, we have nominated it among the best WordPress themes for blogs.
Find out more about Soledad today
What do you think of Soledad? Did this Soledad theme review answer all of your questions? If not, please use the comments area below.
Item no longer available, as a website who is using and loving Soledad, I hope they make a return soon!
Olivia,
I really hope it will be back soon. Have already contacted theme developer for more information.
Thank you for notifying about this problem!
I purchased this theme the other day because I thought it was gorgeous. I am completely new to blogging so am just getting setup. I am with WordPress.com and this theme apparently is only compatible with WordPress.org blogs. This is only stated in fine print that I didn’t see unfortunately. Once purchased, they tell you to download the theme immediately because it might get removed from their site. I did so and now I have been refused a refund because of it. How convenient. It is unusable because WordPress.com doesn’t allow outside themes. I didn’t even know that there were two WordPress sites! The theme stated it was a WordPress theme, why on earth would all people know that there were two different kinds of WordPress accounts? I would not recommend this company because that seems pretty shady to me. There will always be new bloggers that are learning how to navigate the blogging world. Their marketing materials should be clearer to ensure that people don’t lose their money for downloading something that they’ve paid for but then can’t work for them due to the kind of account they have. I’m not happy.
Tina,
If you’re on the Business plan at WordPress.com, you can upload custom themes. It’s just not possible to do this with a FREE WordPress.com blog. It’s not the fault of any theme developer, it’s up to the customer to do their research more thoroughly before buying.