The Catalyst theme finally harnesses the power of WordPress as a CMS
You are interested in a premium theme but you don’t want to waste your money on the wrong one. You wonder if Catalyst might be the one for you.
My answer would be, yes it is.
I absolutely love the catalyst theme. I would say that it is one of the best WP themes around.
I would say that, except that I really think it is THE best premium theme around.
Why do I say that?
- Because whatever kind of site you want to build, catalyst can do it.
- It can do it quickly and easily.
- You don’t have to touch any code if you don’t want to.
- But if you like to get under the hood, it makes that easy too.
- If you do get stuck, there is top notch support.
- Build as many sites of your own as you want.
- If building sites for clients is your thing, you can do that too.
- The clean, efficient Catalyst code loads fast which Google loves.
- It will give your site the best chance to look good across all browsers.
Talking of search engines, the built in SEO options mean that you won’t need a plug-in anymore.
I’ve wasted so much time trying out free blog themes and reviewing premium themes. I always struggled to get just the look that I wanted.
I would install one, hack it around and just end up deciding that I needed something different.
Now I am no web developer. Some of these themes might have had the functionality that I needed. I just didn’t know how to get at it.
I have tried out the free versions of Woo themes and found it difficult to customize them. I have also recently looked at Thesis for wordpress. Thesis looks simpler and more flexible.
But I also noticed that it lacked many of the options that Catalyst provides and needed plug-ins to do what Catalyst does natively.
The personal license of the Catalyst theme allows you to install on unlimited sites, your own and others.
Thesis can only be installed on one site unless you buy the developer license. A lot of knowledgeable people swear by it though.
It’s Catalyst all the way for me
Catalyst has an unrivaled set of features and they are nearly all point and click simple to use.
This site was built with it and I now use it for all my sites.
Disclaimer: I don’t really do Adsense anymore but if you do this is the best Adsense theme I have used.
For any other type of site I wouldn’t look beyond Catalyst.
So what is the Catalyst WP Theme?
Catalyst is a framework theme that comes with the Dynamik child theme
Dynamik has over 800 simple design options. It also has 22 skins to give you a head start.
Other child themes are available to buy but to be honest, I can’t see any reason to. Between catalyst and Dynamik you already have total flexibility.
Must See pages on the Catalyst website
Here are some links to pages that you won’t want to miss. There are some that are not well signposted on their site.
The big one is the site duplication video. It’s quite long but it gives the best incite into what Catalyst can do. At least see the short excerpt.
Also, don’t forget to check out the Catalyst blog. A great source of tips and How To’s.
Click on the images.
Dynamik Skins
This demo page lets you see the skins that are included with Catalyst. You can also view some of the different page layouts that are available.
Pick the one that looks most like one you need and then customize it or start from scratch and use your imagination.
For my site I have gone with very much a blog look. If you need something different, check out Catalyst’s range of custom widgets and hook areas.
It is the perfect platform to take advantage of the capabilities of WordPress as a CMS.
Websites built with Catalyst
This page shows a range of very different looking sites that have been built with Catalyst.
You must have noticed that I am a big fan of the Catalyst Theme but I admit that it has its drawbacks.
Some people have said that there is a bit of a learning curve with it and I would have to agree.
Over 800 options is A LOT! But you don’t have to use them all. When it comes to designing websites a good rule to follow is, just because you can do something it doesn’t mean that you should.
You may have noticed on the showcase page, the personal blog of Eric Hamm, the CEO of the company behind Catalyst. If anybody knows how to work Catalyst he does and yet he goes for a very minimalist WP theme.
Admin panel screenshots
I must admit I felt a bit overwhelmed when I first looked at the Admin Panel. I did find myself clicking around a bit randomly trying to find the options I wanted.
I wondered if I would ever get over that and learn to get the result I wanted easily.
What helped me to do that was this video on the Catalyst website.
Duplicating A Site with Catalyst
Eric Hamm responded to a pre-purchase question about whether the Catalyst theme was capable of duplicating the look of a particular website. He made this over the shoulder video of doing just that.
The video is about 40 minutes but that is about twice as long as it took to do the job.
There is also a quick highlights video on the same page.
When I saw this I realized how simple it is to use the options and got really excited about the possibilities. If there is a website you really like the look of, use it to kickstart your own design.
In fact, in deciding on the look of this site, I took inspiration from, (totally ripped off), the Noble Samurai blog.
Catalyst Forum
There are some cool features on there that I didn’t try to duplicate but if I had wanted to, I am sure I could have found out how in the Catalyst forum.
What I would say is document what you do. If you end up with a cool look, you’ll want to remember how you did it.
Having said that, You can duplicate your cool looking website without having to remember what you did.
One feature of Catalyst is the ability to create your own child themes. This is a great time saver if you build a lot of sites.
You can set up all your options and get the basic look that you want. Then complete a couple of fields and click and you have a template you can use wherever you like.
I could write all day about the Catalyst WP Theme but I couldn’t do a better job of explaining it than they do on their own website. The images above are links to some of the important pages.
If you are looking for one theme that can take care of all of your needs you should definitely give this one serious consideration.
The Catalyst WP Theme is something that I use every day, am absolutely delighted with and I have no problem giving it my highest recommendation.
