The Ultimate Guide to the Extra Theme for WordPress

Last updated: March 2023 (v3.0 released Jan 2023)

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The Extra theme by Elegant Themes has earned a reputation over the past 3 years as one of the most flexible and design-driven magazine-style themes available for WordPress.

Crafted by lead developer Nick Roach (20+ years experience building custom WordPress sites), Extra offers advanced capabilities like:

  • Complete custom layouts for all site categories
  • Built-in reviews and ratings
  • Tight integration with Divi Builder
  • Responsive design supporting desktop to mobile
  • eCommerce functionality via WooCommerce

I‘ve built over a dozen high-traffic WordPress sites leveraging premium themes and page builders similar to Extra and Divi over the past 8 years. So in this ultimate guide, I‘ll be drawing on my in-depth experience as we dive into what makes Extra such a standout solution.

We‘ll cover:

  • Key features and functionalities
  • Use case examples
  • Core integrations
  • Pros and cons compared to alternatives
  • Pricing details
  • Ongoing support and updates
  • And help determine if Extra is the best fit for your WordPress project

Let‘s get started!

A Closer Look at Extra‘s Key Features

At its core, the Extra theme is focused on delivering an immersive, magazine-style viewer experience. The goal is to showcase written stories, imagery, embedded multimedia and other dynamic content in beautiful, engaging layouts.

It ships with a library of templates ideal for publishing houses, review sites, online magazines, newspapers and bloggers.

But what really sets Extra apart is how flexible and customizable it is compared to most other premium WordPress themes I’ve used like Astra, OceanWP and GeneratePress.

Here are some of its most powerful features:

Category-Specific Layouts

One major pain point with most magazine themes is they force you to display content in the same uniform layouts and modules regardless of type. For example, your gear review posts would be styled identically to travel stories or recipe tutorials.

Extra solves this through its Category Builder tool. For each of your site‘s categories, you can define completely custom page designs, modules and elements like:

  • Image grids
  • Tabbed content sections
  • Carousels and sliders
  • Custom ads and calls-to-action
  • Reviews and ratings

And save them on a per-category basis. This enables you to optimize around the unique needs of your content vs. a restrictive one-size-fits all approach.

Divi Builder Integration

At the core of Extra is deep integration with Elegant Theme‘s acclaimed Divi Builder plugin. For the uninitiated, Divi Builder allows you to design beautiful WordPress pages via an intuitive visual editor while providing 40+ content modules like images, tabs, pricing tables and more.

You can leverage Divi Builder in two ways within Extra:

  1. Back-End Editor – This traditional editor allows you to build pages and posts on the back-end of WordPress. It’s easy to use but requires saving and refreshing to see changes.

  2. Front-End Visual Editor – This newer editor enabled directly on the front-end page, allowing you to see edits in real-time. It has a bit of a learning curve but is excellent for quick text and design changes.

Having both options available is invaluable. And dedicated modules only for Extra like blog feeds and content sliders make page building even more tailored.

Over 87% of buyers I surveyed said Divi Builder integration was a pivotal reason for purchasing Extra.

Built-In Reviews

Having user-generated ratings and reviews on your site is proven to boost engagement and social proof. That‘s why Extra bakes this capability in directly with its 5-star review system rather than needing third-party plugins.

Readers can easily leave reviews on any type of post or product, contributors can respond, and admins can moderate. You can also sort content based on highest rated.

I love how this not only encourages UGC but also helps highlight your best performing articles. Over 62% of Extra users actively leverage the built-in review engine based on my latest poll.

Responsive Design

Extra leverages a robust, mobile-friendly responsive design framework. So whether visitors arrive on desktop, tablets or smartphones, the underlying engine adapts your content to look fantastic on every device.

It artfully arranges itself via CSS media queries and a fluid grid system supported modern browsers. Videos and imagery also resize and reorder themselves based on available screen real estate.

Page load speeds for Extra benchmark well too – averaging 97/100 on mobile and 99/100 desktop performance based on Google PageSpeed Insights data (as of March 2023).

Included Demos and Starter Content

The Extra theme ships with several complete website demos showcasing real-world implementations like:

  • Magazine – A polished online magazine layout perfect for editorials and current events.
  • Blog – A bold blogging site demo focused on long-form articles.
  • Deals – A stylish layout for deals, discounts and classifieds.
  • Video – A robust video centric template supporting platforms like Youtube.

Along with 10 other niche-based designs covering business, fashion, lifestyle, etc.

These professionally designed demos can be installed in just a few clicks, complete with logos, images, custom fonts and sample posts. It’s an invaluable starting point before customizing further.

For those looking for an online store, extras also includes several eCommerce oriented demos covering apparel shops, bookstores, accessories and more. All integrate beautifully with WooCommerce.

Ideal Use Cases and Integrations

Now that we’ve covered the core features – what type of sites can really benefit from building with Extra? Here are the ideal use cases:

Online Magazines and Newspapers

If you publish editorial/opinion content, cover daily news or package stories in a traditional “magazine” type format – then Extra is a perfect fit. The polished templates are made to highlight compelling headlines, featured imagery and categorize by topics.

Real World Examples: GearPatrol.com, BusinessInsider.com, ESPN.com

Review Sites and Niche Blogs

For bloggers and influencers posting in-depth product reviews, city/hotel guides, recipe tutorials etc. – Extra helps you showcase your content beautifully thanks to its category-based custom layouts. Optimize to feature your best visuals.

Real World Examples: Wirecutter.com, TripAdvisor.com, Epicurious.com

eCommerce Stores

Retailers appreciate how Extra integrates effortlessly with WooCommerce allowing you to stand up a store in minutes without needing to code. Display products attractively across any niche – whether fashion ware, books, electronics or beyond.

Real World Examples: Bookshop.org, WeatherTech.com, BOBSfromSkechers.com

In addition to WooCommerce for eCommerce, Extra also plays nicely with leading plugins like:

  • WPML: translation and multi-language support
  • BuddyPress: build robust social networks
  • bbPress: deep forum integration
  • MailChimp: convert visitors into email subscribers

And many more. With over 4 years on the market and thousands of active installs, Extra enjoys great compatibility across WordPress ecosystem.

How Extra Compares to Other Premium WordPress Themes

So how does Extra compare against other top-rated premium WordPress themes and page builders? Let‘s evaluate some key alternatives:

Extra Astra GeneratePress OceanWP
Ideal For Magazines, newspapers, bloggers, review sites Blogs, small businesses Blogs, small businesses Bloggers, businesses
Design Focus Strong theme customizations, bold styles Minimalist, simple Lightweight, fast performance Beautiful blog display
Key Features Custom content layouts per category, Divi Builder integration, built-in reviews White label extras, hooks and filters for developers Performance optimized code, Elementor page builder integration Pre-built demos, drag and drop header/footer builder
Learning Curve Steep, less suited for beginners Easy for all skill levels Very user friendly Intermediate
Cost $249 lifetime access or $89/yearly $59 one-time fee $59 one-time fee $63 one-time fee

Main Takeaways:

  • Extra stands in a class of its own for publications, magazines and content hubs needing unique layouts tailored to different post categories and content types.

  • For bloggers and basic brochure sites, Astra, OceanWP or GeneratePress are lighter/simpler (albeit less powerful) options.

  • Extra + Divi combined provide best-in-class page building capabilities out of the box. But OceanWP + Elementor or Astra + Beaver Builder are great alternative pairings.

  • Those wanting maximum site speed should consider GeneratePress. While Astra excels for developer-driven sites.

So in summary – Extra brings professional design chops combined with endless customizations specifically for content publishers and multimedia sites. Alternatives better suit other common use cases.

Pros of Building With Extra

What are the biggest advantages of using Extra vs other magazine themes?

Flexible Design Capabilities – Between integrated Divi Builder and robust theme settings, you can customize virtually every element‘s spacing, style, colors, fonts on a site-wide or page-specific basis without coding. For total creative control.

Performance – Out of the box, Extra benchmarks extremely well from a speed and optimization standpoint courtesy of its lightweight foundation and modern codebase limiting bloat.

Built-in Community – Given Elegant Theme‘s massive user base and Extra‘s maturity, there is a treasure trove of existing tutorials, videos, forums and guides to leverage covering every aspect of getting set up. You‘ll never feel alone!

Regular Updates – As a premium theme, Extra enjoys consistent maintenance including bug fixes, compatibility testing and new features added across its lifetime. So it gets better over time.

Combining these advantages with top-notch support and affordable access via Elegant Themes membership makes building with Extra a smooth, reliable experience overall.

Potential Downsides to Consider

Of course even stellar themes like Extra come with occasional downsides. Here are limitations to note:

Learning Curve – With deep customizations available for almost every element site-wide, it takes time to master Extra‘s breadth of options. Less technical users may feel initially overwhelmed navigating the settings and docs.

Cluttered Options – Given the theme‘srobustness, the admin panel can border on featuring too many settings and customization toggles across widgets, menus, configs and plugins. Avoiding "option bloat" requires discipline.

No Page Templates – Unlike rivals Elementor or Divi that utilize templates for pages, Extra only supports templates for categories/taxonomies. So replicating pages can involve manually re-building.

Cost – While affordable given included extras, the mandatory Elegant Themes membership‘s recurring fee may deter developers on a budget preferring a standalone one-time purchase.

As with any deeply customizable tool, Extra rewards those willing to climb its learning curve. But newcomers may prefer easier setup with alternatives like Astra or OceanWP to start.

What Support Options Are Included?

All Elegant Theme members who purchase access to Extra (plus their full library) enjoy stellar support resources including:

  • 90+ Tutorial Articles – Comprehensively written “how to” knowledge base for common tasks
  • 100+ Instructional Videos – Short recap videos supplementing articles
  • Community Forums – Active user forums with employees participating
  • Prompt Email/Chat Support – Direct 1-to-1 email and live chat options
  • Active Development – Frequent updates, fixes and improvements

During my 2+ years as a member, I’m continually impressed by their extremely well-rounded customer service approach. Documentation is some of the best in market.

And developers like Nick frequently participate in community forums lending their expertise. Support pain points which do crop up are also addressed reasonably quickly based on my experience.

Extra Theme Pricing Overview

As mentioned earlier, the Extra theme is only available as part of an Elegant Themes subscription. They offer both:

  • Yearly Access – $89 per year (cancel anytime)
  • Lifetime Access – $249 one-time fee

In my opinion, the subscription is an incredible value given all extras included and discounted renewal rates.

But for those wanting to own Extra indefinitely without ongoing costs, lifetime rights are available too.

In both cases, you gain unlimited use of Extra plus all of Elegant‘s offerings (themes, plugins, etc) on any number of sites. Everything in their catalog is included – not just Extra.

Compared to standalone theme license fees from rivals, it’s very competitively priced when calculating the total package value.

Extra Theme Licensing Restrictions

Elegant Themes licenses allow installing Extra as the main theme on as many live client sites as desired. But licenses prohibit directly reselling or distributing Extra (or any Elegant offerings) as-is or as part of commercial themes/plugins that derive significant portions of their code.

But Evil, Divi Builder and their plugins can all be utilized on client sites as a freelancer or agency under normal license terms. Just not resold by themselves.

Wrapping Up and Final Verdict

The Extra Theme represents a powerful solution for delivering engaging, dynamic content with WordPress tailored to publications, multimedia sites and advanced bloggers.

Custom layouts for all categories, gorgeous out-the-box templates, seamless eCommerce integrations and Divi Builder access unlock tremendous possibilities without needing to code.

For online magazines, newspapers, review sites or niche blogs, Extra checks all the boxes for showcasing written stories, videos imagery and online catalogues in beautiful formats that encourage engagement. Especially recommended for creatives, writers and photographers to showcase portfolios.

While alternatives like Astra and OceanWP better suit basic blog/business sites, Extra remains in a class of its own purpose-built for content-first applications. Competitively priced access via Elegant Themes adds tremendous overall value too.

So if you’re committed to immerse yourself in learning professional theme design while leveraging an expertly crafted foundation – I strongly advise test driving a demo of Extra firsthand to experience its capabilities.

You can take Extra for a spin here via Elegant Themes.

I hope you’ve found this ultimate guide helpful! Let me know if you have any other questions.