When WordPress started it was pretty obvious that it needed all the help it could get. Beginnings are usually bumpy.
The moment a community was shaped around WordPress, creating themes and plugins, WordPress took off.
When the WordPress builders showed up, the game changed again. Now, WordPress is used by over 455 million websites in 2020. This means a market share around 35%.
Today, we want to introduce to you an important player in the WordPress ecosystem: the Colibri WordPress theme and the Colibri builder. The theme is listed among the most popular top 20 WordPress themes. Now, we’re going to treat the theme and builder as a whole. Why, so? We’ll explain below.
The moment you install the Colibri theme, it will pre-install the Colibri builder as a plugin. The moment you activate the plugin, you’ll get access to tons of features, that, otherwise you’ll definitely miss. The builder simply upgrades the theme’s functionalities, making it truly powerful. The most powerful of all is the fact that you’ll design your whole WordPress site in a single interface (from header till footer) by DRAG and DROP!
Now, let’s dig more into the Colibri functionalities.
Colibri: the Features
Colibri comes jam-packed with:
- 90+ website templates for a variety of niches
- 150+ ready-made content blocks
- 40+ drag & drop components
This means that there’s a lot of flexibility that you can use to your advantage.
Now, let’s get into some more details.
Colibri: the website templates
If you like to stay in control, and have already figured out exactly what you want, you can always start your website from scratch.
If you’re in a hurry, there are 90+ pre-designed templates at your service. You can choose from various themes: freelance, arts, business, health, and more.
Just head over to the WordPress dashboard and select “Colibri Settings from the “Appearance” submenu. Then pick a template from the “Demo sites” section.
If you go with “Try Online” you’ll be directed to a Colibri cloud account.
This is a temporary account. The moment you log in, you’ll be able to save your themes, redesign them later, or use them on whichever site you like. You can apply your creative design to your website with a few clicks only.
If you go for option2, “Import”, you’ll we promoted with a message such as this one:
The import process is short. In just a few minutes you can head over to Appearance-> Customizer and start designing your site!
Colibri: work within a single interface
You can design your website in a single interface, never having to go back to the WordPress dashboard. With other themes you still have to customize your footer or sidebar in the WordPress dashboard. It can be confusing understanding which goes where.
The builder itself just takes the WordPress customizer to a whole new level. You’ll never want to go back again.
Design a pixel-perfect website with no code
The UI elements are really intuitive. They allow you to customize every detail of every section, block or component until it matches your mision.
Borders, spacings, font-sizes, you are a slider away from customizing everything.
The left-hand side panel is where all the magic happens.
“Content”, “Style” and “Advanced” – these are the panel’s options for every block, component or section you want to customize.
Designer-made blocks & components
These modules are here to get you closer to your dream website. They will always match your global color scheme and typography.
The blocks are more complex than components. There are more block categories that you can choose from: Hero, about, features, team, portfolio, and more.
One of the coolest features of Colibri is the fact that you can create your own sections and reuse them later in another design!
Now, an important thing to know is that, depending on your plan, free or paid, your access to blocks differs. If you’re using the paid plan, you’ll see a “Pro” badge on the blocks that aren’t available to you.
We’ll cover the free and paid plans to the end of this review.
Components can vary from simple modules such as a button, to more complex ones, such as accordions or pricing tables.
Mobile responsiveness
The Colibri theme is mobile-friendly. The sections adjust out of the box to various screen sizes.
You can always preview your site on mobile or tablet, from the left-hand side panel, if you go straight to the bottom.
The moment you select a specific section, if you go to Advanced (on the left), you can decide whether a specific section should appear or not on a certain device. It’s well known that on mobile you don’t need to have the same amount of information like on desktop.
Important: the styling changes you do in one mode (desktop, tablet or mobile) do not affect the other modes. Content changes will affect all modes.
Now, always check how your website looks on tablet and mobile. We know that this can be something that gets easily forgotten.
Other features
- In-line editing – you can edit the text straight in the website preview area (with some tiny exceptions: eg: lists, which are managed in the left-hand side panel).
- Intuitive interface – everything was built having you in mind, so that the whole website design experience is as smooth as it gets.
- Great support team – you can always open a ticket from Appearance -> Colibri Settings, or send them an email at support@colibriwp.com.
- Plugin recommendations – if you head over to Appearance -> Colibri Settings, you’ll see that Colibri recommends installing a few plugins that deal with website optimization and security, email marketing, and more. They are top of the class plugins.
- Short learning curve
Colibri: Free or PRO?
Like I mentioned earlier, Colibri has both free and paid plans. The free plan is a good fit for simple websites or blogs.
Now, let’s see what do the Free and Pro Colibri versions have in common:
- Access to the Colibri Cloud platform
- Live editing inside the Customizer
- Header and navigation menu layouts
- Image and gradient backgrounds
- Mobile responsiveness
- Pre-designed content blocks and website templates
- Graphical section dividers
Like I mentioned earlier, Colibri comes jam-packed with predefined templates and blocks, but not all of them are available in the free plan.
Colibri Free | Colibri Pro | |
Pre-designed website templates | 3 | 60+ |
Pre-designed content blocks | 34 | 170+ |
Front page header designs | 5 | 20+ |
Header layout options | 3 | 17 |
Navigation menu layouts | 2 | 5 |
Pre-designed footer blocks | 1 | 6 |
Colibri Pro spices things even more:
- Full control over typography and colors
- Unlimited video and slideshow backgrounds
- 4 header media types: image, video, lightbox, image collage.
- Advanced styling features
- New blocks: Google maps, counters, photo-gallery
- Priority technical support for a year
- Multi Language support
- Basic Woocommerce functionalities
In terms of pricing, the Colibri WordPress theme is similar to other themes on the market. No holes in your pocket.
If you intend to create more websites, you can go for a business or agency plan. If you’re not convinced that Colibri is the right theme for you, you can go for a yearly plan. Each plan also has a lifetime option.
Important! After the license expiry date, you will still have access to pro features, but you won’t be receiving updates or support.
ColibriWP – Our Conclusions
What we didn’t enjoy
The fact that Colibri is not a good fit for advanced online stores.
What we liked
- Works by DRAG & DROP, folks!
- Has an intuitive interface.
- Needs no code, but if you like to get dirty, you can always add your own CSS or HTML.
- Is responsive.
- There are tons of designs to choose from (templates, blocks, components).
Now, don’t take us for our word, take Colibri for a free spin and decide if you’re a match.
Over and out!
