There's multiple "frameworks" available on top of WordPress, which provide additional functionality.
If you're looking for specific functionality, we recommend using plugins rather than new, in-development frameworks that change and break frequently.
Genesis
Genesis is the oldest and most stable of all frameworks, and is our preferred choice as it provides a stable, performant setup.
Pro
- free
- stable
Con
- no new updates, which is what makes it stable (we consider this a pro)
The greatest asset Genesis has is that it just works and can scale a site to any revenue goal.
Kadence
Kadence is popular for its customization abilities and pagebuilder functionality. This is a major double-edge sword because you can create a lot of technical issues when it comes to pagespeed, SEO, accessibility and user experience best practices.
Pro
- free (plus paid upgrades)
- has customization options
Con
- design options OFTEN break pagespeed, accessibility and user experience best practices
- frequent updates, which can break your site
Our prediction is that people will spend a lot of time and money solving issues with Kadence that were previously already fixed in Genesis, basically re-inventing the wheel.
This pulls attention away from the only thing that matters to content sites: the content itself.
Trellis
Trellis is a framework by ad company Mediavine.
Pro
- simplified experience thanks to integrated image optimization and pagespeed
Con
- not compatible with many plugins
- lacks features available through more traditional setups
- is a secondary product to the company's ad business
The yearly fee for Trellis covers an integrated pagespeed and image optimization tool, which costs more or less the same as WP Rocket and Shortpixel (both required for Genesis + Kadence).
Pagespeed and performance
All frameworks listed have the ability to pass Core Web Vitals when properly configured and optimized with a pagespeed plugin.
This means that there's absolutely no tangible advantage for one framework over the other, performance-wise or pagespeed-wise.
SEO
All frameworks integrate well with Yoast and are Search Engine Optimized.
The only difference between the frameworks is the amount of guidance they provide on best practices for your content.
Your content on your homepage, recipe index, categories and posts is what drives 99% of your on-site SEO.
The content on all frameworks can be built roughly the same using the Feast Plugin.
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