Have you ever thought about having one theme that you can customise as you wish, and create any site imaginable for any purpose whatsoever? I introduce you to the X Theme, from ThemeCo – truly the ultimate WordPress theme out there.

With continuous developments and new features and layouts being added, this theme’s potential seems to be never ending. With tens of thousands of customers in the first few months since it was launched, X has proven to be ThemeForest’s fastest selling product of all time!

XIP – VIP, done the X way

To make sure this wasn’t just some other theme, the developers took their efforts that step further, calling on some of the world’s leading internet marketing experts to give their inputs. They took their advice to heart, incorporating their ideas and industry secrets, from email marketing to SEO, directly into X, and sharing other material such as articles, resources and videos that these experts shared with them, with their customers. An awesome initiative from ThemeCo that proves to their customers that they are thinking of them every step of the way.

Stacks

The first thing you need to understand before you get started with the X Theme is Stacks. Stacks are basically different layout options for the X Theme; you can basically call them ‘themes within a theme’. Each stack has its own unique style and features, and can be used for different purposes. There are currently four stacks to choose from, with even more on the way.

Integrity

The first stack available is called Integrity. This is a professional looking design that can be used for any purpose whatsoever. It offers a variety of features, the first of which is the option to choose between a dark or light colour scheme with just the click of a button. You can make it look bright and open, or keep it dark and sleek. It’s also got an all-purpose blog design.

Now, although it doesn’t seem to have a traditional blogging format, it does offer various unique blog styles, each with different layouts, for whatever look your heart desires. The portfolio section is another clean looking part of Intergrity’s overall design. It’s very well organised, giving all the attention to your work, and providing the user with social sharing capabilities right from the index.

If you’re searching for a theme to run your eCommerce site from, X has you covered too. Each stack also has its own unique shop design, and with the use of WooCommerce, your e-shop can be up and running in no time with a design that will instantly attract your customers. Some of the other features Integrity offers are transparency options for the header, and custom welcome messages. The header transparency can be activated easily, and the background image of your site will show through, giving it a custom, high-end look.

 Renew

If you’re looking to keep up with the latest modern design trends, then a flat design is the way to go, and X provides this with its Renew stack. Starting with the blog section, Renew provides a custom blog design that can be manipulated in various ways, and even includes some cool, creative design accents that can enhance your blog even further.

This stack’s simplicity is evident throughout, and the portfolio and shop options are no exception. The portfolio has a visually elegant flat design and neat index hover element, and the WooCommerce-powered store implements a simple, effective design. Renew even lets you play around with its menu background colour combinations.

Icon

Purely a minimalist design, Icon was inspired by modern blogging networks. This is evident in that it keeps its focus on the written word, and together with X’s features, it can be transformed into the perfect website to fit your personality and style. Its blog and portfolio are both sleek and minimal, blending in seamlessly with the rest of Icon’s design. The WooCommerce store option creates the ideal shop window for your goods, mainly doe to the lack of flashiness that puts the focus right onto the items.

One of the cool features Icon offers is the ability to change the background colour of each post format in WordPress. Whether you want to assign a particular colour to a particular type of post, or whether you want to remove the colours completely, the choice is all yours. Another feature is the independent scrolling bar that creates an “app-like” feel, scrolling independently from the rest of the main site.

Ethos

Ethos is theme co’s most recent stack, made to cater for magazine and newspaper websites. It has been especially designed and configured to include unique features just for this purpose, and to “engage your audience and promote clickthroughs”. The first feature that stands out as soon as you open Ethos is the Post Carousel. It’s the prefect way to keep your most important, most recent, or most popular posts up top, in front of everything else.

Once again the classic blog style is not available, but its stunning design more than makes up for it, focusing all the user’s attention onto your content. Should you require a certain post to be given even more attention, Ethos provides you with two additional feature post layouts that make it stand out that little bit more.

The portfolio section is once again simple and sleek, with the content being the centre of attention, and no need for any extra flare. The same can be said for the shop section, still integrated with WooCommerce, and providing the user with a clean looking store that encourages browsing. The users also have the option of real time blog index filtering, which allows them to sort your content easily depending on what they’re looking for. On the blog index and archive pages you find a similar approach to the post carousel with the implementation of Post Sliders that can show recent, popular, or featured posts.

Common Features

We’ve heard the phrase “endlessly customisable” countless times, but in reality, there have always been some limitations. With X however, I can’t say there are any. With the amount of options available, the limit to your customisation is nowhere in sight, and the cross-browser compatibility means no hassles with any of your site’s visitors.

One of the main issues with customising previous themes was the extra time and effort in customising a section, publishing it, then realising you have some sort of mistake, and going back to customise it again. Those days are now over.

X provides you with a Live Previewer that lets you see exactly what you are modifying right there and then. Be it a logo, a font, or even a layout, you can view the changes you make before you publish them. All this is down to the use of the core WordPress functionality and, as the developers at ThemeCo put it, “a little development magic”.

Shortcodes are another important part of any premium WordPress theme, and with X you not only get the standard shortcodes you’re all used to, but ThemeCo have gone and developed more new shortcodes that can do just about anything. Available at no additional cost, the plugin for these shortcodes includes such things as Responsive Visibility – the ability to show only certain things on certain devices; and Table of Contents – which is a great way to increase pageviews, making Google that little bit more happy with you.

X’s layout and navigation options have also been made easy to customise. In fact, not only can you choose between the options shown below, but you can change between them at the click of a button. Besides that, the navigation options even offer you the chance to re-size each element and place it exactly where you want it, be it a small or big menu, at the top or on the right.

Should you require certain particular pages, such as an About page, or a Pricing page, ThemeCo have created a few custom pages to serve your needs. This function has limitless potential, and they’re still creating new custom pages till today, ever expanding to the needs and requirements of their customers.

As I mentioned in the Stacks above, the X theme has full WooCommerce integration. Each stack has a unique shop design and style, giving you a range of options to choose from in order to create your ideal online store.

This certainly is the most feature rich WordPress theme out there. It’s not only a fully responsive theme on all devices, but is also retina ready for those high resolution displays, and 100% fluid, making sure your site looks great no matter the device. Its site layout allows you to change from boxed to wide with the click of a button using the Live Customiser, or even using pixel and percentage widths.

All these options could not be possible without the use of WordPress’ latest features and nothing but clean code. Should you find it hard to start using all of X’s features at once, ThemeCo have made all demo content from their showcase available to their users, helping you get started in the easiest way possible. Some of the other features can be seen below.

Another feature that was not immediately available on X, but has now been fully integrated into the theme, is BuddyPress. X now features fully integrated styling and functionality for all those who want it. A welcome addition for the many users that were asking for it. In addition, X also provides all available PSD files that you can simply open using Photoshop, and modify the design as you wish. Should you need to change the language too, besides the design, X uses WPML compatibility, that makes translating your site into different languages very easy.

Demo Sites

As I mentioned in the features section, ThemeCo provides demo sites that you can use for your own site. In fact, they’ve created dozens of these demos which are all available for viewing on their website. Each Stack has a main demo, showcasing its main features, but each one then also has up to ten other demo websites. Each of these provides further insight into the features each stack offers. This long list (which barely touches the surface of what you can create with the X Theme) is testament to the flexibility and versatility of this theme.

Installation

The installation of the X theme is as simple as can be. You’ve got 2 options; one for the beginner or those who want a quick install, the other is for those who want to work a little harder for it. Considering there’s no difference between the final result of both, number 1 is more than enough in my opinion.

Support & Documentation

ThemeCo offer both pre-sales and post-sales support, as well as a contact us section where you can ask them any other questions you might have. All customer support for the users of the X Theme is handled through the ThemeCo Forum (login seen below).

Once you purchase the theme, you will have access to this forum, and from the comments I have read, it seems like the people at ThemeCo certainly take customer satisfaction seriously. Having found no complaints regarding customer support, but rather raving reviews, it is evident that any problems or issues you might have will easily and quickly be dealt with by ThemeCo’s capable support team.

While you usually purchase a theme, then end up figuring it all out for yourself, or having to wait ages to get some proper help from the developer, ThemeCo provides training on how to use the theme itself with a large amount of HD videos and documentation on how to work with X. Their support and documentation are certainly a treat.

Visiting X’s changelog is another absolute pleasure. Seeing the amount of updates and bug fixes that occur constantly, from its inception, up to last week, is a rarity.

Pricing

When you think of the extent that this theme goes to to provide absolutely everything you will need to create your ideal website, you wouldn’t imagine it being cheap. On the contrary, however, X is priced very fairly. With a Regular License costing of $63, you can create a stunning website for yourself or one of your clients, without having to look any further for any third party plugins or other material.

Conclusion & Recommendations

X is an absolute gem to work with. You don’t only seem to be getting multiple themes in one, but you’re getting every feature imaginable. Whether you want to build your own personal website, a website for your business or for your clients’ business, or whatever else you might dream up, X has the solution for you. The constant updates and add-ons can only keep cementing this theme as one of the very best around. Being the first of its kind has certainly helped its growth, and who can blame you for wanting it?

Whether you’re a beginner to WordPress, or a seasoned developer looking for the new best thing, X has you sorted. An extensive theme that let’s you be as creative as you’d like, without getting into the nitty gritty of learning all the code. Whatever style of website you’re looking for, X marks the spot.

Get The X Theme

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