Review: Candidate - Political/Nonprofit WordPress Theme

Franklin Non Profit Jul 17, 2020

In the middle of a political campaign, visibility is one of the essential elements for the success of elections; whether physically or on the web. Here is "Candidate", a WordPress Premium theme created in 2015, which can highlight any electoral campaign through a successful website. The first thing that struck us was the attractive design of some of the demos available. However, we will be able to study all that this theme has to offer us. So let's go!

Feature List

  • 3 variants of Homepage
  • Responsive and retina-ready layout
  • WooCommerce supported
  • WPML Supported
  • SEO Optimized
  • 3-level drop-down menu
  • Unlimited sidebars
  • Facebook and Twitter widgets
  • Iconic and Google fonts
  • 36 PSD files included

Mobile Compatibility

Can the Candidate theme work without problems on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets)? The answer is YES if we first refer to the test carried out on the Mobile-Friendly Test site. According to him, Candidate is a fully responsive WordPress theme and Retina ready.

In addition, we took the trouble to use it on different mobile devices to appreciate the rendering. It is not bad at all! The layout adapts well to the size of the screen, whether it is a smartphone or a tablet. Grid columns go from 4 to 2 columns, or only 1 if the screen is really small.

You have a drop-down menu which, of course, is not fixed, but looks good. And thanks to the "Back to top" button, you can easily access this menu. In short, the Candidate's mobile compatibility is correct.

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Design Review

The Candidate theme offers a multitude of designs using available demos covering non-profit areas such as politics, charity, church, etc.

We were interested in the demo of politics. We notice very quickly that it puts forward the flag of the country (the United States in this case) to establish a patriotic side. The page has a very nice general look and perfectly fulfills the codes of the genre, whether in terms of colors or layout. In this case, the colors of the page blend with the colors of the flag of the United States.

You can customize the theme as you wish thanks to the Visual Composer plugin which is integrated into it. The theme offers several variations of homepages, 13 Gallery types, and many other options that you can add to your site. You even have a geolocation system that allows you to add a map for organized events and campaigns.

Speed Test Review

The design of a site, as beautiful as it is, cannot be enough to maintain and retain users. Another factor is the speed with which pages load. The faster the site, the more comfortable users feel when visiting it. This means that the bounce rate will be significantly reduced.

Our test allowed us to get a general idea of this theme in terms of speed. We can see that the GTmetrix site gave it a grade of "D" with an average load time of 5.8 seconds.

What you should know is that 3 seconds is more than enough for a web page to load without negatively affecting users. So, 5.8 seconds, we understand that it is far too much. The main cause of this problem is the images integrated into the demo which are not optimized. Because of their weight, the images will slow down the pages. Here is a guide that will help you to optimize your images without a problem.

SEO Review

At this level, we must take into account the fact that the test performed on one of the available demos. However, despite being a demo, the SEO test reveals a fairly interesting score (72/100). Thanks to this score, you can be sure that this theme has parameters that will be taken care of to determine the positioning of your site on search engines.

This test still revealed a number of errors that negatively affect the SEO of your website. You will have to pay particular attention to the lack of Sitemap files, keywords, etc. We recommend using SEO plugins to get a better appreciation and make corrections.

What about Rich Results?

Candidate supports rich results. This is what emerges from the test carried out on the Rich Results Test. We were able to confirm that various elements of the theme are compatible, such as the products or Breadcrumbs that you can offer on the site. What really put them forward…

Customer Support Review

The Candidate theme is 5 years old and therefore already has a qualified and experienced team to assist users. We have seen for ourselves that they are quick to take care of concerns (usually within 24 hours).

In addition, they also know how to be courteous and patient to ensure customer satisfaction. One of the team members, named SERGII, has received many praises from several satisfied users.

As for updates, they are produced on a regular basis. The release date of the last shows that the author keeps a permanent eye on his product.

Supported Plugins

Among the plugins supported by the WordPress Candidate theme, there are some very famous such as WooCommerce and WPLM. The same goes for Visual Composer, one of the best page builders to perfect your design.

To these, add Slider Revolution, Events Calendar, BuddyPress, and many more.

Summarize

Ultimately, it must be recognized that the Candidate theme has significant assets to allow you to create a powerful site for charitable or political purposes. The design is rich and varied, with a fully responsive layout. In addition, the features are attractive and you have at your disposal a qualified team for customer support. What more could you ask to get started?

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