Design your way

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

The authors of the Divi WordPress theme just released the biggest update in the product’s history with the release of Version 2.4.

Divi, Elegant Themes’ flagship theme, is already extremely popular, and it is poised to become even more so. The Divi page builder, the Modules section, and the Library, where layouts and individual layout elements can be stored, saved, and edited, have all been significantly enhanced.

The page builder can also be used as a post builder, and the user interface has been markedly improved. There have been a large number other additions and improvements as well, including total revamping of the Customizer feature.

An Overview of 2.4

Several recent Elegant Themes’ sneak peeks gave the WordPress theme world a fairly detailed look at what was being planned for inclusion in the upgrade, and it all sounded quite impressive. Divi 2.4 has now arrived, and what was being planned has turned into reality, and a pretty impressive reality at that.

The implementation of a large new module setting features, which affect each and every page-building module, gives website developers greater flexibility. If flexibility is measurable, an order of magnitude might be a reasonable estimate.
The user-friendly Divi Builder interface has been reworked. Its functionality has increased, it is more streamlined and navigable, and it is more user friendly than ever.
The Divi Library is a new addition. It was previously referred to as the Saved Layouts function, which was its primary purpose. The Library not only stores a greater number of layouts, but layouts and their elements can be edited while being stored as well.
One of the most useful and powerful new features is the globalization of page and library elements. This adds a whole new dimension to Divi’s usability, and is potentially a huge page and website development time saver.

There are of course many more features which, including the above, will be looked at in greater detail. It will be difficult to find a version upgrade of any WordPress theme that has feature as many additions and enhancements as this one.

Taking a Closer Look

Advanced Module Settings and Custom CSS

This area, Advanced Module Settings, is the focus of one of the most valuable enhancements the 2.4 update brings to the table. Modules are Divi’s building blocks, and the many features embedded in them up to now, have made them some of the most versatile page-building blocks in the industry.

Things just got a whole lot better, as advanced design settings have been added to every single Divi module, enabling users to invoke a tremendous range of customized options. Custom CSS can also be entered directly into a building block. The result: almost unlimited flexibility.

The Reinvented Page Builder Interface

Divi’s page builder has always been a popular, highly productive tool, and it has undergone a few improvements over time, but the builder’s user interface has not kept pace.

Now, it has not only been upgraded, it has in fact been reinvented; including the incorporation of new display features and improved navigability, and it has been modified to integrate more closely with Divi’s new library enhancements and upgraded module settings. Divi, as a whole, has just become a lot more nimble, and the user interface has followed suit.

The Divi Post Builder

The new post-building feature is essentially an enhancement of Divi’s page building functionality. While upgrading the builder’s interface was a top priority, the need for page-building functionality to address the needs of creating posts was also recognized.

A key post-building feature is the new post title module which provides the developer with a variety of different title/meta/image blocks options and configurations.

The New Divi Library

A library is an obvious place to save and store layouts, but the new Divi Library is so much more. Layouts can be stored or retrieved, imported or exported, but they can also be edited – while still in the library. Not only that, but elements of a layout can be stored, and edited, separately.

Layout elements can be accessed from either a page of from the library. The Divi Library is much more than a repository. It has been fully integrated into this theme’s page-building process.

Global Page Elements

No need to hire a bookkeeper to keep track of changes in page elements, or having to make changes on a page by page basis. The Global Page Element feature is perhaps the greatest time saver of all of the new and enhanced features found in Divi 2.4.

When an element is updated, it will be updated everywhere, and it can be updated on a page, or in the Divi library.

The Revamped Customizer Leads to Greater Versatility

Divi’s Customizer has been so thoroughly revamped that it is not practical to go into all of the details here. Suffice it to say, the improved features include such things as enhanced control of theme gutters, website content and sidebar widths, along with body and heading text setting enhancements.

The inclusion of more than new global module settings, is the real show-stopper however, as it the positive impact on the theme’s versatility is truly awesome.

All of the above can be summarized in terms of a significant increase in the number of new layout possibilities. Almost lost in all of the new and enhanced features are improvements in the way modules and elements can easily be customized, plus the fact that they can be stored in, and retrieved from, the new Library. Layouts can now be created that are more versatile and adaptable than ever.

Pros, Cons, and Should You Buy?

As you may already noted, there are a host of positive features associated with Divi 2.4, and there are few, if any, negatives. Beginners may be overwhelmed with the wealth of available features, but that issue is somewhat mitigated by the theme’s ease of use plus the excellent documentation and support that is available to the user. The only thing missing appears to be a steep learning curve, and that is hardly a negative.

If you are already hold a Divi license, you are in luck. If you are not, this is your chance to own one of the most popular premier WordPress themes on the market today.