Monstroid 2 Review: A Powerful WordPress Multipurpose Theme

These days there is no shortage of multipurpose WordPress themes in the market. And, since they all offer such a wide variety of features, it really is difficult to know which one is best suited for your needs.

In the past, we have thoroughly discussed TemplateMonster’s multipurpose theme – Monstroid. But, that was a long time ago and Monstroid has come a long way.

That’s why we are here to re-review what Monstroid is all about, to see if this multipurpose WordPress theme is the option you want to go with for your website.

And remember that issue about not knowing which multipurpose theme to choose? Well, keep in mind that Monstroid is a universal multipurpose theme (with tons of niche options) however, it is best suited for those running businesses.

With that in mind, let’s get started.

Monstroid 2: A Review

Monstroid is a feature-packed WordPress theme that offers website owners all the essential and custom functionality needed to create a unique website that will stand out amongst even the stiffest competition.

To start, let’s take a look at some of the standard features that Monstroid has:

• Multiple blogging layouts
• 7 homepage designs
• Fully responsive and mobile-friendly design
• Smooth parallax effects
• Background video
• Full social media integration
• Full WooCommerce and Ecwid support
• SEO optimization

Additional features of Monstroid include shortcodes for added functionality, multiple slider options, and a bunch of Google stuff – Google Maps, Google Fonts, and even built-in Google Analytics.

Monstroid 2 Theme Installation

Installing the Monstroid theme is a very simple process, though it does differ from the traditional WordPress theme installation and activation process.

How to Install Monstroid

To start, purchase the theme from the TemplateMonster website. From there, you will be sent an email with a link to the Cherry Theme Wizard plugin for easy theme installation.

Click on the button to download the zip file, and install and activate the plugin on your WordPress website.

From there, install the Monstroid theme using information that was emailed to you.

After entering the information and selecting Start Install, notice the Monstroid theme has been partially installed onto your website.  From there, you will decide whether to create a child theme (recommended) or continue with the parent theme.

Next, you will be prompted to select a theme skin that comes with demo content and pre-defined plugins.

There are over a dozen skins to choose from that will fit your business website needs.

After choosing your website’s skin,  choose the lite or full demo content installation. TemplateMonster recommends you choose the lite version so you don’t strain your server resources.

Next, notice a screen with all of the required, recommended, and additional plugins that you can have automatically installed onto your website.

These plugins are designed to extend the functionality of your multipurpose theme.

 

As your pre-defined plugins are installing onto your website, Monstroid provides you a progress bar so that you can see just how far along your website is with the downloading process.

The last thing you will need to do to get Monstroid fully installed onto your website is determine whether to add demo content to your existing content, override your existing content, or skip the demo import altogether.

Again, TemplateMonster offers website owners a progress bar so that you can make sure everything installs correctly.

Monstroid’s Main Features

The truth is, it would be impossible to review every single great feature that Monstroid has. That said, I am going to look at the features that make Monstroid a strong contender for top WordPress multipurpose theme on the market today.

Cherry Framework

In our past review, we have discussed in detail the Cherry Framework and what it brings to the Monstroid theme. We have also thoroughly reviewed the Cherry Framework for those interested in digger deeper.

That said, I will not go into too much detail about the it here because we already have.

However, I will mention that Monstroid uses the Cherry Framework and comes with an extensive options panel for you to use, which just adds to Monstroid’s ability as a multipurpose theme.

Live Theme Customizer

Native to WordPress, the Live Theme Customizer aids you in changing nearly every element on your website. In fact, you can do most everything the Cherry Options Panel offers straight from the Live Theme Customizer.

Here is a quick overview of the changes you can make to your website:

• Site Identity. Brand your business by adding a site title and tagline. In addition, enable the ToTop button and page preloader.
• General Settings. Upload a logo and favicon, enable breadcrumbs, integrate social media links, choose a page layout, put your site into maintenance mode, and even change skin styles.
• Color Scheme/Colors. Define your site’s overall color scheme and change the background color.
• Typography. Choose from dozens of available fonts and customize all of your site’s text.
• Header. Pick your layout, enable sticky mode, and add elements such as contact information and a search bar.
• Background Image. Upload a custom background image.
• Menus. Build your homepage menu to help guide site visitors through your content.
• Sidebar. Decide on sidebar position.
• MailChimp. Utilize this email service provider to build an email list.
• Widgets. Take advantage of the many widgetized sections and add your preferred widgets.
• Footer. Customize the style, columns, and text to include in the footer area.
• Ads Management. Monetize your website using ads.
• Google Analytics. Enter your GA code and start tracking site visitor behavior.
• Static Front Page. Enable a static front page or display your most recent blog posts.
• 404 Page. Customize your site’s 404 page including image and color.

Lastly, you can customize your site using custom CSS if you are more advanced, import and export your theme’s settings, and even switch between theme styles using the TM Style Switcher, which again is very helpful for developers.

Header Styles

Monstroid comes with more than the basic header and footer styles, and the reason behind this is simple. The team behind Monstroid understands how important a website’s header is to the conversion of site visitors into customers.

And, while normally header styles are not a unique feature to any WordPress theme, the fact that Monstroid is a business theme, mentioning the unique options is important.

Choose from 7 styles, customize the background color, add contact information and a search bar, and even define how your “More” menu will appear – as an image, icon, or text.

In the end, though the header is only a small portion of your entire website, being able to improve user navigation of your website is the key to a successful business website.

MotoPress Content Editor

From your website’s posts and pages you can access the built-in MotoPress Content Editor.

Clicking on the Use Power builder button will give you a new editor to work in for making changes to your posts and pages.

To start, click on Text.  You will see a popup such as this:

From here, simply edit your post or page just as you normally would using the native Visual Editor.

You can also click on the Advanced Design Settings tab to make typography changes, add borders, include background colors, and much more.

When you finish, you have the option to save and exit or save your changes to the library.

Next, click on Insert Modules.

Here you will see a popup such as this:

This feature is highly advanced and makes adding a variety of elements to your site’s content very simple. Simply click on the module you would like to add, configure it, and save your changes.

Documentation, Support, and Price

In the end, there is so much more to the Monstroid theme that would take eons to wade through step-by-step. Luckily, the team behind Monstroid has taken the time to do just that so you can see exactly what you get with your purchase.

Check out Monstoid’s exhaustive theme documentation to learn about how to navigate Monstroid, troubleshoot issues, and find out all the little details that you and I may never happen across while exploring. In addition, if you find yourself needing more information, you can access the tutorials and FAQs here.

As far as support is concerned, with a Monstroid purchase you have access to live chat and a support ticket system, which after speaking with someone via live chat, is thought to have an average 24 hour response time depending on the issue.

In all, the support team at TemplateMonster was very friendly and especially helpful.

Right now, Monstroid is $75, which is a steal seeing as you receive so many built-in features.

Final Thoughts on Monstroid 2

Choosing a multipurpose theme for your WordPress website doesn’t have to be the most challenging thing you face while building a business site. This is especially true when themes such as Monstroid 2 exist.

With enough features and appealing visual design to power you through the growth of your website and business, Monstroid is an exceptional theme option. If anything, having access to over a dozen child themes makes Monstroid a strong competitor in the multipurpose theme category.

Altogether, despite the seemingly steep-ish learning curve (after all I have never used this theme before), I think even a novice website owner could benefit from Monstroid and all that it comes with.

And, as I mentioned earlier, Monstroid has made some significant changes. It is now being released under the GPLv3 license meaning you can use it on an unlimited amount of projects without having to make multiple purchases. You also have the option to halt recommended plugins from being installed on your website during the installation process, which was a gripe many previous reviewers had.

Monstroid has come a long way since its inception.  And, I imagine it will only continue to become more user-friendly as the developers make improvements. After all, that’s what has to happen if you want to compete with some of the very best WordPress multipurpose themes on the market today.

Get Monstroid 2 Here