BuddyX
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Highstarter
Highstarter is a lightweight starter theme without any libraries or frameworks, developed by Atanas Yonkov. The theme is very fast, simple, and easy to adapt to any design. This tiny WordPress theme (
The facts
- Rating
- 5★ from 8
- Active installs
- 400+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 5 Apr 2025
- Requires WP
- 4.4
- Requires PHP
- 5.2.4
- Downloads
- 31,282
Our analysis
AI-assistedHighstarter is a lightweight WordPress theme designed for speed and simplicity. It is suitable for users with varying levels of coding experience, offering extensive documentation and a range of customisation options through the theme customiser.
The theme supports multiple layout options, light and dark modes, and allows for custom header images and site icons. It is compatible with both the Gutenberg editor and the Classic editor, making it versatile for different user preferences.
Best for: This theme suits users looking for a fast and simple WordPress theme for portfolios or library and archive sites.
What it does well
- ✓Lightweight theme with a 33KB zip file size
- ✓Extensive documentation available
- ✓Customisation options for layout and design
- ✓Supports both Gutenberg and Classic editor
- ✓Fast performance with core WordPress functions
Where it falls short
- •Limited information on specific features and capabilities
- •No mention of support for additional plugins or integrations
Verdict
Highstarter is a practical choice for those who want a straightforward, customisable theme without unnecessary complexity.
From the developer
Atanas Yonkov's own description of Highstarter, lightly tidied.
Highstarter is a lightweight starter theme without any libraries or frameworks, developed by Atanas Yonkov. The theme is very fast, simple, and easy to adapt to any design. This tiny WordPress theme (only 33KB zip file excluding the header image and the screenshot) uses core WordPress functions, custom css and vanilla js to provide high performance and the best possible user experience.
It has extensive documentation and a lot of options in the theme customizer, which makes it accessible not only to WordPress developers but also to people with little or no coding experience at all. Option to pick between right sidebar, left sidebar or full-width layout. The visitors can choose between light and dark (night) mode and change their preferences with one click. Option to use a static Homepage.
Option to add custom header image, custom header call to action button, custom site icon and change theme accent colors from the theme customizer. The theme also offers a lot of options to customize the header image. Add parallax, image overlay or change the height of the header image with a single click. The theme supports nested dropdown sub menus, pagination and even breadcrumbs out of the box.
Fully compatible with Gutenberg but also supports the good old Classic editor. How to set it up: https://github.com/yonkov/highstarter/#readme. Example child theme configured with webpack module bundler https://github.com/yonkov/highstarter-child/
Tagged as
industry
Library & Archive
topic
Portfolio Showcase
Translation Ready
Blog
Rtl Language Support
Fast
Framework
Header
Headers
Change
quality
Speed & Performance
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