Having used a number of premium themes in the past (StudioPress, Woothemes, Avada, Shopkeeper, Uncode, and many others), I was accustomed to the long wait times and the lack of quality in the responses to support tickets.
This is where GeneratePress truly sets itself apart from the crowd.
Quick Response Times
Reduced wait times for receiving responses back for support tickets.
Quality Responses
Responses that actually solve the issue(s) or point you in the right direction.
Publicly Accessible Forum
Easily searchable forum which allows you to look up a solution before posting up a support ticket.
Out of all the themes I have used in the past, nothing came close to the level of support I received from the GeneratePress team and this was the key selling point for me (as many others would agree).
For those considering GeneretePress but isn’t familiar with their support system, I wanted to take a moment to show what GeneratePress currently supports and whether the support team measures up to all the glowing reviews.
Tiered Support System
With any theme, customization requests from customers are to be expected. Additional functionality or features are often requested to create a website that is more personal.
However, most theme developers do not support customization requests and it’s completely understandable why they don’t support it.
Takes Up Time
Depending on the request, customizations can take up a significant amount of time.
Challenging To Maintain
Challenging to maintain customization changes with future updates to the theme, since a customized feature(s) can easily break because of a theme update.
Cost Of Customizations
Paying around $60 per year for theme support would not cover the cost of the developer’s time invested in customizations.
GeneratePress works slightly differently. They offer support in tiers, which ranges from providing full support on their products to pointing you in the right direction for questions that fall outside of their products.
While they don’t provide support for major customization requests, they are willing to point you in the right direction for the smaller requests.
Full Support
Applies to GeneratePress Theme & GeneratePress Premium Plugin.
Installation
Theme & Plugin Usage
Theme & Plugin Configuration
Bug Fixes
Partial Support
They will provide basic examples and get you headed in the right direction.
Theme Specific Filters
CSS Code
Basic Elements (HTML/PHP)
Direction to Information
Do their best to link you to relevant tutorials and information.
WordPress Usage
Improving Performance
SEO Setup
Not Supported
Beyond the control of the GeneratePress team and unable to provide support at this time.
Third-Party Plugin Debugging
Advanced Custom Coding
WordPress Core Debugging
Server Diagnostics
Posted Response Time
According to their website, these are the expected response times for support tickets.
12 – 24 Hours
Monday to Friday
12 – 48 Hours
Saturday to Sunday
Now, let’s see how it fairs against the actual response times of my support tickets.
Evaluating The Support Team
Let’s take an objective approach and try to evaluate the performance.
In the past 2+ years of using the theme, I have submitted 45 support tickets. I can evaluate how well the support team performed based on actual data.
Objectives
I will be evaluating the support team based on the following:
Response Time
How long does it take to provide a response?
Number of Exchanges
How many exchanges did it take to solve the problem?
Rules
1. Support Team’s Response Times
Only reviewing the support team’s response times. The time I took to respond back to them will not be considered.
2. Final Message Not Considered
GeneratePress Support Team (almost) always leaves the final message on a support ticket and it could be something simple as saying “You’re welcome” or a comment that doesn’t require a response. Those response times are not considered since it doesn’t address the actual issue.
3. Multiple Responses
On a few occasions, I provided multiple responses to a single support ticket. The response time was measured from my last message.
Definitions
1. Fastest Response Time
Measuring the fastest response time for a support ticket. Measured in hours and minutes (h:mm).
2. Slowest Response Time
Measuring the slowest response time for a support ticket. Multiple exchanges need to take place to evaluate the slowest time. Measured in hours and minutes (h:mm).
3. Average Response Time
Measuring the average response time for a support ticket. Multiple exchanges need to take place to evaluate the average time. Measured in hours and minutes (h:mm).
4. Number of Exchanges
Number of exchanges that took place to solve the issue. A single exchange includes a question from me and a response back from the support team. For example, 3 exchanges would mean 3 questions from me and 3 responses back from the support team.
Analyzing Data
Following data was collected from the support form. It includes the fastest, slowest, and average response times, along with the number of exchanges required to solve the issue.
| Support Ticket Title | Fastest Response Time (h:mm) | Slowest Response Time (h:mm) | Average Response Time (h:mm) | Number of Exchanges to Solve Issue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wide Width Images + Blocks | 1:28 | – | – | 1 |
| Customization Option + Font Sizes | 0:15 | 16:09 | 4:42 | 8 |
| Change Slug (URL) for Portfolio | 1:35 | – | – | 1 |
| Easy Digital Downloads Compatibility | 0:05 | 0:23 | 0:11 | 3 |
| Custom Font in Block Editor | 0:14 | – | – | 1 |
| Merch Theme Questions | 0:22 | 7:05 | 2:17 | 4 |
| Increase the featured image size in post | 1:05 | 2:00 | 1:42 | 4 |
| Post View Altered | 0:03 | 2:05 | 0:44 | 4 |
| Local Font Issue | 0:29 | 4:50 | 2:08 | 3 |
| Logo Doesn’t Appear in Mobile View | 2:58 | – | – | 1 |
| Add Class to Categories | 4:02 | – | – | 1 |
| Portfolio Excerpt Length | 3:12 | – | – | 1 |
| Merch Blog Featured Image Size | 0:58 | 4:32 | 2:45 | 2 |
| Styling Page Numbers | 4:53 | – | – | 1 |
| Leaving Post Page Unassigned | 9:02 | – | – | 1 |
| Entry Meta alignment | 1:26 | 3:22 | 2:24 | 2 |
| GenerateBlocks Container | 1:22 | 5:27 | 4:03 | 3 |
| CSS Style With WP Show Posts and EDD | 1:43 | 2:51 | 2:11 | 3 |
| Change Portfolio Layout | 0:10 | 2:48 | 1:40 | 4 |
| Blurry Image | 0:32 | 3:18 | 1:55 | 2 |
| Add padding under header | 0:44 | 4:48 | 2:46 | 2 |
| 2nd Page Won’t Load | 6:33 | – | – | 1 |
| Change the width of comment box | 8:29 | – | – | 1 |
| Custom Font Size | 1:27 | – | – | 1 |
| User Elements within a Custom Page | 0:08 | 1:56 | 1:01 | 4 |
| Arctic Theme – Elements Layout Width | 0:48 | 5:34 | 2:23 | 3 |
| Easy Digital Download – Enable Block Editor | 0:42 | – | – | 1 |
| Elements Width Not Working | 1:31 | 1:31 | 1:31 | 1 |
| Merging Header in Elements | 0:16 | 0:54 | 0:35 | 2 |
| Merging Header in Elements (Home Page) | 0:11 | – | – | 1 |
| SVG Featured Image | 2:33 | – | – | 1 |
| Font Issue – Switching from Floats to Flexbox | 0:31 | – | – | 1 |
| SVG Featured Image – Outside Limits | 3:04 | 6:05 | 4:46 | 3 |
| Menu in Mobile View Issues | 0:22 | 2:55 | 1:26 | 4 |
| Loud-Link Not Working | 0:44 | – | – | 1 |
| Google Font Display In Safari | 0:32 | 11:35 | 6:03 | 2 |
| Google Ads Do Not Display | 1:55 | – | – | 1 |
| Speed issue according to Google PageSpeed | 0:52 | 6:08 | 2:50 | 4 |
| Columns for Categories | 0:01 | 2:03 | 1:02 | 2 |
| Custom Post Header | 3:29 | 6:35 | 5:02 | 2 |
| Block-Hook on All Sub-Pages | 0:03 | 9:19 | 2:07 | 10 |
| Merch Theme Questions | 0:22 | 7:05 | 2:17 | 4 |
| Cannot change font color for individual words | 0:09 | 3:23 | 1:49 | 3 |
| Block Editor Width | 0:19 | 5:06 | 2:19 | 3 |
| Customize the look of the comments section with Jetpack | 1:18 | 1:36 | 1:27 | 2 |
1
Minute
Overall Fastest Response Time
16:09
Hours : Minutes
Overall Slowest Response Time
2:23
Hours : Minutes
Overall Average Response Time
2.4
Exchanges
Overall Average Exchanges to Solve Issue
Conclusion
Actual response times exceeded expectations and were much better than the posted response time by a large margin. Only the slowest response time (16 hours and 9 minutes) falls within the posted response time (12-48 hours).
Depending on the complexity of the issue, support tickets are answered within minutes or a few hours in most cases. Furthermore, support tickets are solved quickly within a few exchanges.
Other Theme Support Systems
Unfortunately, I do not have sufficient data to directly compare how other themes’ support teams fare against GeneratePress directly. Though I can tell you from personal experience with some of the other popular themes, I used to consider receiving a single response back on a support ticket within 24 hours to be fairly quick.
With some of the lesser-known themes, I wouldn’t hear back on a support ticket for weeks and I would have to keep following up with the developer. You can imagine how long it took to resolve a single support request.
From personal experience, the GeneratePress support team outperformed all other theme providers I have encountered.
Final Words
Many review sites boast about the GeneratePress support team arguing it’s one of the best, if not the best. While I’m in agreement, words used to describe a service as “best”, “excellent”, or “5-star” are subjective and do not provide any insight for someone who has never used the service.
I attempted to quantify the level of support I received over the 2+ years. Hopefully, this gives you some insight into deciding whether GeneratePress is the right choice for you.
As I mentioned earlier, the support team was the primary reason I completely switched over to GeneratePress. The timing and quality of responses are unmatched by any other theme support I received in the past.
Credits
Character Illustrations
Open Peeps – Hand-Drawn Characters
SVG Icons
Bootstrap Icons – Multiple SVG Icons
