Spectra, the Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg is a popular WordPress plugin that enhances the functionality of the Gutenberg editor. Gutenberg is the default block editor introduced in WordPress version 5.0, aimed at making content creation in WordPress more intuitive and flexible.
Spectra is developed by Brainstorm Force, the same team behind the popular Astra theme. The plugin provides a collection of additional blocks and features that expand the capabilities of the Gutenberg editor. In this review, we discuss the key features, pros and cons of the Spectra plugin.
Spectra Plugins Features
Here are some of the functions that Spectra offers:
Additional Blocks:
The plugin adds a variety of new blocks to the Gutenberg editor, such as Advanced Heading, Info Box, Post Layouts, Content Timeline, Testimonials, and many more. These blocks allow you to create visually appealing and interactive content without the need for custom coding.
Block Customization Options:
Spectra provides advanced customization options for the Gutenberg blocks. It offers additional styling settings, layout options, and configuration choices, allowing you to fine-tune the appearance and behavior of the blocks according to your requirements.
Section and Layout Library:
The plugin includes a library of pre-designed sections and layouts that you can easily import and use in your Gutenberg-powered pages. This feature helps you save time and effort by providing professionally designed templates that can be customized to match your site's style.
Global Settings:
Spectra allows you to define global settings for various blocks, ensuring consistency throughout your website. You can set default styles, typography, colors, and other settings for specific blocks, making it easier to maintain a cohesive design across multiple pages.
Responsive Controls:
With the Spectra plugin, you get responsive controls for blocks, allowing you to adjust their appearance and behavior for different screen sizes. This ensures that your content looks great on various devices and maintains a responsive design.
In general, Spectra is well-regarded for its extensive collection of blocks and customization options, making it a popular choice for enhancing the Gutenberg editor's capabilities in WordPress.
Pros of Spectra
The following are the pros derived from Spectra –
Third-Party Compatibility
Spectra is designed to seamlessly integrate with other popular WordPress plugins and themes. It aims to ensure compatibility and provide a smooth experience when used alongside other tools, such as popular page builders like Elementor or Divi.
Many WordPress users rely on various plugins to enhance their website's functionality. These plugins may include contact forms, SEO tools, caching plugins, e-commerce solutions, and more. Spectra aims to ensure compatibility with these plugins and themes.
This means that you can use Spectra alongside other popular plugins without conflicts or issues. For example, if you are using a popular page builder plugin like Elementor or Divi, you can still leverage the additional blocks and features provided by Spectra within those page builders.
By ensuring third-party compatibility, Spectra offers you the flexibility to enhance your website's content creation capabilities while maintaining a cohesive and integrated WordPress ecosystem.
Regular Updates and Support
The plugin is actively maintained and updated by the development team at Brainstorm Force. This ensures that it stays compatible with the latest versions of WordPress and Gutenberg, while also introducing new features and enhancements. Additionally, the plugin is backed by a dedicated support team to assist users with any questions or issues they may encounter.
Developer-Friendly Features
Spectra includes developer-friendly features that allow advanced users or developers to extend and customize its functionality further. The plugin includes hooks and filters, which are programming mechanisms that allow developers to modify or extend the functionality of the plugin.
With hooks, developers can add their own code to specific points within the plugin's execution flow, enabling them to customize and enhance its behavior as needed. Filters, on the other hand, enable developers to modify or manipulate data passed through the plugin, providing more control over the output.
Spectra also offers API integrations, allowing developers to interact with the plugin programmatically. This enables them to leverage the plugin's features within their own custom code, creating more advanced and tailored solutions.
By providing hooks, filters, and API integrations, Spectra empowers developers to extend and customize the functionality of the plugin to suit their specific project requirements. In turn, this flexibility allows developers to create unique and powerful Gutenberg-powered solutions tailored to their clients' needs or their own development projects.
Lightweight and Performance-Focused
The plugin is designed to be lightweight and optimized for performance. It aims to ensure that adding the additional blocks and features does not negatively impact the loading speed or overall performance of your website.
User-Friendly Interface
Spectra offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface within the Gutenberg editor. It provides a seamless experience for users, making it easy to access and utilize the additional blocks and customization options.
Documentation and Tutorials
The plugin offers comprehensive documentation and tutorials to guide users through its installation, setup, and usage. This documentation provides step-by-step instructions, examples, and best practices for utilizing the various features and blocks provided by the plugin.
The plugin provides detailed documentation that covers various aspects of the plugin, including installation, setup, configuration, and usage instructions. The documentation serves as a valuable resource for users, offering step-by-step guidance on how to make the most of the plugin's features and blocks.
In addition to documentation, Spectra often provides tutorials and examples to demonstrate how to use specific features or achieve certain design effects. The tutorials can be in the form of written guides, video tutorials, or both. They help users better understand the capabilities of the plugin and inspire them to create visually appealing and engaging content with ease.
As it offers comprehensive documentation and tutorials, Spectra ensures that users have the resources they need to maximize the potential of the plugin. The documentation and tutorials act as a knowledge base, helping users navigate through the various features and functionalities of the plugin, and enabling them to create impressive Gutenberg-powered layouts and designs.
Cons of Spectra
Following from its features, Spectra plugin has the cons highlighted below –
Limits content population within its blocks
Frequent site crashes
Compared to other plugins, there are limited customization options
Slow loading speed, resulting from large database size
Final Thoughts
Spectra is well-regarded for its extensive collection of blocks and customization options, compatibility, support, and resources to users and developers. Collectively, these factors have contributed to the popularity of Spectra, making it a valuable extension for the Gutenberg editor in WordPress. It, however, has a number of disadvantages especially with regards to customization options. As such, many resort to alternatives such as Stackable, Toolset Blocks, Atomic Blocks, and JetEngine, to mention some.