Might give oxy another look, but the many of the comparison issues you point out about other page builders have either been fixed or are not so big a deal. You can build with elementor using a barbones theme and also disable the theme on a page by page basis lightening the code weight. Also elem has the element structure view as well as easy copy/ paste of elements and styles. I'm not sure but I don't think it's the only builder with those features either. I do remember how easy oxy was though.
It's true, everyone is evolving quickly. I think the eventual all-around winner (if it isn't already) will be Gutenberg and WordPress global styles evolution. The latest pagebuilders are already going in that direction (Qubely, Stackable, Genesis Pro).....the traditional ones like Elementor, Divi, Beaver...I think are going to get outdated. Will be exciting for sure.
There's a great quote from this Murk Uraine post that says "if you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less". markuraine.com/disrupting-wordpress/
Hi Johnny, thx for the nice review! I totally like the Oxygen Pagebuilder concept and i was blown away the first time i worked with it (version 2.4)! Thanx a lot for also talking about the downsides of Oxygen! After watching ur video I just want to mention another downside to oxygen, because i think everyone should know that "before" using oxygen. The sitesearch! I know not everyone needs a sitesearch, but if u need a slightly more comprehensive sitesearch function (that not only searches through the titles), than Oxygen leaves you pretty much alone! Problem is the way Oxygen stores post-data! Its not in the "post_content" nor in any wordpressnative databasetable. So for a sitesearch that recognizes not only the titles of ur posts u need to teach ur searchquery to search the right oxygen databasetables. And for a nondeveloperuser this can be a quite painfull task to do. Besides that and the downsides u mentioned i think oxygen is one of the best Pagebuilders u can have at the moment, espacially if u want a fast loading website.
Yes...you're absolutely right! On one hand, it's great that it totally allows you to customize those data outputs but on the other hand, it's not super simple for non-coders to do that.
By using ACF (with ACF Better Search) and Gutenberg blocks add-on for Oxygen, all of my websites data can be displayed however using Oxygen but still accessible through search. But ya, that's a bummer if you don't know how to work around it.
@@WPJohnny Same here, but in the meantime here is a good 2 hour intro that was just posted on Official Oxygen User Group ruclips.net/video/p2Vfk_Ezquk/видео.html
Glad we could finally agree, John! Indeed I do hate pagebuilders but this one is so much more than that and actually built for pros instead of noobs. :)
Johnny, thank you very much -- this video is an excellent review of Oxygen. After watching it, when I try Oxygen, I will not be going in cold: I will have a basic understanding about how Oxygen works. Compared to the other page builders I have tried, Oxygen looks like a breath of fresh air. Now, I am heading over to your detailed written review, to get a deeper dive. Thanks again !
Hey Johny! I'm currently on OceanWP theme +Elementor. Would love to try Oxygen on another store but here's a question. I'll need to use Woocommerce and either Shopmaster or Alidropship plugin to sync inventory/prices with Aliexpress. Do you think Oxygen would be able to do the job? Also would Qubely work with Oxygen? Thank you!
You had 24 tabs open in the other Chrome window including Facebook, RUclips, Netflix, and WordPress editor. Chrome alone would be using more than 2GB of your system's RAM. Add to this the video recorder programs use a lot of RAM and CPU usage. I'm sure Malwarebytes is also using some resources. There, the reason(s) your Mac feels slow to you. Oxygen looks good but has no free version.
"Oxygen looks good but has no free version." Yeah, and that's a good thing! In fact, I wish it was more expensive to begin with, because I am worried about the sustainability of their pricing model & whether it's viable in the long run. It's the first truely liberating site builder I've used in a long time, capable of creating pretty much any design (the way it should be done too, with just the right amount of DOM elements & proper styling/classes). I'd hate to see this amazing software die/get abandoned due to the lack of funding. I already see problems with their development, to be honest - their release frequency is very, very, VERY slow. They release updates just a few times a year. And not major features, just bug fixes & small improvements. And there are A LOT of bugs/important feature requests that are piling up on their Github "bugs and features" repo, some of them (proper undo, UI improvements etc) haven't been addressed for over a year. Makes me really worried.. But back to the point of free software.. Does Photoshop offer a free version? No. Pro tools never do. You get a trial and that's it. And Oxygen is definitely a Pro-oriented tool. So I am totally ok with the lack of a free tier. Plus they offer a 60 day trial and that's more than enough time to make up your mind. And make up your mind you will, because if you are a pro WP dev, within just days of using Oxygen you wouldn't want to deal with any other builder again.
@@TheCredibleHulk Agree about sustainability. These days, the free versions of plugins are released as part of a strategy. The early adopters are given the free version a great new tool that has even those features that are only available in the Pro/paid versions of their competitors. Then, the devs create a Facebook group/a community around them, if the free version is actually good, this community leaves genuine positive reviews around the web, most of which are due to the fact that the plugin is free and giving those premium options. Once the dev/company has enough press, good reviews, a dedicated community, a part of which would be willing to pay for the paid upgrade, they release the Pro version, which is actually the main product, the previews free version was just meant for testing, finding bugs, and conflicts with other plugins, polishing the product. I've seen a lot of good reviews for Oxygen even while it doesn't have a free option. Their prices are cheap enough for anyone, mainly because it's a one time purchase. Instead of increasing the one-time they should use the yearly subscription model. But, with increase in price the reviews will also get more critical of the product.
@@ManishSahay I mean 60 days is basically your "free version". That's 2 months of use, with money back guarantee. More than enough for any user to figure out if they like it or not. Besides, I just don't think Oxygen is a consumer-oriented product, so what's the point of having a free tier? It's a product targeted at pro's. You kinda need to know HTML/CSS (and often PHP/JS) + have a solid understanding of WP to get the most out of Oxygen. So it won't really be popular among noob crowd, since they won't "get it". Those who want to build a super-simple site without any skills are probably better off with with a "crappy" page-builder, like Elementor or Divi. "The early adopters are given the free version" I think that early adopters get to own the software at a massive discount, rather than free. That's why I think it was fair for Oxygen's LIFETIME license to be just under $200 right now, but it's gotta increase in the future, probably by a lot too. And they could add a cheap (maybe $70-90), but yearly option for those who don't want to spend lots of money on a lifetime license.
Haha, I appreciate it for what it was. I never built any sites with it...only helping out clients who already had it. I respect and like it better than Elementor back in the days. But nowadays, you're much better with Gutenberg blocks.
@@WPJohnny yes i like gutenberg blocks and learning to play around, but as compared to elementor, i find beaver still more stable. I was looking to find something on your channel and didn't find, so asked :)
A lot of website owners got sued for Not compliant with ADA law. What is your opinion on the theme/tool/builder that can take of this Accessibility compliance? i know Kadence has such a feature. thanks
@@WPJohnny Thanks Jonny for your reply. This scanning type of software is not bullet-proof. They can only scan certain things. Manual or human scanning must be involved. I notice GP also support this Accessibility.
I think both are similar that if you're comfortable with one you're fine with the other. While their UI may be similar....both are different tools IMO (and therefore not comparable), since WebFlow wasn't originally built for WordPress whereas Oxygen is.
I tested Webflow, Elementor, and Oxgen's home pages on GTMetrix. Oxygen got an A and 97% score! Elementor was second with a C, and Webflow was third with a D. Check out the GTMetrix page on the Oxygen website where they explain. I really really wih Elementor would catch up!
Can you do a video (please) where you create the block/page that will allow WooCommerce to work normally in a shop page? Because turning on WP themes with another plugin may will slow down the site. Thanks
I haven't tried Brizy but many people like it as well. Without any scientific experience whatsoever, I'd guess Brizy is easier and less technical to use.
Hey, Johnny, I was wondering if you know anyone who can communicate with Louis Reingold directly? I am just wondering if Oxygen is still alive at Soflyy & whether it's a priority for the company. I see fewer and fewer Oxygen update releases & almost no staff activity over on their Github "bugs and features" repo, while the bugs/feature requests are rapidly piling up with absolutely no communication from the company. It makes me really worried that the project is slowly dying (possibly due to their pricing model, which may seem unsustainable). Would be good to hear from the man himself on whether everything is ok at Soflyy.
I have no idea but there are lots of 3rd party development. It seems they are busy is the best I can put it. Probably staying quiet and focusing on other things or maybe just being secretive. Are you having specific problems and have you tried the Oxygen Facebook group?
Sorry to disagree with you, if you are a web design company you don’t need to build each client by coding, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel for each one of your client, you are looking for the money, MONEY!
No. Definitely not. And none of my reviews (on website or RUclips) are ever paid. If I ever start doing that, I'll make a note of it right on the review. This review was made by request of my readers.
@@WPJohnny Oh, thats great. Thank you Johnny. It seems like they paid a lot of youtubers to do reviews and that's actually why I've been staying away from Oxygen for some time. Also, I don't like their "vs the competition" talk. I think it's always better to let the product to the talking.
I absolutely know what you mean. I've had a trusted developer friend of mine begged me to look at it for over a year now. And when I finally played with it, I was utterly impressed. Then I jumped onto their community and I see many respected developers. It's probably the only pagebuilder that purist developers respect. Maybe BeaverBuilder is the 2nd. I do like the comparison talk, actually. It's hard for people to grasp what Oxygen is because it's in a category of its own. And so we have no way to describe it except in relation to existing tools. Anyway, I hope you try it for yourself. It's a lot of fun to use.
This is my first time, I love the transparency and you are a very good teacher.
Thank you for this comment.
Might give oxy another look, but the many of the comparison issues you point out about other page builders have either been fixed or are not so big a deal. You can build with elementor using a barbones theme and also disable the theme on a page by page basis lightening the code weight. Also elem has the element structure view as well as easy copy/ paste of elements and styles. I'm not sure but I don't think it's the only builder with those features either. I do remember how easy oxy was though.
It's true, everyone is evolving quickly. I think the eventual all-around winner (if it isn't already) will be Gutenberg and WordPress global styles evolution. The latest pagebuilders are already going in that direction (Qubely, Stackable, Genesis Pro).....the traditional ones like Elementor, Divi, Beaver...I think are going to get outdated. Will be exciting for sure.
@@WPJohnny I really hate all this change. Makes it hard to commit to one platform longer than a few years.
There's a great quote from this Murk Uraine post that says "if you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less". markuraine.com/disrupting-wordpress/
Hi Johnny,
thx for the nice review! I totally like the Oxygen Pagebuilder concept and i was blown away the first time i worked with it (version 2.4)! Thanx a lot for also talking about the downsides of Oxygen!
After watching ur video I just want to mention another downside to oxygen, because i think everyone should know that "before" using oxygen. The sitesearch! I know not everyone needs a sitesearch, but if u need a slightly more comprehensive sitesearch function (that not only searches through the titles), than Oxygen leaves you pretty much alone! Problem is the way Oxygen stores post-data! Its not in the "post_content" nor in any wordpressnative databasetable. So for a sitesearch that recognizes not only the titles of ur posts u need to teach ur searchquery to search the right oxygen databasetables. And for a nondeveloperuser this can be a quite painfull task to do.
Besides that and the downsides u mentioned i think oxygen is one of the best Pagebuilders u can have at the moment, espacially if u want a fast loading website.
Yes...you're absolutely right! On one hand, it's great that it totally allows you to customize those data outputs but on the other hand, it's not super simple for non-coders to do that.
By using ACF (with ACF Better Search) and Gutenberg blocks add-on for Oxygen, all of my websites data can be displayed however using Oxygen but still accessible through search. But ya, that's a bummer if you don't know how to work around it.
Thanks looking forward for more videos for Oxygen...I do photography..o I would love to see some thing in that regard.
You should follow WPDevDesign by Sridhar! You will find tons of goodies there.
Hi Johnny? Are you planning any more Oxygen related vids?
I liked and subscribed ;-)
Not for the moment. I need a lot more time of playing around and also there are so many other great ones already.
@@WPJohnny
Same here, but in the meantime here is a good 2 hour intro that was just posted on Official Oxygen User Group ruclips.net/video/p2Vfk_Ezquk/видео.html
Enjoyed it! Calm, clean...easy to follow.
Finally! A site builder that Johnny likes!! And it happens to be my favourite WP product. Onya WP Johnny. :)
Glad we could finally agree, John! Indeed I do hate pagebuilders but this one is so much more than that and actually built for pros instead of noobs. :)
Johnny, thank you very much -- this video is an excellent review of Oxygen. After watching it, when I try Oxygen, I will not be going in cold: I will have a basic understanding about how Oxygen works. Compared to the other page builders I have tried, Oxygen looks like a breath of fresh air. Now, I am heading over to your detailed written review, to get a deeper dive. Thanks again !
Thanks for the comment and glad you like it, Zorba! :)
Hey Johny! I'm currently on OceanWP theme +Elementor. Would love to try Oxygen on another store but here's a question. I'll need to use Woocommerce and either Shopmaster or Alidropship plugin to sync inventory/prices with Aliexpress. Do you think Oxygen would be able to do the job? Also would Qubely work with Oxygen? Thank you!
I wouldn't recommend Oxygen for a job like that especially if it's your first time.
@@WPJohnny why would you not recommend it in this scenario?
Because combining Oxygen with WooCommerce adds lots of complexity if you don't know what you're doing. Try and see for yourself. It's no joke.
@@WPJohnny wouldn't that work using theme enabler for OceanWP?
The more questions you ask me, the more I think you shouldn't be messing with it...(but the answer to that is "yes")
You had 24 tabs open in the other Chrome window including Facebook, RUclips, Netflix, and WordPress editor. Chrome alone would be using more than 2GB of your system's RAM. Add to this the video recorder programs use a lot of RAM and CPU usage. I'm sure Malwarebytes is also using some resources. There, the reason(s) your Mac feels slow to you.
Oxygen looks good but has no free version.
My Macbook actually has 100+ tabs open. :)
It slows down a lot when I screen record. Pretty much fine at all other times.
@@WPJohnny Yes, screen recorders use a lot of CPU. RAM must have already been used up by those many active and idle and tabs :D
"Oxygen looks good but has no free version."
Yeah, and that's a good thing! In fact, I wish it was more expensive to begin with, because I am worried about the sustainability of their pricing model & whether it's viable in the long run. It's the first truely liberating site builder I've used in a long time, capable of creating pretty much any design (the way it should be done too, with just the right amount of DOM elements & proper styling/classes). I'd hate to see this amazing software die/get abandoned due to the lack of funding. I already see problems with their development, to be honest - their release frequency is very, very, VERY slow. They release updates just a few times a year. And not major features, just bug fixes & small improvements. And there are A LOT of bugs/important feature requests that are piling up on their Github "bugs and features" repo, some of them (proper undo, UI improvements etc) haven't been addressed for over a year. Makes me really worried..
But back to the point of free software.. Does Photoshop offer a free version? No. Pro tools never do. You get a trial and that's it. And Oxygen is definitely a Pro-oriented tool. So I am totally ok with the lack of a free tier. Plus they offer a 60 day trial and that's more than enough time to make up your mind. And make up your mind you will, because if you are a pro WP dev, within just days of using Oxygen you wouldn't want to deal with any other builder again.
@@TheCredibleHulk Agree about sustainability. These days, the free versions of plugins are released as part of a strategy. The early adopters are given the free version a great new tool that has even those features that are only available in the Pro/paid versions of their competitors. Then, the devs create a Facebook group/a community around them, if the free version is actually good, this community leaves genuine positive reviews around the web, most of which are due to the fact that the plugin is free and giving those premium options.
Once the dev/company has enough press, good reviews, a dedicated community, a part of which would be willing to pay for the paid upgrade, they release the Pro version, which is actually the main product, the previews free version was just meant for testing, finding bugs, and conflicts with other plugins, polishing the product.
I've seen a lot of good reviews for Oxygen even while it doesn't have a free option. Their prices are cheap enough for anyone, mainly because it's a one time purchase. Instead of increasing the one-time they should use the yearly subscription model.
But, with increase in price the reviews will also get more critical of the product.
@@ManishSahay I mean 60 days is basically your "free version". That's 2 months of use, with money back guarantee. More than enough for any user to figure out if they like it or not.
Besides, I just don't think Oxygen is a consumer-oriented product, so what's the point of having a free tier? It's a product targeted at pro's. You kinda need to know HTML/CSS (and often PHP/JS) + have a solid understanding of WP to get the most out of Oxygen. So it won't really be popular among noob crowd, since they won't "get it". Those who want to build a super-simple site without any skills are probably better off with with a "crappy" page-builder, like Elementor or Divi.
"The early adopters are given the free version"
I think that early adopters get to own the software at a massive discount, rather than free. That's why I think it was fair for Oxygen's LIFETIME license to be just under $200 right now, but it's gotta increase in the future, probably by a lot too. And they could add a cheap (maybe $70-90), but yearly option for those who don't want to spend lots of money on a lifetime license.
I have used paid themes. other page builders etc. and it's by far the best investment I've made for website building.
I'm glad you like it. Oxygen can be a lot of fun!
Hey Johnyy what are your thought on beaver builder - didnt find any video on that.. :)
Haha, I appreciate it for what it was. I never built any sites with it...only helping out clients who already had it. I respect and like it better than Elementor back in the days. But nowadays, you're much better with Gutenberg blocks.
@@WPJohnny yes i like gutenberg blocks and learning to play around, but as compared to elementor, i find beaver still more stable. I was looking to find something on your channel and didn't find, so asked :)
yeaup, BB is more stable for sure and rarely issues. definitely preferred by developers over elementor
A lot of website owners got sued for Not compliant with ADA law. What is your opinion on the theme/tool/builder that can take of this Accessibility compliance? i know Kadence has such a feature. thanks
I haven't tested it but I do recommend you run your site through those free ADA scanners.
@@WPJohnny Thanks Jonny for your reply. This scanning type of software is not bullet-proof. They can only scan certain things. Manual or human scanning must be involved. I notice GP also support this Accessibility.
So then the same limitation would apply to your theme scanner as well. Ultimately, you need manual intervention if you want to be absolutely sure.
Would you say it’s better than WebFlow? in terms of speed, SEO, security, clean code, ease of maintenance, etc etc.
I think both are similar that if you're comfortable with one you're fine with the other. While their UI may be similar....both are different tools IMO (and therefore not comparable), since WebFlow wasn't originally built for WordPress whereas Oxygen is.
I tested Webflow, Elementor, and Oxgen's home pages on GTMetrix. Oxygen got an A and 97% score! Elementor was second with a C, and Webflow was third with a D. Check out the GTMetrix page on the Oxygen website where they explain. I really really wih Elementor would catch up!
Can you do a video (please) where you create the block/page that will allow WooCommerce to work normally in a shop page? Because turning on WP themes with another plugin may will slow down the site. Thanks
Have you tried wpdevdesign.com/?
@@WPJohnny I will now... thanks :)
Is the page/post content left clean from any Oxygen code, when you deactivate it?
Yes, it doesn't leave any shortcode soup.
Was the title "mitsake" deliberate?
OMG! Thanks for telling me this. hahahaaha
Any advice on how this fares compared to Brizy?
I haven't tried Brizy but many people like it as well. Without any scientific experience whatsoever, I'd guess Brizy is easier and less technical to use.
this is good... thank you for doing it. But I gotta say that you make a lot of statements that just are not true as it relates to Elementor.
You are exactly the commenter I need around here. Chime in with your opinions and corrections, please. I don't use Elementor day in and day out.
Hey, Johnny, I was wondering if you know anyone who can communicate with Louis Reingold directly? I am just wondering if Oxygen is still alive at Soflyy & whether it's a priority for the company. I see fewer and fewer Oxygen update releases & almost no staff activity over on their Github "bugs and features" repo, while the bugs/feature requests are rapidly piling up with absolutely no communication from the company. It makes me really worried that the project is slowly dying (possibly due to their pricing model, which may seem unsustainable). Would be good to hear from the man himself on whether everything is ok at Soflyy.
I have no idea but there are lots of 3rd party development. It seems they are busy is the best I can put it. Probably staying quiet and focusing on other things or maybe just being secretive. Are you having specific problems and have you tried the Oxygen Facebook group?
Yes...and recent version update just came out, too.
I posted last night and Louis replied to me in
@@thebibleproof are there specific PHP settings needed for Oxygen?
Sorry to disagree with you, if you are a web design company you don’t need to build each client by coding, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel for each one of your client, you are looking for the money, MONEY!
Different horses for different courses.
Is this a paid review of oxygen?
No. Definitely not. And none of my reviews (on website or RUclips) are ever paid. If I ever start doing that, I'll make a note of it right on the review. This review was made by request of my readers.
@@WPJohnny Oh, thats great. Thank you Johnny. It seems like they paid a lot of youtubers to do reviews and that's actually why I've been staying away from Oxygen for some time. Also, I don't like their "vs the competition" talk. I think it's always better to let the product to the talking.
I absolutely know what you mean. I've had a trusted developer friend of mine begged me to look at it for over a year now. And when I finally played with it, I was utterly impressed. Then I jumped onto their community and I see many respected developers. It's probably the only pagebuilder that purist developers respect. Maybe BeaverBuilder is the 2nd.
I do like the comparison talk, actually. It's hard for people to grasp what Oxygen is because it's in a category of its own. And so we have no way to describe it except in relation to existing tools. Anyway, I hope you try it for yourself. It's a lot of fun to use.