Kendall WordPress Theme: Expert Customization Help

About Kendall WP Theme

Kendall is a WordPress theme built by Elated-Themes, designed for creative agencies, portfolios, and lifestyle brands. It ships with a clean, minimal aesthetic and a strong focus on visual content. The layout options make it well-suited for photographers, designers, and small studios who want to present work without clutter.

Built on Elated-Themes’ proprietary framework, Kendall includes a drag-and-drop page builder, multiple header styles, portfolio post types, and a range of pre-built demo pages. It supports WooCommerce for basic shop functionality and integrates with popular plugins without much friction.

The theme is regularly updated and comes with documentation and support through the Elated-Themes ticket system. If you want a polished starting point for a creative site without writing code from scratch, Kendall is a solid option worth considering.

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Kendall has its own framework, custom shortcodes, and a post type structure that behaves differently from standard WordPress themes. Generic WordPress developers often spend time just getting familiar with how it works. A specialist who has built with Kendall before can move faster, avoid common mistakes, and deliver cleaner code.

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Pros

Clean minimal design that works well for portfolio and creative agency sites out of the box
Multiple pre-built demo pages that significantly reduce initial setup time
Built-in portfolio post type with filterable grid layouts and lightbox support
WooCommerce compatible with styled product pages that match the overall theme aesthetic
Regular updates from Elated-Themes with an active support ticket system

Cons

Relies on a proprietary theme framework that limits how portable your customizations are
Page builder shortcodes create content lock-in, making it hard to switch themes later
Options panel can feel overwhelming with settings spread across multiple nested sections
Demo import occasionally requires manual cleanup, particularly with placeholder images and widgets
Out-of-the-box performance scores are lower than expected due to unoptimised scripts and asset loading

Who is Kendall for?

Photography Portfolio

Kendall’s full-width image layouts, filterable portfolio grids, and lightbox support make it a practical choice for photographers. You can organise work by project type, display galleries cleanly, and keep the focus on the images rather than the interface. The minimal header styles stay out of the way of visual content.

Creative Agency

Agencies can use Kendall to present case studies, team profiles, and services across a multi-page site. The pre-built demo pages cover most of what a small agency needs. Custom header and footer options give enough flexibility to match specific branding without starting from zero.

Freelance Designer

Freelancers who want a professional online presence without a complex setup benefit from Kendall’s single-page and portfolio layout options. It handles the basics, contact form, work samples, and an about section, cleanly. A short setup time means more focus on client work rather than website maintenance.

Lifestyle Blog

Kendall’s typography options and clean editorial layouts suit lifestyle and personal blogs. Category pages, featured image display, and sidebar control are all handled without needing additional plugins. It reads well on mobile and keeps content front and centre without unnecessary design noise.

Small Online Store

For small stores with a curated product range, Kendall’s WooCommerce integration keeps product pages visually consistent with the rest of the site. It works best for shops where aesthetics matter and the product count stays manageable. Heavy catalogue stores would need more than the theme provides by default.

Customizing Kendall

Kendall gives you a reasonable level of control through its theme options panel, but custom builds often require going further. Adjusting typography, spacing, header behaviour, and portfolio layouts is straightforward for basic changes. More specific work, like custom post templates, unique section layouts, or client-specific functionality, typically needs PHP or CSS work beyond the panel.

A Kendall expert understands the theme’s underlying framework and knows where to make changes without breaking updates or causing conflicts. Whether you need a unique homepage built from scratch, custom WooCommerce styling, or specific animations dialled in, working with someone who knows the theme saves time and avoids workarounds that create problems later.

If your project needs go beyond what the options panel handles, getting a Kendall expert involved early is the right call.

Recommended plugins for Kendall

Kendall works well alongside a focused set of plugins. For contact forms, WPForms or Contact Form 7 both integrate cleanly. WooCommerce handles shop pages if you need them. For performance, pairing Kendall with a caching plugin and optimised image delivery makes a real difference on image-heavy portfolios. See our WordPress performance service for more detail.

If you need better search visibility, Rank Math or Yoast SEO work alongside Kendall without structural issues. Our WordPress SEO service covers the setup properly. Avoid loading too many plugins that duplicate features already built into the theme.

Not sure which plugins to use? This WordPress plugins directory covers the most popular options with reviews and setup guides.

Kendall common issues

Kendall theme portfolio not displaying correctly after update

Portfolio display issues after an update are usually caused by a conflict between the new theme version and cached data or a plugin that hooks into custom post types. Start by clearing all caches, including server-side if applicable. Check that the portfolio post type is still registered correctly under theme settings. If the grid layout is off, inspect for CSS conflicts using browser dev tools. A WordPress bug fix can resolve this quickly if the issue persists.

Kendall WordPress theme slow loading speed

Kendall loads several scripts and stylesheets that aren’t always needed on every page. Start by auditing what’s loading with a tool like GTmetrix or WebPageTest. Defer non-critical JavaScript, enable CSS minification, and use a caching plugin. Image-heavy portfolios also benefit from lazy loading and a CDN. If the theme’s built-in scripts are the bottleneck, a developer can conditionally load them only where needed. See our performance service for a full fix.

Kendall theme header not sticking on scroll

Sticky header behaviour in Kendall is controlled through the theme options panel under the Header section. If the sticky option is enabled but not working, check for a JavaScript conflict first by temporarily disabling plugins. Some caching plugins strip inline scripts that the sticky header depends on. Clear the cache after making any changes. If a custom header layout is in use, the sticky script may not attach correctly and will need a targeted CSS or JS fix.

Kendall WooCommerce product page layout broken

WooCommerce layout breaks in Kendall usually happen after a WooCommerce update changes template file structure. Kendall may use custom WooCommerce template overrides in the theme folder that no longer match the current plugin version. Check the WooCommerce system status for outdated templates. Updating theme template files to match the current WooCommerce version normally resolves it. This is a developer task if you’re not comfortable editing PHP files directly.

Kendall FAQ

Is Kendall by Elated-Themes good for beginners?

Kendall is manageable for beginners who stick to the pre-built demo layouts and the theme options panel. Where it gets more complicated is custom layouts or anything that requires editing templates. The options panel has a lot of settings, which can be confusing at first. For basic portfolio or blog setups, most people can get a working site up without developer help.

Does the Kendall theme work with Elementor or Gutenberg?

Kendall uses its own page builder based on shortcodes rather than native Gutenberg blocks. It works alongside Gutenberg for standard post content but the custom layouts are built with Elated’s own tools. Elementor can technically be used with Kendall but you’d be bypassing the theme’s native builder, which can cause conflicts and inconsistent styling across pages.

How do I import the Kendall demo content?

Kendall includes a one-click demo import through the Elated-Themes import panel, available after installing the required plugins. Go to Elated Options, find the Import section, and select the demo you want. Required plugins are listed and need to be active before importing. The process typically takes a few minutes. Some manual cleanup of placeholder content is usually needed after the import completes.

Can I use Kendall for a WooCommerce store?

Yes, Kendall supports WooCommerce and includes styled templates for shop, product, and cart pages. It works best for small stores with a visual focus. Large catalogues or stores needing complex filtering and checkout customisation may find the built-in WooCommerce support limited. Additional custom development is usually needed for anything beyond a straightforward product display setup.

How much does it cost to hire someone to customise Kendall?

Cost depends on the scope of work. Small changes like CSS adjustments or a single custom section might take a couple of hours. Full custom page builds or feature development can run to a day or more of work. The best way to get an accurate number is to describe your project and request a free estimate. There’s no obligation to proceed after you receive it.

Hire a Kendall WordPress Developer

If your Kendall site needs custom work, whether that’s a unique layout, a feature the theme panel can’t handle, or fixing something that’s broken, working with a specialist is faster than trial and error. Our developers have hands-on experience with Elated-Themes builds and know how to get results without creating new problems.

Get a free estimate and describe what you need. You’ll hear back within 24 hours with no obligation to proceed.