Divi 5 (Alpha): What Website Owners and Developers Need to Know

Sun 20th October, 2024

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If you’re familiar with WordPress and website design, you’ve likely heard of Divi. It’s one of the most popular WordPress themes and builders in the world, thanks to its flexibility, visual builder, and ease of use. Whether you’re a web developer building custom sites for clients or a website owner managing your own site, Divi has probably been part of your toolkit.

Now, Divi 5 is on the horizon. And like with any major update, the excitement is palpable. But before you dive headfirst into the upgrade, it’s important to understand what’s changing, what it means for you, and whether or not you should rush into upgrading.

In this blog post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about Divi 5, including the key new features, what it means for performance, the compatibility risks, and how to decide if upgrading now is the right choice for you. Whether you’re a website owner, managing a site for your business, or a developer creating websites for clients, you’ll find useful insights here.

Why Divi 5 is a Big Deal

Divi 5 isn’t just another version with minor tweaks and updates. This is a complete rebuild of Divi from the ground up. The reason for this major overhaul comes down to performance. Over the years, Divi’s extensive features and flexibility have also made it a bit heavy. Websites using Divi can sometimes suffer from slower load times, and site performance is a major concern for both SEO and user experience.

Elegant Themes, the creators of Divi, have addressed this by reengineering the core framework. Divi 5 is designed to be leaner, faster, and more efficient, which could mean big improvements in site speed and overall performance. This performance boost is one of the main selling points of Divi 5, especially for anyone frustrated by the slower performance of earlier versions.

But there’s more to Divi 5 than just speed. Let’s dive into the details.

Divi 5 Alpha screenshot - All you need to know

What’s New in Divi 5?

  1. New Core Framework
    Divi 5’s biggest change is its new core framework. Instead of adding features on top of an already heavy framework, Elegant Themes has rebuilt Divi’s foundation to be more efficient. This has a few implications:
    • Improved Performance: Faster load times, especially on large, complex websites.
    • Future-Proofing: The new framework is designed to be more scalable, which means it should be able to handle future WordPress updates and new features with less risk of breaking.
  2. More Efficient Divi Builder
    One of Divi’s main draws is its visual builder, which allows users to design websites with a drag-and-drop interface. Divi 5 keeps this builder intact but makes it much more efficient. The changes under the hood mean faster loading times when editing pages and smoother performance when designing.
    • Cleaner Code: Divi 5 reduces the amount of bloated code that the previous versions would generate. This helps with both site speed and SEO.
    • Less Strain on Resources: Websites built with Divi 5 should experience less strain on hosting resources, making it a better option for websites on shared hosting or with high traffic.
  3. Full-Site Editing
    Divi 5 embraces the WordPress full-site editing feature, which was introduced in WordPress 5.9. This allows users to edit headers, footers, and other global elements directly from the visual builder. This gives users more control over the entire design of their website without needing to jump between different sections of the WordPress admin.
  4. Extended Customisation Options
    Customisation is key to creating a unique website that stands out, and Divi 5 adds even more control over the look and feel of your site. Developers will appreciate the increased flexibility for custom CSS, JavaScript, and PHP hooks, while non-developers will enjoy the more user-friendly UI for making design tweaks.
    • Custom Fields Integration: Divi 5 integrates better with custom fields, making it easier to pull dynamic content into your designs.
    • Global Styles and Presets: Managing design consistency across your website is easier with the improved global styles and preset management.
  5. Developer-Focused ImprovementsElegant Themes has made a point to address the needs of developers with Divi 5. There’s a stronger focus on modularity and extendability, meaning developers can build custom solutions on top of Divi more easily.
    • Modular Components: Divi 5’s new architecture is more modular, allowing developers to pick and choose components for customisation without needing to modify the entire theme.
    • API Enhancements: Divi 5 introduces a more robust API, which gives developers more tools to build custom modules and extend the functionality of Divi.
  6. Improved Compatibility with Other Plugins
    Compatibility issues between Divi and third-party plugins have been a point of frustration for many users in the past. Divi 5’s new framework aims to reduce these conflicts. The cleaner code and improved architecture make it easier for plugins to integrate smoothly with Divi.
    • Better REST API Support: With Divi 5, you’ll see more seamless integration with plugins that rely on the WordPress REST API.
    • Fewer Conflicts with WooCommerce: WooCommerce users will particularly appreciate the better compatibility, as Divi 5 reduces the likelihood of plugin clashes with the popular eCommerce solution.

The Performance Question: How Much Faster is Divi 5?

One of the main reasons for upgrading to Divi 5 is the performance boost. Elegant Themes has focused heavily on making Divi leaner and faster, but how much of an improvement can you expect?

Real-World Speed Improvements

Although the official benchmarks for Divi 5 are still being released, early testers have reported significant gains in both page load times and backend performance. Websites that previously struggled with slow page loads, especially on mobile devices, are seeing noticeable improvements.

  • Frontend Speed: Websites built with Divi 5 are expected to load faster, thanks to reduced CSS and JavaScript overhead. This is particularly important for mobile users, where page speed is critical for both user experience and SEO rankings.
  • Backend Speed: The visual builder is also faster, with less lag when dragging and dropping modules or making adjustments to layouts.

Better for SEO

Site speed is a ranking factor in Google’s algorithm, so faster load times can give your site an SEO advantage. Divi 5’s leaner code and faster performance can help you improve your Core Web Vitals, which are essential for maintaining a high ranking in search results.

Less Strain on Hosting Resources

If you’ve ever experienced issues with Divi consuming too many resources on your server, Divi 5 could be the solution. The reduced bloat and more efficient code mean that your site will use fewer server resources, which can be especially important for websites on shared hosting.

Should You Upgrade Now?

Divi 5 sounds like an exciting update, with performance improvements and new features that could benefit many users. However, the key question is whether you should upgrade now. The simple answer is: not yet—at least, not on live production websites.

Divi 5 is Not Yet Ready for Production Use

While Divi 5 brings plenty of new enhancements, it’s important to remember that it’s still in its early stages. Early releases often come with bugs and compatibility issues that need ironing out. If your website is a critical asset for your business or clients, upgrading to Divi 5 right now could introduce problems that disrupt functionality or appearance.

For most website owners and developers, it’s best to hold off on upgrading live websites until the update has been tested thoroughly and any initial issues have been resolved.

Try Divi 5 on a Staging Site or Development Server

However, if you have a staging site or a local test/development environment, we highly recommend giving Divi 5 a try! This way, you can explore the new features and test your website’s compatibility without risking any downtime or performance issues on your live site.

By testing Divi 5 in a safe environment, you’ll get a sense of whether or not the new version is right for your site’s needs, and you can plan a smoother transition when it’s time to upgrade fully.

What About Plugin Compatibility?

It’s especially important to remember that many third-party plugins, especially those that interact deeply with Divi, may not be ready for Divi 5 yet. Always check plugin compatibility before considering any update, and be cautious with those that haven’t yet announced support for the new version.

Join the Conversation

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Divi 5 and how it could impact your website or business. Are you considering upgrading from Divi 4, or have you already tried it? Are you planning on moving away from Divi, perhaps to another page builder? What challenges do you expect, or what questions do you have about the new features? Drop your thoughts, concerns, and any questions in the comments below. Let’s get a discussion going about what this upgrade means for website owners and web developers alike!

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