Weaver Xtreme vs. Weaver II
This FAQ should clear up any questions you might have about our two different themes, Weaver Xtreme and Weaver II.
What is the difference between Weaver Xtreme and Weaver II?
- Weaver Xtreme is our current theme. All future development and support will be for Weaver Xtreme. It has been totally redesigned and rewritten to use the latest web design technologies and innovations (like Retina display compatibility and totally responsive design.) It has significant new and useful options not available with Weaver II.
- Weaver II is our older theme. While we are committed to providing WordPress version compatibility updates, it will not get other bug fixes, upgrades or new features. It is at end-of-life. In addition, Weaver II and Weaver II Pro no longer will support automatic version updating (which happens rarely anyway).
Should you switch to Weaver Xtreme?
YES! If you are building a new site, or want to update an old site, ABSOLUTELY! We do not recommend building a new site with Weaver II, or making extensive revisions to older Weaver II sites. It will be worth the conversion.
Should you keep using Weaver II?
If you have an existing site that you are happy with, you may not find it worthwhile to switch to Weaver Xtreme at this time. But do note that some of the design of Weaver II is becoming a bit outdated – user agent mobile support, no Retina support, etc. But you can still maintain great looking web sites with Weaver II.
Note that historically, even themes that could be considered quite ancient (over 5 years old!) continue to work without problems even on the latest versions of WordPress. The only exception to this has been some incompatibilities introduced with the layout and styling used by the Page/Post editor, but the sites will still display properly.
Should you start a new site using Weaver II?
Simply put, NO! Weaver Xtreme has significantly better design technology. The option interfaces of the old and new themes are very similar, and you should have little problem switching to Weaver Xtreme for new sites, or if you are a first time user.
Is there an automatic converter from Weaver II to Weaver Xtreme?
Please understand that Weaver II and Weaver Xtreme are two very different themes. Both offer unequaled flexibility in your site design, and share many similar options, but the underlying HTML layout and CSS used by each is significantly different. The option settings files are not compatible.
That being said, we have developed a converter that will convert the basic Aspen, Weaver II and Weaver II Pro settings into Weaver Xtreme and Weaver Xtreme Pro settings. Because the themes are different, and the HTML <div>s have been changed, conversion of custom CSS will be limited. The goal of this converter will be to convert your basic settings in such a way that you can retain most of your previous design, while starting to take advantage of Weaver Xtreme. See Update Weaver II sites to Weaver Xtreme – A complete solution for more details.
Will Weaver II continue to be available on WordPress.org?
Not much longer. New requirements in the theme standards at WordPress.org have made it impossible to provide updates there. They will not allow even small theme changes or bug fixes unless the entire theme has been “fixed” to support translation capabilities for both the visitor and admin sides. We simply do not have the resources available to do that for the very significant admin side text content of Weaver II (or Aspen, either). Note that Weaver Xtreme does have admin side translation capability – but that will require a volunteer effort before anything other than English is available for the admin side strings. Weaver II updates will continue to be provided through the WeaverTheme.com website. We will likely completely pull Weaver II from the WP.org repository in the near future, partly to discourage new users.
What about Weaver II Pro vs. Weaver Xtreme Plus
First, remember that Weaver II and Weaver Xtreme are completely different themes. These two premium extensions of Weaver II and Weaver Xtreme are similar in functionality. You can think of Weaver Xtreme combined with Weaver Xtreme Plus as being similar to Weaver II Pro – they provide extended and new features to the free versions of the themes. Weaver Xtreme is a significantly more advanced theme, and provides what might be considered even more useful new options – such as totally integrated new font capabilities, more flexible widget area design, and more flexible full width site design features.
What’s the story with the Weaver Xtreme Plus license?
Because Weaver Xtreme Plus is a our latest premium product, our license is now more in line with most premium WordPress plugins. One of the main advantages of the new license is that the plugin will be automatically updated as long as the plugin has a valid license – which is 18 months from date of purchase (most premium plugins are valid only for 12 months!). Each site (regular domains and sub-domains are considered separate sites) requires a validated license. Your right to use your copies of the Weaver Xtreme Plus plugin will never expire, and it will continue to function even after the license expires.
One of the main advantages of this license is that site developers will be able to install Weaver Xtreme Plus on client sites that will automatically be updated – unlike the manual (but easy) updates required for Weaver II Pro.
There is no connection between a Weaver II Pro license and a Weaver Xtreme Plus license. Because we switched license managers, your license for Weaver Xtreme Plus is now managed on our shopping site, Shop.WeaverTheme.com. You will need to create a new user account for that site.