A few word and links about choosing this specific theme and learning how to publish with WordPress. This is both for the sake of know how to use it as publishing tool and how to put your assignments online.
Portability: Learn WordPress’s native tools so your content isn’t dependent on a particular page builder’s proprietary layout system.
Simplicity: Avoid installing and learning how to use plugins that deal with layout when the theme already offers the features needed for a basic website.
Maintenance: Keep the number of moving parts small, making the website easier for starters to understand and maintain.
A beginner-friendly starting point
This is a quick guide for building a straightforward website
using WordPress’s Twenty Twenty theme and the tools already included in WordPress. You do not need to install Elementor or another third-party page builder to make a useful website.
Twenty Twenty was designed to work with the WordPress block editor. You can create and arrange page content with blocks, while theme options such as colors, site identity, menus and widgets are managed through the theme’s available settings. This will allow you to learn how to publish with WordPress and not get distracted or burdened with extra function you don’t actually need (◠‿◠)
I’m recommending this theme so you can focus on the content you publish and learn what this CMS (content management system) includes.
Why keep things simple?
Page builders had their place, back in the day, and they can be convenient, and they can feel very temptins. But adding a separate builder brings another system to learn and maintain. Depending on the builder and how a site is built, it can also introduce extra styling and scripts, and some page layouts may rely on the builder’s own format. All this can weigh down the site and dillute the actual content publishing.
For a small site, starting with the native WordPress editor means
fewer moving parts and a more straightforward editing experience. It
also helps you learn WordPress itself, rather than learning a
separate builder first.
A few points to highlight why page builder is not a good approach:
- Performance: Builders may add their own markup, styles and scripts. This will add weight to the site for no good reason and result in a slow loading site, most of the time.
- Portability: Some builders store layout information in
builder-specific data. If you later deactivate the builder or
migrate to another setup, you may need to recreate parts of the
layout. Worst case scenario, it can corrupt your published posts and you might need to re-do a lot of the work. - Learning: To learn publishing with WordPress the built-in blocks and Twenty Twenty’s theme settings are the right approach.
Getting started with Twenty Twenty
- In your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance → Themes and activate
Twenty Twenty if it is installed. If it is not installed, add it
from the Themes area. - Create the basic pages your site needs, such as Home, About and
Contact. Use Pages → Add New. - Edit each page with the block editor. Add headings, paragraphs,
images, lists, buttons or columns as needed. Start with the simplest
layout that communicates your information clearly. - Set up your site identity and theme colors in the Customizer, where
available. In Twenty Twenty, the official theme guide describes
options including the site logo and custom colors. - Set up your navigation menu (left panel > appearance > menus) and assign it to the appropriate menu
location. - Preview the site on desktop and mobile, then publish when you are
happy with it.
For a practical, theme-specific reference, start with the official
Twenty Twenty documentation below. It explains the theme’s features and settings.
Further reading: Twenty Twenty and the native WordPress tools
Further reading: concerns about page builders and Elementor
The articles below discuss common criticisms of page builders, including Elementor. Some are opinion pieces written by web developers or agencies describing their own experience and preferences. They are useful perspectives, not neutral scientific verdicts. Performance varies by site, so treat broad claims as arguments to investigate rather than universal facts.
- The Page Builder Trap: Why We Said Goodbye to Elementor and Divi
AgilePress - Why We Don’t Use Elementor (And Why You Shouldn’t Either)
A Million Monkeys - Elementor review (2026): is the biggest WordPress page builder still the right pick?
ThemeBurn - Why does Elementor slow down your WordPress site? (And how to fix it)
PageWeight - Page Builder Lock-In: How to Audit Your Risk Before You Scale WitsCode
A note on choosing tools
This is not a claim that every page builder is harmful or that every
site built with native blocks will be fast. A poorly optimized site can
be slow with any editor, and some projects benefit from a visual
builder. My point here is that for a basic website using Twenty Twenty, begin with the theme and WordPress’s built-in block editor. Avoid plugins for now and focus on learning publishing and getting familiar with WordPress ~ further down the line, explore more ツ
Official reference
The WordPress documentation notes that Twenty Twenty was designed to take advantage of the block editor, including Group and Columns blocks, and provides theme options for site identity, colors, menus and footer widgets:
