Hey folks, Mike here from Ollie, and I can’t believe it’s been a full year since we launched Ollie Pro! What started as a thoughtfully-crafted block theme to help people get the most out of full site editing has grown into something truly special.

As I sit here reflecting on the past twelve months, I’m blown away by everything we’ve accomplished alongside our growing community. From major feature releases to industry recognition, it’s been an absolutely wild ride.

So grab a coffee (or your beverage of choice) and let’s take a trip down memory lane to celebrate all the amazing updates we’ve delivered this year.

The numbers don’t lie

Before we dive into the features, let me share some numbers that really show the impact Ollie is having in the WordPress community. The free Ollie block theme now has over 5,000 active users – that’s 5,000 people building beautiful websites with our little theme!

And Ollie Pro? We’ve crossed the 500 paid subscriptions milestone and we’re growing more every day. The full-site editing era of WordPress and this new way of building websites is relatively new, so grabbing 500 subscribers in our first year is no easy task. Next up, 1,000 subscribers!

Our YouTube channel has also been growing consistently this year, with new tutorials and engaging content being posted regularly. It’s become a hub for anyone wanting to learn about modern WordPress site building, block themes, and full site editing.

Dev education with the Ollie Academy

One of our most recent launches this year was the Ollie Academy video library. We realized that while WordPress’s new features are incredibly powerful, they can also be overwhelming for folks who are just getting started with building block themes and custom blocks.

Over the past month, we launched two free WordPress development courses:

• Ollie Block Theme Academy – Learn to harness the full power of WordPress’s site editor, global styles, and block patterns to create themes that users actually want to use. Read the launch post here.
• Ollie Block Dev Academy – learn to build custom blocks from the ground up, master WordPress’s data systems, and create interfaces that feel native to the block editor experience. Read the launch post here.

These are some of the most comprehensive modern WordPress development courses available, and they are both completely free for everyone.

Ollie Pro 2.0: A complete game-changer

If there’s one update that really stands out this year, it’s got to be Ollie Pro 2.0. We completely reimagined what it means to set up a WordPress website, and the result is nothing short of a game-changer. Read the Ollie Pro launch post here.

The new Ollie Pro Dashboard

We built a central command center that puts everything you need right at your fingertips. The new dashboard is your one-stop hub for accessing all of Ollie’s powerful features like the site setup wizard and starter sites.

Site Setup Wizard: your site-building superpower

Remember spending hours jumping between different WordPress admin screens just to get your site configured? Those days are over. Our completely revamped Site Setup Wizard takes you from blank canvas to beautifully designed website in just a few minutes.

We handle all those pesky setup tasks in one streamlined experience – from essential plugins to pre-designed pages, brand colors, typography, and layouts. By the time you hit that finish button, you’ve got a professional, responsive site that’s ready for content.

Starter Sites: WordPress at warp speed

While our setup wizard was already a huge time-saver, Starter Sites take it to the next level by doing everything for you automatically. We install essential plugins, import beautifully designed pages, set up your templates, and dial in your colors and typography to create a cohesive design system on the fly.

In just a couple of clicks, you get a complete, ready-to-go website that looks like it took days to build. It’s like having a professional designer and developer set up your site in seconds instead of weeks.

Free for all Ollie users

Here’s the kicker – we made the setup wizard and starter sites feature in Ollie Pro 2.0 completely free for all existing Ollie users. That’s right, every single person using the Ollie theme gets access to these powerful new tools at no extra cost. You can download Ollie Pro on the download page.

A huge performance boost

With Ollie Pro 1.3.0, we delivered a massive performance boost. We introduced pagination and local-first favorites, which means faster pattern loading and fewer requests to our servers.

For you keyboard warriors out there, we also added new shortcuts to launch the pattern library even quicker. Check out the video for details on those shortcuts.

The Agency collection: bold and beautiful

We expanded our pattern library with the Agency collection – a complete set of pixel-perfect patterns crafted specifically for startups, agencies, and creative professionals.

We went big and bold with this one, creating striking, professional designs that help you build compelling websites in record time. Personally, it’s one of my favorite pattern collections and I have been building all kinds of sites with it!

Smart color palettes

One thing that makes a website look truly professional is consistent, harmonious colors throughout the site. But getting colors right can be tricky, especially if you’re not a designer by trade.

That’s why we built Ollie with a purpose-built color system that makes it super easy to create beautiful, cohesive designs without needing a degree in color theory.

Our 11-color palette system, with strategic color pairings and accent partners, takes the guesswork out of color selection.

Recognition from the WordPress community

This year brought some incredible recognition that really validated what we’re doing with Ollie. We took first place in the Bluehost Creator Awards, competing against some truly amazing WordPress products and themes.

But what meant even more was the engagement we saw at WordCamp US in Portland. Seeing the WordPress community embrace Ollie and get excited about the future of block themes – that’s the kind of recognition that really fuels our passion for this project.

What’s next?

As I look ahead to year two of Ollie Pro, I’m more excited than ever about what we’re building. We’re not just creating a theme or a plugin – we’re crafting the future of how people build websites with WordPress.

The WordPress ecosystem is evolving rapidly, and we’re committed to staying at the forefront of that evolution. Full site editing isn’t just a nice-to-have feature anymore – it’s becoming the standard way to build with WordPress. And Ollie is leading that charge.

We’ve got plans for more patterns, UI additions to core blocks to speed up building, a better search in the Ollie Pro pattern browser, and a bunch more.

Thank you!

None of this would have been possible without our incredible community. From the early adopters who took a chance on a new block theme to the power users who push our tools to their limits and help us discover new possibilities – you’ve all been part of this journey.

Every feature request, every bug report, every kind word of encouragement has helped shape Ollie into what it is today. And we’re just getting started.

Here’s to another year of building beautiful, blazing-fast websites together. The future of WordPress site building has never looked brighter, and I can’t wait to see what we create next — together.