The portfolio list is where Solene makes its case
Plenty of photography themes promise a gallery and deliver one grid. Solene's vendor feature list spreads the portfolio list across several distinct behaviours, and the choice between them shapes how a visitor moves through your work.
A full-screen portfolio slider gives one image at a time the whole viewport. A horizontal scrolling list moves sideways rather than down, which suits a wedding day read as a sequence. A vertical loop keeps the feed running past the end of the set. Pagination is a separate decision: load more adds items on demand, infinite scroll does it automatically, and standard pagination hands control back to the visitor with page numbers.
The theme also separates how the list looks from how it pages: gallery, masonry and exhibition layouts are listed as separate options, alongside a category list shortcode and a project-info shortcode for captions or credits.
Four ways to build a single wedding or shoot page
The project page is where a prospective client decides. According to the vendor's feature list, you can set it up four ways: a gallery, sliders, a set of images, or full-width images.
The practical difference is density. A twenty-image wedding story can carry a slider, because each frame gets attention. A two-hundred-image wedding benefits more from a gallery or a full-width sequence, where the visitor scrolls and skims rather than clicking through.
Lightbox support can be switched on for portfolio images and video, so a visitor opens a frame or clip on top of the page instead of navigating away. That suits clients who want to watch a highlight film without losing their place in the album.
Wedding-flavoured elements that carry the editorial voice
The vendor summary cites 12 homepages and 7 inner pages and lists matrimonial and wedding theme elements among the package contents. The smaller pieces do more for tone than the demo count.
A Stamp widget and shortcode is a good example: a small graphic mark that reads as a rubber stamp on an album or invitation, which is a wedding-specific flourish rather than a generic badge. Stacked Images places photos in an overlapping pile — the arrangement you would use to let a set of details be discovered rather than presented in a formal grid. The Interactive Link Showcase builds a list of links that respond to the pointer, useful for pointing visitors at several collections from one page.
The theme also offers an optional passepartout border around the website, the matting you would see around a framed print. It is a global switch, so it frames the whole site rather than a single page. Header structure is the other layer worth planning before you start: the vendor lists divided, centered, minimal, standard and vertical header types, three scroll behaviours (sticky, sticky on scroll up, fixed), separate mobile header styling and dark and light logo variants.
Three editing routes that reach the same components
Solene is unusual in describing three parallel editing paths rather than one: Elementor alongside the Qi Addons for Elementor plugin, the block editor with Qi Blocks for Gutenberg, and WPBakery Page Builder included with the theme. Marketplace attributes recorded on 3 November 2026 also mark Gutenberg Optimized as Yes and list Block Editor and WPBakery as compatible tools.
These are three ways to place the theme's components, not three separate themes. Elementor users get the Qi Addons set inside that editor, block editor users get Qi Blocks, and WPBakery users get the bundled builder plus a large shortcode library. That library runs well beyond the portfolio: product lists in three forms, pricing tables, calls to action, animation holders, section titles, video buttons, infographics and a custom font shortcode.
The changelog shows how the dependency list grew. Version 3.1, from March 2024, added QODE Wishlist for WooCommerce as a required plugin, and version 3.1.1 the following day set WooCommerce itself as required. Version 3.2 added QODE Quick View for WooCommerce as required. Read those entries as a required plugin stack rather than a set of optional extras. A child theme is included, which matters if you plan to change templates rather than rebuild pages in a builder.
Selling prints, and what the wishlist actually does
The vendor frames Solene as covering both showcasing and selling photos. Its feature list includes WooCommerce compatibility, product list and product info shortcodes, a product carousel and a top reviews carousel. For a photographer selling prints, albums or a mini-session voucher, that is the commerce layer: standard WooCommerce products presented through theme-styled lists rather than a separate shop design.
QODE Wishlist for WooCommerce is described by the vendor as letting visitors create and share lists of products they are interested in purchasing. That is a browsing behaviour, not a checkout change — a couple can save a set of print options and send the list to each other before buying.
One caution belongs here. Installed plugins can change what your shop looks like more than the theme does, and the 3.5 changelog entry adds WooCommerce 11.x compatibility on top of the listing's 8.x through 10.x entries. Try the product, cart and wishlist flow on a staging copy with the exact plugin versions you intend to run.
Social feeds: read the changelog, not your expectations
A wedding photographer's site usually wants an Instagram strip, and the theme's feature list still names an Instagram Feed widget and a Twitter Feed widget.
The changelog tells a different story. Version 3.4, dated 29 August 2024, records that the Twitter plugin was removed because of Twitter API changes. Version 3.4.1, dated 24 March 2025, records that the Instagram plugin was removed for the same reason. Feed plugins break when a platform's API changes, and both removals are documented.
So do not count on the bundled social feed widgets still working. Neither the vendor summary nor the changelog describes a replacement, so if a live feed is part of your plan, budget for a maintained third-party plugin and test it.
Declared compatibility and the demo imagery question
The marketplace attributes observed on 3 November 2026 list WordPress 6.4.x through 7.1.x and WooCommerce 8.x.x through 10.x.x, with compatibility for Block Editor, Elementor and WPBakery Page Builder. The package is listed as containing PHP, CSS and JavaScript files, and the layout is marked responsive, widget ready and high resolution. Treat these as vendor declarations, not as anyone running the theme on your stack.
Demo content is a separate question. Version 2.4's changelog entry records that images licensed for digital use on websites made with the Solene theme were added — useful for anyone who imports a demo and expects to publish the sample imagery. Check the terms attached to the images you actually keep.
The changelog also shows maintenance you might not anticipate. Version 3.5, dated 3 November 2026, updates the bundled page builder and slider, refreshes the Google Fonts list and social share links, and improves PHP 8.3 compatibility. It also removed an unnecessary user image delete endpoint and custom user fields — the kind of change worth reading before upgrading a site that may have relied on them.
Questions & answers
Do I need WPBakery to use Solene, or can I build with the block editor?
The vendor describes three routes: Elementor with the Qi Addons for Elementor plugin, the block editor with Qi Blocks, and the bundled WPBakery Page Builder. Marketplace attributes mark Gutenberg Optimized as Yes and list Block Editor as compatible, so WPBakery is not the only path. The theme's shortcodes and demo content are built around the vendor's components, so check that the route you pick exposes the sections you want.
Can I sell prints and albums through the theme?
WooCommerce compatibility is listed, along with product list, product info and carousel shortcodes. Releases from March 2024 set WooCommerce as a required plugin, so a Solene site is expected to run it whether or not you sell. QODE Wishlist adds saved, shareable product lists — useful for couples comparing print options, but it does not change checkout.
Why does the Instagram widget no longer work?
The changelog records the Instagram plugin being removed in version 3.4.1 (March 2025) because of Instagram API changes, after the Twitter plugin was removed for the same reason in version 3.4. The widgets still appear in the older feature list, but the plugin that powered the feed is gone. Use a maintained third-party feed plugin instead and test it against the API you need.
Are the demo photos licensed for me to publish?
Version 2.4 of the changelog says images licensed for digital use on websites made with Solene were added. That covers the images packaged at that time; it does not confirm that every demo import, or third-party stock inside a specific demo, carries the same terms. Read the licence attached to the images you plan to keep and replace anything unclear with your own work.
