Salient

by ThemeNectar

A creative agency theme known for bold animation and portfolio layouts.

CreativePremium

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What Salient is

A creative agency theme known for bold animation and portfolio layouts.

It sits in the creative part of the theme market and is sold by ThemeNectar on a premium basis. A theme decides your layout, your typography and a large slice of your page weight, so it is the hardest thing on a WordPress site to change later.

Before you commit, record a speed test of your current site, then run the same test after you switch, on the same page, so you can see exactly what the new theme costs you.

Real user ratings

Salient is sold outside the WordPress.org directory and we have no ThemeForest figures on file for it, so there is no public user rating to quote. Judge it on the vendor demo, the refund window and the update history rather than on a marketplace score.

Where Salient ranks elsewhere

Salient does not appear in the published "best of" lists we track from WPBeginner, TechRadar, Kinsta, Themeisle and similar sites. That is not a mark against it - those roundups are short and skew towards the biggest names.

What changed in the latest version

Salient does not publish a changelog we can read automatically, so check the vendor's own release notes before you update a live site.

How to install Salient

Try the live demo first, then install from the official source. It takes about five minutes.

Live demo

ThemeNectar hosts the demo on their own site rather than WordPress.org.

View the Salient demo

Where to download it

Salient is sold directly by ThemeNectar, so you download the zip from your account after purchase and upload it to WordPress.

Official store page

Install it

1Buy Salient from ThemeNectar and download the theme zip from your account area.
2In your WordPress admin, open Appearance then Themes, click Add New and then Upload Theme.
3Choose the zip, click Install Now and then Activate.
4Enter your licence key in the theme settings so you keep getting updates and support.

Set it up after activating

1Run the theme's own setup wizard or starter site import if it offers one, on a fresh site only.
2Set your logo, colours, fonts and menus under Appearance then Customise or the site editor.
3Create a child theme or use the theme's own custom CSS panel so updates never overwrite your work.
4Set global colours, fonts and container width before you build any pages.
5Import a starter layout if one fits, then strip out demo sections you do not need.
6Take a speed test before and after the switch on the same page so you can see the real cost.

Always try a theme switch on a staging copy first if the site is already earning.

Pros and cons

Portfolio and motion styling look polished with no custom CSS.
Works with the block editor and the mainstream page builders.

Heavy animation can hurt Core Web Vitals if you enable everything.
Paid only, usually on a yearly renewing licence.
Not listed on WordPress.org, so there is no independent public rating to check.
Switching themes later means rebuilding page layouts, so choose deliberately.

How to use it

1Install the theme from Appearance > Themes, then activate it on a staging copy first.
2Create a child theme or use the theme's own custom CSS panel so updates never overwrite your work.
3Set global colours, fonts and container width before you build any pages.
4Import a starter layout if one fits, then strip out demo sections you do not need.
5Replace demo images with compressed WebP versions sized for the slot they sit in.
6Run a before and after check on our speed test so you can see the real page cost.

How it compares

Other creative themes we recommend, with their public WordPress.org score where one exists.

Theme	Rating	Reviews	Pricing	Best for
Salient	n/a	n/a	Premium	Portfolio and motion styling look polished with no custom CSS.
Uncode	n/a	n/a	Premium	Grid and gallery system is one of the most flexible around.
Bridge	n/a	n/a	Premium	Strong visual polish for agencies, restaurants and studios.