The Genesis Framework for WordPress is one of the best purchases I’ve made in the past few years – and I’ve bought a few products in this time, most of which have been a complete waste of money.
Not so with Genesis.
In principle free WordPress themes are great, but they usually need a bit of hacking to make them look and work the way I want them to. For this reason I prefer to use premium themes. For anyone who doesn’t want to get bogged down with the technicalities of WordPress code then a premium theme is definitely the best way to go. Typically they have built-in options to change colours, layout etc from within the admin area.
At the current time my preferred choice of premium WordPress theme/framework is Genesis by StudioPress/Copyblogger – the framework looks good straight out of the box; bolt on one of the many child themes (the one I’m using here is Agency) available and it looks great.
The Genesis Framework for WordPress
If you haven’t before come across the term ‘framework’ in relation to WordPress let me explain…
A framework sits on top of a WordPress installation and usually consists of its own hooks, commands and features based upon the WordPress code.
Child themes then sit on top of the framework to convert the ugly ducking into a beautiful swan.
All StudioPress child themes are based upon the Genesis framework so you can easily change themes if you want to give your site a fresh look. When you first install Genesis you have to set-up global parameters, these are connected to the framework and stay the same no matter which child theme you install.
Some of the parameters are listed below:
Custom Feeds
If you are using Feedburner to manage the RSS feed of your site you can force Genesis to use it to; just enter the Feedburner URI into the appropriate box, then, when you display the RSS feed icon on your site using a Genesis command, it will link to the Feedburner address.
Default Layout
This is a great feature of Genesis. You can set a default layout for your WordPress powered site, but you can also change the layout per post/page. This makes it super easy to experiment with different layouts to see which work best for you. There are six default options available:
Navigation Settings
Custom menus in WordPress are fantastic. They allow you to have full control over which categories and pages appear in your menus, and, if you wish, you can create a menu from a mix of categories and pages.
This is something that is only possible in more recent versions of WordPress.
You can also choose to enable fancy dropdowns and secondary menus should you wish to use them.
When using the Genesis Framework you have to use at least the Primary Navigation Menu. In its default state it has a link to “home” and nothing else until you add some pages and categories. You can also choose to enable one of the extras built into Genesis:
- Today’s date
- RSS feed links (posts and comments)
- Search form
- Twitter link
To set up the Twitter link just enter your username and the text you would like to display. StudioPress doesn’t access your Twitter account, it just links to your page.
Breadcrumbs
If you take a look at the top of this page you will see breadcrumbs navigation: Home > Category > Page Title. I like breadcrumb navigation as it helps with SEO and it helps readers navigate around a site. In Genesis you can choose to have this on or off, and you can choose which pages or sections display breadcrumb menus.
Comments and Trackbacks
Control sitewide comments and trackbacks. Don’t feel obliged to allow comments on your blog or website just because most people say it is a good thing to do. If you are using WordPress to power a niche site then it may be better to switch off comments and not allow them. This function enables to you make that decision at the top-level.
Content Archive
This is good. This is where you design the layout of your archive (category) pages. There are several options available to you – choose to display the post excerpt or the content, include a featured image (and the size of the image) and select the post navigation technique – older/newer, previous/next or numeric.
Personally, I choose to display the excerpt, a small thumbnail (if available) and the display technique is numeric. See an example here.
Header and Footer Scripts
Almost everybody who uses Genesis adds at least a couple of scripts to their installation. It could be Google Analytics, a verification code or something else. These two boxes make it easy to add any scripts you use.
That just about covers the Genesis framework; the basic installation and set-up. Once you have the framework in place it’s time to look for a child theme. Initially I didn’t use a child theme, I left the framework as it is, but it soon becomes bland and uninteresting, even though like minimalist themes.
Custom Child Themes for the Genesis Framework
The basic Genesis Framework theme is good enough to get going, but if you want your site to stand out you should seriously consider buying at least one of the child themes.
A child theme sits on top of WordPress and the Genesis Framework. It’s the icing (frosting) on the cake, and adds all the bells and whistles you expect from a website designed and coded by professionals.
Each child theme is priced at $24.95 or you can buy them all (and every future release) for $299.95 (including the framework). If you are in the business and creating sites for clients then the latter option is definitely worth exploring. If you want a theme for your site, then opt for the single choice.
So far I’ve purchased two StudioPress child themes. On here I’m running Agency and on my how to site I’m running Elle.
Elle is a theme from the Market Place, which is where StudioPress approved designers showcase their work.
I have to say that I’m really happy with both themes.
Widgets
They both use widgets to control the layout of the home page and sidebars (widgets are not available in the framework). For example, the Agency theme makes use of five widgets on the home page:
They are:
- Home Top Left
- Home Top Right
- Home Bottom #1
- Home Bottom #2
- Home Bottom #3
You can place whatever you want into these widgets. You can choose from featured posts/pages (see below) or you can add categories, text or whatever.
For my Home Top Left widget I use an easily configurable Featured Post widget.
This is what it looks like:
As you can see there are plenty of options to choose from so you have a lot of control over what your readers see and how you want to display the content.
The sidebars work in the same way. You can add featured posts or pages, you can add your latest tweets or you can add a user profile.
Why Genesis?
What the Genesis Framework, and at least one child theme gives you, is a fantastic looking and easily configurable site for under $100 that doesn’t require you to mess with any code as everything is set-up through the WordPress admin area.
Compare that to the cost of hiring a professional web designer and waiting for him/her to come up with a concept and go through the build process, and the Genesis Framework really is a no-brainer. Spending a fortune on a fancy dan website is not always cost-effective, especially when you can buy with something just good and have it running on a server in the time it takes to make and drink a coffee.
As well as being built upon a sturdy foundation you get access to the very helpful user forum. The good news is you may never need it unless you choose to develop your own child theme or want to dig deeper into the code. If you do ask a question though you can be confident of quickly receiving an answer and a solution to your problem from one of the experienced forum moderators (and not a forum member).
Another thing to make you aware of is the Simple Hooks plugin. This plugin lets you easily add content (AdSense, adverts or whatever) to certain sections of the page, again.
Final Summary
I’ve used Genesis for a few months now and I really can’t recommend it enough. The framework is fantastic and easy to use and there are plenty of great child themes to choose from. The plans for StudioPress/Genesis look good too; each theme will eventually be recoded to work on mobile devices, seamlessly integrate into bbPress and work with the WooCommerce plugin so you can turn your WordPress powered blog/site into a fully fledged eCommerce site.
The Price List
Genesis framework – $59.95
All child themes – $299.95
Individual child themes – $24.95
