My Move to the Genesis WordPress Theme

Earlier today, I switched themes to the Genesis Premium WordPress theme (affiliate link). It is a very strong WordPress theme, with lots of SEO capability built in to improve search. It’s fairly straightforward behind the scenes. I haven’t run into anything that scares me.

It’s not as designer-tweak-filled as Thesis, but as I’m not a designer, and as I never touched those parts myself very much, I’m okay with that. I paid Nico to design my blog, so I wouldn’t break anything.

The team behind it, StudioPress has lots of other custom themes as well, but I’m going to stick with Genesis for a while, and here’s why: It’s a theme “framework,” which means that it’s going to allow for “child” themes or “skins,” so that I can stay on Genesis but add a video-intensive theme, if I want.

So, I’m pretty excited to try out a new theme and see what makes sense.

If you’re using Thesis, I still think it’s a good theme, and for those of you wondering, Chris Pearson and team at DIYThemes are GPL-compliant again, so that’s a non-issue.

For me? I’m just trying out a new theme framework, and so far, I’m pretty happy with it.

Want to check it out? Visit Genesis today.

The Genesis Framework empowers you to quickly and easily build incredible websites with WordPress. Whether you're a novice or advanced developer, Genesis provides you with the secure and search-engine-optimized foundation that takes WordPress to places you never thought it could go.

With automatic theme updates and world-class support included, Genesis is the smart choice for your WordPress website or blog.

Find out more about the framework features
Check out the Genesis demo and the wide variety of child themes
See example designs in the Genesis design showcase

Become a StudioPress Affiliate

http://www.sqlsteps.com Alex @ SQL Training

Genesis seems to be a good theme framework and does seems to have a lot of good SEO capabilities. There are so many framework and it is hard to choose the best but Thesis and Genesis are my pick of the lot
http://eco-officegals.com/ Eco-Office Gals

I have been working with both Studio and Thesis a lot lately and both have their strengths. I think people still tend to be visually drawn to studiopress since it has several built in visual bells and whistles. But thesis is very strong on options. It's a toss for me.
http://nathanhangen.com/blog Nathan Hangen

I think that's a good point…there really are different themes for different needs. I run a little bit of everything, and even though I prefer certain brands, the reality is that I have yet to find a one size fits all solution.
http://www.birdsontheblog.co.uk/ Sarah Arrow

I use Studiopress themes on several blogs and they are very pleasing visually and I am thrilled with them. Sadly it is not the Genesis theme, which to be honest, I found to be very painful.

I am not a designer, just a ardent WP fan who wants a good looking easily customisable theme with out having to call in a designer every 5 minutes when I want to change something. I will soon be moving some other themes over to Thesis as I have found with my limited skills it's much easier to manipulate than Genesis, and easier to get the look that I want.

The new look site is good :) and if it suits your video intensive needs, then it's the right choice for you, and people need to remember all of our needs are different, that it's a needs and use issue and nothing else.
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http://www.christinegreen.com/ Christine Green

Chris – I felt uneasy after reading your post. I sensed there was more to the story than what you shared. Thanks for this fuller explanation. I understand and it increases my trust of the Trust Agent! :-)
http://www.internet-bard.com KatFrench

Gladiola is, to me, the theme equivalent of a little black dress. Elegant in its simplicity. I still love the typography of it. And I'm still running a variation on Downtown Java on thatdarnkat.com, although I no longer update that blog.
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

I'm with you. There are both types of values and I'm excited that the world contains both. : )
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

Wait. Where's the URL? We want to see it. : )
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

I chose Genesis because Brian Clark introduced me to Brian Gardner. If you mean Headway, I haven't yet put together a project in Headway, but I most certainly will in the nearer future, if only to see what I've been missing.
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

That's an affirmative. At some point in the near future.
http://eco-officegals.com/ Eco-Office Gals

I'm actually not loving my own redesign I did on iflexx and have been tossing around between thesis and studio myself. It's funny that you brought this up.
http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

Cool – look forward to seeing what you think of it. :)
http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

No, not Headway specifically – just why Genesis. But yeah, Brian Gardner has been doing some great stuff for years on themes.

Hmm… so was this an “exclusive leak” that Brian Clark will soon be running Copyblogger on Genesis? ;-)
http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

That'll be this one:

http://onlineracedriver.com/
http://patriotconnect.com Genuine Chris Johnson

Paypal and other buttons. Makes me nuts, too.
Ozzybeef

I am curious if changing themes will affect traffic from search engines.
http://designresumes.com/ juliewalraven

Me too, Danny, I have never regretted Headway and my first look at it was through you and Jim Connolly. I am curious to see if Chris likes it too. I will admit that I am pulled by any project that has a young person doing great things. I have seen my share of kids gone wrong and I am very impressed with the work Clay Griffiths has done and proud of the way Grant supports him.
http://www.kimwoodbridge.com Kim Woodbridge

I've worked with Headway, Genesis, and Thesis for different clients but don't run any of them on my own sites. Well, I am using an older StudioPress theme, Streamline, on one site but it isn't the Genesis child theme. From a development perspective – not a business or affiliate one – I prefer Genesis. I rarely run into any issues and with customizations can create something completely unique. I also am in love with their single price, forever updates on all themes. If a client, however, wants to use Headway or Thesis I don't try to talk her out of it – they all have their strengths.

The site looks great.
C Briansullivan

hi Chris,

love the blog and i am a faithful reader. my first impression of this switch is the same i had when chris garrett made the switch to headway from thesis:

the market is drying up for affiliate commission for thesis – time to make the switch to a new theme that is probably just as good, but will replenish the revenue stream.

correct me! :)
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

In my case, that wasn't really the reason. I'm still making pretty good money on Thesis.

In my case, there was a business decision. I had only one premium wordpress theme in my quiver. I will have 4 by the end of the month. That's so that I can have a diverse solution set for my own projects, as well as to recommend to others.
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

I'm not a designer, so I find I like the SEO and other gears and buttons. Design-wise, however, those who make such things sing say they love how Genesis does what it does.
http://www.toetoeshoes.com retro jordans

.With automatic theme updates and world-class support included, Genesis is the smart choice for your WordPress website
http://avenuedesignstudios.com/ John Carman

I'm surprised to see so many designers using premium themes. Is this becoming standard? I have always designed custom themes for my clients.
http://www.headwayhub.com Corey Freeman

Let me know if you need any assistance at all with the headway theme. ;) It's kind of what I do.
Sophiachen37

Just take a look, I like this site
http://www.robcottingham.ca Rob Cottingham

That’s better than my answer for wanting to install Genesis: I just want to play with it. I’m a born tinkerer, and blogs are the new jalopies.
Ari Herzog

Interesting, Kim. So from your perspective, you advise folks who grasp the PHP end of things to switch from Thesis to Genesis?

What about the Frugal theme? Have you played with that too?
Adam

You’re just trying out a new framework…right…

It has nothing to do with the fact that CopyBlogger Media LLC just acquired Genesis???

Mmmk…if you say so.

I have no problem with supporting business partners. We all make decisions on that basis. That said, I’m a big fan of transparency, and this ain’t it :(
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http://www.dougfrancis.com Doug Francis

Yes, I know that this is an old post but it giving me some insight into upgrading to a new theme. I too run an older version StudioPress theme and feel it is important to upgrade – obviously because I am sold on the importance of the backbone – Genesis.

I’m in the process of determining what I need to do to upgrade without messing everything up. Hopefully I’ll locate a video tutorial…

My Move to the Genesis WordPress Theme

ChrisBrogan.com runs on the Genesis Framework

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