Over the Labor Day weekend, I had the pleasure of working on my first website using the Genesis Framework from StudioPress. I say pleasure because it happened to be my husband’s new photography site, and it was the first theme he’s chosen that didn’t lead me to using a string of obscenities that might actually shock people who regularly watch HBO.
His previous choices of themes have included several from ThemeForest, and I must say that while they did have beautiful designs, they also had some of the worst set of installation and setup instructions I have ever seen. These led to the previously mentioned string of obscenities, but I digress.
One thing I found very exciting about working on his site was that I got to know the Genesis Framework a bit better. I have seen a lot of well-known bloggers make the switch from Thesis to Genesis since it was released, so I have been curious what the fuss is about.
Thesis vs Genesis
Over the last few months, I’ve been asked what I thought of both themes, and now that I’ve had a bit of experience with both, I thought I’d share the head-to-head comparison of both frameworks.
Since it’s a lengthy post (and yes, links to themes & skins are affiliates because I recommend them all), I added some little jump tags throughout it so you can see the sections you want to know about quickly. Enjoy!
Jump to: Pricing | Framework Design | Thesis Skins | Genesis Child Themes | Installation | Admin Options | SEO | Theme Customization | Who Uses These Themes | Summary
Pricing
Let’s start with pricing, because that is usually the make or break point when it comes to purchasing a premium WordPress theme.
| Thesis by DIYThemes | Genesis by StudioPress | |||
| Personal | Developers | Framework | Theme + Framework | Pro Plus |
| $87 | $164 | $59.95 | $79.97 | $299.95 |
Each of the above options / packages include the following:
Thesis Options
- Personal Option – This option allows you to use the Thesis framework on one live website and one localized development server.
- Developer’s Option – This option allows you to use the Thesis framework on an unlimited number of sites that you or your business owns. If you want to use the Thesis framework for client work, you must pay an additional $40 per client site ($36 per client site if you purchase 5 licenses or $32 per client site if you purchase 10 licenses).
Both the Personal and Developer’s Options include lifetime access to the DIYthemes support forums, answers center, and lifetime upgrades.
Genesis Options
- Genesis Framework – This option allows you to use the basic Genesis Framework on an unlimited number of websites, whether they are for you or for a client.
- Theme + Genesis Framework – This option allows you to use the Genesis Framework plus a child theme on an unlimited number of websites, whether they are for you or for a client.
- Pro Plus Package – This package allows you access to the Genesis Framework plus all of the child themes created by StudioPress (currently over 40 plus future theme designs) to use on an unlimited number of websites, whether they are for you or for a client.
All of the above options include lifetime access to the support forums and lifetime upgrades. Since Genesis does doesn’t charge additionally for developers who are creating websites for their clients using their framework, this makes the Pro Plus Package by StudioPress the best option for developers.
Jump to: Pricing | Framework Design | Thesis Skins | Genesis Child Themes | Installation | Admin Options | SEO | Theme Customization | Who Uses These Themes | Summary
Base Framework Design
The following are examples of the base Thesis vs Genesis Framework designs with some content, sidebar widgets, and other fillers.
Click below images to see theme preview.
Neither are necessarily pretty at this stage, but are both functional. This is where you have two options. You can dive right into the custom coding, or you can purchase skins for Thesis or child themes for Genesis.
Jump to: Pricing | Framework Design | Thesis Skins | Genesis Child Themes | Installation | Admin Options | SEO | Theme Customization | Who Uses These Themes | Summary
Thesis Skins
DIYthemes does not offer anything outside of the Thesis framework, so you will need to look toward outside developers for Thesis Skins. Some sites that offer Thesis Skins include the following.
Thesis Awesome
Click below images to see skin preview.
Thesis Awesome offers a variety of Thesis Skins (including one specifically for sales / product pages) ranging in price from $37 to $87 which you can buy individually, or you can purchase a personal membership which includes access to all skins for unlimited use on your own sites at $120 / year or a developers membership which includes access to all skins for unlimited use on your own sites or client sites at $260 / year.
Kolakube
Click below images to see skin preview.
Kolakube offers one free Thesis skin and several others at $37 each which you can buy individually, or you can standard membership which includes six month access to all of their skins for $77 or a full membership which includes one year access to all of their skins for $147. I use the Marketer’s Delight skin on my fledgling Rockin Affiliate site – the opt-in box still gets subscribers daily even though there is no freebie offer.
More Thesis Skins
Thesis Themes offers four free Thesis Skins and several others that range in price from $39.95 to $70, with a few themes packaged together at a total of $120. All themes come with a free lifetime subscription. Themedy offers several skins that work for both Thesis and Genesis Frameworks that are $49.95 each or you can purchase an extended plan for $104.45 which allows you six months access to their current themes or a lifetime plan for $239.45 which allows you lifetime access to current and future themes. I haven’t tried out either of these services, but they might have the right designs for your site.
There are even more Thesis skin sites out there, but their skins were either outdated or I couldn’t find a price on them and wasn’t willing to register just to see the pricetag. Another thing to keep in mind with Thesis is since DIYthemes did not design the skins, you will be dependent on the skin developers’ support if there are any issues with the next Thesis or WordPress updates.
Overall, Thesis Skins are generally designed for businesses, marketers, and serious bloggers.
Jump to: Pricing | Framework Design | Thesis Skins | Genesis Child Themes | Installation | Admin Options | SEO | Theme Customization | Who Uses These Themes | Summary
Genesis Child Themes
When you purchase the Genesis Framework, you have the option to buy what are known as Child Themes along with the framework or separately. One thing that I really appreciate about the Genesis Child Themes is that they are also created by StudioPress. This means that when the Genesis Framework is updated, the child themes are supported by the same developers of the framework. Once you’ve purchased them from StudioPress, you have lifetime support for both the framework and the designs. They have a variety of designs including:
Business
Photography
Creative
Miscellaneous
If you don’t find what you are looking for by StudioPress, they also offer a marketplace where approved outside developers also have their own child themes for an additional $24.95 each. These are not included in the Pro Plus Package from StudioPress.
Overall, Genesis Child Themes are designed for everyone – businesses, marketers, serious bloggers, photographers, creative types, health bloggers, and more.
Jump to: Pricing | Framework Design | Thesis Skins | Genesis Child Themes | Installation | Admin Options | SEO | Theme Customization | Who Uses These Themes | Summary
Installation
Which theme is the easiest to install? Here are the basic instructions for both themes.
Installing the Thesis Framework
Installing Thesis requires an FTP program and some permissions changes. You cannot do it through the WordPress dashboard. The following are the latest directions from the DIYthemes website.
- Upload the new Thesis 1.8.2 folder to your /wp-content/themes folder.
- Locate the /custom-sample folder and change its name to /custom.
- Locate the layout.css file inside your newly-renamed /custom folder, and change its permissions to 666.
- [optional but highly recommended] If you’d like to give Thesis the ability to auto-crop thumbnail images for you, then you’ll want to change the permissions of your /custom/cache folder to 775.
- Inside your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Themes, and then activate Thesis 1.8.2.
If you don’t follow these directions exactly, your theme will not work correctly. Also, for those that can’t change the numbers for the permission settings, 666 is RW-RW-RW and 775 is RWX – RWX – RX
Installing the Genesis Framework
Genesis, on the other hand, is the winner when it comes to installation. To install the base Genesis Framework, you can simply go to your WordPress dashboard > Appearance > Themes > Install Themes > Upload and select the Genesis zip file that you downloaded when you purchased the theme. Then you hit the Install Now button and activate the Genesis theme. If you purchased a child theme, you will want to do the same process with the theme’s zip file. Theme installed!
Jump to: Pricing | Framework Design | Thesis Skins | Genesis Child Themes | Installation | Admin Options | SEO | Theme Customization | Who Uses These Themes | Summary
Admin Options
I could explain all of your options to you, but I thought a simple screenshot would do.
Genesis Framework Theme Settings
Click below image to see expanded version.
Thesis Framework Site & Design Options
Click below image to see expanded version.
The design options is one area where Thesis has Genesis beat – you can do a LOT of customization of the design without having to enter the world of custom coding or CSS editing.
Jump to: Pricing | Framework Design | Thesis Skins | Genesis Child Themes | Installation | Admin Options | SEO | Theme Customization | Who Uses These Themes | Summary
SEO Options
Again, I could explain all of your options to you, but I thought simple screenshots instead.
Genesis Framework SEO Site & Post Settings
Click below images to see expanded version.
Thesis Framework SEO Site & Post Options
Click below images to see expanded version.
Jump to: Pricing | Framework Design | Thesis Skins | Genesis Child Themes | Installation | Admin Options | SEO | Theme Customization | Who Uses These Themes | Summary
Theme Customization
Both Thesis and Genesis Frameworks use a hooks system where, instead of going directly into a PHP template to make changes to the theme, you add hooks instead. For example, to add my social sharing buttons without a plugin, I have the following code in my custom_functions.php:
add_action('thesis_hook_byline_item','custom_byline');
function custom_byline() {
if (is_single()) { ?>
· <span class="url fn"><?php the_category(', '); ?></span><br /><div
class="social-single"><div
id="social-twitter"><script src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" type="text/javascript"></script><div> <a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="<?php the_permalink() ?>" data-counturl="<?php the_permalink() ?>" data-text="<?php the_title(); ?>" data-via="kikolani" data-related="kikolani">Tweet</a></div></div><div
id="social-fb" style="padding-top:-2px;"><a name="fb_share" type="button_count" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php">Share</a><script src="http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div
id="social-su"><script src="http://www.stumbleupon.com/hostedbadge.php?s=1"></script></div><div id="social-su"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.linkedin.com/in.js"></script><script type="in/share" data-counter="right"></script></div></div><br />
<?php }
}
(Read more about adding social sharing buttons in single post template pages here.)
Thesis gives users custom_functions.php and custom.css files to add their customized coding in. This way, when you upgrade the theme, you can backup these two files, update the new theme files, and still have your custom coding safe. Genesis, on the other hand, allows you to directly edit the theme’s main functions.php and style.css. You can see how the hooks apply to both themes in the Thesis Hooks and Genesis Hooks visual references.
I’m new to Genesis, but one of my commenters alerted me to this little issue with editing the Genesis style.css:
While it *is* possible to edit the style sheet file within the Genesis theme, it is definitely not recommended to do that, since making use of the one-click automatic update feature in Genesis will wipe out those customisations.
Instead, you can install the free Sample Child Theme (it looks exactly like the default Genesis theme) and make the customisations to style.css there – you’ve then got the power of Genesis (unmodified), coupled with all your customisations safe elsewhere.
Thanks Gary J. for the tip!
If you’re not comfortable editing your functions file, your alternative are the simple hook plugins. Thesis has a OpenHooks plugin, and Genesis similarly has Simple Hooks – both lets you add custom coding within hooks through a simpler interface.
Click below images to see expanded version.
Jump to: Pricing | Framework Design | Thesis Skins | Genesis Child Themes | Installation | Admin Options | SEO | Theme Customization | Who Uses These Themes | Summary
Who Uses Thesis and Genesis
Now the part where we do a little name dropping. Here are some famous names around the interwebs using themes built on the Thesis and Genesis Framework.
| Thesis by DIYThemes | Genesis by StudioPress |
| Neil Patel (Quick Sprout) | Darren Rowse (ProBlogger) |
| Matt Cutts (Google Spokesperson) | Chris Brogan (Social Media Expert) |
| Ramit Sethi (NYT Bestselling Author) | Brian Clark (Copyblogger) |
| PsyBlog (Popular Psychology Blog) | Jay Baer (Social Media Specialist) |
Jump to: Pricing | Framework Design | Thesis Skins | Genesis Child Themes | Installation | Admin Options | SEO | Theme Customization | Who Uses These Themes | Summary
Thesis vs Genesis – Comparison Summary
That’s a pretty good bit of information to digest. Even I was a bit overwhelmed compiling this post. To summarize, here are my thoughts between the two frameworks.
- When it comes to pricing, the two are relatively comparable until you look at the developer’s options. For developers who are designing websites for clients, the one time $299 investment in the Pro Plus Package for StudioPress’ Genesis Framework plus Child Themes is the best way to go.
- Out-of-the-box design for both frameworks are pretty bland. Genesis Child Themes have the best designs for a variety of industries vs. the Thesis Skins which are more business and marketing focused. Plus Genesis Child Themes are supported by the makers of the Genesis Framework. The Thesis Skins are not supported by DIYthemes but by the skin’s developers.
- Thesis wins when it comes to design options customizable through the admin options panels. But if you know enough about CSS, you can easily fix the same things just by editing the Genesis style.css file.
- The initial installation of Genesis is much simpler than Thesis, unless you’re already familiar with FTP and file permissions.
- Theme customization must be done through the hooks and functions or using the simple hooks plugins. Both themes break if you mess up the functions file – you don’t have better luck with one over the other between Thesis or Genesis.
- SEO types seem to be heavy users of Thesis. Social media types are leaning with Genesis.
Alternative Premium WordPress Themes
If, after reading all of this, you’re not convinced you want to try Thesis or Genesis Framework, I thought I’d add a few other premium WordPress themes I would recommend as I have used them for various projects over the past few years.
Elegant Themes
Elegant Themes offers over 60 premium theme designs built for businesses, personal portfolios, photographers, magazines, and more. For $39 you get access to all of their themes for one year for your personal websites, or for $89 you get access to all of their themes plus the Photoshop files for each theme for personal and client websites.
Press75
Press75 offers premium theme designs built for video, photo, portfolio, news, and commerce sites. Their themes are $75 each, or you can subscribe to packages offering access to all of their themes for use on an unlimited number of websites for two months ($100), six months ($200), or a lifetime ($400).
Which Theme Do You Choose?
Now I open the floor to readers. What premium WordPress theme do you use on your site, and how do you like it? If you have experience with both Thesis and Genesis, which one do you like the best? Any other theme suggestions? Let us know!
Related Posts- WordPress Thesis Theme Customization Part One: Options
- Free WordPress Themes – With a Catch
- WordPress Thesis Theme Customization Part Three B: Posts & Social Bookmarking
- WordPress Thesis Theme Customization Part Two: Plugins
- WordPress Thesis Theme Customization Part Three A: Custom Coding
 | This post brought to you by Kristi HinesKristi is a blogger, freelance writer, online marketing consultant, and social media enthusiast. Connect with me on Twitter and Google+. Kristi has written 471 awesome article(s) for Kikolani. |
Register now and use discount code KRISTI10 at checkout for 10% off!
Enjoy this post?
Use the social buttons below to add it on your favorite social sites or send it via email. Also, subscribe to posts via RSS or by email to get the latest on blogging tips, social media, and other information for successful bloggers.
Comments are Dofollow, CommentLuv, and KeywordLuv enabled. Click here to ask questions and share your opinions - comments are open for up to 60 days after a post goes live. The website field is optional, so you can leave it blank or use your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social network URL for your website link.
We all have heard that content is king, but if no one comes to see your content, then what is the point?
Blog Post Promotion: The Ultimate Guide will take you through ten different strategies you can use to successfully promote your blog posts, leading to more social shares, more comments, and much more traffic.
This guide will not only show you the strategies that will help you get your awesome content the exposure it deserves, but it will also help you build a mutually beneficial promotional team on your email list, instant messenger, and social networks so that when you are ready to promote, they will be there willing to help you.
Want to learn more about Blog Post Promotion: The Ultimate Guide? Check out the following:
- Blog Post Promotion Launch Post - Learn more about the eBook!
- Awesome Reviews for Blog Post Promotion - Read reviews from satisfied bloggers!
- Blog Post Promotion Affiliates - Become an affiliate and earn 40% commission!
{ 168 comments }
← Previous Comments
Twitter: girlbehind
September 8, 2011 at 4:10 am
I’m another very happy Genesis user. My developer knowledge is very basic but Studiopress – forums included – makes everything so simple.
I use Genesis for my personal blog and am in the process of moving my work (non profit) onto it too.
Although It’s clearly great for developers, I’ve found it perfect for me – none of the chunks and frustrations I had with free themes
Louise Calvert recently posted..Overcast (121 of 365)
Twitter: kikolani
September 8, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Very true Louise! Some of the free themes just aren’t worth it when it comes to trying to figure them out on your own and troubleshooting the glitches.
Twitter: AnaTrafficCafe
September 9, 2011 at 12:26 am
That’s exactly what I was about to ask, Kristi, Louise – how’s their support system, but you somewhat answered the question.
My blog runs on Thesis and I love the support I can get and the abundance of techies who know the theme in and out.
Ana
PS Kristi: Wanted to make sure you saw your blog on my new CommentLuv enabled blog list!
Ana @ Aweber review recently posted..Internet Marketing Tools
It’s just a trend. Once we used to see flood of posts about how awesome thesis themes are. Now the trend has diverted to Genesis and therefore flood has changed. Few days later another will come and will flood the blogosphere. I’m really tired of this.
ps. I do appreciate the effort you took to go through this deep comparison between the two themes. I just expressed my honest opinion on the whole matter.
Sajib recently posted..Alien invasion in Bangladesh
Twitter: kikolani
September 8, 2011 at 1:52 pm
Well, you have to admit it’s a good thing I waited to use both of them then review it, vs the people that review it quickly just to jump onto the trend. I’ve been using Thesis for about 2 years now, so it’s past the trend mode and into stability I would say.
Both are excellent choices. I do see genesis user end that look cleaner more often than thesis. I am not for or against either, but the thesis ones I see that are obvious are a little on the basic side and similar to one another. The genesis ones seem a little different and unique.
Ray@dolphin tutorials recently posted..Timestamping articles and posts
I personally recommend the thesis framework and I’m not an affiliate. I use thesis in my other wordpress site and it’s really really great!
Photoblog recently posted..Mount Kitanglad Range Natural Park
Nice comparison guide filled with lots of goodies!
I started with Thesis and also used Genesis. I first started to convert Thesis to Genesis when I started to use wpMU sites more (v3 wordpress+ especially) and if I were to create a new site, I would start with Genesis. If I thought it was time to upgrade a site on Thesis, I would convert it to Genesis. If a site on Thesis ‘ain’t broken’ I don’t bother to replace it and just leave it on Thesis.
As an “oldie’ offering advice to a “newbie” my viewpoint was that using Thesis makes you dumb with your site, because you can probably find the answer to any question and even ask questions in the forum, then copy/paste the answers. At least with Genesis you get all the info you need to know and able to learn and expand from it (and yes .. if do not find what you are looking for can ask for help and get answers and copy/paste too).
Currently, my child themes of choice for each is Lifestyle (Thesis) and Sleek (Genesis)
HART (aka PetLvr) recently posted..CUTE KITTY CAT VIDEO
Twitter: kikolani
September 9, 2011 at 6:23 pm
Yeah, I don’t plan on moving my Thesis based sites anytime soon either Hart, but it’s good to know there are other options out there for new endeavors.
Twitter: jaeburnham
September 8, 2011 at 5:18 pm
I have seen quite a lot of the bloggers move to Genesis as well and wondered what it was all about.
Now I understand. Still undetermined though.
Jae
Jae Burnham@movers recently posted..Bekins Moving official pleads guilty in tax case
Twitter: chad_nicely
September 8, 2011 at 10:47 pm
Hi there Kristi!
What an awesome post. I can honestly tell you I have used both of these themes. I absolutely love and recommend Genesis for the Real Estate Industry. I have completely customized the Agent Press Theme.
As far as Thesis. I just switched my main site over to the Thesis Theme. I absolutely love it! I actually designed everything in Photoshop. Gave the psd to an outsourcer I found on Odesk and had everything created for about $100. You can’t beat that!
Thanks for you post. I love it!
Chad
Chad Nicely recently posted..Make Money From Blogging, REALLY!
Twitter: kikolani
September 9, 2011 at 6:28 pm
That’s a good deal Chad. Now if I could only design something in Photoshop.
Twitter: AussieSire
September 9, 2011 at 5:45 am
OK, you lost me when you said both themes work on the HOOK system. I prefer a theme that does’t require you to learn anything new just to get it to do something that you need. Maybe it’s because of my age but as far as I’m concerned I want a theme that is easy to use and configure. Lucky for me I have found such a theme, one that only requires a click of the mouse to get it to do what I want it to do.
Sire@lottery tickets online recently posted..A Review Of WP Zon Builder
Twitter: kikolani
September 9, 2011 at 6:29 pm
That’s good Sire! Although both are on hooks, Genesis has more theme design built in to where you don’t have to use them as much as you do with Thesis. That’s the big difference. But if you have a theme that works for you, no need to change what isn’t broken.
Twitter: AussieSire
September 9, 2011 at 9:40 pm
That is so true.
I still have Thesis on one of my sites because there is another old saying, ‘waste not want not’ or I think that’s how it goes
Sire@lottery tickets online recently posted..Review Of Lottery Pro Player
Hi,
We use thesis for most of our sites and the forum and support is really good. The hook system is really not that hard and one you get the hang of it its great!
We dabbled with some Thesis child themes but really once you get the hang of the framework you do not really need them.
I find the SEO options really easy in Thesis.
Nik
Nik@Career Coaching recently posted..Motivation at Work
Thanks for the great review Kristi. I’ve been wanting to give my site a nicer theme for a while. (Right now I’m still using a simple free theme). I think I’ll try the Genesis theme. I’ll post my review later
Anita recently posted..How To Remodel A Kitchen – Step-By-Step
Hi Kristi,
Thank you for your post. I found it while thinking about purchasing Genesis. But I think i will stick to Premium themes.
My favorite provider by the way is WooThemes which you have not mentioned in the list of premium themes
Michelle
Michelle Castillo recently posted..WordPress solutions table
Twitter: AAttorneysGroup
September 9, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Agreed. For me, free themes just don’t seem to cut it anymore. I guess if you’re good at html, you can do whatever, but I’m not. It’s nice to buy a good theme that has everything you want and work with it directly. Also, the paid themes have better support and look very nice (from myexperience).
Robert@Car Accident Lawyer recently posted..Massive Power Outage in San Diego County and South Orange County Causes Headaches for Drivers
I’ve been using Studiopress (even pre-Genesis) for 2 years (as a developer) and just hate to work with anything else. Making all the changes in the child theme gives you no worries when you upgrade unlike other themes I’ve used which are painful upgrades. I’ve never used Thesis so I have no opion on it. I’m a hand coder and like the ease in making structural changes in the child theme. Great review for letting people understand the differences between them.
Melinda recently posted..Give Me All the Juicy Details
Twitter: marketsecrets
September 11, 2011 at 6:27 am
Personally I use the AtomicBlogging theme but based on your review if I were to make the switch it would be to Genesis because of the simple installation along with the different artistically looking cool theme designs. Too many ppl use Thesis and you can tell because most of them look very similar (although the fact that Googles spokesman uses it does make you go “hmmm”).
Im not big on tampering with function files because something as simple as leaving a blank space in the wrong place can mess your whole site up so from trial and error ive grown pretty good at tweaking out the single, main index, css, page,etc files with codings.
Caleb@how people make money online recently posted..Why AWeber is a Worthy Investment
Twitter: rmctech
September 11, 2011 at 12:58 pm
I’m in the process of selecting a new theme for new blog. This helps a lot. I’ve been working with Elegant themes, and tweaking the crap out of them (so they don’t look like the original, so I don’t have the same theme as 500 other people), and it’s worked out wonderfully so far. BUT, I’m moving on for this blog. Looking around Themeforest, but will check these guys out too. Nice job of laying out the details of what makes each one good.
Twitter: kikolani
September 11, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Be careful with Themeforest Ryan. I’ve bought 4 themes from them, one business, three for photography portfolios. All had great designs, but the functionality of the WordPress itself was lacking. Beware of bad installation instructions, little support (one theme developer had an automated email from his “support” email that essentially said I’m too busy to deal with little theme problems), and messed up functionality (one theme had a latest posts widget on the homepage, and the homepage SEO would pull info from that latest post for the meta title / description on the homepage). They’re probably not all bad, but I find it odd I got 4 out of 4 bad apples on one site.
Twitter: yourecofriend
November 9, 2011 at 3:43 pm
I have used Thesis for a while now and love the freedom. But using Thesis has forced me to learn css. Probably not a bad thing. Trial and error and a good support system works in the long run.
Every now and then I want to change the site though and I have been to Themeforest. Did not work for me at all and I went back to Thesis within a day. I have also tried elegant themes but found them hard to customise.
Thanks for the information on Genesis. I am still not sure if I will try it though as it seems that once the theme is installed and you have a site up it might not be worth the change.
Terry recently posted..Confessions of an ECO enthusiast: My Top Loading Washing Machine
Twitter: yourecofriend
November 20, 2011 at 11:51 am
I originally found this post because I was looking to change my home page. I liked the look of my blog pages and the general look of my site.
I stayed with Thesis and bought a child theme that ended up being far more trouble than it was worth, as all of my customizations were now gone.
I eventually had to go back to Thesis without the child theme and redo all of the customization. If I had just spent this time learning what I wanted to do, instead of bringing the site back, I would be done.
What I learned was that if you want to do a lot of customizations, it might not be so easy with the child themes.
Thanks for this post.
Terry
Terry recently posted..Project Peru Amazon: Part Two
Twitter: DavidBennett
November 20, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Terry,
I just took a look at your site and I think the design is very appealing and professional looking.
I don’t know what you wanted to achieve with a child theme, but I can’t imagine it would be better than what you have now.
David Bennett recently posted..Virgin, Northern Rock, And Crown Copyright Restrictions
Thanks Kristi great exhaustive post and structured logically .. just what I was after..an unbiased look at both .. I’ve been toying with wether to use a Genesis designer or plunge myself .. the ‘hook’s are the only thing worrying me but nothing ventured ..I have joined up to the Genesis forum which you can do without needing to purchase. It looks like a big community with a lot of volunteer admin which is a good sign .. and once you have purchased there seems to be a ton of tutorials .. thanks if I take the plunge I’ll use ur link
ps one issue which will grow and grow is how fast Genesis loads .. Google will be luvin this aspect and as a PPC’er this will save me huge $ through my Quality Score .. those fancy slideshows look grt but suck for d/load speed of ur site
Paul@EmergencyFirstAidKit recently posted..Lessons To Be Learnt From Recent Disasters
Twitter: DavidBennett
September 13, 2011 at 7:53 pm
Hey,
Just a heads up that Kolakube is back up after being down since I first read your article.
However, what I see is “a site dedicated to the 8 million working Mums that live in the UK” and I don’t see any reference to WP themes.
David Bennett recently posted..The Coast Road To Edinburgh
Twitter: kikolani
September 14, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Thanks David. They’ve been having hosting problems, and it seems they’ve gotten worse. I just pulled them from the post till it gets sorted out, which is a shame because they have some really nice themes – they’re the same guys behind the Blogussion design.
Twitter: addisonskanks
September 14, 2011 at 7:04 am
I’ll stick with Thesis since it offers offers significantly more design capabilities for a novice user who may not be familiar with CSS, HTML, etc. You also get a framework that is blazing fast and built with SEO and content consumption in mind.
Noel Addison@Web Design Ventura recently posted..Mobile Website – Do You Need One?
Fantastic review, i’ve been eyeing both frameworks for a while and wondered what the experience of implementing them would actually be like.
Having said that (and excuse if this is a daft question, but I’m only an occasional Wordpress coder!) if you’re paying $25 upwards for skins / child themes on top of the framework, it wouldn’t cost that much more to just buy a theme from themeforest, elegant themes or wherever, which gives basically what you need and then make minor css tweaks from there?
Kate@social media marketing UK recently posted..Social Media Strategy – where to start with your business
Twitter: kikolani
September 14, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Hi Kate,
I’ve had some pretty rough experiences with Themeforest – beautiful designs, but the ones I tried (at least 4 by different vendors) were apparently made by designers and not coders or WordPress knowledgeable people in general. Support isn’t through Themeforest but the individual theme makers, so the 3 out of 4 I tried to contact never gave me useful information. One just had an email responder saying he was too busy to deal with supporting his own products.
Elegant Themes is one I recommend if you’re looking for pretty design (definitely over Themeforest any day). Their themes don’t have a lot of built in SEO options like these frameworks do, and they tend to load a bit slower than these frameworks based on the 6 I’ve installed so far.
Interested in why so many people promote Thesis or Genesis….Is it because they make affilate money? I have been using free word press Licorice theme. I also have free Blogger.
Perhaps you could evaluate. I am on a budget and each pd theme looks like it is only the beginning of costs.
Twitter: kikolani
September 14, 2011 at 7:15 pm
Hi Kay,
I promote them because I use them and I can make some commission off of them. In general, I’ve used a lot of premium vs. free themes, and the premium themes are just a lot less hassle. I tried a free theme once that came with built-in encrypted code that the theme maker used to embed links onto other people’s sites whether they wanted them or not. It’s not to say that free themes are all bad, but in general, the premium ones are updated more often and have a nice support system – these two especially.
Twitter: DavidBennett
September 14, 2011 at 7:24 pm
I have several sites. I have used free themes (still do on a couple of them) and I use Thesis several others.
One thing that your readers might find useful in assessing themes is the TAC plugin.
From the Wordpress plugin page for this plugin:
“TAC stands for Theme Authenticity Checker. Currently, TAC searches the source files of every installed theme for signs of malicious code. If such code is found, TAC displays the path to the theme file, the line number, and a small snippet of the suspect code. As of v1.3 TAC also searches for and displays static links.”
Hope this helps.
David Bennett@Quillcards recently posted..The Coast Road To Edinburgh
Twitter: ivinviljoen
September 15, 2011 at 7:11 am
Hello Kristy. I’m a Woowthemes man myself. And even though they have great SEO integration, I have it on good professional opinion that both Thesis (from Hesham) and Genesis (from Brian Clarke) are GREAT for SEO. I’ve heard you rank almost immediately. However, I guess I just got so used to Woo that I am in a comfort zone. And because I understand the framework pretty well, I deisng all my cleints websites and blogs with it.
B.t.w WHAT A POST! You really went all out here. But we epect it from you. I honestly don’t know where you find the time, as I understand you are aslo fully employed? Well, done!
Ivin@Rss syndication recently posted..How to Get More Out Of Your Blog Engage Experience
Hi Kristi,
I’ve been looking for an in depth head-to-head comparison like this. Thanks!
I started a new blog a few months ago and couldn’t get things to look professional and have it lined up properly until I said “what the heck” and got Thesis.
I’m not a coder at all besides a bit of HTML so the one click functionality and built in SEO options made this theme an easy choice.
Thanks for putting this together.
-Rob
Rob Lindquist@roblindquist.net recently posted..Results of My 30 Day Challenge… Don’t Laugh
Twitter: neulabs
September 18, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Hello Kristi
Been looking for an honest straight forward review between these two themes, and also great additional info in the comments. I’m using Genesis theme and really love it. I love how easy Genesis help me in my blogging need. The theme features, functions and support plugins are the best I think.
neo @Malaya Media recently posted..Penulisan Blog – Bagaimana Mencuri Idea Menulis Secara Sah
Twitter: plrnetmarketing
September 19, 2011 at 4:46 pm
I’m using (and loving) the Genesis framework with news child theme and the experience has been amazing! I’d previously been considering forking out a few thousand dollars to get the look and feel I was trying for, but I managed to do it exactly how I wanted with Genesis.
Only problem I’ve had (and it just happened twice in 48 hours) is that my theme reverted to default automatically for some strange reason resulting in me doing a site restore which caused me some down time. I’ve since learnt that it was the MySQL database that was actually the only thing that needed to be restored.
I’m not sure what caused it as I’ve been running Genesis worry free for all of 2011 so I’m thinking it’s one of the plugins I’ve updated recently.
Thesis I used only once before and while it had great look and functionality I had a hard time configuring it to look the way I wanted.
My vote goes to Genesis!
Warren recently posted..Windows 8 – Business and Cloud Computing Improvements
Twitter: DamonDay
September 24, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Hey Kristi,
I was pretty much set to pull the trigger on Thesis and now I am not so sure. I am certainly intrigued by the fact that genesis seems to have more variety on the themes, and they support them.
However, I am still thinking the SEO simplicity and the easier customization with little CSS knowledge is going to have me selecting Thesis. Although I was not aware you had to pay a little extra for each client site with the developer option. Not a deal breaker, but certainly good to know.
Damon@Debt Settlement Scams recently posted..Debt Settlement Scams – 10 Stupid Simple Ways To Get Burned
Twitter: ben_dixon
September 29, 2011 at 4:28 pm
This is the first review of these two themes I’ve come across that wasn’t just blatantly pushing sales. I am seriously considering moving to a cleaner theme for my site and Thesis is one I want to go for, Genesis is another I recently found out about.
I’m not sure if I can get the look I need, the skins I’ve found so far do not cut it. My site is not a blog and sort of a magazine style. Do you have any suggestions for me? If you show me a winner the sale is yours
Twitter: kikolani
September 29, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Hmm, I don’t know about Thesis but one of the Genesis child themes is a magazine theme!
Twitter: sfbayseo
September 30, 2011 at 7:53 pm
I’ve been using Genesis for about a year now. I’ve got to say, I love the themes, love the framework, and it’s very easy to use once you get the hang of it. The support system is pretty hit or miss though. I’ve had times when the support team answers with a clear and concise response, I’ve had times when I get no answer for days on end, and I’ve also had support members just be flat out rude.
The support system is managed through a forum where the StudioPress specialists will grab unanswered questions, and every time I hit the post new thread button I’ve got my fingers crossed it’ll be picked up by someone who can help.
The forum is filled with a lot of users asking “How do I…?” questions, then coming back to say “Nevermind, got it!” with no hints on how the found the solution.
All in all though, it’s a sound investment in a great blogging framework that’s rock solid.
Ross Taylor recently posted..Blogs Can Give a Boost to Your Onsite SEO
Thesis is good for the DIY blogger that wants to customize his own blog. Genesis is good because of the great looking child themes available, but a little harder to customize.
As a designer I prefer the Hybrid theme and the new Hybrid Core framework. While it may not have all the bells and whistles (options) of the two previous themes it is pretty easy to modify and the support is excellant. Did I mention it is free?
Exclusive membership tutorials and support via forums will cost you a measly $25 a year which I recommend everyone join just to tap into Justin’s WP expertise, whether using his themes or not.
http://themehybrid.com/
Twitter: alspaulding
October 11, 2011 at 5:40 pm
I have never used Genesis, thought about switching my site over to it but eventually decided on thesis just because I felt more comfortable with it. Will be using Genesis on a future blog but I am a Thesis man for my online home and I highly endorse it hands down to everyone who asks me.
P.S. I absolutely love your site. You have great things going on over here. Look forward to coming back more often.
~AL
Al Spaulding@ Mojo Magnet Marketing recently posted..9 “Real World” Ways Small Businesses Can Use Social Media To Their Benefit – Part 1
I’ve been on Thesis for a couple of years and I’ve enjoyed the flexibility of the theme, however for most non-tech types thesis can be a bit complicated. I can see the benefit of using a pre-designed skin through the Genesis framework….would be much easier!
Brad Officer – Jacksonville Short Sale Agent recently posted..When to Start Short Sale
I think for a strong, regular posted blog Thesis is a strong contender. Mars Dorian and Blog Tyrant use the package and each has a strong individual style.
For all other uses I would recommend Genesis. For someone without much technical experience it is easy through the StudioPress widgets to customise the look of the Home Page – you can easily develop a main article, three slightly smaller articles and then a list of others very easily.
Their sidebar widget allows you to develop individual sidebars that will display according to category or tag again without any real technical knowledge.
StudioPress support is also very good.
Like Ben, appreciate the head-to-head comparison of these two premium themes, Kristi. Have read so many articles advocating for one or the other. I’m using a heavily modified Twenty Ten theme and have gotten used to it. My biggest concern always is loading speed (you can tell from my content
and I seem to have that working OK.
AstroGremlin recently posted..Translate Your Gift
I have several friends who are using Genesis and love it. I have been considering purchasing the Genesis framework + child theme myself and probably will when finances allow. Thanks for the comprehensive comparison. It really helps me to make a more informed decision.
Lisa recently posted..Work at Home Site Monitor Job with Nickelodeon
Twitter: iseoforgoogle
November 19, 2011 at 7:09 am
Hi,
Thanks for such a nice post. I was really confused about which one to buy luckily got to this one. This post has now convinced me for Genesis. I am not much of a coder neither a designer so I’ll go with it.
Akash@iSEOforGoogle recently posted..How to Make Good Conversion with a Landing Page
Nice Breakdown of the two. I love Genesis. Although some of the documentation is meant for developers and less for designers, there are blogs out there that break down some of the way more tech stuff for me and I am always able to do what I need to do. A fresh install of Gensis and the Simple child theme is all I need as a CSS junkie to be a very happy man. Plus there are many native, and third party plugin’s available on the wordpress plugin repository specifically meant for Genesis.
Now, being November 2011. Genesis is about to come out with an update that will make it Responsive by default. There is a blog post about it over at their site:
http://www.studiopress.com/news/responsive-design.htm
Gensis going responsive for me is fantastic. No more coding for handheld, ipad etc. It will support different resolutions out of the box. No need for a “mobile” plugin or anything. They also mentioned they would be updating all of their child themes in no specific order to fit the responsive model as well. With the update though, the Simple theme is also being updated at the same time. So at least we have a responsive child theme to get started with.
Twitter: BetterBizIdeas
November 19, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Kristi,
Great post! Both themes are great and I love that you point out the “Responsive” web design now integrated into many Genesis themes.
My wife designed my site using Thesis and designed one of her previous sites using Thesis. This was pre-”skins” being available. The SEO bump she got on her site was enormous and she was even outranking the company she sold products for at the time
Fast forward a few years and she has been developing some sites on Genesis and really likes the framework. The benefit is that customers get the SEO flexibility and can get some “out of the box” designs that look great. Obviously customized sites can be created as well using their “blank” canvases as starting point.
Anyway… she has a developer license for both and is using Genesis exclusively these days…
One downside of Frameworks though relates to people new to WordPress. For newbies some of these “frameworks” confuse the heck out of people due to SO MANY options
Some just want the ability to (1) choose a color via a pinwheel (2) upload their header image (3) set up their social profiles and (4) set-up an email list via a widget somehow.
Dan
@BetterBizIdeas
Dan recently posted..Know the Code! Las Vegas is ANTI Social Sharing
Thanks for the great comparison between Thesis and Genesis. I have been using Thesis for almost two years now and do like the framework but the selection of skins for Thesis leaves a lot to be desired (if only I could design.
Do not want to go through the learning process of a new framework but after reading the review and seeing the great selection of child themes just had to give it a try. So I just bought myself an early Christmas present using your link. THANKS
You can see my very poor design efforts at the linked website and hopefully after a couple of weeks a beautiful website based on the Genesis theme.
John from Cupcake Boxes recently posted..Performing Magic On A Plain Cupcake Box
Twitter: tonygreene113
November 30, 2011 at 10:34 am
I’ve started with Genesis and a child theme in July and have never looked back. Great support forums for the child themes as well.
tonygreene113 @ 113tidbits recently posted..3 Great Ways I Build Backlinks for My coupon Blog
Twitter: yourecofriend
November 30, 2011 at 8:31 pm
So I made the switch. Even though I had Thesis and several customizations on my site, I couldn’t get the site to look the way I wanted it to with Thesis and using a child theme was a big waste of $$ (it took days for them to check their tech support too). See former comments above.
I was able to find a child theme that had the basics I wanted in Genesis and doing customizations seems easy enough (I have several customizations I wish to make), although Thesis makes font customizations easier and they have a great web interface.
Now that I have both Thesis and Genesis I think the next website I build will also be in Genesis.
Twitter: tonygreene113
December 22, 2011 at 11:29 am
That’s awesome that you have the flexibility to see the differences within the two platforms Terry. I prefer Genesis as well. Hope to see you around some more!
tonygreene113 @ 113tidbits recently posted..Tips on how to Generate Prospects In your World wide web Business enterprise
Twitter: yourecofriend
December 22, 2011 at 11:52 am
Thanks Tony
I did a second site in Genesis and I’m thrilled!
I did buy 2 child themes for it (this second site) as I found the first would take me too long to customize. The new site looks great and I am now a Genesis fan.
I do have to admit that knowing some css is important if you want your site to look unique. Thesis still has a quicker way to customize the colours, font sizes and types and column widths.
For this second site I found that Genesis uses a unique home page method and I am not a fan of this part. Support was quick to answer my questions though so I fixed the home page problem without too much trouble. I could never have found the answers otherwise.
But working with Genesis gives you a quicker start for additional style.
Terry recently posted..Passive Solar, Net Zero Home: Goldendale, WA
Wonderful review!
I’ve been a Thesis developer for 2 years and a Genesis developer for about 2 months, so I’m still learning my way around Genesis. That said, I actually came to a different conclusion: Thesis is much faster for development of simpler websites (by simple, I mean 90% of the projects that come to me), but Genesis is better/faster for building more complex ones.
I haven’t worked much with the Custom Loop API in Thesis, but the child theme structure is so much easier to customize than hooking everything into the thesis_hook_custom_template() or other hooks. When necessary, it’s nice to be able to use a simple template file, especially when building something using new WordPress features (custom post types, custom taxonomies…) that aren’t fully supported by Thesis.
For the vast majority of websites, both Thesis and Genesis will work just fine. I find Thesis is a bit faster to develop because of it’s great Design Options (can jump in and set 2 column, specify order and width, font styles for headings and sidebars…).
My biggest complaint about Thesis is it’s lack of support for native features (post thumbnails, taxonomies…) and the recommended parent/child theme format. When a project needs a native feature or is really complex (child themes are more customizable IMO), then I think Genesis is a better solution.
DJ Trinity@New Songs 2012 recently posted..Top Love Songs 2012
Kristi,
I’m on the hunt for a someone who knows Genesis | Studio Press. I want to migrate my existing WP site to this more robust platform. I would do the migrate myself, but worry I might mess up some php code and sacrifice the PR4 and Google ranking in the process. Willing to pass along a bird-dog fee in the process.
Thx
Neil
Local SEO recently posted..Geo-Press Plug-in
Twitter: tonygreene113
December 22, 2011 at 11:31 am
Check me out twitter Neil. I have moved quite a few clients from other platforms to Genesis with no issues.
tonygreene113 @ 113tidbits recently posted..Guess Who’s Giving Me Link Juice
I don’t know how I got here, but it was a happy accident! This is the one thing I have been researching the last few days and I am at a complete loss as to what to do.
) is a serious plus. Every time I have to update my Thesis theme I chew on my fingernails for days…it’s scary if you don’t know what you are doing!
I am on Thesis and have loved it. I was able to give a great look to my site simply through the admin panel in just a few clicks.
But now am looking into a more customized site and just don’t have the time to figure out how to do it. I started looking for developers to code artwork that I already have and have hit a roadblock. I can’t find anyone! When I look through portfolios I see a lot of great business type sites, but not much as far as a creative take that I am looking for. Any suggestions? I am begging!
That is where Genesis comes in, I have found a ton of developers with style that I am looking for. And I have to tell you the automatic updates (getting an update at all
I am tempted to make a move to Genesis, I just think I might have better luck with the child themes that are available.
So my next question – will that kill my SEO to change frameworks?
Again, so happy to have found your site, just subscribed.
Destri recently posted..Cream Cheese Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies
Twitter: JupiterJimFLA
January 20, 2012 at 2:01 am
Kristi,
Wow! I am amazed at what a Fair-minded review of these two themes that you gave us!!! I am so impressed! I have been a CIW Certified Master Site Designer since 2003 and I have been using Thesis Theme for almost two years now. I just mention my credentials so that people will weigh my review of the Thesis Theme accordingly (i.e. which theme might be better for a developer versus for a newbie) Maybe if I couldn’t hand-write html, xhtml and css code with a pen and paper and was confident enough to tweak a little PHP code now and again, then maybe I wouldn’t be so excited about Thesis Theme. I don’t know. But I am good at code so I love the custom.css file that you can put all your CSS customizations in and then easily backup when it’s time to upgrade. If you don’t know the code, just ask in the forums and copy and paste in the right place and you should be fine.
I am very comfortable with FTP’ing (with FileZilla) WordPress files to and from the web server. If you want to know more about why I love the Thesis Theme so much, please click here: http://jupiterjimsmarketingteam.com/thesis-theme/ as I have dedicated a whole page (not just one post!) to my blog on the subject.
I have never used Genesis so my opinion is definitely biased in favor of Thesis. If I wanted more design options right out of the box, then I would go with Genesis. Now that Mark and Matt Hodder from themedy.com have created such Kick-Ass ( can I say that here? ) skins for Thesis (although they also work with Genesis!) , there doesn’t seem to be a reason for me to even try Genesis since most of my clients are business and bloggers, etc and that’s what Thesis Theme skins seem to favor. Genesis skins and child themes look like they give you more variety, though, from what everyone is saying, so that’s something to think about, too.
My experience with the Thesis Theme (DIYThemes.com) forum support has been outstanding although, I must admit, it does not appear that that is everyone’s experience there.
If you want to get an idea of what kind of tweaks you can do with the Thesis Theme before you buy, then head on over to my site and I have over 70 Free Video Tutorials on WordPress and the Thesis Theme (that’s over 9 hours of video!).
Once again, Kristi, thanks again for your balanced review and or getting this conversation started!
Sincerely,
Jupiter Jim
Jupiter Jim recently posted..The Proper Way to Paste MS Word Text into your WordPress Blog Post or Page
Twitter: DanMPopescu
January 26, 2012 at 8:50 am
Hi again Kristi,
I was a little bit confused at first, when I decided to make a good-looking blog, checking left and right, and was convinced to start with Thesis. Maybe affiliate convinced, I’m not sure. I’ve run another check when I totally decided to transfer my free blog on it’s own domain, at last, and Genesis popped up! I was impressed by their copy, believe me.
I think both are good, Genesis is a hundred dollars more affordable actually (give or take), but some support if you are not a coder, you receive maybe if you’re lucky.
And now appeared themedy, a combination or a joint between them, again I’m not sure, proving maybe that both solutions are perfectible.
What a post, congratulations
Daniel Mihai Popescu recently posted..Alubat
← Previous Comments
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 2 trackbacks }