Our founder has been using and building WordPress themes since 2006. After building countless themes from scratch, we learned that having a robust framework can make your life a lot easier. For beginners: read our article on What is a WordPress theme framework (Pros, Cons, and More). There are tons of WordPress theme frameworks out there, but we always use the Genesis framework. Often our users ask us why did we choose to go with the Genesis framework? In this blueprint series, we will tell you the main reasons why we use Genesis framework by StudioPress.
We have been following Brian Gardner since the time of Revolution Themes. We always loved his work. He had been a great contributor to the community with countless free themes that he released. But that is also true for Chris Pearson and his work with popular free themes such as Cutline. We wanted something that was robust and not too clunky with options. We are a group of in-house developers, so we can take care of most things. We didn’t want to clutter our theme with options panel and such. In the end, we had to decide between Thesis theme and Genesis framework. Both are great frameworks, however we found Genesis to be more “RAW”. It did not come with a lot of built-in options. It was simple yet robust. We could add any option if we needed it, but nothing was forced on us. That was exactly the type of theme framework we were looking for.
Not to mention, it had a strong group of celebrities backing it including Matt Mullenweg (founder of WordPress), Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, Mark Jaquith etc. We decided to use Genesis for all of our new projects and client work. We noticed that the development time decreased significantly when creating child themes using the Genesis theme framework. Although there is a small learning curve, but once you familiarize yourself with the hooks, it becomes super easy to work with. This is the reason why we give Genesis Framework a out of 5 stars.
The Genesis Framework provides us with secure and search-engine-optimized foundation for our websites. It comes built-in with features like multiple layouts, custom body post classes for each post, breadcrumbs, numeric navigation and tons of other cool features. When purchasing Genesis, we made one of the best decisions ever. We decided to purchase the Pro-Plus package, which came with all existing Genesis child themes along with a lifetime membership that guaranteed us any future child theme that they create along with superb support.
Honestly speaking for like 47+ themes with more coming out every day, it was the best decision. One of the reasons were that if we ever needed a site with XYZ features, we have a list of themes to choose from. We have worked with a lot of realtors and set them up with AgentPress. These turn-key designs work great for clients with smaller budget. You can make small tweaks for them, and it is a WIN WIN situation.
Unlike other theme companies, StudioPress’s Pro-Plus Package is a one-time fee for life-time membership. Most other companies do a monthly or annually recurring option. We can first hand vouch for the quality of their themes and their support.
Start using the Genesis Framework now. Take our advice and go with the Pro-Plus package. You will not regret your decision.