Sure, it used to take you to dinner and laugh at your jokes. But let’s face it … the magic is gone between you and your tired old WordPress theme.
Never fear. We’ve got a magical new rendezvous in the works.
(38 of them, in fact).
If you’ve not yet heard about what’s going on over at Copyblogger Media’s StudioPress division, we’ve built a world-class theme framework for WordPress and have currently delivered (with more on the way) 38 child themes to easily skin your site.
Our StudioPress team has done the heavy lifting for you when it comes to website design, search optimization, and security.
Here are two new hand-made designs straight off the StudioPress.com workbench …
Less never did so much …
Maybe it’s the economy.
Maybe it’s something in the water.
Maybe it’s that monthly bill you’ve been paying for that storage unit across town.
Whatever it is, the beauty of minimalism has taken root in our culture, and it’s not going anywhere.
To that end, we’ve designed the elegant and supremely unfettered Minimum theme.
At a glance, you’ll see that it is utterly … uncomplicated.
And, you won’t be losing any of the custom functionality you’d expect:
- Six optional homepage layouts,
- Graceful photographic portfolio
- Unique, easy-switch post column display (up to six columns)
- Unmistakably clean site headline
That’s it. Simple.
Click here to get more — or, less — from the Minimum theme.
Serenity. Now.
There’s a new magazine in town.
It could be yours, running on the charming new Serenity theme.
Don’t let that charm fool you though, Serenity is a publishing powerhouse, ready to accomplish all your content needs.
From the remarkable featured article/photo slider, to the easy-install ad blocks, to the completely customizable footer widgets (that poor footer, so often neglected), you’ll have what you need to finally be the media.
Your content deserves better.
Click here to find it in the Serenity theme.
And there’s something new over at WordPress.com too …
If you’re getting your feet wet by publishing at WordPress.com, you can still get all the benefits of Genesis + StudioPress, no problem.
In fact, we’ve just made one of our biggest hits — the Lifestyle theme — available to set up on your WordPress.com site.
You can also grab the Tapestry theme and the Pretty Young Thing theme over there, and that’s only the beginning …
These three themes are our first available in the new WordPress.com Premium theme marketplace, and they’re a game-changer when it comes to effortless digital media publishing.
We’ve got more Genesis-powered StudioPress themes on the way over to WordPress.com, so stay tuned.
Click here to get more details on the Genesis Framework and find out why it’s the smartest way to build any WordPress site.
Actually… my WordPress theme dropped my website’s bounce rate by about 25% since I installed it. So yeah, that goes to show a good looking theme does make a world of difference, even when other variables (posts, editorial alignment, traffic) remain the same!
That’s awesome! What theme are you using? I like the look!
My theme doesn’t look like all the other blogs that use the same themes rehashed with different colors…that’s what it’s done for me.
I desperately want to change my WordPress theme. I don’t like the way it’s organized and I’m not sure how to tweak it. I’ve been looking at some of the Studio Press themes for a while now. I write a blog about mom stuff, restaurant reviews, children’s book reviews, local events and activities and good deals. I do giveaways on a regular basis too.
However, I work as a Social Media Specialist and represent several Tampa Bay businesses on FB, Twitter, YouTube and WordPress. So I’d like my blog to be somewhat professional as well. I’d like it to feature me and what I do somewhere prominent on my homepage, as well as my latest blog posts. My friend is a professional graphic designer and she’s going to create some custom graphics for blog in the next month or two. So I’d like a blog theme that isn’t overly stylized.
I do take lots of photos, but I’m not a photographer (or aspiring to be), so I don’t want a photo blog. I’d also like my blog to feature what I’m doing on Facebook and Twitter, more so than a like button and a little side bar. Any chance you could recommend a Studio Press theme that does all that (or is capable of it with plug-ins and widgets)? Do they all allow you to have ad space? I really appreciate the help. The process has been a bit overwhelming for me.
I’d recommend Lifestyle – http://www.studiopress.com/themes/lifestyle
It gives you a lot of home page options for spotlighting each of the different things you do, and it’s entirely customizable!
I am a genealogy evangelist, and I’d like to put in a request for classy, clean and professional-looking themes that would be appropriate for genealogy related blogs. I’d love to change my WP blog theme, but mine is 4 column. I like it, but I need something fresh and new. BTW, right now, genealogy is a billion dollar business and catering to the needs of genealogists everywhere is just a smart move.
I’ve recently been looking at using either StudioPress or Thesis to give my site a premium theme. I know that this post is promoting StudioPress, but can you give me some specific advantages it has over Thesis?
I was about to ask the same question that Caleb did and so second the request for the comp to Thesis.
Have no ties to Thesis, don’t even use it but a friend of mine swears by it.
thanks-
LB
There are a lot of similarities between Genesis and Thesis. Both are “frameworks”, which have the ability to extend the functionality of the theme.
The best thing to do is to read all of the features that Genesis has. (click here for that)
When you run a site on Genesis, you have the ability to purchase from a selection of 38 child themes, with many more to come. Not to mention there are a number of other child themes developed by 3rd party developers which you can choose from.
We also have an extensive knowledge base, as well as an incredibly active (and quite friendly) support forum. These aren’t necessarily things that Thesis lacks, but things we are very proud of.
The security of using Genesis and a child theme is top of the line, as WordPress lead developer Mark Jaquith has performed a thorough audit for security.
Thanks for the response – I was curious about this as well!
I’ve designed with both Genesis/Thesis and I’m not selling you anything:)
- Genesis uses child themes. Thesis uses skins. Child themes work better for a variety of reasons.
- Genesis is easy to customize. Thesis requires a little more patience.
- StudioPress support is the best of any themes I’ve used.
- There are more Genesis child themes available to choose from than there are Thesis skins.
- StudioPress keeps users/developers updated on Genesis and StudioPress progress.
As for the actual inner workings of both frameworks, they’re the same. SEO and such things are equal. Both have excellent tutorials and hard working teams behind them.
As far as design, you can create the exact same design with both frameworks. Check out Themedy.com. They create the exact design in both Genesis and Thesis.
I’ve used both thesis and studiopress. the only features that i found on thesis that i haven’t figured out on genesis is are some teaser related hooks that i can’t access. and on thesis they have, built in, category related intro text. i hear this can be done with plugins, but i haven’t found where.
studiopress is great for designers, like me, because i can offer my clients a genesis solution without paying the $40 premium for loading the theme on a domain that’s not mine!
This plugin should help with the post teasers: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/genesis-post-teasers/
And you can easily enable the category description text (just edit your categories, and you’ll see the checkbox to display the text.) If you run into problems with that, just stop by the support forum
I’m not a WordPress theme designer or tech wiz, but I have used Thesis and Genesis themes. Found that using Thesis was so difficult when I wanted to make simple changes. Started disliking if I even wanted to add boxes to pages or anything else with Thesis. And I could never get the look of the site just right for some reason.
Installed Genesis for a friend of mine who wasn’t sure how to install WordPress or themes and it was so easy to put in and arrange everything for her. It was a beautiful site just after installation. So, I decided to install Genesis and the Lifestyle theme on Mission Engage. Love it.
I didn’t have to fiddle with any of the post settings to get the look just right. It was simple. Finally. Besides Thesis, I have installed a lot of different themes over the past 2 years on various sites and none of them gave me just the right look and control as Genesis.
No problem at all and every time I look at the site, I think of palm trees and a clear, blue water beach. I have the aqua color.
Very satisfied customer, StudioPress.
Site design is so important for user-experience. Like it or not, a visitor to your site will decide whether they want to stay or not based on the their first impression. A bad site design sends the wrong message and could send traffic back.
Last week I finally took the plunge and chose Genesis for a premium theme framework for my blog. I had gotten to the point where I felt the complicated code of my free theme was starting to hurt potential traffic.
I built my own custom theme on top of Genesis’ framework and sample theme and I couldn’t be happier. For the most part, my blog looks the same as it did before (with a few minor changes) so visitors noticed nothing different except faster load times and I’ve experienced a slight bump in SEO, but won’t know the true effect until a month or so from now when the numbers take shape.
Some of the StudioPress themes are great, but if you’re familiar enough with HTML, CSS, and a little PHP (the studiopress developers site was an immense help) then you can really make an outstanding theme your own.
Very happy with the purchase. Thanks guys.
Glad to hear it’s working so well for you, Evan – and we’d love to see what you’ve built! Feel free to share it in the showcase portion of the forum, if you haven’t already.
Building your own child theme (or taking one of ours and modifying it extensively) is always a good idea – the framework will scale as much as you need it to.
How is studiopress when it comes to seo? Do you need plugins or is the theme good enough at its own?
StudioPress is more than adequate for SEO on its own, but I like what Yoast has written about this issue, http://yoast.com/themes-plugins-seo/ fortunately StudioPress works with a plugin that’s particularly to move SEO info between that handled by the theme and moving it to a plugin.
Genesis has it’s own SEO Settings page, which extensively covers options you have for ranking higher. Genesis has been fully search optimized by Greg Boser, partner and SVP of of search marketing powerhouse BlueGlass Interactive.
Looking great guys! You are always pumping out great WordPress themes.
Where do you find the ideas for concepts?
I’m sure Brian already knows this… The Mimimum theme has quickly become one of my favorites!
I’m one of the 50000 who uses StudioPress now, and its simply amazing
I am also confused if should go for Thesis or Genesis.Do we have any 3 column theme from studiopress for genesis framework or we can customize that too in any theme?
Those are some really neat themes. What do y’all recommend for Mobile compatibility?
Do nothing for mobile compatability!!
Smart phones show the real internet now and when I go to a blog or other site on my phone, I want to go to that site! not some half-assed “mobile version” on the site with none of the functionality I was hoping to find!
What Graham said.
I understand, but at the same time, many sites have great mobile sites (ESPN, BASECAMP…) which are very useful on the go. I found a few plugins fro cheap solutions, but I create Mobile sites from scratch as well!
For users who need a mobile site, we recommend
Wapple Architect Mobile Plugin for WordPress
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wapple-architect/
Rebecca has it right, but one thing we don’t brag about…. our child themes look perfect “as is” for iPhones, iPads, and Androids.
I feel that coming out with a spotless design is an absolute must…once your blog is up and running with a decent level of traffic. I think that you should consider the first few months of your blog as “beta testing” for how it should ultimately look – I don’t think you can design the perfect site straight off the bat.
Robert,
When I finally switched platforms last month, (from Typepad to WP) I really wanted to have a product that Brian was involved with.
Everything he does is 1st Class, and that’s how I like to roll.
The end result;
http://www.thefranchiseking.com
The Franchise King®
There are only 2 premium wordpress theme companies that I recommend, those are Thesis and Genesis hands down
When I switched to Enterprise Genesis child theme for my offline business websites, my conversion rates improved noticeably. Granted I added other conversion features which Genesis made easy to implement.
Since then I’ve been delighted with Genesis. Don’t let the parent/child element intimidate me. I remember when Genesis launched; I delayed for a few weeks migrating from the old StudioPress themes because I was concerned the parent/child deal would be confusing and more hassle than it’s worth. Now, it’s more hassle than it’s worth not using a parent/child framework. Updating is a breeze as well as switching child themes.
Peter – great testimonial – thanks so much for sharing!
I’ll admit way back when, that I was intimidated by the idea of a parent/child setup – but quickly saw the benefits and enjoy it for the same reasons you do!
Hi Robert,
Super selection of themes here.
Thanks for sharing with us.
Ryan
I simply love the Tapestry theme and it works so well on one of my blog!!! Thank you so much!
Hi Robert!
I so like the Minimum Theme! MInimalist, indeed. Very clean looking.
Thanks much!
interesting look very new and easy to use.
thanks for the contribution
oscar
To be honest, I would choose genesis over thesis any day of the week, I just prefer it. Either way, great theme and really easy to customise…perfect choice for anyone looking to spark up their WordPress website without going all out for a custom theme.
I am using Genesis from the studiopress and its really super.