LOVE Genesis Themes for WordPress

Did you hear me?  LUUUURVE Genesis Themes for WordPress!!!  I won’t waste your time and tell you all the great benefits of Genesis Themes because everyone else is already talking about them.  I will however get to the crux of the matter …

I LOVE Genesis Themes!

Why I Love the Genesis Themes

Seriously though, I will tell you why I love the Genesis Themes.

First of all, let me say that I know it is not really the Genesis “Themes” I am talking about but rather the Genesis Framework and Genesis Child Themes. You may think that is all a bit confusing.  I know I did.  But everyday that passes in my love affair with Genesis themes, I can better understand and appreciate the Framework and the child themes distinction.

1. Genesis Upgrade – Easy Peasy!

Genesis Framework is a usable WordPress theme in itself but you NEVER want to use it on its own.  You always couple it with a Genesis child theme of your choice.  Here comes the big biggie that I so love …

Genesis Framework aka Genesis core gets updated for you automatically (with the push of a button) and you never have to worry about conflicts or errors or WordPress incompatibilities.  The creators of Genesis (StudioPress) ensures that you are safe, secure, and worry free.

You will install both the Genesis (core) framework (the same easy way you would any other WordPress theme), then you install the Genesis child theme of your choice. Your child theme is the one which you activate, you customize, you make your baby.  And with each upgrade to the Genesis core, your child theme, your baby, NEVER gets harmed.

Genesis upgrade is a Piece of Cake.  Painless. Easy.
Genesis takes care of all the security and WordPress compatibility for you.
And your precious design remains untouched (due your Genesis child theme).

Remember my earlier analogy in “Genesis WordPress Theme – why it is preferred“? Each time you get a press-a-button easy upgrade for the core Genesis, you get a healthier, stronger, better body while your outer skin which you have pampered and buffed and toned remains perfectly good.

Analogy to illustrate Genesis Framework and child Themes

This easy and worry-free upgrade is what I MOST love about my darling Genesis Themes (for ease, I will use that phrase to cover both the Genesis framework and it’s child themes).  I don’t know about you but the reason why I left WordPress so many years ago was because I so hated the worry attendant upon all kinds of upgrades (WordPress, Themes, plugins) – never knowing what I might do wrong with all the gibberish code fiddling, the checking, the FTP-ing, the what to delete, what to backup, blah blah).

Want another analogy?  Then have a look at the clear explanation given by StudioPress on how Genesis Framework and Child Theme works seamlessly together: What is Genesis Framework for WordPress?

Now that StudioPress has come along with a superbly strong, robust, flexible, highly customizable Genesis Themes and still leave me worry free – I have to be  am laughing.  And I have not regretted a nano-cent I paid for it.  Genesis Themes is probably one of my best decisions in a long while.  (Am I gushing?  Ok. Time to move on to Big Reason No. 2 why I love Genesis Themes …!)

2. Genesis Themes UNLIMITED! plus added Discount Bonus

When you buy Genesis Themes, you get

• unlimited support
• unlimited upgrades
• unlimited usage – on any number of sites

Genesis Themes UNLIMITED!
* support   *upgrades   * usage
+++ Discount Bonus
read on …

I was tossing up over the two top premium WordPress themes: Genesis vs Thesis (<= No, that is NOT an affiliate link). I was also deciding to go with a paid theme (why would I when there are so many free and lovely WordPress themes) if  I ever made enough money to warrant a purchase and only if it was truly warranted and exceptional.

Well, as you already know, I am now on Genesis because it was worth it.  Just a  few days into the birth of this site, my free theme had upgrades.  And I was faced with what I dread – manual backend maintenance.  And that led me to do a long and deep research on those 2 premium paid themes: Thesis or Genesis themes.  If they could really make my life easier, now and most of all, in the long run .. then maybe it is worth the money now to save all those later months of frustration and fear when it comes to the nerve racking process of upgrades and conflicts and lines of code.

I thought I would go with Thesis because I had heard about it long before I came back to WordPress.  So Genesis took me by surprise.  Another convincer for me to go with Genesis themes was that so many big, successful bloggers were actually jumping ship (from about end of 2012 into this year, 2013).  I have already spoken of this at some length in “Genesis WordPress Theme – why it is preferred“.

And then when I looked at the prices between Thesis and Genesis Themes, the latter was lower.  But that wasn’t the deciding factor in that comparison.  What was, was the UNLIMITED support that Genesis Themes guarantees (which Thesis did not).  You never have to pay another cent for support (no time limit), not another cent for upgrades (free from hereon in), and what is (to me) even better … you can use your purchased Genesis Themes on as many WordPress sites as you like!  No stingy additional fees for every use on a new site!  That was a major plus!

My Calculations going in

• I bought the Genesis (core) Framework for US$59.95
• I bought the child theme of my choice (Prose) for US$34,95
• So total of US$94.90 right?

Now if it was a 1-year license or support, then that would cost me (94.90/365) = 0.26 cents a day.  So not too bad.

But when I brought into consideration that this is for unlimited time (& use & upgrades), then  (94.90/∞) = pittance!

Now, remember a child Genesis theme is the skin, the cover, the look and feel, the appearance of your site.

The big guns, the guts of Genesis is the Framework.  You cloak the framework with a theme (skin).  You need both the Framework and one of the child Genesis themes.

So for another site, you might choose another child Genesis theme for different options and look. (Or you might want to have a totally different “skin” for your current site later on.)

Do you then have to buy another Genesis Framework? NO!

You use the same Genesis Framework you bought (or the latest, upgraded version that doesn’t cost you a cent more) and just buy another child Genesis theme.

One of Genesis themes: Blissful

And here is the added bonus that I didn’t even know about at the time of purchase:  after you have made your initial purchase, anything else you buy from Genesis Themes is DISCOUNTED!

For instance, if I wanted another Genesis theme for my next site – for example, the Blisssful theme.  Instead of the normal price of US$24.95, it would now only cost me US$18.71!!! How cool is that.

3. Genesis Themes Themes Themes

There are so many themes to choose from.  From the creators (Studio Press) themselves, there are already so many themes to choose from for just about every need, look, feel, and features. Below, I am only showing but a sample from what is available.

Sample only of the many Genesis Themes

Genesis Themes Galore for every need.

Secure. Robust. Flexible. Multi-layouts. Multi-options. Customizable.

And that is not all.  I (later) discovered that there are also Genesis Community Themes that are truly beautiful.  Similar pricing with the same unlimited support & upgrades.

Quality Community Genesis Themes

4. Free Plugins for Genesis Themes

As if all of the above was not enough to get you jumpy in your seat, I just discovered there are tons of free Genesis-specific plugins for your WordPress (Genesis-driven) site.  And yes, free!  And you can download and install them directly from your WordPress admin, as per normal plugin.

Can you believe it?  Lots of top-notch Genesis plugins!  Free!

I confess that I am so excited, I have not installed any!  (I am going to take my time to check and savour them all coz I know I will be using more than one! In spite of my penchant for minimizing number of plugins etc., I know I will be tempted!)

I can however see from the ratings and feedback that they are all top-quality.  The plugins (especially in terms of care and quality) that jumped out at me most when I was browsing them all was from a David Decker aka DeckerWeb (as he is more famously known).

All you have to do is, go to:

Plugins for Genesis Themes in WordPress

My Recommendations re. Genesis Themes

As you can tell by now, I am a besotted fan of Genesis Themes.  I could go on and on (as I am sure you are seriously beginning to fear).  I might have missed out telling you some other great feature.  There are just too many to remember them all.

Here are my recommendations for you at this stage:

• GET GENESIS THEMES!!! StudioPress 101 (hahahahahahaha!  Unexpected huh?!)
• Click my (affiliate) link(s) .. but only if what I said was in any way helpful to you.

If you are still needing more information, I suggest you start with this

• free download:  Click here to download The Genesis Guide for Absolute Beginners (PDF – 1.4 MB) (pdf) from StudioPress.

Tip: if you have problems downloading from the above link (recommended as it will be updated by StudioPress), then you may choose to download  My copy of The Genesis Guide for Absolute Beginners, v2, Jul 2013

• Discover for yourself if StudioPress Themes for WordPress is for you.

• Check out/play with all the StudioPress Themes

• Too many themes? Use this StudioPress Theme Selection Tool to help you choose according to your needs:

• Check out top-notch Genesis Themes from the Community:  StudioPress Community Themes

• And if you are into videos and easy explanations, then head over to  StudioPress.TV for some free vids.

Last but not least, if you fall in love with the Genesis Themes like I have, you might want to become a proud affiliate too: Become a StudioPress Affiliate and Make Money!

I can only add:
It’s all good, baby! It’s all good!

p/s There are also tons of well written tutorials.  They are available to anyone who has purchased their own Genesis Themes.

And if you have your own take on Genesis themes or tips to share, please jump right on down to comments below and let us know.