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DIY Thesis vs Studio Press Genesis Framework?

by ecdavis
15 replies
Hi. I want to give my sites a makeover with either the Thesis theme or with the Studio Press Genesis framework. I'd appreciate any comparison or advice. I've looked over all the sales material for both products and both appear to be excellent. I know that both have brilliant reputations. Any thoughts on which way to go?

Thanks,
Evan
#diy #framework #genesis #press #studio #thesis
  • Profile picture of the author marlon
    Genesis has a number of themes that plug into it with vastly different looks so it's more flexible. I believe it has a lot more widgets.

    Thesis is a very clean look. It was the first theme I think to use hooks or made them popular.

    We use Genesis but Thesis is a great theme.

    Marlon
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  • Profile picture of the author ecdavis
    Marlon,

    Hi. Thank you for your feedback.

    Evan
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  • Profile picture of the author Fermina
    I like the Headway theme better than Thesis because with thesis you need to know a little bit of code but with headway you only need to drag and drop and plus it is also SEO friendly
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    • Profile picture of the author cyberws
      We use Genesis and it's a MASTERPIECE! One of the pains of using Wordpress (or any other platform, I suppose) is that updates can truly mess up your site - but you can't ignore them. With Genesis, updates are simple and nothing ever breaks yet we can customize our sites in all kinds of ways. Obviously, we are very satisfied customers. :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author ecdavis
    Cyberws,

    Thank you for sharing your experience. This is a tough choice. Do you think that Genesis works particularly well for any particular sort of site? That is, do you use it for a ecommerce, blogging, other kinds of marketing?

    Thanks,
    Evan
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  • Profile picture of the author jon poland
    Evan:

    I did work with Thesis but I am now sold on Genesis. I primarily use it for blogging. They have a ton of great looking themes to choose from. If you want a to upload a great looking theme, add a few widgets and then start adding content -- and do it on a very stable platform, then Genesis is hard to beat.

    I really like the support forum at Genesis -- they are very friendly and helpful. Quite frankly, I found the support forum at Thesis to be a bit on the arrogant side. I had limited tech skills (I know a little CSS now) and they really don't have a lot of patience for people who need a lot of help with technical questions. Perhaps that has changed and they are now more "novice friendly" -- but that was my experience before I left Thesis more than a year ago.

    I have also played around with Elegant Themes and I like what I am seeing. Take a look at Elegant Themes -- that is another possibility and it's only $39 a year.

    My pick is Genesis -- but I would also consider Elegant Themes.

    By the way, how are things in Iowa City these days? I'm a UNI grad and I spent a lot of time in Iowa City when I was in college many years ago. It's a great town.

    All the best, Evan.

    Jon
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  • Profile picture of the author ecdavis
    Jon,

    Hi. Thank you very much for for taking the time to detail your experience with Thesis and Genesis. One of the features about Thesis that caught my attention was a theme generator, or something along that line. I already use the Studio Press Church theme on a number of sites, so I'm a bit familiar with Studio Press products. Although I've been tinkering with WP to become familiar with basic css and how to butcher my way through php in a pinch, I am pretty technically helpless when it comes to more complicated coding issues. I'm sure to have quite a few very simple technical questions with either of these frameworks.

    Iowa City if fine. Overall, it is a pretty easy place to live in. Speaking of UNI, I lived in Cedar Falls for a couple of years in early 90's teaching ESL.

    Take care,
    Evan
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    • Profile picture of the author jon poland
      Evan:

      Have you tried Firebug for Firefox? If you have not I want to encourage you to take a look at it. Firebug is pretty easy to learn and it makes working with CSS a lot easier. And it's free.

      I am going to spend some more time with Elegant Themes. I like the fact that you can do a lot with it without getting into code. Also, some big internet marketers are now using Elegant Themes. I'm quite sure that Andy Jenkins switched from Thesis to Elegant themes with his blog at Andy Jenkins blog. I really like what Andy has done with his site using Elegant Themes.

      Jon
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  • Profile picture of the author ecdavis
    Jon,

    I am familiar with Firebug, thank you. Elegant themes apparently requires a recurring fee, which eliminates that as a contender.

    Evan
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    • Profile picture of the author jon poland
      Originally Posted by ecdavis View Post

      Jon,

      I am familiar with Firebug, thank you. Elegant themes apparently requires a recurring fee, which eliminates that as a contender.

      Evan
      Evan -- Yes, Elegant Themes does require a recurring fee. But keep in mind that it's $39 a year -- not $39 a month.
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      • Profile picture of the author kolbywhite28
        Originally Posted by jon poland View Post

        Evan -- Yes, Elegant Themes does require a recurring fee. But keep in mind that it's $39 a year -- not $39 a month.

        The recurring fee is only for access to the support forum and future themes. You can continue using those themes even when you have stopped paying the annual fee.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael D Forbes
    I've been quite pleased with StudioPress. The support forum is pretty responsive if you get hung up on something.
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  • Profile picture of the author ecdavis
    I agree. I've always gotten great help when I had questions regarding the Church theme.
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  • Profile picture of the author source47
    I have experience with both and I like Genesis better than Thesis.
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