When i installed WordPress for the very 1st time, i also activated one of the default themes named Twenty Ten.
I never modified the code of Twenty Ten or customized the theme as it was far too complicated.
I then installed a free commercial theme made by Woo Themes but never got any support from Woo ( As they don’t offer customization support ) to help make some small changes to the theme, so i changed to Thesis.
After spending 1 year using the Thesis theme and receiving incredible support, i still couldn’t make my child theme look as good as what StudioPress offer out of the box. ( Thesis don’t make child themes, they only make Thesis which now comes in 2 versions ).
So i ended up purchasing Genesis and several child themes.
Now i own the Pro Plus package which gives me all existing and future themes for a one off investment which was less than $400.
Reasons i choose Genesis:
Built in SEO – There’s no need to install a SEO plugin because Genesis includes SEO built in. You can change themes and all your SEO settings, redirects and other SEO stay exactly the same.
Changing themes – I like to change themes especially when StudioPress release a new one which i like. Changing parent themes can cause all sorts of problems but changing child themes which run on Genesis has never been a problem. They’re all coded to run on Genesis so its always smooth sailing.
HTML 5 – I have answered over 10,000 questions on 3 of the leading WordPress forums so i know what can go wrong. HTML 5 is the cleanest markup and validates far better than XHTML. Genesis supports HTML 5 and StudioPress have converted many child themes to HTML 5 already with the rest to follow shortly.
Theme customization – One of the biggest reasons people abandon their website is because it just ends up being too difficult causing pain and frustration. Genesis includes community support which makes customizing your child theme as easy as it can possibly be. You’ll also find a massive range of official code snippets, tutorials and guides which provide the best theme support any WordPress theme provider and community offers.
Support – Support for Genesis is offered on the StudioPress forums free of charge. The StudioPress forums are considered the most helpful in the WordPress theme community. You’ll most likely get your questions answered by a Genesis Developer or web designer who specializes in the Genesis theme framework and won’t use any other theme framework.
Regular Updates – Genesis is constantly updated and more than a dozen Developers contribute to the ongoing development of Genesis to always make sure it integrates with the latest version of WordPress. When Genesis is updated, your child theme is in no way effected so your customizations are always safe.
Genesis Plugins – Genesis offers dozens of plugins developed specifically for use with this theme framework. You can also use any of the 34,000+ WordPress plugins you’ll find for free in the official WordPress plugin directory.
Hooks & Filters – As a Developer, i love WordPress hooks and filters as they enable me to modify the default output WordPress generates from a child theme rather then hacking core code. On top of this, Genesis includes 70+ theme specific hooks and filters which enable you to add new widgets anywhere in your theme and modify the Genesis default functionality from the safety of your child theme.
There’s so many things you can do with Genesis which seem so difficult and complicated to get done with other themes. If you want to customize your theme yourself, Genesis makes it as easy as it can possibly be compared to other theme frameworks.
Try Genesis for 30 days risk free.
Plus, you automatically get your StudioPress returning customer discount at checkout to save an additional 25% off StudioPress child themes if you have already completed a purchase.