As you may know that CodeFear.com runs on WordPress and we were using a readymade WordPress theme. From past few months I was thinking of changing my WordPress theme and I was looking at some WordPress theme frameworks.
There are many premium and free WordPress theme framework available and I had shortlisted three frameworks Thesis Theme Framework, Genesis Framework and Headway Themes. It was very difficult for me to choose between these three WordPress theme frameworks.
I searched a lot about these frameworks, I searched for review, comparison between these WordPress theme frameworks. At last I finalize Genesis Framework.
Before updating my WordPress theme there were few concern which I had faced in past like hewighy theme which increase site load time, poorly coded theme which use lot of JavaScript and CSS files, bad on SEO, adding some plugin destroys theme and many more problems.
When I was searching for new WordPress theme all these problems was in my mind and I don’t want to repeat these entire problems on my next WordPress theme. I had two options for my next WordPress theme, one create a new custom theme or buy any premium theme. Previously I had bought some premium WordPress themes which didn’t worked for me.
After lot of searching I choose Genesis and tried it on my other blog and I not faced any problem and finally I implemented Genesis on all of my blogs and all of them are running fine. I am very happy with Genesis.
Reason of Changing Theme and Choosing Genesis Framework
First question comes in mind why you want to change the theme? There can be many reasons or any one stupid reason for me there was many reasons.
1. Theme Support – When you buy a theme it not just that you are finished there. You may need support for theme updates, theme setup support, and theme modification support and so on. If you are not getting these supports you may find yourself in trouble. With premium WordPress themes like StudioPress you get very good support not just for theme modification, setup but you get regular updates so that your theme is compatible with latest WordPress release.
2. Search Engine Optimized Theme – If your theme is search engine optimized then you can understand what you can get from your blog. Search traffic means popularity, lot of visitors and good earning. In past I had tried to change my theme with some other theme but I found sudden drop in search traffic, may be those theme was not search engine optimized. When I searched for SEO friendly theme Genesis and Thesis was the first choice. After installing Genesis I do not find any sudden jump in search traffic but I was happy that I didn’t lose my search traffic and its improving day by day.
3. Plug-in Compatibility – In my previous WordPress theme some of the plugin was not working and I needed them a lot. Whenever I activate those plugin my theme destroyed. After using Genesis I reactivated those plugin and all of them are working fine. I am not a WordPress theme developer so I can’t say why this happen but it makes me sure that Genesis is compatible with most of the plugin.
4. Page Speed – As you may know Google loves fast website and your website may get priority in related search result if your website load fast. There are many parameter which can determined your website page speed like web server response, many http request, JavaScript, lot of CSS, images etc. My previous WordPress theme score only 80 out of 100 (Higher the better) but after switching to Genesis my blog page score is reached to 94 out of 100. This is very good improvement this tells Genesis is lightweight and well created.
5. Theme Modification Options – There are various way of modifying WordPress theme, it can be manually, with theme admin options etc. Genesis provide everything it gives admin options which help you to make changes in your theme, manual changing is always there and the biggest thing is Hooks. With Hooks you can attach content to your theme very easily and it can change your site as you requirement.
6. Theme Design – StudioPress offer many theme designs build on Genesis Framework you can buy child theme as per your requirement. This was another reason of choosing Genesis Framework. I choose Minimum Child Theme and planning to buy some more child theme for my other blogs.
7. Cost Effective – Genesis Framework and its child themes are very cost effective compare to its close competitors Thesis, Headway Themes etc. Thesis and Headway Framework cost between $68 for single site license to $378 for developer license and Genesis cost just $59.95 for unlimited license. You can buy Genesis with one Child theme for just $79.95. It’s very affordable WordPress theme framework.
There are many more reasons of choosing Genesis Framework. Genesis is much better than my previous theme. Many people find using Genesis is difficult; Yes it can be true because if you are not web designer and not much aware of WordPress Theme Framework then you find it difficult to use.
I also find some difficulty in starting but after reading tutorial and support forum my problem was solve very quickly. Thanks to good support and well written documentation. After understanding the concept it was very easy to implement Genesis Framework on my other blogs.
As for now I found Genesis is great WordPress theme framework. It is light weight, fast, SEO friendly, Plug-in friendly and much more I will definitely recommend Genesis Framework.
