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WordPress

Cesar Vanbuskirk
Cesar Vanbuskirk
6,672 Points
Posted by Cesar Vanbuskirk
Cesar Vanbuskirk
6,672 Points

Difference between the Genesis Framework and a parent theme?

Okay so I'm trying to get a better grasp of the Genesis framework, but I still can't see why you would use this framework and limit yourself to the amount of themes you can use when a regular parent theme with a child theme seems to do the same thing?

3 Answers

Vladimir Dumitraskovic
Vladimir Dumitraskovic
24,195 Points

My bad. Here is Starter theme vs Framework. That cleared things for me too.

Vladimir Dumitraskovic
Vladimir Dumitraskovic
24,195 Points
Vladimir Dumitraskovic
Vladimir Dumitraskovic
24,195 Points

For small changes, using a child theme is OK. But did you try building a new theme? If you do that from scratch, it could take a while. With a framework (doesn't have to be a Genesis) you can do same thing very, very fast.

Why should you use a framework when building a theme:

  • you build themes faster,
  • you are using already tested code template, which can save you some debugging-your-own-code time,
  • if using paid framework - you (usually) get good support.

Search on google for "wordpress framework" for more info.

I hope that helped a bit :)

Cesar Vanbuskirk
Cesar Vanbuskirk
6,672 Points
Cesar Vanbuskirk
Cesar Vanbuskirk
6,672 Points

Hey thanks Vladimir but I understand a framework makes everything easier and gives you a head start but what is the difference from that to a starter theme like underscores? Isn't it the same thing?

Vladimir Dumitraskovic
Vladimir Dumitraskovic
24,195 Points
Vladimir Dumitraskovic
Vladimir Dumitraskovic
24,195 Points

I haven't used underscore yet. But I'm pretty sure it's like Bootstrap vs Foundation. Both do same thing just fine. But some developers prefer Bootstrap, and other Foundation.

My advice is that, unless you plan to be a professional wordpress theme developer, just pick one framework and stick to it. I trust teachers at Treehouse that they are teaching us best practices, so I'll stick to Genesis. If you used underscore or bones or similar, please send me email, I would like to know your experiences with them.

Cesar Vanbuskirk
Cesar Vanbuskirk
6,672 Points
Cesar Vanbuskirk
Cesar Vanbuskirk
6,672 Points

Yeah I agree but the difference is that underscores isn't a framework it's a "starter theme" so I'm kind of confused? I don't understand why people use Genesis so much since it seems to limit you on your selection of themes to choose from? Whats the difference between that framework and lets say a theme I install then build on with a child theme? Thanks!