As much as I've talked about Genesis recently and as many questions I've received, I thought it would be good to put all the helpful Genesis resources all in one spot. I'll be updating as necessary…
A few of my posts about Genesis
- How does Genesis work? Here's an analogy.
- Q&A: What Genesis Child Theme Should I Use? (Part 1)
- Q&A: What Genesis Child Theme Should I Use? (Part 2)
- How Does Your Site Look on Mobile Devices
- How to Change Your Genesis Favicon
- You can also find more by using the Search bar with search term "genesis."
Start using Genesis
- Prose Theme - This is the theme I recommend if you have little to no coding background. This child theme is unlike the rest of the Genesis child themes in that it allows a lot more customization right from your WordPress Dashboard. It's a great one to start with.
- Prose Gallery - If you looked at Prose and weren't very impressed with what you saw, these are all sites that use Prose. This is how customizable it is.
- StudioPress Themes - If you have some coding background and/or will work with a designer, these are all the child themes available. A good designer should be able to customize any of them for you. If you want to work with a StudioPress-recommended developer, find a list here: Genesis Developers.
- StudioPress Marketplace - This is a collection of child themes written by people in the Genesis community (not written by StudioPress themselves) but that StudioPress can vouch for. (P.S. These themes are not included in the All-Theme Package listed below.)
- Showcase - A list of blogs that use the Genesis Framework. Again, Genesis is highly customizable.
- StudioPress Theme Selection Tool - Not sure which theme to use? This tool should help.
- StudioPress Pro Plus All-Theme Package - If you are a designer or think you would like to become a designer or think you might be using several different Genesis child themes in the future, consider buying the Pro Plus All-Theme Package. Instead of buying Genesis and individual child themes, you get access to all of them. Sure, it's a couple hundred dollars at the outset, but well worth the cost if you will use multiple child themes. I SO WISH I had done this myself.
- Free Genesis Child Themes - Here are some free child themes you can use if you already own the Genesis Framework and don't want to have to buy a paid-for child theme. Look for the sections "Free Themes by StudioPress" and "Child Themes for Free."
- Genesis-Specific Plugins - There are plugins created specifically by StudioPress for Genesis. I use Genesis Simple Hooks, Genesis Simple Edits and Simple Social Icons.
- Refund Policy - Did you buy Genesis and it didn't work for you? You can get your money back within 30 days.
- Web Graphics – A nice selection of high-quality graphics to pretty up your Genesis blog.
Support from the makers of Genesis
StudioPress (the company that makes Genesis Framework) wants its customers to be happy. For that reason, once you are a paying customer, you have access to all kinds of helpful resources.
Note: If you had your site designed by a professional and they installed the Genesis Framework for you, they can do that as a developer, however, you do not get the added bonus of support. So, I encourage you to buy the theme yourself and have them install it so you can utilize the support StudioPress offers.
- The Genesis Guide for Absolute Beginners - PDF download
- Support Forum - Ask just about any question you can think of in the forum. The moderators are super helpful.
- Child Theme Tutorials - This section is in the Support Forum. Just pick your child theme from the list and see the tutorials specifically for your theme.
- StudioPress.TV - A new collection of video tutorials.
- Genesis Tutorials - This is a large list of tutorials for How to Use Navigation Menus to changing the "Speak Your Mind" text before the Comments section and lots more. There are also Tutorials by Community Members, written by Genesis users.
- Responsive Design Tool - A great way to check to see how your site looks on various mobile devices.
- StudioPress Blog - Subscribe to the blog to keep up with updates, new theme releases and more.
Don't forget to make money!
If you use Genesis and can recommend it, don't forget to become a StudioPress affiliate. Every time you refer someone to Genesis, use your affiliate link. Also a quick tip, many people look in your footer to see which theme you use. Might as well make that link to Genesis an affiliate one! (You can edit your footer info pretty easily using the Genesis Simple Edits plugin.)
Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. Here is my full disclosure policy.
Thank you! Great have all of these links in one place
You must've seen all my searches on your site lately…or read my mind! This is great. Thanks!
Thanks Amy! I'm continually learning and it's great to be able to come here and see it all in one sweet spot now. You're the best!
I thought about getting Prose when I began….but I thought it was more for writers….
Hi Amy
Congratulations on a great Genesis site and thanks for so many Genesis related resources.
I bought the Pto Plus package some time ago and it was the best thing I ever did.
I'm a Genesis man to the core and I hope that you'll pay me a visit.
Wow! This is great info Amy! You've got me hooked on Genesis! I'm going to be getting this soon! Thanks for all the great info. You are such a help!!!
~Stephanie
Thanks! I'm switching my theme to Genesis, so this will come in really handy!
All the resources were awesome, and helped me a lot.. But sadly, I've already use them all, so nothing new for me but is better for newbies.
Great post Amy. I found out about Genesis through your wonderful site last October. So glad I did as I am a non coder for now am using plug-ins as needed. Yes, it would be nice to know more about the techie part but not a deal breaker to get your site looking good and performing well. Thanks again for all the hard work you do here on this site to spread the word about WordPress and Genesis-a powerful combination.
I'm a really big fan of their customer support – it's really easy to navigate and they are super helpful!
Amy .. I am in the process of setting up a new website and have followed your instructions on how to purchase and install Genesis and Prose. It was super easy following your instructions! Thanks a lot!! I would have never known how to do this without your tutorials.
Also, followed your tutorials on how to place your blog in "maintenance mode" while designing my new site. Thanks again!
I have another question for you … do you use Akismet and/or another plugin for spam control? I am using it on my current blog, but wanted to find out your opinion and what option you use. Thanks!!
Amy, thank you for all the great infos you offer each of us here!
I'd like to mention that in order to install Genesis, one must have WP 3.4 at least, which means PHP 5.2.4 (according to what appears on my admin board).
I've bought Genesis + Prose, following your recommandations (I'm a non coder), but my PHP version is 4.4.9 and my host, contacted, answered I had to switch to a 5. PHP, which I don't know how to do… And I'm very much afraid such a move will put my site down… (installing Genesis without WP 3.4 has put my site down, I had to recover the "before" saved content).
I thought evrything would be easy as pie, as it's been with the different themes I installed since my blog exists. But reality is quite different for me
Ohhhh, so sorry about that Flo. I did not take into account what other hosts offer. I was just going with the two I use, HostGator and Bluehost. Thanks for the reminder.
Amy! I've been reading your raves about Genesis and Prose, and after too many issues with a custom built theme, you've convinced me to make the switch! Just purchased Prose+Framework thanks to your recommendation and youtube videos. You're a gem! Thanks!
I hope it works well for you Cathy!
Still stuck here! Your videos are so good, but I think I'm missing something. You really SET UP the menus and Nav bar and categories. I don't know what's what or what should be what. Sorry I keep posting desperate questions….help me….aagghh!
Hi Mary, I'm not sure I'm understanding exactly. Is it that you're not sure what the difference is between categories and menu items or you're not sure how to set up a menu (but you have your categories) or maybe something else? Sorry I'm not following…
Yup, I guess I'm confused. Is a MENU the same thing as a nav bar? What are categories? I think I have a screw loose right now. I'm staring at the wordpress help and asking on the studiopress forum and still confused.
I'm going to try again. Thanks.
Ah, I think I'm following you now. No, you don't have a screw loose, it's super confusing!
No, a menu is not the same thing as a navbar. A navbar is a section of your site where you can display menus. So, you can create lots of menus, but they are not necessarily all in use at once. But then let's say you want to display one of those menus. In that case, you would choose the section of your site (navbar or perhaps sidebar) where you want that menu to show up and then you slide the menu into that spot. Now that menu shows up on that particular section of your site (such as the primary navbar or the secondary navbar or in the sidebar).
Categories are what you assign your posts to so that they're organized. So, if I'm writing a post today about Facebook, I'll assign that post to my "Networking and Social Media" category. If I write a post tomorrow about a way I make money, I'll assign that post to my "Making Money" category. So, categories are just a way of organizing posts.
You can, if you'd like, put a link to a specific category in a menu. And then you can even put that menu in a navbar if you'd like. That way, when someone clicks on that category link in your navbar, they will be taken to all the posts you've written and assigned to that category (the newest listed first).
Does that help?
THAT'S what I wasn't understanding! You are great and a true GEM to have responded with such a detailed answer. That explains it and helps sooooooooo much. Now I get it, so hopefully I can get going on this. Thank you, thank you, thank you…..
Mary
Oh good, glad it makes more sense now.
Hi Amy! I have been visiting your blog because it has alot of great info, I used your affiliate button to purchase "the Prose" now I am a fairly newbie with all this, but I finally go it purchased, downloaded and up loaded after about 45 min., So now I am working on setting it up!! I have followed a couple bloggers and even bought their material but they never seem to give it all, which is discouraging after you spend the money to get it. I always was feeling like I was left hanging and wasted my money. I so appreciate what you have to offer, I do not mind obtaining what I need from you! Thanks!1
Thanks so much, Margaret! Also, make sure you take advantage of the forums over at StudioPress! They're super helpful.
Thanks Amy. Now, if I could just transport all the knowledge in your head into mine….. : )
Ah, you'll get it. There's a big learning curve. Slow and steady, one bite at a time.
A one stop shop for everything Genesis – I think I followed every link you have on here and all of them were quality, thanks for bringing them all together.
Saved me so much time
You're welcome, Paul. Glad you stopped by!
Hi Amy!
So if you have the framework are you able to switch themes? I want to have a permanent theme but I'm afraid that I'll find a better one and it will be a hassle to switch.
If you use Genesis, you'll install the Genesis Framework and any Genesis child theme you want. If down the road you decided you want a new Genesis child theme, it's easily switched (although you'll have to pay for the new child theme unless you buy the whole package). I hope that answers your question.
Yes, it does! Thank you!
I found your review of the Prose child theme SO helpful. I don't know what to do with the Manhattan theme I purchased. =) I'm a photographer… do you think the Prose would work to show photos or is there a gallery oriented child theme out there that works as intuitively as Prose? I've heard of Pretty Pictures, but I don't want to lose the ability to change the background and header etc. the way you demonstrated in your excellent video tutorial. Thanks!
Unfortunately, Prose is the only one of the Genesis child themes that have the Design Options that make it so handy to use.
All of the Studiopress child themes are customizable if you're willing to dive into the code. It's more of a learning curve, but if you're willing to wade through, you can do just about anything you'd like. I'd also recommend you take full advantage of the support forums and ask questions in the Design Tips & Tricks section. Usually you can get good help there.
Hi Amy,
I really like the Luscious theme layout – http://demo.studiopress.com/luscious/ – but don't like the colors. Do you think I could I could get the same layout with Prose without having to do a whole lot of CSS changes? I don't know CSS. Or would it be better to just buy Luscious and figure out how to change the colors. What do you think? Any advice would be super helpful!
Hi Jen, yes you could get Prose to look like this. However, if it's only the colors you want to change, I would probably get Luscious and change the colors. Ask in the support forums and they'll help you.