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Hi Folks,
We are in the early stages of our redesign process and ran across Chris Brogan's site chrisbrogan.com. He's using the Rainmaker Platform, obviously, which we don't think we need or want, but we are interested in designing a site that approximates his in layout and functions. Our look and feel would be quite different.My question is, is his site built on Altitude Pro? Or another StudioPress Theme? Or is it completely original? And if we were to try to something like this on a StudioPress template, who could do it and what kind of costs would we be looking at?
Thanks!
http://www.TheChangeProject.com
JenniferI believe Chris' site is a custom design.
You can do anything on a Genesis-based website that you can with any other website. Genesis is simply a foundation to take care of things every site needs.
The cost is completely dependent on a number of different things.
You could probably use Generate as a good start if you didn't want to go from nought.
Feel free to fill out my contact form. If I'm not a good fit, then I'm sure I can find someone in the Genesis community who is.
http://www.inboundcreative.co.uk/project-planner/
Liftoff:
The site you referenced is not using the Genesis Framework and Genesis child theme. He is using Thesis.
I would highly recommend using Genesis over Thesis, although I am disappointed that Brian has stopped putting out child themes on Studiopress.
Nevertheless, I don't think there's a comparison. Stick with Genesis and a robust child theme that suits your purposes.
You can contact me at my WordPress + SEO Firm, NetPrezence LLC if you have any questions.
That's really interesting on two counts, Jason.
1) That he's using Thesis, which is the theme we're trying to move on from
2) that Brian has stopped putting out child themes. I wasn't aware of that. The child themes were among the reasons we were moving to StudioPress.So my question is, "Wassup with that?" Do you know?
The site you referenced is not using the Genesis Framework and Genesis child theme. He is using Thesis.
Wrong. It is running on the Rainmaker platform, which itself is based on the Genesis Framework. He used to use Thesis, but you'd have realised he was no longer doing so if:
a) You'd bothered to read Jennifer's post properly.
b) You'd actually looked at his site.In fact, he hasn't used it for nearly a year.
I am disappointed that Brian has stopped putting out child themes on Studiopress.
Wrong again. Brian hasn't stopped putting out child themes on StudioPress. He has stepped back from leading design of new themes and handed that over to the very capable Lauren Mancke. But he certainly hasn't stopped designing and developing new themes – Expedition Pro is his next one.
https://dribbble.com/shots/2079737-Expedition-is-Simply-Amazing
Jennifer. Thanks for putting the contact request in – I've just gotten into the office so I'll be replying to you shortly.
Ben
Liftoff:
I shouldn't really say Gardner has "stopped" developing child themes; it's just that there isn't a constant stream of them being developed, and I don't think Brian would argue that. So that's partly just my personal frustration.
As a result, however, there are an abundance of 3rd parties developing Genesis child themes, so there is still a myriad of Genesis child themes out there. I cannot say the same about Thesis.
Genesis child themes are html5, responsive / fluid, and more than anything, the advantage that's obvious, is that there is a much larger community than Thesis. As a result, you have a gazillion plugins designed specifically for Genesis, and a company (Cobalt Apps) that designs exclusively for Genesis. I use Cobalt's Genesis Extender whenever I develop a site that is not using Cobalt's own Genesis child theme, Dynamik.
With a solid Genesis child theme and the Genesis Extender, you can pretty much create whatever the client wants or needs, with the help of plugins of course. Genesis Extender adds a number of options, including the ability to have your own fully-widgetized (you don't have to create a page) homepage with a variety of layout options, all kinds of custom image sizes, custom CSS, custom functions, custom hooks, and more. As mentioned, I use Extender on every site I don't develop on Dynamik.
So perhaps that's the reason Studiopress hasn't put out any child themes in recent months; they're satisfied with what's out there. But, as intimated, other companies are creating them too. One of the things I like about Studiopress is that you can purchase all their child themes in one lump, which most developers do, so you have all child themes at your fingertips.
When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, however, and really tailoring your site to how you envision it, you'll simply need a developer who has the time to listen to your needs and optimize your site accordingly based on a variety of factors, including (well-programmed) plugins.
Thanks both of you. It's ironic, because one of the reasons we chose Thesis originally was that Brogan's use of it roughly paralleled our own needs. then, when we started looking again for another design, there he was again, having modulated to a design that seemed right to us for our needs. I only happened on his site because I went to look at Altitude Pro and there he was advertising Rainmaker. So all this now makes a lot more sense.
Also, I wasn't aware of the nature of Extender, so that could make it a lot easier to approximate those functions we want. I was underwhelmed with what was available among SP's child themes, so those extras could make a big difference.
I hope the StudioPress world stays vital. And Ben, thanks, I'll talk with you some more about what's possible, when you have a chance.
Jennifer
Jason.
There are two main reasons why there has only been a handful of new themes:
1) The core team has been focused on Rainmaker. That's part of the reason why Lauren was brought on board – there was a recognition within Copyblogger that they had perhaps neglected StudioPress a little too much.
2) There has been a growth in the number of third party theme providers. Brian's guiding philiosphy has been to create a marketplace where others can create businesses and livelihoods around a core product. As more and more theme shops have opened, there has been less and less need for StudioPress to support the framework using its own child themes.Also, a couple of theme shops have all-in-one packages, such as Web Savvy Marketing.
I cannot say the same about Thesis.
She's already said she wants to move away from Thesis. You're preaching to the converted 😉
RE: Colbalt's Dynamik. That is a tool that is designed for the DIY market. You should not be using it to produce themes for clients. It – like other page builders –Â has it's place. But it produces a ton of junk code and isn't optimised like a site built by a developer with a strong understanding of PHP, HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery can.
Okay, Ben, well, I'm not here to argue if that's your objective. I was merely telling the truth; other than Sixteen Nine, 8 or so months ago, Studiopress hasn't put out a child theme in about a year. What's wrong with being truthful?
And I'd have to object to a comment you made, Ben. If you looked at the site linked by the original poster, Jennifer, you'd see he's running Thesis. But hey, have at it.
I'm aware of Rebecca and live near her here in Detroit, Michigan, but am not a competitor. I don't run a full-time SEO business anymore; I choose clients carefully and selectively, so I can offer my full devotion as I build my nonprofit organization.
I'm also aware of Eric's strengths at Cobalt. As far are not being optimized, however, I would disagree with you on that one -- depending on what you mean by "optimized". Optimized for search marketing purposes? Optimized for speed? Optimized for mobile devices? Optimized for ___ type of performance? "Optimized" is a vague term.
I wouldn't consider Dynamik a "page builder" (a-la Visual Composer), which does create a lot of divs and spans and junk code. It's a full-fledged Genesis child theme; it's just that simple. Likewise, Extender isn't a "page builder" either that adds divs and spans; you still negotiate WordPress posts and pages as normal without all those page-building buttons that create the cluttered code. Extender merely extends the functionality of the Genesis Framework.
Being knowledgeable in php, html5, etc., server performance and optimization is all wonderful. But I wouldn't mislead the original poster, Jennifer.
In almost all cases, the ultimate objective is not merely to create a wonderful site, but to ensure the client can negotiate his or her site so it's easily maintained by the client themselves and they don't have to rely on us to continually charge them to service or upgrade their site.
I was merely telling the truth.
But you were wrong.
Other than Sixteen Nine, 8 or so months ago, Studiopress hasn’t put out a child theme in about a year. What’s wrong with being truthful?
Sixteen Nine was released back in August 2013... Far more than eight months ago. StudioPress has released a number of themes since then – these are just the themes released in the last 12 months for example:
June 2014 – AgentPress Pro
July 2014 – Generate Pro
July 2014 – Education Pro
August 2014 – Daily Dish
September 2014 – Remobile Pro
November 2014 – Whitespace
December 2014 – Cafe Pro
January 2015 – Altitude Pro
March 2015 – Modern Studio
April 2015 – Author ProAnd yes, there is absolutely nothing wrong be being truthful – except when you're wrong.
And I’d have to object to a comment you made, Ben. If you looked at the site linked by the original poster, Jennifer, you’d see he’s running Thesis. But hey, have at it.
And if you'd actually read Jennifer's post, you'd have realised the site that is linked is HER site; not Chris Brogan's – which she didn't link to.
The rest is a discussion for another time and place.
In almost all cases, the ultimate objective is not merely to create a wonderful site, but to ensure the client can negotiate his or her site so it’s easily maintained by the client themselves and they don’t have to rely on us to continually charge them to service or upgrade their site.
I agree with that 100%.
Chris Brogan's site was designed by Copyblogger's Rafal Tomal for the Rainmaker platform. There's definitely no Thesis involved.
@liftoff There are hundreds of Genesis themes and new ones are published frequently - sometimes it's tough to keep up! Check the links in my .sig below for a sampling by author, category and features.
Choose your next site design from over 350 Genesis themes.
[ Follow me: Twitter ] [ Follow Themes: Twitter ] [ My Favourite Webhost ]Yes, Tom; apparently, I was looking at the wrong link.
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