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Hello,
I'm a newbie to Genesis, not a total WordPress virgin. But I've neglected my old WP site for so many years that I've decided I need to start over. My knowledge is out of date, so I have beginner questions.I'm trying to pick a theme but still have questions after studying all the info in the theme gallery, FAQ, and theme picker.
First, where can I find out more about what any one theme does or doesn't do? Yes, I've looked at lots of theme demos and clicked around. Seems I've exhausted the answers on the SP website.
Most of my questions have to do with customization. If it doesn't say I can do something--change colors, for example-- does that mean I can't? I'm ok with following directions and making changes in the admin panels of WP, but I don't mess with code.
How much can I customize colors of the design elements and header fonts?
I need to show my company logo in the header. Can I always do this, or only in the themes that come up when I filter for "custom header."
Can I change fonts easily?
If I like a theme, but it has a slider, can I delete the slider? I hate sliders.
I do want a mobile responsive theme. In the FAQ it says all SP themes "render beautifully on mobile," but then adds that more and more themes are mobile responsive. So does that mean they render more beautifully? I'm confused.
At the moment I'm leaning to themes that have a clean look, like Eleven40 and Sixteen Nine. Mindstream looks interesting. I like the look of Prose, but not the font. Stretch promises "full control" and "fluid versatility." Maybe I go with that?
In the future I'll need some ecommerce elements and discovered WooCommerce. Any problem adding that to any Genesis theme?
Lastly, I think I want HTML5, to future-proof my site. Is that something that all themes will add? Do I really need it? Maybe I start a new thread with that question. (I do know what it is, just don't know if I should care.)
I know this is a lot of questions. But I believe they are all pretty basic to picking a theme. Maybe they're obvious to developers. I'm not a developer; I'm a user.
Thank you in advance. One of the big reasons I'm zeroing in on Genesis is because of the great support and community.
Steve
http://www.BizClarity.com
current (out of date) site: http://www.BizClarity.com@Stevee00 - You might be a good candidate for our managed WP hosting.
1) You can try any theme we offer and switch between them as often as you like.
2) You can customize anything you want and we'll help you do it. That applies to colors, logos, fonts, sliders, etc.
3) WooCommerce is not a problem on our network.
4) HTML5: We have about 7 or 8 Genesis HTML5 themes (SP has 4, if you count the sample theme). Eleven40 Pro and Sixteen Nine and Going Green Pro are HTML5. The others you mentioned are not, but might be in the future. One HTML5 theme we have is tailored for ecommerce.We handle all WP and plugin updates, security, backups, provide ticket-based email support. That leaves you free to focus on creating content. Rates are in the $10-$20/month area (varies by features, but what you listed is $10/month). If you prepay your 1st year, we'll move your existing site contents for free. If you're interested, we can discuss further via email.
Hope that helps.
Web: https://wpperform.com or Twitter: @wpperform
We do managed WordPress hosting.
Steve - As I said in my original post, I'm happy to discuss the details via email. This forum isn't the best place for this type of back and forth. If you'd like, just send me a tweet and I'll reply. I'm just 1 of many here out in the WP world not affiliated with StudioPress who can assist you. I'm sure others will reply with different approaches/answers, of which there are many reasonable ones.
Good luck getting things sorted out.
Web: https://wpperform.com or Twitter: @wpperform
We do managed WordPress hosting.
Steve -
You have a great list here! I'm redesigning our company site now and I can tell you that, knowing what you need is essential. Be sure to know what your audience will respond to as well.
On the slider... I tested a few themes and didn't have an issue when I did not use a slider in the widget. Sliders are typically built as a widget under Appearances. If the widget is empty, nothing will show. When you pick a theme, check specifically for that. Others may have had different experiences.
Header... I had to customize the Metro theme for our company redesign. This tutorial has some tips on that. (This blog is worth an email subscription. It is not my blog, but I found it after I read some great posts here.) You will find similar tutorials on the web or in the forums.
Colors...If you are familiar with CSS, you can customize colors and fonts as much as you want. Here is a tutorial on how to change fonts in a theme.
On HTML5...Check out this thread, which discusses HTML5-ready Genesis themes:
http://www.studiopress.community/topic/which-studiopress-themes-are-html5-ready/
You can also manually update your theme to HTML5 - but you will need to tweak some elements. Read this post as well.
If you are overwhelmed by some changes in coding, check out W3Schools. It will take some of the fear out of it.
If you want to use Genesis, but are no in love with a particular StudioPress theme, you can search the net for various designers who make Genesis-friendly themes. (For my personal blog, I went with Pretty Darn Cute Designs.)
Best of luck! Hope this information helps.
Angela – I write fiction, review books and get walked daily by a big dog.
Angela,
Thank you for the info and all those valuable links. I see I could dive in and get my coding hands dirty if I wanted to. It doesn't look too intimidating.
But that's what I don't want to do. I've been there done that. Because I'm not a programmer even the simplest tasks, such as adjusting header size, trips me up because there's always some little detail that I miss because I didn't know better. And I spend hours figuring out what went wrong.
That's why I'm trying to find a theme that's as close as possible to what I want, but customizable to some degree in the admin section. I'll change code only as a last resort.
I'm looking into getting help through managed WP hosting now. That might be the best solution for my needs.
I'm sure the links won't be wasted--lurkers will find them valuable.
Steve
I realized that one big question in my OP is still unanswered:
First, where can I find out more about what any one theme does or doesn’t do? Yes, I’ve looked at lots of theme demos and clicked around. Seems I’ve exhausted the answers on the SP website.
Is there no way to contact a theme developer, or no back pages with specs for each theme? Seems like that would help a lot of people, not just me.
thanks,
Steve
Steve - Since we're communicating offline, I may have mentioned this in emails we've exchanged, but for the benefit of others - we have that info for every theme we offer. It should make it easy for you to narrow down the list of available themes to arrive at those that are suitable to your needs.
@Angela - Thomas Griffin from Soliloquy might hate me for saying this, but I read more and more about how sliders are dying. Most sliders auto-advance faster than people can absorb relevant info, and studies suggest that sliders negatively impact conversions. They are pretty, though.
Web: https://wpperform.com or Twitter: @wpperform
We do managed WordPress hosting.
Thanks, Bill! I think it depends on your audience. At my company, our business audience LOVES our homepage photos and expect those on our website. On my personal site, I don't need it because I use large featured images with each post. Testing the last few days proved that.
Angela – I write fiction, review books and get walked daily by a big dog.
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