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As a licensed-owner of the Pro Plus All-Theme Package, I am often disappointed by the child themes Studio Press is releasing. Why is it that other, third-party Genesis child theme developers continue to outshine Studio Press in terms of features, aesthetics, and functionality?
Perhaps I'm setting the bar too high, but I expected more from the company who wrote Genesis. A lot more. Even a library of shortcodes, like SEO Themes includes, would be helpful.
http://studio press, child themesHey RavenManiac,
I'm a lifetime license holder of StudioPress Suite/Pro or whatever the lifetime package is call and have been for about six years.
I also subscribe to ThriveThemes Full Suite which has about ten themes and over 100 landing pages plus other fantastic features.
In my opinion ThriveThemes outshine StudioPress overall; however, I still use Studiopress for certain websites and as a matter of fact, I am thinking about using the AcademyPro theme for the online golf courses I am working on.
Now, one glaring reason the other Website Theme companies may be better than StudioPress is because StudioPress charges a "ONE-Time Fee" and the others like ThriveTheme charges a monthly/annual fee which is $228 if you pay annually and more if you pay monthly.
With a reoccurring subscription base, a company have (pretty much) guaranteed money to do more things with (such as hiring great coders & adding more features etc...)
FTR, I have just purchase ThriveTheme this year because StudioPress does not seem to offer landing pages which is a huge oversight on their part and may ultimately cost them some serious sales.
I am at a loss as to why they don't charge their initial fee then charge a modest $19 to $30 yearly renewal fee.
Shortcodes for content are a bad idea. If you change themes, it ruins the whole site.
That's one reason we do not have shortcodes for content.
Also we DO have a landing page template. You can also code whatever you wish.
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Shortcodes for content are a bad idea. If you change themes, it ruins the whole site.
Thanks for your response Andrea. Quite frankly, I didn't know that shortcodes are a bad idea. So are you suggesting that the best way to add additional functionality to a StudioPress child theme is to use plugins or hand code them?
Also, I noticed that the latest iterations of several StudioPress themes, such as Agency Pro, no longer have a portfolio feature. Why was that removed?
I agree with Andrea, shortcodes within content are a bad idea, unless they are from WordPress Core. I've had to update a couple of sites from Divi to Genesis. Any theme, CSS helper, or page builder that inserts shortcodes into content damages the content's display and locks users into their product.
One Divi site that needed updating had hundreds of pages that had been created over the course of several years. The choice for updating that site was limited. I could have advised the client to either upgrade to the latest version of Divi, or manually edit all of those pages to remove shortcodes. I ended up writing a function that required me to export all of the site's content, remove the Divi shortcodes with my function, then import the data back in.
I support a lot of sites. If I am approached to maintain a site that was built with Divi or one of the many shortcode inserting products, I politely deny the request and suggest they look elsewhere for support. I have a local acquaintance, that only uses Divi. I usually send these clients his way.
https://victorfont.com/remove-divi-shortcodes-changing-themes/
Regards,
Victor
https://victorfont.com/
Call us toll free: 844-VIC-FONT (842-3668)
Have you requested your free website audit yet?Thanks for your insight Victor. Clearly I'm confused about shortcodes and what they do. I assumed that if a theme developer was using shortcodes, he or she was simply taking advantage of the functionality built into the Genesis framework. However, it sounds like they may be proprietary to the theme developer. Is that correct?
Here are several real world example of what I'm trying to do.
1. I'd like to add tabs to several pages in a child theme.
2. I'd like to be able to modify the number of columns in an individual page.What's the best way to do both without PHP coding?
BTW, I looked into Divi, which a lot of people are raving about, and I read about the horror stories associated with trying to transition a Divi site to Genesis or some other framework. I'm glad I didn't go down that road. 🙂
In fact, I've avoided using visual page builders for just that reason.
Columns are easy - no php involved. https://my.studiopress.com/documentation/usage/genesis-features/use-content-column-classes/
As for the tabs, that's a little more complicated, but again no php involved except for one line in functions.php. WordPress is delivered with jQuery UI Tabs pre-registered. You have to add wp_enqueue_script('jquery-ui-tabs') to functions.php, then follow the examples on the link page above to add columns to your page/post.
There are also plugins that will allow you to add tabes to posts/pages, but again these are dependent on shortcodes.
Shortcodes are primarily for making it easy to create snippets of reusable code. Instead of copy the same block of code everywhere you need it, create a shortcode that when executed inserts the content or runs a function.
Regards,
Victor
https://victorfont.com/
Call us toll free: 844-VIC-FONT (842-3668)
Have you requested your free website audit yet?They do, but the shorcodes aren't embedded in content where it's difficult to remove them. Soliloquy uses a widget. You can use shortcodes if you want, but the widget is easier.
For the gallery and form tool, it's a single shortcode on an otherwise empty page.
Regards,
Victor
https://victorfont.com/
Call us toll free: 844-VIC-FONT (842-3668)
Have you requested your free website audit yet?But don't plugins like Soliquoy, Envira Gallery, and even Ninja Forms use shortcodes?
Yes, but they are not themes.
Change your theme to a new one and your plugin shortcodes still work.
Use theme specific shortcodes, change themes, and then your pages are hosed.
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If you need technical support for your theme please file a ticket.The forums are community based. Staff only monitors the forum for issues relating to the forum itself and to redirect users to where they need to go.
Okay, that makes perfect sense.
I think I was mistaken when I said SEO Themes uses shortcodes. I think it was ZigZag press or Themedy. I can't recall which. If child theme developers know that's not good practice, why do they do it?
Can anyone speak to the shortcodes being used in the new Mai theme?
Tracy
The Mai Pro theme is not a Studio Press product. It is a community marketplace theme. Community marketplace theme developers support their themes directly. As the creators, they will be most familiar with the theme and be able to provide you with the best support. You can find the resources you need here: https://support.maitheme.com/
Regards,
Victor
https://victorfont.com/
Call us toll free: 844-VIC-FONT (842-3668)
Have you requested your free website audit yet?Hey Victor,
Do you have any experience with SEO Themes? I'm getting ready to use one of their themes. They seem pretty solid.
Thanks!
I do, but I'd rather speak to you privately about it. Do you still have my email?
Regards,
Victor
https://victorfont.com/
Call us toll free: 844-VIC-FONT (842-3668)
Have you requested your free website audit yet?If child theme developers know that's not good practice, why do they do it?
Some of them don't know and some of them don't care.
**forum signature**
If you need technical support for your theme please file a ticket.The forums are community based. Staff only monitors the forum for issues relating to the forum itself and to redirect users to where they need to go.
Some of them don't know and some of them don't care.
Both of those answers are very concerning to me.
I thought StudioPress vetted all of the third-party child themes it offers through your Pro Plus All-Theme Package, but I've heard that's not the case. So how can I tell the good ones from the bad?
I wasn't looking for support, just saw this thread and thought some of you who had been replying might have some comments on the shortcodes in the Mai theme.
Tracy
Hey y'all, Mike from BizBudding/Mai Theme here. I would have to (mostly) agree about shortcodes if we're following 100% best-practices, but often times having a quality site that works (and is still fast) is worth the trade off. We decided that shortcodes, although there is some theme lock-in, are more flexible than widgetized home pages. I've always hated that most themes use widgets for the front page. Widgets IMO are global pieces of content. Shortcodes give you the flexibility to build home-esque pages throughout your site.
All that being said, i'm SUPER excited for Gutenberg and the new editing experience in WP, and I hope that will allow us to move away from shortcodes into custom blocks 🙂
Sorry for the rant, just wanted to jump in with my 2-cents. You guys can ping me in Genesis Slack or https://support.maitheme.com if you have any specific questions about Mai Theme.
Lead developer of Mai Theme
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