WordPress Thesis Theme Overview

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I no longer use Thesis and switched to Genesis. Thesis 2.0 was released in October 2012 and I was very disappointed at the new version. I do not recommend Thesis anymore.

Trying to find the right theme/design for your WordPress blog can be a daunting task.

And if you don't know CSS it can become even more of a chore because you may have trouble customizing the design to your liking.

Let's face it. If you want to have the freedom to re-design your blog's theme you should learn the fundamentals of CSS.

But if you don't want to learn CSS, Thesis is the only theme I know that let's you drastically change your blog's design by using simple drop-down menus in the WordPress Admin panel.

What Else is So Special About Thesis?

The coding structure is like no other WordPress blog theme. I won't even pretend to know how to articulate this in techy terms, but I will break it down into English...

One of my favorite Thesis features is you can update and manage your blog design by editing one file. With most WordPress themes, you have multiple files to edit (header.php, sidebars.php, footer.php, etc.)

Many new bloggers struggle with WordPress Themes as they try to decipher what file to edit to change various sections of their blog.

Perhaps you can relate. Maybe you want to update your header, but you're not sure what code to change in the header.php file.

Well, with Thesis, there are two ways to simplify this process.

1) You can learn how to use their "hook feature" (explained on their forums) or...

2) You can install a free plug-in called Thesis OpenHook which allows you to overwrite any section of your blog by simply pasting your custom code into the appropriate boxes.

So if you want to replace your header with your own code, you simply paste your custom code into the box marked "Header" and the plug-in will replace the default header code with your new code. You can do this for every section of the blog.

The biggest benefit of owning Thesis is you don't have to wrestle with the source code if you don't want to -- thanks to the free plug-in.

The Benefits Keep Coming!

Here's another advantage. Thesis is setup so when the developers update the theme version, you don't have to worry about the compatibility of your design customizations.

With free themes, the developer may offer an upgraded version, but your customizations may break in the new version. With Thesis, you won't have that problem because of how it was developed. I also love how all your customizations are stored in one, concise folder.

Do I Need to Know CSS to Use Thesis?

It is not necessary to learn CSS before buying Thesis. However, the more you know, the more you'll be able to customize your theme beyond the standard template that comes with your license.

If you don't know much CSS then you will be restricted to minimal the design options provided in the WordPress Admin panel -- such as switching columns around, changing font sizes and colors, adding/deleting other custom Thesis sections etc.

But if you learn CSS, there are NO LIMITS to what you can do.

For example, if you look at my blog, the header, RSS subscription box, comment badges, etc. were all done using CSS code that I wrote from scratch.

However, I must say, the Thesis OpenHook Plug-in helps tremendously if your coding skills are limited. Nevertheless, you should still spend some time learning a bit about CSS. That will give you ultimate control over your design experience.

Watch My Thesis Video

If you'd like to see Thesis in action, watch my video below...

Get Thesis now.

P.S. I bought the Developer's license because I wanted to be able to remove the copyright notice and have the rights to use it on multiple blogs.

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