thesis theme framework

WordPress Book

By mid-2010, one theme was still a GPL holdout: Thesis, from DIYThemes. Created by theme designer Chris Pearson and blogger Brian Clark, Thesis was popular as a feature-heavy framework — it gave users many more options than most WordPress themes. Users can customize every element of their website via the user interface. On the original about page, Chris states Thesis’ aim : “I wanted a framework that had it all — killer typography, a dynamically resizable layout, intelligent code, airtight optimization, and tons of flexibility.” Tech blogs featured Thesis and high profile bloggers, including Matt Cutts , Chris Brogan , and Darren Rowse adopted it.

Chris Pearson was well-respected in the community; he’d already developed Cutline and PressRow before moving into the premium theme market with Thesis. A mid-2009 ThemeShaper post recalls Thesis’ influence as “The Pearson Principle”: “Bloggers want powerfully simple design on an equally robust framework.” With themes such as Revolution and Premium News, theme developers were already creating feature-rich themes, and Thesis cemented that approach, ushering in the era of the theme framework [footnote]The term “theme framework” is often used to refer to different things. In some instances, a theme framework is a base, or “starter” theme that a developer can build from. In other cases, it’s a drop-in code library that facilitates development. But it’s also used in marketing to users, when a theme framework is a feature-heavy theme with multiple options.[/footnote]. Chris called this approach “ubiquitous design.” A theme wasn’t simply a website skin, it was a tool to build your website. It took another four years before theme developers stopped packing themes with options and started moving features into plugins.

While theme vendors adopted the GPL, Thesis held out. Discussions between DIYThemes and Automattic went nowhere and relationships fractured. In June 2009, Brian and Toni were in discussions when a blogger’s comment thread was hijacked . A long debate about Thesis and the GPL ensued. Matt urged people to move away from Thesis, saying “if you care about the philosophical underpinnings of WordPress please consider putting your support behind something that isn’t hostile to WordPress’ core freedoms and GPL license.”

In July 2010, the WordPress/Thesis debate reignited after Chris Pearson’s interview on Mixergy . In it, Chris shares Thesis’ revenue figures, putting a conservative estimate at 1.2 million dollars within 16 to 18 months.

Just over a week later, Matt and Chris took to Twitter . Matt was unhappy about Chris flaunting revenue and the GPL — violating WordPress’ license. Cutting remarks ensued until Andrew Warner from Mixergy set up an impromptu, live debate to discuss the issues . The hour-long discussion airs both sides of the argument. Matt argues that Thesis is built on GPL software — WordPress — and must honor the license. Matt suggests that Chris is disrespectful of all WordPress authors and that he’s breaking the law. Chris said adopting the GPL meant giving up his rights and losing piracy protection. He argues that “what I’ve done stands alone outside of WordPress completely,” and that Thesis “does not inherit anything from WordPress.” The argument descends into a rambling discussion of economics, and the conversation ends when Matt threatens to sue Chris if he refuses to comply with the GPL.

Matt, Automattic, and WordPress took public action against Thesis following the interview. Matt offered to buy Thesis users an alternative premium theme , consultants using Thesis were removed from the Code Poet directory of WordPress consultants , and Chris Pearson’s other themes — Cutline and PressRow — were removed from WordPress.com .

Matt wasn’t the only one in the WordPress community to come out swinging against Thesis. Other lead and core developers wrote about their GPL / Thesis stance. Ryan Boren wrote , “where do I stand as one of the primary copyright holders of WordPress? I’d like to see the PHP parts of themes retain the GPL. Aside from preserving the spirit of WordPress, respecting the open source ecosystem in which it thrives, and avoiding questionable legal ground, retaining the GPL is practical.” Mark Jaquith noted that WordPress themes don’t sit on top of, they’re interdependent on WordPress :

…in multiple different places, with multiple interdependencies. This forms a web of shared data structures and code all contained within a shared memory space. If you followed the code execution for Thesis as it jumped between WordPress core code and Thesis-specific code, you’d get a headache, because you’d be jumping back and forth literally hundreds of times.

Even developers who believed themes aren’t derivative of WordPress declared Thesis derivative. Developer Drew Blas wrote a script comparing every line of WordPress and Thesis . His script revealed several instances of Thesis code taken from WordPress. Core developer Andrew Nacin pointed out that Thesis’ own inline documentation declared: “This function is mostly copy pasta from WP ( wp-includes/media.php ), but with minor alteration to play more nicely with our styling.”

A former employee of DIYThemes left a comment on Matt’s blog :

check out Thesis’ handling of comments ( thesis/lib/classes/comments.php ). Large chunks of it are ripped right from WordPress. I know they are… because I’m the one who did the ripping. Whether I informed Chris of that or not doesn’t matter because I no longer have any of our old chat logs to prove one way or another, but suffice it to say the latest public release of Thesis (and numerous versions before hand) contain obviously GPL code. Whether those portions get rewritten in the impending 3.0 release, I don’t know… but for Chris to claim that he was responsible for and devised all of Thesis at 13:33 or so in the debate… Well, he was lying to you, either intentionally or not.

On July 22, — not even a week after the initial Mixergy interview — Chris Pearson announced that Thesis would be released under a split license. The public furor, compounded by pressure from inside DIYThemes, forced Chris to capitulate. Brian Clark drafted the license , shortly before leaving DIYThemes, citing “completely different opinions about the direction of the development of Thesis, the running of the company, and our relationship with the WordPress community.” When Thesis 2 launched in 2012, it had a new, proprietary license.

The debate around Thesis and the GPL had far-reaching implications for everyone involved. Prominent blogs moved away from Thesis . Brian Gardner’s Genesis theme became a popular choice. Thesis and Chris Pearson became less prominent in the community, focusing instead on cultivating and building a large customer base. The debacle also proved that WordPress will go to court to defend flagrant license abuse. There was, for a while, a relative calm in the community around the GPL. WordPress.org supported commercial theme sellers whose themes were 100% GPL and tolerated those that packaged their themes with two licenses. It would be another four years before the community found itself in another GPL argument on the four freedoms, this time between WordPress and Envato.

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WordPress Performance Guides and Reviews

Genesis vs Thesis – Theme Framework Review 2017

WordPress themes Dec 23, 2016 by Johnny

Time for an updated review of these two longstanding theme giants. What’s good, what’s bad, and who’s the winner. Let’s get on to it…

The WordPress theme market 5 years ago

The WordPress theme market at the time was evolved to the point where everyone was downloading themes that looked  close enough to the look they wanted and then they would customize the rest. This worked well for many theme publishers who would spend time created many different themes to suit the many different design needs out there. Users were happy to buy themes individually, or in packages, or by subscription. And theme publishers were happy to make money on each product.

Managing multiple themes however quickly grew out of control. This resulted in many forum posts for every theme and many conflicting ways of editing a theme. All the edits or design customizations you made on one theme may or may not be ported to another theme. There was also the confusion when certain themes came with their own widgets, plugins, skins, or other customizations or integrations. The line was blurring between what was a theme and what was an entire mini-CMS itself built inside a theme. Beginner users were confused and advanced users were annoyed.

One thing to keep in mind is that back then, most WordPress users were BLOGGERS. WordPress sites back then were hardly more than online journals of weekly writings. Articles, comments, pictures, and not much else.

Thesis Theme Framework (from DIYthemes)

Thesis entered the scene over 5 years ago and quickly established themselves as the industry-standard framework. They were the ultimate hype-beast in 2010. At the time, Thesis offered a fresh take on WordPress themes by providing a standardized framework that could be easily customized and designed a thousand different ways using the widely available documentation provided by the theme publishers as well as 3rd party.

Their theme was coded to be clean, fast-loading, easy to work with, and optimized for SEO. They had many raving fans and their users had plenty of support in the community. Their promise at the time was “Thesis is a great theme for beginners AND developers because it’s coded well and easy to customize.”

Other competitors like Genesis framework and Headway Themes started to come onto the scene but couldn’t quite attract enough market share. Genesis may have had a more intuitive code structure but was not as fast-loading, and not as optimized for SEO.  Headway Themes offered a newer take on creating a drag-and-drop interface not unlike the attempted pagebuilders that you see nowadays (i.e. Divi, Beaver, etc.) but was still not easy enough for beginners and considered overkill by coders who were already used to Thesis.

It also helped that Thesis priced themselves with a premium whereas Genesis came at a cheaper price and even included additional themes/skins. Thesis simply looked like the superior option.

As time passed, Thesis Theme support started to lag. Promised updates kept getting pushed back further and further. “Next week” would become “next year” and users felt jerked around by all the undelivered promises. The competition was catching up. And Thesis was showing it’s age.

In a time when WordPress themes and plugins were not as evolved, Thesis descended upon the WordPress eco-system like an alien, a visitor beyond our times. Technologically, we have never imagined before. But with time, WordPress plugins were truly starting to mature. You were no longer looking for a theme that could do everything, but one that would do only it’s purpose and get out of the way for everyone else.

Thesis failed to be the theme that got out of the way. It didn’t play nicely with SEO plugins, wouldn’t age gracefully with WordPress updates, ecommerce, etc. The list goes on. This was because Thesis took it upon itself to decide what was best for the user…and in doing so it often conflicted with user settings.

Users demanded an update and Chris Pearson enthusiastically boasted about how the new Thesis 2.0 would be like anything we’ve never imagined. It released sometime around 2012 (give or take a year), and it wasn’t like he promised. It was indeed a completely NEW framework system but it wasn’t the game-changer he promised.

Many fans were split. Some argued it was too hard to use and required too much work, and actually required knowledge of coding. Others were a bit more forgiving. They figured, “Oh, it’s just an advanced new system that will become the future, so let’s get adjusted.” Either way…the results were clear. Thesis was losing market share fast. Many new users began picking other frameworks and Thesis was not doing a good job. Many of the users on the old Thesis 1.x refused to upgrade to the new Thesis 2.x. Thesis 2.0 was a bust.

Thesis is still a great theme and has many satisfied users, I just feel you should only use it if you understand and like the way it functions. And/or you like their custom skins right out of the box. But honestly, I feel Genesis is the better theme framework for just about any function. If I could put it this way, I wouldn’t use Thesis even if it was free and Genesis costed $500.

Genesis Theme Framework (from StudioPress)

Genesis framework had a cult following. Their users were savvy programmers who saw the value in a cheaper framework that had just enough features and didn’t try to offer everything out of the box. They also didn’t need much help to code things and didn’t have to rely on forums as much.

As WordPress plugins started to evolve, it was important to have  a theme that kept it’s hands off all non-theme related matters and Genesis did that just fine. WordPress sites were no longer simple blogs but also more complex integrations of other functions such as shopping sites and membership sites. It was more crucial than ever to have a theme framework that kept itself INSIDE THE BOX instead of being completely different.

I was formerly a Thesis 1.x user all the way up until end of 2015. It was time to upgrade my site since Thesis 1.x had all sorts of compatibility issues with WordPress and other plugins and now really dated and hard to configure. Customizing anything felt like a “hack” that required a backup because you were afraid your site would never work again.

And so I tried the latest Thesis 2.x and was really disappointed. I still finished having my site built on it and appreciated what it COULD do but I knew for sure my next site sure as hell wasn’t going to be built on Thesis.

Enter Genesis. This was suggested by the coder who did a Thesis 2 site for me. He told me Genesis had caught up and was now the standard. After researching online, I saw that many big bloggers switched from Thesis over to Genesis.

Genesis was now the one that was coded better, better optimized for SEO, easier to use, played nicely with other plugins (and they’re so much more nowadays), and worked like a breeze right out of the box. Genesis is also the more popular and better supported plugin.

I had a recent Thesis 1.x site redesigned in Genesis couldn’t be any happier. It was by far the better decision. The code was easier to understand and make changes to. You also felt that Genesis was coded in-line with how WordPress is coded. It makes sense and doesn’t feel like an entirely new eco-system of code in itself.

Genesis now has a stronger community which is also built of more experienced coders. It seems any experienced programmer would much rather work in Genesis than in Thesis. The only demographic of users Genesis lacked was the beginners/non-coders market. They’re out there using the bloated junk such as AVADA/X-Theme-Divi and that sort.

Which was perfect because as a web developer, you do NOT want to use a theme/framework that is catered to newbies. Those products will always be bloated and over-written in order to make every option imaginable only a click away. But what many users don’t realize is that you not only pay for the options you use but also for the options you don’t use. Having a billion features built into your theme makes it bloated, slow, cumbersome, and far more likely to cause conflicts.

No sir, you want your framework built for developers and nothing else. Honestly, that’s the way it should be done. And how do you build upon that if you don’t know how to code? Hire someone else or use a skin and ask for help on the forums.

Genesis is the best WordPress theme framework now. Get it. – Affiliate link

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Right on the edge of WordPress development! 10+ years of WordPress design, development, hosting, speed optimization, product advisor, marketing, monetization. I do all that.

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Thesis WordPress Theme

Thesis WordPress Theme By DIYthemes, Theme Type: Blogging, Minimal, Multi-Purpose , free trial: available The Thesis Theme for WordPress is a high-quality template system that you can use to improve your site immediately.

Thesis boasts the strongest SEO of any theme on the market today thanks to its expertly-coded HTML + CSS + PHP framework. Not only that, Thesis also contains additional options that will allow you to fine-tune each and every page of your site. The days of worrying about your in-site SEO are over—with Thesis , your strategy is “just add killer content.”

Not a coder? Not a problem. The Thesis option panels allow you to command your site with ease, while Thesis does all of the heavy lifting behind the scenes. You’ve never had this much control over your site before, and this is precisely what makes Thesis indispensable to critical webmasters all over the globe.

The difference is in the details. You may not know it, but typography and visual clarity are two of the most important aspects of your site. Properly setting type on the web is an exercise in mathematical precision, and this is not an area where you want to compromise. After all, typography is the primary vehicle for the most important thing on your site—your content!

What about customizations and design changes? Thesis contains a futureproof customization system that allows you to produce unique designs, all while keeping your changes isolated to just two key files! And thanks to a revolutionary layout generator (with 1, 2, and 3-column layout combinations) and pinpoint font controls, testing tons of different layout variants has never been easier!

In addition to our in-house support staff, there are also tons of amazingly talented users who help newbies and veterans alike in our forums. On top of that, we’re ratcheting up the support with the addition of video tutorials, so now you’ll be able to do more with Thesis than ever before!

Thesis Theme General Features

Theme options, thesis theme other features.

• jQuery Integration
• integrated Advertising Management
• Square Corner
• Widget Ready
• Threaded Comments
• Color: Gray , Yellow , White ,
• Layout: Three Columns , / Right Sidebar , Fixed Layout ,

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• Writing Tips

How to Make a Conceptual Framework

• 6-minute read
• 2nd January 2022

What is a conceptual framework? And why is it important?

A conceptual framework illustrates the relationship between the variables of a research question. It’s an outline of what you’d expect to find in a research project.

Conceptual frameworks should be constructed before data collection and are vital because they map out the actions needed in the study. This should be the first step of an undergraduate or graduate research project.

What Is In a Conceptual Framework?

In a conceptual framework, you’ll find a visual representation of the key concepts and relationships that are central to a research study or project . This can be in form of a diagram, flow chart, or any other visual representation. Overall, a conceptual framework serves as a guide for understanding the problem being studied and the methods being used to investigate it.

Steps to Developing the Perfect Conceptual Framework

• Pick a question
• Conduct a literature review
• Identify your variables
• Create your conceptual framework

1. Pick a Question

You should already have some idea of the broad area of your research project. Try to narrow down your research field to a manageable topic in terms of time and resources. From there, you need to formulate your research question. A research question answers the researcher’s query: “What do I want to know about my topic?” Research questions should be focused, concise, arguable and, ideally, should address a topic of importance within your field of research.

An example of a simple research question is: “What is the relationship between sunny days and ice cream sales?”

2. Conduct a Literature Review

A literature review is an analysis of the scholarly publications on a chosen topic. To undertake a literature review, search for articles with the same theme as your research question. Choose updated and relevant articles to analyze and use peer-reviewed and well-respected journals whenever possible.

For the above example, the literature review would investigate publications that discuss how ice cream sales are affected by the weather. The literature review should reveal the variables involved and any current hypotheses about this relationship.

3. Identify Your Variables

There are two key variables in every experiment: independent and dependent variables.

Independent Variables

The independent variable (otherwise known as the predictor or explanatory variable) is the expected cause of the experiment: what the scientist changes or changes on its own. In our example, the independent variable would be “the number of sunny days.”

Dependent Variables

The dependent variable (otherwise known as the response or outcome variable) is the expected effect of the experiment: what is being studied or measured. In our example, the dependent variable would be “the quantity of ice cream sold.”

Next, there are control variables.

Control Variables

A control variable is a variable that may impact the dependent variable but whose effects are not going to be measured in the research project. In our example, a control variable could be “the socioeconomic status of participants.” Control variables should be kept constant to isolate the effects of the other variables in the experiment.

Finally, there are intervening and extraneous variables.

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Intervening Variables

Intervening variables link the independent and dependent variables and clarify their connection. In our example, an intervening variable could be “temperature.”

Extraneous Variables

Extraneous variables are any variables that are not being investigated but could impact the outcomes of the study. Some instances of extraneous variables for our example would be “the average price of ice cream” or “the number of varieties of ice cream available.” If you control an extraneous variable, it becomes a control variable.

4. Create Your Conceptual Framework

Having picked your research question, undertaken a literature review, and identified the relevant variables, it’s now time to construct your conceptual framework. Conceptual frameworks are clear and often visual representations of the relationships between variables.

We’ll start with the basics: the independent and dependent variables.

Our hypothesis is that the quantity of ice cream sold directly depends on the number of sunny days; hence, there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the independent variable (the number of sunny days) and the dependent and independent variable (the quantity of ice cream sold).

Next, introduce a control variable. Remember, this is anything that might directly affect the dependent variable but is not being measured in the experiment:

Finally, introduce the intervening and extraneous variables. 

The intervening variable (temperature) clarifies the relationship between the independent variable (the number of sunny days) and the dependent variable (the quantity of ice cream sold). Extraneous variables, such as the average price of ice cream, are variables that are not controlled and can potentially impact the dependent variable.

Are Conceptual Frameworks and Research Paradigms the Same?

In simple terms, the research paradigm is what informs your conceptual framework. In defining our research paradigm we ask the big questions—Is there an objective truth and how can we understand it? If we decide the answer is yes, we may be working with a positivist research paradigm and will choose to build a conceptual framework that displays the relationship between fixed variables. If not, we may be working with a constructivist research paradigm, and thus our conceptual framework will be more of a loose amalgamation of ideas, theories, and themes (a qualitative study). If this is confusing–don’t worry! We have an excellent blog post explaining research paradigms in more detail.

Where is the Conceptual Framework Located in a Thesis?

This will depend on your discipline, research type, and school’s guidelines, but most papers will include a section presenting the conceptual framework in the introduction, literature review, or opening chapter. It’s best to present your conceptual framework after presenting your research question, but before outlining your methodology.

Can a Conceptual Framework be Used in a Qualitative Study?

Yes. Despite being less clear-cut than a quantitative study, all studies should present some form of a conceptual framework. Let’s say you were doing a study on care home practices and happiness, and you came across a “happiness model” constructed by a relevant theorist in your literature review. Your conceptual framework could be an outline or a visual depiction of how you will use this model to collect and interpret qualitative data for your own study (such as interview responses). Check out this useful resource showing other examples of conceptual frameworks for qualitative studies .

Expert Proofreading for Researchers

Whether you’re a seasoned academic or not, you will want your research paper to be error-free and fluently written. That’s where proofreading comes in. Our editors are on hand 24 hours a day to ensure your writing is concise, clear, and precise. Submit a free sample of your writing today to try our services.

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Better Alternatives to Thesis Theme Framework

Once upon a time, Thesis Theme was the gold standard for WordPress themes. More of a framework than a standalone theme, Thesis is an incredibly flexible backbone that let you craft nearly any type of design or site.

But several (debatable) missteps by Thesis’s developer (DIY Themes) have damaged its reputation, and dozens of high-profile bloggers have jumped ship. Pat Flynn, Matt Cutts and Harsh Agrawal all dumped Thesis Theme in favor of alternatives (most moved to Genesis).

Nowadays, few new sites are built on Thesis as there are dozens of better (and cheaper) options.

These are the best Thesis Theme alternatives worth considering.

Genesis Framework

Genesis is easily the closest competitor to Thesis Theme both in terms of design and longevity. Initially launched in 2010 (2 years after Thesis), Genesis is a survivor in a crowded industry. And legions of talented devs swear by it.

Like Thesis, Genesis is a framework, meaning it’s meant to be used with a child theme (to handle the styling) while Genesis powers the functions behind the site.

Benefits of Genesis

• Steep learning curve
• Non-devs need to buy a professional child-theme
• No visual styling controls
• Many tutorials are gated behind paywalls

Our Take: Genesis is an excellent backbone for sites managed by a developer, but isn’t the best choice for most solo-bloggers. It’s hard to customize and relies on a php-based hook system to change layouts and edit the theme’s front-end. I built my first WordPress site on Genesis, but have since moved it to GeneratePress.

Pro Tip: Dynamik Child Theme adds visual styling controls and pre-built ‘skins’ which makes Genesis much more accessible to non-coders. It’s a great child theme, and one I’ve used personally on multiple sites.

GeneratePress Theme

GeneratePress is what Genesis could have been if it was built for the average WordPress user.

It’s an incredibly powerful framework-like theme that can be used to build any type of website. But it’s still accessible to non-coders thanks to the excellent addons bundled with GeneratePress Premium.

The premium version lets you build site components with Gutenberg blocks (headers & footers for example) or inject any type of content into the dozens of hook locations built into GeneratePress templates.

Want to insert a custom opt-in form at the top of posts in a specific category? This is incredibly easy to do with a few clicks inside the GeneratePress Elements module, and you never have to touch PHP code (unlike Genesis).

Advantages of GeneratePress Theme

• Few 3rd-party child themes available
• Some customizations require PHP snippets (free via support forum)
• Prioritizes flexibility over simplicity

I personally use GeneratePress on most of my latest projects (including this website). There’s a bit of a learning curve to harness its full power, but once you do you’ll feel like Neo in the Matrix.

Our Take: If you’re a WordPress power-user or have same basic CSS skills, GeneratePress could be the perfect Thesis Alternative. Especially if you’re speed-obsessed like we are. There’s a free version but it’s quite limited. I highly recommend going pro .

Astra is the most-downloaded theme in the WordPress repository, surpassing 1 million installs.

In many ways its very similar to GeneratePress. It’s quite flexible with adjustable layouts and relies on a hook system for customization.

The free version of Astra has better styling controls than most of the other themes on this list, and Pro upgrade makes it even better. Pro gives you a hooks module, header builder, more styling controls, and better layout/design options.

Compared to Thesis, Astra is a revelation. Not only is it easily customizable by beginners, even the free version is usable. You can even import full demo sites (from a limited site library) in Astra free.

Personally, I chose GeneratePress over Astra (I own both, though) because of the better quality of the support team, the cheaper lifetime license, and better Gutenberg integration. But I also am well versed in CSS and passable at PHP. For Beginners, Astra may be the better choice.

Advantages of Astra Theme

• Some frustrating quirks and missing documentation
• Support can be flaky

Blocksy is a relative newcomer, but I’m incredibly impressed by both the quality and general approach Blocksy takes to theming.

Like Thesis (and the other themes above), Blocksy is designed more like a flexible framework. But it packs even more power under the hood than competitors like Astra & GeneratePress.

And it’s even easier to use than those themes too. In fact, the primary drawback of Blocksy might be the shear overwhelming capability it has.

Here’s a sampling of what you get with Blocksy pro:

• Theme hooks
• Inject Gutenberg blocks into any hook or layout
• Custom sidebars (conditionally loaded per category or even per page)
• Visual menu builder (mega menu)
• Woocommerce Integration
• Adobe Typekit and Google fonts integration
• Local font hosting
• Per-page CSS and Javascript injection (optional)

Whew, that’s a lot. And if you’re a power-user, Blocksy might be your dream theme.

Kadence Theme

Kadence Theme is very similar in concept to Astra and GeneratePress, though the team takes a different approach to customization.

It’s got customizer controls for typography, branding and colors. But that’s just a start. You also get full layout control, including customizable sidebars, headers, footers and menus.

Kadence lets you visually build your header and footer with an intuitive drag-n-drop interface. Or you can just import a pre-built template from their extensive site library.

Advantages of Kadence Theme

• Support average, not outstanding
• No Gutenberg integration (insert blocks into hooks)

Avada is one of the bestselling premium themes of all time, and one of the few that I recommend from the Themeforest marketplace.

Not only is it incredibly flexible, but Avada comes with a ton of pre-built layouts and starter sites that can save you hours of time that you’d spend on setup on customization.

Avada is more like a classic theme than Thesis (less of a framework) but is still highly flexible. Add to that an integrated page builder (which also works as a theme builder) and you’ve got a powerful package.

And because of Themeforest’s licensing, you only pay once but get updates for life, which can be a better deal than recurring licenses like Astra and Thesis if you only need it for one site.

Advantages of Avada

• No lifetime license
• Support limited to 1 year
• No Gutenberg integration
• Theme lock-in

Divi isn’t for everyone, but there’s no arguing with its success. According to WPThemedetector, it’s the #2 most popular WordPress theme (behind Genesis).

Divi’s success is a direct result of it’s usability. Even novice WP users can get full control over their site’s design and layout. It’s infinitely customizable with the integrated Divi page builder.

And you don’t just get to control basics like typography, colors and widget areas. You get full template control and can easily build new templates for your posts, pages, or custom post types. This level of customization usually requires PHP abilities, but Divi makes it drag-and-drop simple.

Of course all of this comes at a cost, mostly speed and lock-in risk (hard to switch to another theme without rebuilding your entire site). That’s not to say Divi is slow, but it’s easy to overdo it with so much power at your fingertips.

Advantages of Divi

• Can get bloated

OceanWP is quite similar to Astra and GeneratePress in its flexible framework-y approach. But this is no cookie cutter clone.

OceanWP differentiates itself with its bundled modular extensions (in pro) which let you bolt on all kinds of functionality. Whether it’s a GDPR cookie notice, off-canvas panel, sticky widgets, or custom footer, OceanWP has you covered.

And you can enable only the modules you need, keeping your site leaner and load times faster.

But OceanWP doesn’t stop there. There’s deep integration with both WooCommerce and Elementor. OceanWP Pro even comes with custom Elementor widgets, making it a great choice if Elementor is your page builder of choice.

Pricing: OceanWP Pro starts at $29/year

What happened to Thesis Theme?

Thesis theme originally launched in 2008 and quickly achieved god-like status in the WordPress community. It was frequently mentioned as the go-to framework for WordPress power-users and high-traffic blogs.

The first spot of tr ouble came when Matt Mullenweg (the creator of WordPress) announced that all WordPress themes needed to be GPL-licensed in order to be listed in the WordPress repository. Matt took it further and contented that anything built atop WordPress was GPL by definition.

Chris Pearson (creator of Thesis) held out and refused to change the theme’s licensing. As a result, sales plateaued and the feud dragged on in public for years.

In the meantime, Thesis angered some of its customizers directly by refusing to support Yoast SEO (the most popular SEO plugin at the time). Despite Thesis’s built-in SEO functionality, this was a dealbreaker for many bloggers. And I don’t blame them.

Eventually, Pearson capitulated and decided that the next generation of Thesis Theme (Thesis 2.0) would be GPL-compatible. Unfortunately, the Thesis upgrade wasn’t managed well (according to several thesis devotees).

One of the most noticeable errors was the lack of good documentation before the release, making the migration from 1.X to Thesis 2.0 incredibly painful. This was the last straw for well-known blogger Harsh Agrawal.

Since 2012 (the year Thesis 2 was released) interest has dwindled, and it’s well outside the top 25 most popular themes now, behind even aged releases like the official twenty-twelve theme.

Though it’s still around, Thesis Theme isn’t the go-to option for many new sites. There are so many better, more powerful themes available that Thesis has largely fallen by the wayside.

And it’s not just about functionality, it’s about documentation and education too. There are hundreds of free tutorials for Genesis, GeneratePress and Astra that will hand-hold you through the entire site-building process.

But for Thesis? Not so much.

Themes I recommend instead of Thesis:

• GeneratePress – Best if you know some CSS, want Gutenberg integration and value top-notch support.
• OceanWP – Great for beginners without being overwhelming. A great choice if you use Elementor.
• Blocksy – Blocksy is perfect if you want maximum control over the look of your site, without touching PHP code.
• Genesis – Genesis is really only viable for developers (you need PHP abilities to customize it). But it’s still one of the most popular and best supported frameworks, and is the closest cousin to Thesis.

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Why wait for Black Friday?

7 Best WordPress Theme Frameworks 2024

In this collection, you’ll find some of the best premium and free theme frameworks for WordPress. While some of these frameworks might be familiar to you, others will likely be new. Either way, by the end of this article you’ll have detailed knowledge of the different frameworks available, enabling you to make an informed decision when it comes to choosing the right option for your website.

However, before we get to the frameworks themselves, let’s start with a quick explanation of what a theme framework actually is. After that, we’ll cover some of the benefits of using a framework.

What Are WordPress Theme Frameworks?

Some WordPress themes are created by using a framework, while others are built from the ground up.

In general, these frameworks are best described as the foundation for a WordPress theme. Typically, the framework will contain the core code, covering the basic features and design elements. The framework is then used as a starting point when a new theme is created. New features and design elements are added to the framework to create the finished product.

WordPress theme frameworks tend to fall into two main categories. Firstly, you have in-house frameworks that have been built for use by a specific theme shop. WPZoom is a good example of this. Each of their themes is built on top of their own framework.

Then there are the frameworks that anyone can use as the foundation for their projects. Some of the frameworks in this category are free to download, such as Beans, while others like Genesis, are commercial products.

You can also find free or commercial themes that were built upon these frameworks. For example, with Genesis, you can purchase this framework and then either use it for your own custom theme design or choose a free or commercial Genesis child theme that was built for use with this framework, by someone else.

Benefits of Theme Frameworks

The use of a framework benefits theme developers as they get a head start on a project. Website owners also benefit from using a framework as they can switch themes, without losing access to the core features and functionality of their website. Often sticking with the same framework, but changing themes, allows website owners to keep their settings, options, and other configuration choices. This helps to make the transition much more straightforward.

WordPress Theme Framework Practicalities

From the end user perspective, sometimes the theme and the framework will be separate items. In this case, the framework will be used in conjunction with a separate child theme that was built to work with that framework. Other times the framework will be integrated into the theme and they will be available together, in a single package.

The Genesis framework from StudioPress is a great example of a standalone framework, which is combined with separate child themes to offer a complete package. The Elegant Themes team, on the other hand, integrates their framework into the themes they produce, resulting in a single package for each product.

Why Should You Use a Theme Framework?

As mentioned, one of the benefits of using a theme framework, rather than a regular WordPress theme, is that it can make switching themes easier. If you stay with the same framework but choose a different theme that has been built on that framework, the migration can often be a lot easier.

Another reason to choose a theme framework for your website is that, depending on the framework, it can be a good indication of the quality of the theme. For example, the Genesis framework has a very good reputation for being a secure and well-coded product. This means that if you choose a theme powered by the Genesis framework, you can be confident that it will be a fast-loading, robust theme.

Typically, you’ll find that popular frameworks have good support communities that have built up around them. This means that if you run into problems or you want to customize your theme, you can turn to the community for support.

Genesis is the most widely recommended framework in this collection. Even if you’ve never seriously considered buying a framework before, you’ve probably heard of it. This is because it strikes perhaps the best balance between affordability and power. What many consider the industry standard of frameworks, unlimited updates, support, and sites — all for a one-time payment of $59.95.

The framework itself is lean, secure, SEO friendly, future proof and highly customizable. It is designed to always be used with a child theme – it is up to you whether you use one of the many offered by StudioPress or create your own. Some of the top-selling child themes include Essence Pro , Magazine Pro , and Business Pro .

The Genesis framework is more for intermediate and advanced developers, although keen hobbyists can become proficient relatively quickly. Complete beginners can use it, but will probably want to stick to an off-the-shelf child theme, if they choose to go with StudioPress at all. A more beginner-friendly option might be Divi and its new point-and-click, drag-and-drop page builder tool that allows you to create a custom website design without the need to go anywhere near any code.

We would recommend the Genesis framework to intermediate and advanced developers who want a trusted platform on which they can build new child themes and sell them or churn out new client sites. It is the only framework here that offers so much in terms of features and support for such a reasonable one-off fee. Also, Genesis has a very active developer community that you can always turn to for advice when you get stuck.

Price: Free; $360/year Genesis Pro

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2. Divi by Elegant Themes

Divi is the flagship theme from Elegant Themes, and it’s a multipurpose WordPress theme that includes a drag-and-drop page builder tool and an impressive collection of pre-built page templates.

Thanks to the features and functionality of Divi, it can easily be used as a framework for a wide range of different website projects. No matter your level of development experience, creating custom website designs with Divi can be a straightforward and code-free experience. You can now also buy third-party child themes that have been created with Divi as their foundation.

When it comes to getting access do Divi, you do have to join the Elegant Themes club. Thankfully, Elegant Themes is widely considered to offer the most bang for your buck among premium WordPress theme clubs. For $89 a year or $249 one-time fee, you get complete access to Elegant Themes’ whole range of products with premium support, unlimited website usage, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

In addition to the multipurpose Divi theme , the membership comes with the impressive Extra magazine theme, hundreds of professionally designed layout packs, and three premium plugins: Bloom for lead generation, Monarch for social sharing, and Divi Builder for drag-and-drop page building. As the plugins can be used with any WordPress theme, for some customers, access to the plugins alone justifies the cost of membership.

When it comes to support, joining the Elegant Themes club gives you access to the busy discussion forums. There you can open support tickets and expect fast, helpful responses from the community and help desk team. There’s detailed online documentation available for each theme and plugin, helping you to make the most of your website.

To sum up, the Elegant Themes framework isn’t a blank canvas you can use as the foundation for your own custom designs. Instead, the idea is that you pick the Elegant Themes product that most closely matches your vision and then customize it to meet your needs. Thanks to the page builder tool integrated into Divi and Extra, carrying out this customization work is very straightforward.

This has all helped to make Divi a popular framework for beginners who want to create a custom website, as well as more experienced web designers who want to speed up the development process and build bespoke websites more efficiently.

The Themify framework is used to power the WordPress themes designed by the Themify team. The framework, and therefore all their themes, includes the Themify Builder which allows you to create custom page layouts, and populate them with a range of page elements and modules, all through a drag-and-drop interface.

Some of the page elements or modules that can be dragged and dropped into your posts and pages include sliders, maps, galleries, tabbed areas, and a whole lot more. You can also add any widgets to your page layouts, including those widgets that are part of any plugins you’ve installed on your site or custom ones you’ve created.

The layouts created through the builder are managed using a grid layout that consists of multiple rows and columns, and they are all 100% responsive for easy use on portable devices.

As well as the Themify Builder, the framework also makes it easy for users to customize their chosen theme without editing any code or editing any templates.  This is thanks to the styling panel that is included. This gives you a great amount of control over the appearance of your theme without the need to touch any code.

With some other frameworks, this visual approach to editing requires an additional premium plugin to get the same functionality, but not with Themify. The framework also includes a selection of widgets and shortcodes for inserting elements into your posts, pages, and sidebar areas.  When using the Themify framework, you are able to export the settings from one site and then import them into another to help save time during the setup process of a new site.

This is an integrated framework, rather than a separate parent theme which is used alongside a child theme. This means that in order to use it you will have to choose a theme from Themify. However, at the time of writing the price for admission to the Themify club, which includes access to all of their current themes is just $89.

4. Dynamik Website Builder

If you want all the advantages of the popular Genesis framework, such as its high levels of security, fast-loading code, and SEO friendliness, but just can’t find a child theme to match your vision, and you don’t have the coding skills required to create your own designs, Dynamik  is the tool for you.

The Dynamik Website Builder is a visual editor for WordPress and the Genesis framework that allows you to change almost every aspect of the appearance of your website, without directly editing any code. From changing the fonts used for specific page elements to creating your own custom layouts that can then be applied to your entire site, or at an individual page and post level, Dynamik lets you do it all.

Despite having all this control over how your WordPress site looks, you aren’t dropped in at the deep end. Dynamik comes with a large number of pre-set configurations that can be used as is or customised to give your site an even more personalised look. It’s also worth pointing out that this tool isn’t just for beginners either. As well as giving you vast amounts of control over your site’s design without the need to edit any code, should you decide that you’d like to start delving into the CSS and PHP of your theme, then Dynamik supports you in doing that too.

WPZoom is an in-house WordPress framework that has been created by the team of theme developers that are also known as WPZoom.

The WPZoom theme company created this framework and now use it to power all of their commercially available WordPress templates. This means that if you choose one of their many impressive WordPress themes, the underlying structure, code, and functionality of the framework will be coupled with the design and appearance of your chosen theme.

Not only does this make switching between the theme themes available from WPZoom a breeze, but it also means that your website will be built upon a solid foundation provided by the framework. One of the main features of the WPZoom framework is its user-friendly control panel.

Through this visual set of options and controls, you can customize many aspects of your website. This includes the color scheme, website logo, and easy one-click demo content installation. This last feature makes it easy to set up your website and configure it in the same way as the promotional demo version of the theme you are using. After taking advantage of this feature, you can then go in and add your own content to the template.

The WPZoom framework also includes a number of shortcodes. These can be used to insert a good selection of elements into your content. This includes buttons, tabbed areas, info boxes, column layouts, and more. There’s also a slideshow shortcode on offer. This makes it easy to add animated images galleries to your website. This feature removes the need to install a separate plugin.

Speaking of plugins, the WPZoom team also offers a handful of WordPress plugins that can enhance your website.

You can pick up the themes that are powered by the WPZoom framework on an individual basis. However, by purchasing the All Themes Package, you get access to over 50+ WPZoom themes and any new templates that are released in the future, for one discounted price.

Y Theme has been designed to help you improve productivity when building websites with WordPress.

To save you time when creating a new website, Y Theme comes with 30 complete website demos that cover a range of projects. So whether you want to launch a digital agency site, a creative portfolio, or a construction company website, Y Theme can help you get it up and running as quickly as possible.

To ensure any websites you create with this theme framework are fast loading, Y Theme has been built to be as lightweight as possible. However, this hasn’t come at the expense of features, because as mentioned, Y Theme has 30 demos and six color skins for you to make use of when working on your new website. Among those demos are over 700 page templates that you can mix and match to create your perfect website.

Y Theme has been built with ease of use in mind too, helping to fulfill its goal of being a flexible framework that can enable you to become more productive when launching a website. Rather than forcing you to read the documentation before you’re able to get started, Y Theme can be quickly set up and configured with no need to edit any code at all.

As this is a theme framework, it can be used to create almost any type of website with WordPress and to help you with that, Y Theme comes with a powerful content editor tool. Due to this, you’re free to edit the pre-built templates of Y Theme to make them your own or produce your unique content designs from scratch. With many useful features, including over 70 components and 12 menu options, to name just a few, the content editor tool of Y Theme is very powerful and shouldn’t constrain your creativity in any way.

Ideal for creating almost any type of WordPress website, Y Theme is a theme framework that’s worth serious consideration.

Gantry is a free framework from RocketTheme which is available for both WordPress and Joomla. The WordPress version consists of both a plugin and a theme which must both be installed on your site.

Once the plugin and the theme are active on your site, you get access to a wide selection of page builder features. One of the highlights of Gantry is the drag and drop page builder tool. Gantry makes use of widgetized page layouts, where individual widgets can be dragged and dropped into place to populate the page layouts with content. Gantry includes a large selection of its own widgets, or you can use third-party widgets to add content to your page layouts.

All the widget positions on the pages can be customized, allowing you to add additional widget slots, and alter the number of columns and the distribution of the columns widths for each section, such as the header area, or main content areas. This is all done through a visual interface which makes use of sliders, dropdown menus, and other intuitive navigation aids that are easy to understand and get to grips with.

Like the best website frameworks, Gantry features a fully responsive design which you can see in action on the demo site. Simply resize your browser window to see how the page layout responds to screens with narrower widths, such as smartphones and tablets. The responsive 960 grid system has been built using Twitter Bootstrap for maximum compatibility.

Other features of Gantry include the ability to switch the site to maintenance mode while you are making changes, the use of the gizmos feature to add custom CSS to existing tags to quickly modify the styling of your site, and support for creating multiple templates for all the different views and page layouts on your site.

If you want a framework that lets you build highly customizable page layouts for your WordPress site, all through a user-friendly visual interface, then Gantry is definitely worth taking for a test drive.

Price: Free

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• Testimonials
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I Decided To Make Thesis Awesome ;-)

I develop Skins for Thesis Theme, so you can build websites that matters!

Why Thesis?

When I first had a chance to test out Thesis 2.0, I quickly realized its power and I understood why it took 2 years between planning and development to be available for the public. I was really impressed! By far; Thesis is the most intelligent WordPress Theme on planet earth!

All Skins require Thesis Theme, you must own a license from DIYThemes.com

The best Skins collection for the Thesis Theme

Beautiful WordPress designs with a drag and drop (thanks to Thesis). Simply pick one of the masterpieces, install it via the Thesis Skin Uploader and you are ready to go. All Skins are shipped with many functions, features and tools to make your life easier. Now you can build awesome websites in absolutely no time!

Built‑in Boxes for New Awesome Functionality!

Thesis Boxes adds new functionality to your site, the good news is most of my Skins are packed with built-in Boxes. For example: The Author Info Box, which allows you to display author details in Single post. Also, the Shortcode Box, which allow you to display shortcode content anywhere you like on your site with ease. You are going to love this!

One Website, Many Devices

Responsive web design is recommended by Google, it allows one website to provide a great user-experience across many devices and screen sizes, and it also makes managing your SEO strategy easier. For these reasons; most of the Skins I develop will be responsive, your site will always look good on every screen and device on the planet, plus it will be much easier to manage.

What Our Members Say About Us

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Rocking Thesis Framework , design by ThesisAwesome

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Enter your email below , and I’ll send you my free , 4-step guide to build a fast website your visitors will love:

• No more feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of WordPress
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• Feel confident about your website!

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