{"id":69590,"date":"2019-01-16T09:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/?p=69590"},"modified":"2020-12-23T06:50:52","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T12:50:52","slug":"introducing-genesis-2-8-the-best-way-to-build-future-proof-wordpress-themes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/case-studies\/introducing-genesis-2-8-the-best-way-to-build-future-proof-wordpress-themes\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing Genesis 2.8\u2014The Best Way to Build Future-Proof WordPress Themes"},"content":{"rendered":"

When WP Engine<\/span> acquired StudioPress<\/span><\/a> in June 2018, a vision we jointly shared was the desire to invest additional resources in the<\/span> Genesis Framework<\/span><\/a> and help it evolve.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those new to WordPress, Genesis is the most popular WordPress<\/span> theme framework<\/span><\/a> among web developers and digital marketers today. More than 1 million WordPress sites use Genesis as their foundation and thousands of designers and agencies rely on it as the way to build beautiful, secure, and future-proof WordPress themes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Much of our early investment in Genesis has focused on this community of developers and marketers (a group of whom we<\/span>\u00a0surveyed in 2018<\/span><\/a> for input that will help shape the future of the framework), as well as our first-ever convening of the<\/span> Genesis Shapers<\/span><\/a> at WordCamp US, the creation of a<\/span> new legal theme<\/span><\/a>, optimizing six of our most popular<\/span> themes for Gutenberg<\/span><\/a>, and engineering efforts to provide Genesis with a fresh set of features and tools that will make it even more powerful and easy to use.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, the first round of those new features and tools are being released as part of<\/span> Genesis 2.8<\/span><\/a>\u2014the first major update to the Genesis Framework since<\/span> WP Engine\u2019s acquisition of StudioPress<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Based in part on that 2018 survey of Genesis community members, the new features rolling out in 2.8 touch on priorities Genesis users told us were important to them: the (imperfect) process of loading a theme\u2019s demo content and utilizing Gutenberg, the <\/span>new WordPress post editor<\/span><\/a>, to build better, more engaging digital experiences. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One-Click Theme Setup<\/h2>\n

One-Click Theme Setup gives users full control over the demo installation process, and allows them to easily set installation dependencies, import demo content directly into their themes, import and enable plugins, and configure a wide list of options when creating and installing new themes on their sites.<\/span><\/p>\n

The motivation behind this feature was to make it easier to load a theme\u2019s demo content, which has likely been a less-than-positive experience for some developers in the past. Often times, the demo content for a theme doesn\u2019t automatically load with it, leaving users frustrated and confused with how to best proceed. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One-Click Theme Setup changes that, and makes it easy for theme authors to load plugins and specific Gutenberg blocks to the homepage of a new site using a particular theme. As a result, 2.8 flips the demo installation process on its head, and reduces the time it takes to load demo content and dependant plugins from hours, days, or weeks to minutes. Check out the video below for a look at how it works:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Genesis Block Style Guide<\/b><\/h2>\n

The second new feature rolling out with 2.8 is an updated Genesis Block Style Guide, which will help users pull config files into their child themes to customize details such as color palettes and font size. This feature will ultimately reduce the amount of code contained in the child themes themselves. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, theme authors can now style blocks and provide users control over those styles in alignment with the design of a particular theme.<\/span><\/p>\n

This feature will also build on new capabilities offered by WordPress 5.0 and the new Gutenberg editor, and in particular, these new concepts, which the new post editor introduces:<\/span><\/p>\n