Download - Acca S.p.A.

47 Pages·2012·1.3 MB·English

An Introductory Guide to the
GENESIS DESIGN
FRAMEWORK
for WordPress
by The StudioPress Team
WWW.STUDIOPRESS.COM
– An Introductory Guide to the Genesis Design Framework for WordPress --
An Introductory Guide to the
Genesis Design Framework
for WordPress - Revision 1.0
You may republish excerpts from this guide as long as they are
accompanied by an attribution link back to http://www.studiopress.com.
Copyright © 2012 Copyblogger Media LLC. Some rights reserved.
v1.0 12/19/2011 www.studiopress.com 1
– An Introductory Guide to the Genesis Design Framework for WordPress --
Table of Contents
1 Introduction to Genesis........................................................................................................ 5
1.1 What's a Framework?...................................................................................................5
1.2 What's a Child Theme?.................................................................................................5
A Screenshot................................................................................................................5
Theme Files................................................................................................................. 5
A Style Sheet................................................................................................................6
A Functions File............................................................................................................6
An Images Directory.....................................................................................................6
In Summary .................................................................................................................7
2 Installing Genesis and a child theme....................................................................................8
2.1 Installing Genesis from inside WordPress.....................................................................8
2.2 Installing using FTP.................................................................................................... 10
3 Genesis Settings................................................................................................................ 11
3.1 Theme Settings ..........................................................................................................11
Information................................................................................................................. 12
Custom Feeds............................................................................................................12
Default Layout............................................................................................................13
Navigation Settings.................................................................................................... 14
Breadcrumbs..............................................................................................................15
Comments and Trackbacks........................................................................................15
Content Archives........................................................................................................16
Blog Page.................................................................................................................. 17
Header and Footer Scripts......................................................................................... 18
3.2 SEO Settings.............................................................................................................. 19
Doctitle Settings......................................................................................................... 19
Homepage..................................................................................................................20
Document Head Settings........................................................................................... 22
Robots Meta Settings.................................................................................................23
Archives Settings....................................................................................................... 24
3.3 Import/Export.............................................................................................................. 24
4 How Home Pages Work..................................................................................................... 25
5 Widget Areas......................................................................................................................26
6 Included Widgets................................................................................................................27
6.1 Genesis – Add the Featured Pages Widget................................................................27
Step #1.......................................................................................................................27
Step #2.......................................................................................................................28
6.2 Genesis – Add the Featured Posts Widget................................................................. 29
Step #1.......................................................................................................................29
v1.0 12/19/2011 www.studiopress.com 2
– An Introductory Guide to the Genesis Design Framework for WordPress --
Step #2.......................................................................................................................30
6.3 Genesis - Latest Tweets Widget................................................................................. 32
6.4 Genesis - User Profile Widget.....................................................................................33
6.5 Genesis - eNews and Update Widget.........................................................................34
6.6 Additional Widgets...................................................................................................... 35
7 Logo/Header...................................................................................................................... 36
8 Genesis Templates.............................................................................................................37
8.1 Blog Template.............................................................................................................37
8.2 Archive Template.........................................................................................................37
9 Upgrading Genesis.............................................................................................................38
9.1 Using the Automatic Upgrade feature......................................................................... 38
9.2 Upgrading Manually....................................................................................................39
10 Additional Resources........................................................................................................40
10.1 Plugins......................................................................................................................40
Genesis Simple Edits................................................................................................. 40
Genesis Simple Hooks...............................................................................................40
Genesis Simple Sidebars...........................................................................................40
Genesis Simple Menus.............................................................................................. 40
Genesis Simple Breadcrumbs....................................................................................41
Genesis Nav Menu Amplified..................................................................................... 41
Genesis Featured Widget Amplified........................................................................... 41
Genesis Admin Bar Plus.............................................................................................41
Genesis Favicon Uploader.........................................................................................41
So Much More............................................................................................................41
10.2 Helpful Links............................................................................................................. 42
WordPress Resources............................................................................................... 42
Genesis Resources....................................................................................................42
Additional Resources for Installation & Getting Started..............................................42
11 Troubleshooting................................................................................................................43
11.1 Common Installation Error Messages....................................................................... 43
Genesis Not Found.................................................................................................... 43
WordPress Needs Upgrade........................................................................................44
And That's It!.............................................................................................................. 44
v1.0 12/19/2011 www.studiopress.com 3
– An Introductory Guide to the Genesis Design Framework for WordPress --
A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO
THE GENESIS FRAMEWORK
If you’re building a website these days, you’re in luck.
WordPress has revolutionized the ease and power of what a website (or blog) can do and be.
Now, with the emergence of theme frameworks, you can take WordPress even further.
As you'll see throughout this free guide, the Genesis Framework for Wordpress is much more
than a mere Wordpress theme. It’s an underlying framework of immaculate code that’s been
built to achieve three important objectives.
Before we get started, let's take a quick look at each of these objectives, and why they matter to
what you're doing online...
1. Easily spoon-feed Google your content
If you know anything about how SEO works (don’t worry if you don’t, Genesis will take care of a
lot of it for you), you know that Google hands out brownie points for clean code.
As amazing as search engines are, they're not as smart or grown-up as you might think.
Present them with an orderly, squeaky clean page of code, and you’re well on your way to a
solid ranking for your chosen words.
The Genesis Framework does the bulk of this SEO work for you, so you can get back to work.
v1.0 12/19/2011 www.studiopress.com 4
– An Introductory Guide to the Genesis Design Framework for WordPress --
2. Erase the headache of security concerns and updates
Everything changes. Nowhere more quickly than on the web. Unless you’re a rockstar
developer, being up-to-date on the latest SEO, Wordpress, and security developments can be a
full-time gig.
The Genesis framework responds and adapts to these constant advancements.
There’s no way around the fact that some very talented, very bad folks are out there hacking
away at blogs and websites every day.
Upgrading to new versions of WordPress, plug-ins, and your theme can be stressful and
inconvenient. Maybe you’re worried that all the work you’ve put into the design and
customization of your site will disappear into the digital ether as soon as you punch that
ominous “upgrade” button.
The bad news is that not upgrading software is one of the most common reasons websites and
blogs get hacked.
The good news is that our StudioPress team has worked to make the Genesis framework
upgrade process a piece of cake.
Painless. Future-proof. Easy.
If you’re more worried about upgrades breaking your site than you are hackers breaking in,
you’ve got the wrong theme.
Keep your site (and your readers) safe...
With one click of that update button, Genesis handles the fickle problems of security and
WordPress compatibility for you.
And it does all of this without going near the design of your site, which is taken care of entirely
through the use of “child themes”. Read on for more about that.
v1.0 12/19/2011 www.studiopress.com 5
– An Introductory Guide to the Genesis Design Framework for WordPress --
3. A huge selection of turn-key design options
Think of Genesis (the framework) as your car, including the engine, the transmission and the
thousands of parts that make it run.
The dozens of child theme designs from Studiopress are the paint job that make your car so
damn hot.
You pick the color, the stripes, and an airbrushed coyote howling at the desert moon (if that’s
your thing).
Here’s where the car analogy breaks down a bit: the really cool thing about using child themes
is the ability to change the “paint job” of your site in minutes, without trashing the underlying
engine that powers your site.
Whether you’re building a new site, or revamping a classic, child themes allow you the freedom
to re-invent yourself without ever touching the critical code underneath.
And with that, let's get you going...
Since Genesis is constantly growing and evolving, please consider this guide a living document
that will be updated as needed. Please make sure to check back and download the latest
edition.
v1.0 12/19/2011 www.studiopress.com 6
– An Introductory Guide to the Genesis Design Framework for WordPress --
1 Introduction to Genesis
1.1 What's a Framework?
In short, a framework is a robust WordPress theme that can be utilized out of the box -- as is --
or also easily extended with child themes and hooks (customized code).
Not only do they provide a number of enhancements above and beyond a typical WordPress
theme, they also serve as a platform on which to build added functionality.
1.2 What's a Child Theme?
A child theme is an extension of a framework comprised of typical WordPress theme elements.
With Genesis, these include a screenshot, theme files, a style sheet, a functions file and an
images directory. These elements are grouped together in what’s known as a child theme
directory and can be activated like any other WordPress theme.
A Screenshot
All WordPress themes have a screenshot image included – typically this is called
“screenshot.png”, it is 300 x 225 in dimension and is a visual display of the theme. It can be
seen on the Appearance > Themes page inside your WordPress dashboard.
Since child themes have their own directories and are activated like any other theme, they
require a screenshot just like a standard theme.
Theme Files
The Genesis Framework, which acts as the parent theme of your entire site, is where all of the
theme files are kept.
Typical theme files include: 404.php, comments.php, footer.php, header.php, index.php,
page.php, single.php and so on.
v1.0 12/19/2011 www.studiopress.com 7
– An Introductory Guide to the Genesis Design Framework for WordPress --
Child themes can also include these same files – and the hierarchy dictates that if any of those
files exist in the child theme directory, they will override the parent theme. In other words, if you
customize a file (ex: page.php) and place it into your child theme directory, it will be used in lieu
of the one in the Genesis parent theme.
Currently, the only theme files that can be found in some of the Genesis child themes are
custom home.php files, which control the way a site’s homepage will appear. If a file is not a part
of a child theme, then the theme will defer to the index.php file, in the Genesis-parent theme, for
the homepage.
A Style Sheet
Many frameworks simply import the parent theme style sheet (files that improve functionality
and consistency of presentation throughout the entire site), and then allow for customizations by
way of the child theme style sheet.
While there is nothing wrong with this system, we’ve chosen to simplify things and only give the
child theme a style sheet.
In other words, if a child theme is being used, the style.css file in the child theme directory has
complete control over the way the child theme looks. You don’t have to compare multiple style
sheets to look for and change style elements.
A Functions File
Most WordPress themes have a functions.php file – this is typically a file where you can control
certain behaviors of how WordPress runs or how the theme outputs various things (functions).
A functions file can register sidebar widgets and how they are styled, as well as a number of
other “functions”.
With Genesis, the functions.php is simple – it runs the entire framework and that is the only
code found there. The difference with the way Genesis is built is that the child theme’s functions
file is where many things occur – additional sidebar widgets can be registered, and from a
development side, custom functions are defined as well as filtered and hooked.
An Images Directory
This one is pretty self-explanatory – as with any WordPress theme, there is an images directory
which is used to hold images that a theme requires.
v1.0 12/19/2011 www.studiopress.com 8
– An Introductory Guide to the Genesis Design Framework for WordPress --
It holds your background images, icons, navigation bar gradients, and others.
In Summary
The easiest way to explain the relationship between a parent theme and child theme, in the
case of Genesis, is to relate it to a cell phone.
The Genesis parent theme is the cell phone, and the child theme is the case you hold it in. You’ll
always use the same phone, but if you want to change the way it looks on the outside, you
change the cover on it to make it look different.
The same holds true with a child theme – it “decorates” the way your theme looks.
v1.0 12/19/2011 www.studiopress.com 9