Earlier this year I began using the Thesis theme for WordPress. Until then I’d been using free WP themes and they were good.
However I couldn’t find a theme that had the exact layout I was after and so ended up installing a fairly generic one… and then pulling it to pieces and customising it. To do this I had to learn CSS coding and spent hours upon hours upon hours getting it ‘okay’. In the end, there were still a few bits and pieces that just wouldn’t come together like I’d hoped.
Then I saw the light… I discovered Thesis.
The Thesis theme is not free but it’s quite affordable. The thing I love the most is just how quick and easy it is to customise, without having to know anything about CSS.
You simply choose – in most cases via a simple drop-down menu – whether you want a 1, 2 or 3 column site, what order you want those columns in, what font you want for the headline and main content text and so on. I also like that it has SEO friendly fields built in automatically so there’s no need to install and SEO plug-in.
Granted it still has its limitations, but in all honesty this is by far the best theme I’ve found and I absolutely love it. I’m sure I could overcome those limitations by editing the CSS stylesheet if I really wanted to, but personally, I don’t feel it’s necessary.
The Thesis theme is produced by DIY Themes – you can visit DIY Themes to watch a quick video demonstrating just how simple it is to customise your site.
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Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Donna-Marie,
I love Thesis and hope to redo my own blog with it soon.
You mention limitations. What are they?
I really like the design you’ve chosen for this blog. It’s very much how I’d like to do my site with Thesis. Did you do much customization to get it to be this way?
~ Lillea
Hi Lillea,
Thanks for your lovely comments. I didn’t do much to customise this site. It’s really a matter of going through the page and ticking or unticking check boxes, then making choices from the drop-down menu. So you go through and choose how many columns you’d like, then which columns you want where, what font style and size you want for the heading, the same for the content and sidebar, whether you want to include a video on each page (there’s provision for this to be automatically added to each page or you choose which pages you want it on… or not at all).
It took me about half an hour to do all that and add my widgets.
The limitations really aren’t anything major for me. There doesn’t seem to be any simple way of changing the font colours – although you could still do this in the CSS stylesheet. To change the text in the footer I installed a free plug-in called Thesis Open-Hook. Once I knew how to do it, this wasn’t difficult either.
I still want to add my own header to this site too… it’s just not very high on my long lists of things to do
Once I have the header designed this looked fairly simple to add in too.
I’ve spent 2 weeks debating buying Thesis cause I have the exact same problem with free (and most paid) themes. Reading this has put another tick in the “pros” column, for sure!
I took 3-4 weeks to decide, Laura. I know 6 other people who spoke positively about this theme and decided to trust their word, and I have no regrets.
Hi Donna-Marie,
Thank you very much for your reply! I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner and reply again. Now I’m even more keen to try Thesis. I heard about Thesis Open Hook so it’s great to know it helped you.
I will use your link if I buy Thesis
All the best for creating your custom header. I’m learning how to do all kinds of fancy things with WordPress with Leanne King’s book http://www.wordpressforinternetmarketers.com but there is still quite a learning curve!
Kind regards,
Lillea
thesis theme is a awesome ..by far the best wordpress theme i have used
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