We’ve been thinking a lot about people who have hosted WordPress sites lately.
As elegant and simple as it is, WordPress can be a little daunting if you’re just beginning to work with it. The beauty of it though, is that it doesn’t have to be.
So, we’ve been taking some time to think through the big questions people have when they’re just starting out.
What came of it was an indispensible, easy to understand guide for the Genesis Framework for WordPress, compiled and written by Copyblogger Media’s Brian Gardner and our relentless team over at StudioPress.
Whether you’re just getting out of the gate with your Genesis + WordPress website, or you’re already publishing regularly, this easy-to-read distillation of how the Genesis Framework works for you is an invaluable guide for every smart online publisher.
In fact, you should go ahead and grab it even if you don’t own Genesis — it’s a fantastic primer for WordPress too.
The guide is for bloggers, copywriters, consultants, and content marketers who rely on the efficiency, security and scalability of Genesis + WordPress to make their place on the web.
Genesis Design Framework for WordPress (PDF) 3.3 MB
With the free guide, you’ll be well on your way to utilizing (and enhancing) the rock-solid security and remarkable SEO capabilities of the Genesis Framework.
With the vast array of out of the box, turn-key designs & options, unlimited support & updates, and as many website domains as you can build on, the new revolution in publishing is getting a lot easier for everyone.
As Darren Rowse puts it “Genesis lets me sleep easy.”
This free guide helps you navigate all the basics:
- An introduction to Frameworks and Child Themes: page 4
- Turn on Auto-Updates for one-click streamlined stability and peace of mind: page 38
- SEO Settings to ensure your content is reaching your audience: page 19
- Install procedures for both beginners and advanced users: page 6
- Understanding how to enable Widgets for extended functionality and efficiency: page 24
- Theme and Navigation settings to style the look and feel of your site: page 11
It’s all in there. Download it, print it, or drop it on your mobile device to keep it handy whenever you need it.
Genesis Design Framework for WordPress (PDF) 3.3 MB
Note: This is a “living” document, so as Genesis evolves, so will the guide. Check back from time to time for an updated version.
About the Author: Kelton Reid is an independent screenwriter and novelist, as well as a copywriter for Copyblogger Media. Get more from him on Google+.
Reader Comments (29)
Thank you! Thank you!! I have been using Genesis for a couple of years now and I still can’t figure out how to put my header at the center of my blog. I love the framework but since I have no css knowledge, it has been a challenge customizing the child themes. What I’m trying to say is that I really appreciate this guidebook.
Sharon – anytime you feel stuck with “how to do something”, make sure you drop by our community forums. We have over 64,000 members there who are always willing to help out fellow Genesis users!
Yeah, I found most of the questions are already more or less answered. No new problems.
Hey Sharon – feel free to drop by the forums as well. 🙂 And if there’s any areas you think we need to improve in the guide, we are all ears.
Just trying to make it easier for everyone. 😀
Thank you so much for your generousity! I don’t know why I haven’t been by the forum all this while but that will change. Thanks! 🙂
Thanks Kelton!
Thank you so much for this guide. I am new to Genesis and recently purchased a Theme. This guide will be very useful for me as I develop my site. Are you considering developing guides for your different Themes?
This . . . is . . . crazy.
I was literally sitting here last night, playing with settings I never was familiar with, and I was realizing how much I don’t know about Genesis and WordPress theme options.
So I’m asking my friends on how they learned, and how they got into web development. They gave me a few options, but I had to pay.
And now what do you know?
You guys release an organized, simple, well-written guide on everything I wanted to study and read about.
Mind is officially blown.
Thank you so much for this; the timing was impeccable.
That’s awesome, Paul, we’re glad to help. 🙂
Thank-you!!!
I didn’t have ANY css knowledge before I started blogging. I got Genesis, wanted to tweak the child theme and got what I have now. It’s not super awesome, but I had spent hours upon hours on it, so I’m proud of myself. I had to learn by looking at other people’s code and researching what padding, margin, wrap and all that stuff was. If only I got this report sooner. Oh well.
This is going to help out a lot of people.
It seems like everyone is using Genesis now. Thanks you so much for providing no-cost double-header – a tutorial on the Genesis Theme AND a tutorial on WordPress. Thanks much. I’ll be passing this on to my team for sure…
I found the guide on the studio press site last week. Its fantastic. And so are the forums — both for browsing to see what other people are having trouble with and to ask questions yourself. The best part of using Genesis for my site is the support.
I have only a little CSS knowledge, learning as I go, and Genesis and the Studio Press Forums have taken the pain out of the learning curve. The Guide is just the support a beginner like me needs to understand how Genesis and WordPress works and how to make it do what you want. Thanks.
Awesome! I don’t know if I’m speaking for anyone else here, but as much as I love Genesis, it was a little daunting when I started using it. (Lots of button to push all at once, ya know? What’s a guy to do but press them all indiscriminately?) But boy does Genesis make a pretty blog 🙂
Once upon a time I was sort of technical, now I am not at all. I myself love quick user-friendly guides like this to just explain the bits I need to know. 🙂
Hey, thanks for this. Launched Genesis blog last week…. and hosted on WebSynthesis to boot… Um, looks like you got me. 🙂
We’re glad to have you, Eric.
What ^ said. 🙂
Thank you so much for this guide, I purchased Genesis and a child theme, but found it too daunting to use, since I have zero CSS experience and I was under a deadline to finish a project. I love all your products like Scribe and Premise, now I can start using Genesis too.
I downloaded the guide and read it when you first promoted it. It was still quite difficult. However, it is written by technical people who are trying to be helpful. That’s great. It has helped me to understand a lot about the framework and I’m using a little bit more of the capability. I’m probably up to using about 25% of what Genesis has to offer now.
I’m glad someone is helping those of us who struggle even to articulate the right questions about the technical issues, but are keen to learn more. That help means I’m far more likely to stay with Genesis. Thanks again for the guide.
I just switched my site over to Genesis during 4th quarter last year and got it on Synthesis last week (thanks to Cody’s great support) so you have me as well. I really appreciate the guide.
My only suggestion is to maybe reconsider the title (sorry Brian). I almost didn’t download it because I perceive myself as intermediate – not a total beginner but certainly no expert either. I was expecting a newbie book on WP basics because of the title, but when I looked at the contents I realized it answered a ton of my questions and was a valuable resource I needed.
Anyway, I just wanted to give you that feedback. Maybe consider something along the lines of “Genesis: Step-by-step from absolute beginner to fully functional webmaster in just 46 pages” or similar. My two cents worth…
Hope that helps, and thanks again for all you do. You’ve always delivered great value for me at every interaction.
Thanks Todd, it does help. I haven’t liked the title for other reasons, so I think this means we’ll be changing it.
I’ve been using Genesis on one of my blogs for over a year and really found this guide helpful. Haven’t tried Synthesis yet but i have tried Premise which i think is a great plugin as well as Scribe
Nice, It’s helpful for many of you want to create a great blog with genesis. Thanks Copyblogger Media
I am so totally starting from scratch with hardly any tech knowledge. I am building my first site with Genesis, based on multiple recommendations. Not knowing anything about how the themes work and learning WordPress at the same time, I had searched for a guide book to get some foundation knowledge. This is such a help and I thank you. As I become comfortable working with the themes, you will have a loyal customer and promoter!
Thank You
Hi
More useful information from Copyblogger..I’m a satisfied Scribe and Premise customer..and have been weighing up whether to get Genesis for a while.
A couple of questions…
1. What theme would you recommend for a hotel/guest house website? I’ve had a look and can’t see one that’s jumping out at me. It’s for a small hotel boutique hotel so web design is key. Apart from the out of the box functionality the only things I will definitely want to integrate is a third party booking widget and the Yoast SEO plug in.
2. Current site migration to Genesis. I would like to migrate my current website to Genesis and want to keep development costs low. I know the question is ‘how long is a piece of string’..however..do you have any examples of how easily customers have migrated.
Thanks in advance
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