All the Basics of Using Genesis 2

Here you will learn about the benefits of using Genesis Theme 2 for a small business website and how Genesis and Child Themes work. We also cover which Child Themes are suitable for small business websites. Then we delve into the specifics of using Genesis from installing it for the first time to setting up the layout and each of the Pages. If you are new to Genesis 2 this seminar is perfect for you.

The Benefits of Using Genesis 2 for a Small Business Website

• Huge choice of child themes
  • Studio Press Themes
  • Community Themes
  • Other sources
    • Themedy.com
• Massive support
  • Support Forums
• Theme specific plugins
  • WordPress repository
  • Examples
• Modern theme features
  • Responsive
  • Includes SEO options
  • Includes latest WordPress advances

Understanding How Child Themes Work in Genesis 2

• What is a child theme?
  • A theme that requires another theme to operate.
  • It builds on or modifies another theme’s functionality and appearance
  • Historically
    • A way to make minor changes to a theme without hacking the core theme files
  • In current practice with Genesis
    • Genesis child themes are entirely new themes built off of the Genesis core
    • Not simply stylistic changes but a whole set of custom functionality
• Understanding the relationship between the parent and child theme
  • WordPress looks first to the child theme
  • Then to the parent theme
• Using Genesis without a child theme
  • Genesis is fully functional without a child theme
  • Genesis has a very minimal style
  • Genesis has few options for changing that style

Which Genesis 2 Child Themes are Suitable for Small Business Websites?

• 3 Main types of child themes
  • Those suitable for blogging only
  • Those suitable for a small business website.
  • Specialty themes
  • Artificial distinction
• Business child themes
  • Characteristics of a business appropriate theme
    • Has a design for a static front page
    • Can be used without using blog functions
    • Looks professional
    • Is responsive
    • Is based on HTML5
• Blog centric child themes
  • Characteristics of blog centric child themes
    • Focused on displaying blog posts
    • No static front page OR static front page displays primarily blog posts
    • Looks personal
• Specialty child themes
  • Real Estate
  • Churches
  • Photography
  • Ecommerce

Installing Genesis for the First Time

• Download Genesis
  • login to your account
  • Download Genesis
  • Download child theme
  • Ask me for a demonstration copy
  • Download the starter guide
• Install Genesis
  • Use the admin install settings
  • Upload from local file system
  • Look at the result
• Tour the Theme Settings
  • Theme Settings
    • Information
    • Default Layout
    • Header “Settings
    • Navigation Settings
    • Assign a menu
    • Breadcrumbs
  • SEO Settings
    • Doctitle
    • Homepage
    • Robots Meta
    • Archives
  • Import/Export
  • Readme

Installing the Enterprise Pro Child Theme

• Download Enterprise Pro
• Install Enterprise Pro
  • Use admin install
  • Look at the result
• Tour the Theme Settings
  • Theme Settings
    • adds color
    • removes header
  • SEO Settings
  • Import/Export
  • Readme
• The use of images in Enterprise Pro
  • 3 critical image sizes
    • logo – 320×80
    • home top featured image -750 x 600
    • featured page image – 358 x 200
  • Rick’s recommendations for media settings
    • large – 660×1024
    • medium – 330×1024
    • thumbnail – 200×200
• WordPress Reading Settings
  • Ordinarily this looks like a static front page
  • Tempted to create a “homepage” and set it as front page
  • Agency does not rely on Reading Settings for setting up the front page
  • All home page content is placed via widgets
  • Adding content to widgets changes the view

Understanding the Parts of a Enterprise Pro Page

• Main Page Elements
  • Header
  • Navigation
  • Inner
  • Footer
• Header Layout – Different for every child theme
  • Full width
  • Widgetized
    • logo – 320px
    • widget – 720px
• Navigation Layout
  • No navigation
  • Primary only
  • Primary & Secondary
• Inner Layout
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Content
  • Sidebar
• Footer Layout
  • Footer Widgets
  • Footer

Set up the Site Layout using Theme Settings

• Color Style
• Default Layout
• Navigation Settings
• Breadcrumbs
• Comments and Trackbacks

Setup the Enterprise Pro Header

• Recap of the Enterprise Pro header layout
• Header layout options
  • Full Width text
  • Widget + text
  • Widget + image
• What happens if the image isn’t the right size?
  • If it’s too small
  • if it’s too big
  • If it’s the wrong shape
  • Considerations for transparent .png files
• What widgets are intended to go in the header?
  • Search
  • Menu
• Create our header
  • Upload the right image
  • Search

Setup the Enterprise Pro Footer

• Add Widgets to the footer widgets
• Install Genesis Widgetized Footer

Setup the Enterprise Pro Front Page

• Customizable areas
  • Top widget area
  • Bottom widget area
• Options for the top widget area
  • Typical WordPress content
  • Featured page
  • Slider

Setup the Enterprise Pro Blog and Archive Pages