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  • Kristie Hill

Top Genesis Themes for Bloggers

November 21, 2018

Ready for a theme upgrade? Check out these top 10 Genesis Themes for bloggers. You’ll have the best looking site in town.

Your WordPress theme controls the way your blog looks and how your audience experiences your content. Having a beautiful and professional theme will help readers trust your site. Additionally, having a reliable theme will make your life as an online creator easier!

I am sharing my top 5 themes, followed by 5 honorable mention themes. Making a total of 10 top Genesis Themes for your to choose from. šŸ™‚

Before I dig into the themes, let me talk to you about the credentials and expectations I had when choosing these top themes for blogger.

Number 1: Themes need to run on the Genesis Framework.

Why the Genesis Framework you ask?

  • Current and forward-thinking coding
  • Updated, without messing everything up
  • Optimized for SEO and Speed
  • Security

You can read all about those fancy details on StudioPress’s site. Those are the core reasons most people recommend Genesis Frameworks, but let me tell you more personal reasons why I use and recommend Genesis:

  • Most of Genesis themes are easy to move into (which I go over in detail below). Genesis provides clear and thorough setup instructions. Any site will look good.
  • Genesis has tools to make your WordPress site even better + they’re easy to use. Plugins like Simple Social Icon, Simple Edits Plugin, Sidebar, and the Genesis Featured Posts/Pages make creating a site easy.
  • StudioPress, the company that create the Genesis framework has great support and people, even after their recent merge with WPEngine. – I’d probably follow Brian Gardner, the founder of StudioPress off a cliff. Just kidding, but I do think he is genuine and supportive to online creators. He’s been an amazing mentor and supporter to me personally, lifting me up when he didn’t even know I needed it. I know he has done the same to many in the #genesiswp community as a whole.
  • StudioPress + Genesis Framework isn’t going anywhere. They are invested in the future of WordPress and in the future of online creators/bloggers like us!
  • The Genesis Framework is simple. There are a lot of bulky, feature heavy themes out there, but Genesis keep things clean and simple. Which is actually really good for your site.

For those that are new to the Genesis Framework, here’s the gist of how it works:

Genesis is a WordPress theme framework that not only makes your site look great, but also adds more functionality. It is created by StudioPress. You can buy the framework alone, or you can bundle it with a child theme. The child theme controls the design of your blog. Here’s a little more clarification from StudioPress:

A framework (ours is called Genesis) is a powerful type of WordPress theme — the frame and body of the car — that acts as a design, security, and SEO foundation for your website. It also ā€œfuture-proofsā€ your site customizations, so there’s no hassle when it comes time to upgrade your software with one click.

A child theme is the pure design element that rests on top of the framework — the cherry red paint job on that car. Or blue. Or black. Pink. Green. You get the idea…

Okay. Now that we’ve covered that… Back to my credentials for making my Top Themes List…

Number 2: The themes need to be mobile friendly.

When I say that, I’m not just referring to responsive. They need to function well for mobile users, fonts need to be dark and big enough for mobile viewers, and navigation needs to be clear on mobile.

Top Genesis Themes

Number 3: Preference towards dynamic homepages.

In 2018 going into 2019 I believe Dynamic homepages are the way to go. Blogging these days is about more than a chronological lists of blog posts. Your sites are go-to resources for your niche/industry.

Your home page is one of the most visited pages on your site. People go there looking to know more about our blog. That is why most of these themes I’ve listed are dynamic home pages. Dynamic home pages allow you to show off your best stuff (email incentives, products, groups, categories, etc.) while still showing a list of most recent posts that updates as you publish more articles.

Number 4: Easy move in + no coding necessary

Most of us aren’t coders or developers by trade. I picked themes that are easy to install, no coding or tech savvy necessary. There were two themes that I loved and even went through the entire setup process and ended up leaving off the list? Why? They were too complicated to set up. You have better things to do with your time – like creating awesome content and connecting with your audience.

A few other notes about these Top WordPress Themes. These aren’t your typical blogger themes. I picked out themes for serious bloggers. Bloggers who want to grow their blog into a profitable business.

For each theme, I’ll discuss the available widgets, theme highlights, cons, and share some screenshots

Top 5 Genesis Themes

For these themes, I downloaded and installed the theme on my example site, Fit Fab Together. I wanted you to be able to see the themes formatted for a blogger. Sometimes, I think it can be hard to imagine a theme on an actual site. My hope is that the videos and pictures will help you better imagine YOUR site in the design.

These examples will also show you that you don’t have to set up a theme exactly like its demo. You can switch things up and it’s easy to do!

  1. Monochrome Pro
  2. Authority Pro
  3. Essence Pro
  4. Academy Pro
  5. Mai Lifstyle Pro

Monochrome Pro Theme

Of all the themes I set up, this is the easiest, no fuss, and most straightforward theme to set up. Whatever niche you are in – you can’t go wrong with Monochrome! It works for everything.

Simple, clean, and your content stands out.

Screenshot of Monochrome Pro Themes Demo

Creator: StudioPress
Widget Areas:

  • Primary Sidebar
  • Four Front page rows/widgets
  • Before Footer CTA
  • After Entry

Theme Highlights:

Fun typography elements on the home page, all of which are explained straightforward in the theme setup.

I love the hidden footer. You could get so creative with what you put inside there. I think it’s a fun detail.

The gradient before footer CTA is a nice touch as well. A fun use of colors!

The theme is called monochrome, which makes you think it’s all one color – but you actually have a bit of control over colors! In the customize tool, there are four different colors for you to set: Link color, accent color (I like this one, it shows up when you hover on buttons!), and the start and end of the footer CTA.

Cons:

I’ve tried thinking of things I don’t like about this site, but I just love it.

Things I did differently with my setup:

  • On the first home page row I added a button to the intro text.
  • I left out the “featured” row that is widget area three. It’s a great option but need to be featured first. Instead, I used this row to introduce the blogger and add another button.
  • The front page background images do not have an overlay. Which is great, because you get to fully decide what color your site is. I did have to design new images for this theme though because the font is white and my images were very white. I added the brand color as an overlay and love how it turned out.

Get Monochrome Pro!

Video tour of the Monochrome Theme Example:


Authority Pro Theme

Authority Pro is the perfect WordPress theme for showcasing what you have to offer and establishing yourself as the expert in your industry. This themes is alsoĀ easy to set up, with helpful guides in the customize screen.

Screenshot of Authority Pro Theme - desktop and mobile.

Creator: StudioPress
Widget Areas:

  • Primary Sidebar
  • 6 home page widget areas
  • Footer
  • After Entry
  • *Top banner – is not technically in a widget area, you add in the customize screen.

Theme Highlights:

Genesis Enews plugin is designed to STAND OUT. I love this feature.

The vertical social menu on the desktop design is really unique, as is the text alongside home page image.

Buttons and typography are swoon worthy. Design includes a default, primary, and secondary buttons in various sizes.

The clean, strong footer CTA makes a bold closing call to action.

Menu is super mobile friendly

Customize editor. When you’re in the customize tool, there are several areas with an edit icon on the home page. All you need to do is click and change home page right inside the customize screen.

Option to turn off the featured hero image on blog posts. This is great alternative for those of you that don’t have strong pictures. However, the featured image does make a statement!

Color smart: the theme adjusts the fonts to white or black depending on what color you input.

The little details in this theme set it apart from all the rest. Vertical text splashed in, arrows, shadows, and color lines. The arrows and lines help viewers flow through the site and keep things tidy.

The sections on the home page for ebooks or incentives stand out, and the review section is the cherry on top.

Grid style category pages with featured image for easy browsing.

Bouncing hover effects add a fun element on desktop.

Various styles for different headings.

Cons:

I’m not sold on how the logo/menu looks on mobile, but it’s not the worst I’ve seen either.

Honestly, there’s not much else to dislike about this theme. It easy to set up. It’s beautiful. It’s functional.

Example of Genesis Theme Authority Pro compared to the theme demo

Things I did differently with my setup:

  • I didn’t use as many rows on the home page (excluded front page 3 and 4) because this blog didn’t have that much stuff to showcase. It’s a-okay not to use all the home page widget areas.
  • Again, I excluded the “featured in” section – when this blog is featured somewhere, we’ll add it in. 😉
  • In the sidebar, I used the Genesis featured posts widget instead of the setup’s recommended recent posts list.
  • Displayed 6 posts on the home page instead of 3 blog posts.

Get Authority Pro

Video tour of the Authority Pro Theme Example:


Essence Pro Theme

Essence Pro is the perfect blend of a traditional blog, modern theme, and homepage showcase!

Screenshot of Essence Pro theme on desktop and mobile

Creator:Ā StudioPress
Widget Areas:

  • 4 Home Page widgets
  • After content featured area
  • Footer CTA
  • After Entry
  • Primary Sidebar

Theme Highlights:

I love the homepage hero image with strong CTA to sign up for list, followed by a beautiful grid of blog posts.

The after content featured area is amazing. This is a flexible widget area and is great for calling attention to your site’s most important pages, products, or resources! This shows up on every page – not just the home page. Probably my #1 favorite element of this site, paired with the feature below.

The large footer CTA. Growing your list is one of the best things you can do for your site, and this one makes it easy to call attention to it!

The grid format for category and blog pages is beautiful and scan-able.

Intro paragraphs show up automatically, no switching to text editor necessary to implement (this isn’t always the case in themes).

Customize editor. Click the edit icon and change home page right inside the customize screen.

I’m not sure why I have an obsession with buttons, but I like them in this theme too! The include a text button along with the default and secondary.

Cons:

This theme is photo heavy. Every page and blog post uses your featured image as big hero image. If you don’t have good images or aren’t good at picking out quality and beautiful stock images, this might not be the theme for you.

In my opinion, the header area looks better with text instead of the site’s logo.

When I set this theme up, my category and blog pages were not show up as a fancy grid. The setup instructions are not clear on how to activate the grid format.

I’ll save you the drama of my process to figure it out. If you decide to use this theme here is how to set up the grid-layout category pages:

  1. You must change each category to layout to Full Width. You do this by navigating to posts > categories > open each one and edit. (note, you do not have to do this if you’ve chosen Full Width as the default for your entire site.
  2. Adjust the entry content settings (in the customize screen) to show content and your preferred limit character count.

Genesis Theme Essence Pro demo and example blot.

Things I did differently with my setup:

I kept most of this example just like the demo. However, I did add a Convertkit form to the after entry widget for posts.

Get Essence Pro

Video tour of the Essence Pro Theme Example:


Academy Pro Theme

This theme is designed and marketed as a theme for course creators – don’t let that hold you back from using it for your blog though! Academy Pro is a perfect theme for bloggersĀ bloggers selling ebooks, courses, guides, or programs (or offering freebies).

Academy Pro example for kid blog

Even my 5-year-old son used this theme for his brief time online:

Creator: StudioPress
Widget Areas:

  • 7 home page areas
  • After Entry
  • Footer
  • Primary Sidebar

Theme Highlights:

The video feature on home page is a nice touch. This can just be a picture, or an awesome intro video about you and your blog!

It’s probably no surprise four themes down that I’m a sucker for pretty grid category pages. Academy theme does not disappoint in the category department. I love when you hover over the post on desktop it pops up as a card.

Similar to other new StudioPress themes, the mobile menu is really rocking it.

Two-tone background colors: I like the mix of gray and white. The gray blog post background is actually really refreshing. And that white button on gray. Mmmm…

Pairing with the gray background, the theme features unique diagonal lines.

Speaking of buttons, I like the rounded buttons and border buttons, great for calling attention to your most important pages or opt-ins.

Nifty hover effects of buttons, images, and featured posts.

Theme comes with ready to use icons that are easy to implement when following the theme setup instructions.

Cons:

🤷 ??

Academy Pro Theme demo compared to an example site

Things I did differently with my setup:

Because I used this theme for a blog and not for a course, I designed the home page differently.

I’ll start from the top down.

  • I didn’t included the row of featured in logos in front page one.
  • In front page three I only included 3 icon descriptions instead of six.
  • In front page four, I added an image and email opt-in instead of the text and buttons.
  • I only used two testimonials in front page 5.
  • In front page 6 I added the Genesis Featured Posts widget, four times, to display recent posts on the home page instead of the about section
  • I did not use front page 7.

Get Academy Pro

Video tour of the Academy Pro Theme Example:


Mai Lifestyle Pro Theme

This versatile theme gives you possibilities and control without technical difficulty! Mai Lifestyle Pro is modern and efficient all in one theme!

I’ll admit, I was nervous to set this theme up. It obviously had so many awesome features, which is great. But,Ā I’ve frequently found that the more features and possibilities – the more complicated it is to set up. And, I’ve already mentioned that I wanted to help you find themes that you could easily move into.

Still, this one was too beautiful and tempting not to give it a go. Plus, it’s made the StudioPress top 5 theme sells for the last three months. Happy to report it made my top 5 list too! The only theme on my top five from a third party Genesis designer.

Screenshot of Mai Lifestyle Pro theme demo on desktop and mobile

Creator: BizBudding
Widget Areas:

  • Primary Sidebar
  • Secondary Sidebar
  • Before Header
  • Header Left
  • Header Right
  • Mobile Menu
  • Footer menus, you choose how many
  • After Entry
  • Site Footer

*This theme’s home page is set up using sections, not widget areas.

Theme Highlights:

The home page possibilities are by far my favorite part. And the really exciting thing about it? These options aren’t just possible for your home page. You can use these design elements on any page. No additional plugin, or landing page template, or expensive tool necessary.

Built in related posts section. A lot of bloggers desire this feature but either have to custom code or use a plugin that doesn’t always work. Mai Lifestyle theme has it ready to go for you.

Control over how things look. I’m just going to direct you to the feature page here to see how you can change this theme up to be truly yours. You are going to have to do a bit more reading during setup and make decisions than in other themes, but the documentation is great and clear. It was easy for me to follow along and implement the changes myself.

Logo can be to the left of the menu, right of the menu, or in the middle of your menu.

Cons:

With all the possibilities, I was surprised to see that there is no option in the customize screen to change the theme’s colors. You can only do this by going into the CSS. Bummer. The theme actually doesn’t use that much color though, which is why I still kept it on this list. Additionally, for pages using the sections template you do have control of background colors there.

I’m not a fan of the theme’s blockquote style. It’s kind of ugly.

Comparison of the Mail Lifestyle Pro theme demo and the theme on an example site.

Things I did differently with my setup:

Because the home page demo showcases so many different options, and because this theme makes it so easy for you to change things up, there’s a few differences here:

  • In the first section I changed the text banner style to better match my background image.
  • In section 5 I added a simple testimonial instead of a featured recipes section.
  • In section 7 I designed it similarly to the demo, but showcased the blog’s top three categories instead of different recipe types.
  • I removed sections 8, 9, and 10.
  • I disabled the banner section for blog posts and pages and opted not to have a banner or featured hero image above the content on post/pages.

Get Mai Lifstyle Pro

Video tour of the Mai Lifestyle Pro Theme Example:


5 Additional Genesis Themes

Influencer Pro

Beautiful, functional, and built for funneling your people and showcasing your stuff!

Creator: Stephanie Hellwig
Get Influencer Pro Theme
Highlights:

  • Stunning home page
  • Flexible page template, great for landing pages
  • Between posts widget, good for ad space
  • Grid format category pages with hover effect.

Cultivate

Modern and feminine, this theme is perfect for the Pinterest promoting blogger.

Creator: Restored316 Designs
Get Cultivate Theme
Highlights:

  • Home page layout is a unique combination. Focusing on your main topics and offers up to, with strong featured post sections and sidebar in blocks below.
  • The footer area has me heart eyed. Color row for your email opt-in followed by a three column option for featuring your main pages.
  • Theme includes a few bonuses: 6 stock images, laptop computer screen template – just add your own images inside, and a Photoshop Pinterest template

Pretty Fabulous

Spunky yet professional, this theme calls out all the right details for your blog!

Creator: Pretty Darn Cute Designs
Get Pretty Fabulous Theme
Highlights:

  • Full page category grid makes a statement when browsing categories!
  • About page template has the option for a fun timeline.
  • Footer area – bottom menu, strong opt-in CTA, bold color bar, and an option of showcasing Instagram feed.
  • Home page focuses on all the right things – hero image, opt-int, latest posts, testimonials, and a larger more detailed opt-in section.
  • Announcement bar at top

Studio Pro

Professional, yet versatile and colorful.

Creator: SEOThemes
Get Studio Pro Theme
Highlights:

  • Fun color options for all the color lovers out there. The gradient color is in the header and footer area.
  • Stunning grid cards on blog and category pages.
  • Shadow hover effect on buttons
  • Beaver Builder plugin friendly. I don’t use this plugin, but I know a lot of people like it.

Boss Pro

Bold and Beautiful. All you need to rock this theme are beautiful pictures and strong words and you’ll be the boss.

Creator: Design by Bloom
Get Boss Pro Theme
Highlights:

  • Home page, full screen sections. Need I say more?
  • Bold typography makes your content stand out.
  • Alternating sidebar so that the content you put inside is separated
  • Sticky navigation menu with logo.
  • About page template with script typography almost feels like it’s breaking the rules of code.

There you have it. The top 10 Genesis themes. Which one will you use for your blog? Is there one that catchers your eye more than the others?

Good luck choosing a new theme for your blog. Let me know if you have any questions about these themes.

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Filed Under: Build, Popular Posts Tagged With: Genesis, WordPress themes Conversation: 52 Comments

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Comments

  1. Nirmal Rathod says

    November 25, 2020 at 11:00 pm

    What great content Cristie,

    I read this post 2 years after you published it, and it still helps people in choosing a theme.

    before reading this blog, I already change 3 themes on my Blog: https://interiostore.com/

    because I take theme selection Lightly, but your post changes my mind.

    As of now I only use premium themes, maybe Genesis Themes.

    You nicely give a review of Genesis Themes and it changes my mind.

    Thanks for this superb content, Cristie.

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      December 8, 2020 at 10:27 pm

      You’re very welcome. 2 years later, and these are still my favorite themes!

      Reply
  2. Hardik Sonawala says

    April 25, 2019 at 11:37 pm

    Hii, Kristie
    One of the great article i found on the Genesis themes.
    All the themes you described is super clean and responsive.
    But As a my point of view THE DAILY DISH PRO is what you have missed out.
    For the blogger as well as affiliate marketer i found this theme perfect. I personally use this theme on my blog: https://Mypetsproduct.com
    From my point of view this theme is very clean and responsive.
    What you think about this theme?
    Or
    If this is not perfect from your point of view then which one is best suitable for my blog?

    Thankyou for the blogpost, it’s adding value, and if possible i can use one of the themes that you described in the blogpost.

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      May 14, 2019 at 1:23 pm

      I love this theme too! It was in my 2017 list of top themes. Your site looks great. Keep using it!

      Reply
  3. Hope says

    February 26, 2019 at 3:25 am

    Hi Kristie, I’m in the process of updating my blog and it’s stressing me out sooooo much! I’ve played around with the different free WordPress themes but haven’t explored the Genesis framework or child themes yet. I would really appreciate if you could point me in the right direction with which Genesis theme to use for my blog over at http://www.balancinghope.com. As you can see, I need a good menu, social icons and layout options, since I’m still toying around with how I want my sidebar to look. Also wondering if you think it’s worth switching hosting over to WP Engine so I can have the framework and all Genesis themes for free?? Right now I’m hosting my site through Siteground.

    I appreciate your help and advice with all these themes! It can be frustrating getting things to look just the way you want it. Thank you!

    Reply
  4. Nia Jax says

    January 28, 2019 at 1:17 am

    Hi Kristie,

    Your this post is really great to know about Genesis Themes for Bloggers, As Genesis Themes themes are an important part for Blogger.

    I’m happy to find such a good post as a source for GENESIS THEMES.

    Reply
  5. Ben says

    January 14, 2019 at 8:21 pm

    Hi Kristie, I need a low priced Theme like Genesis Framework, Can I use it to build a blog like this: https://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/
    I waits to hear further details of this theme from you.

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      January 15, 2019 at 1:01 pm

      Hi! If you need a lot priced Genesis Theme, check out my post on Free Genesis Child Themes.

      For a theme similar to the one you linked, try out Magazine Pro (aff link)

      Reply
  6. Nia Jax says

    December 26, 2018 at 2:18 am

    Thanks for sharing these wonderful themes with us as I was just looking for a theme to use in my Blog but this post means a lot for me to find the relevant theme for me.

    Reply
  7. Breezy says

    March 29, 2018 at 11:46 am

    Kristie! I love that you placed links to other websites using the themes! That was so so helpful! I’ve been watching demos, but I really wanted to see some real life blogs using these themes. I so appreciate that you did that! And I love the ones you picked! You have made this whole switching themes process so much easier on me! Thank you thank you:)

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      April 2, 2018 at 12:27 pm

      I’m glad it helped! Which theme did you decide on?

      Reply
  8. Nikhil Jain says

    February 25, 2017 at 9:41 am

    Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  9. Brittany says

    November 13, 2016 at 6:38 pm

    Thanks for this list! I’m currently migrating my site and trying to pick the right theme! Can you recommend your favorite for a parenting/lifestyle blog!?

    Reply
  10. Melissa says

    October 26, 2016 at 12:21 pm

    Hi Kristie,

    This post is great! So informative! I’m in the process of starting a blog and this was super helpful in helping me decide on which theme I want. Thanks so much for all of the valuable information. Definitely think I’m going with Foodie Pro. Thanks for making something overwhelming seem simple. Love your site!

    Melissa

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      November 2, 2016 at 7:08 am

      You can’t go wrong with Foodie Pro! Such a beautiful theme, and easy to customize. Best of luck to you!

      Reply
  11. Sakthi says

    October 18, 2016 at 6:09 am

    Hi Kristie,

    I would like to appreciate your considerable efforts in consolidating the excellent Genesis child themes for the bloggers. BTW, I’m a Genesis theme designer, and I have recently designed the beautiful Genesis themes “Zappress & Andrea” for the dedicated bloggers.

    If could add anyone of them to your great list, it would be a great help for me. Let me know your thoughts. Have a productive week ahead.

    Reply
  12. Cheryl says

    February 17, 2016 at 11:06 am

    Hi, My daughter and I are working on starting a food blog along with some other [mostly] food-related content. We want to use the Genesis Framework. We are debating between Daily Dish and Brunch Pro (is this not a child theme? does it matter?). Perhaps we should also consider Foodie Pro and Tasteful noted above as well. We don’t know HTML/CSS (yet). The gallery issue you mentioned is a good one too. Would be nice to have that ready to go. We like a simple and clean look with good options for customization and good speed performance (I see Foodie Pro page load is quite a bit slower than others).

    Any recommendations?
    Thanks very much for your help, Cheryl

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      February 19, 2016 at 9:54 am

      Daily Dish doesn’t have the gallery pages – so that’s it’s only downfall for a food blog. Brunch is a child theme of Genesis, meaning you need both the framework and the Brunch theme. (Genesis Framework is the parent, Brunch is the child.) I love Brunch – it’s a great choice.

      Also, Tasteful from Restored316 has been updated since the time of this post and it is even BETTER now. You should check that one out too.

      Also, another new one that came out since this post is Savory – another great one for food bloggers.

      Good luck, let me know when it goes live! I’d love to check it out.

      Reply
      • Cheryl says

        February 23, 2016 at 4:48 pm

        Kristie, thank you so much for your suggestions! Cheryl

        Reply
  13. Anika says

    February 5, 2016 at 10:17 pm

    Hi Kristie,

    I am a total newbie, started my blog about a month ago with a free theme. I am so glad I found your blog!! It is a total lifesaver!
    Of course, I have a ton of issues with my free theme already and I really want to switch to Genesis. I am debating between the Daily Dish and the Style (by restored 316). One thing I am not a big fan of in Daily dish are the fonts. Is it possible to change them with the google fonts plugin? Is that true for all child themes?
    Do you see any other major differences between the themes that I should be aware of? Thank you so much for your time and all the information!

    Reply
  14. Ashley Rader says

    February 1, 2016 at 7:05 pm

    Wow, the diagonal theme is awesome – LOVE it!! Thanks for the recommendation – this will be perfect for a client I’m working with.

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      February 2, 2016 at 6:37 am

      I’m not sure if Erin is selling it on her site anymore. You can probably email her and find out though!

      Reply
  15. Kelli says

    October 29, 2015 at 2:03 am

    I’ve decided to just GO for it and am starting my blog ASAP so I can take advantage of your October freebie šŸ˜‰ I’m trying to decide between the Modern Studio & Daily Dish. My main question is if there is coding that can create some of the features of one on the other? For example, I love the sticky note on Modern Studio & the after-entry widget on Daily Dish. Is there a plugin or something that I can use to recreate these extras?

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      October 29, 2015 at 9:05 am

      So excited for your Kelli! You’re going to rock blogging. Modern Studio and Daily Dish are both great things. Modern Studio actually has the after-entry widget too!

      The only other big difference with the themes are the home pages. Modern Studio is set up with a blog roll home page and Daily Dish is a dynamic home page – allowing you to put different elements in the 3 sections on the home page.

      It would be possible to achieve the sticky note on Daily Dish with some coding.

      Reply
  16. Lori Hil says

    September 16, 2015 at 7:57 pm

    I’m using the Foodie Pro theme, even though I’m not a food blogger, and adore it. The Genesis Framework and StudioPress are fabulous!

    Reply
  17. Zornitsa says

    September 4, 2015 at 2:47 am

    Hi! Thank you very much for your posts! I’m now trying to set up my blog and I’ve decided to use a Genesis theme. I like the Daily Dish Pro theme and the Foodie Pro theme and I can’t decide which one to choose. Can you, please please please, help me with that decision? I will really appreciate it! My blog wouldn’t be about food. There will be recipes, but not only.
    Thank a lot!
    Zori:)

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      September 8, 2015 at 4:08 pm

      Daily Dish Pro and Foodie Pro are BOTH excellent choices. Both are great for blogs that will have recipes and other type of posts. Here are some of the similarity/differences.

      Both have a dynamic home page that allow you to customize the type of content that shows up on the home page. This is great for blogs with multiple genres, like it sounds like yours will be, because you can show your most recent posts by each category.

      Foodie Pro comes with a built in customizer that allows you to change the themes colors and fonts with out coding. This is a big perk if you aren’t familiar with CSS/HTML

      I love the icons included in daily dish.

      Foodie has a picture gallery style category pages, daily dish has content category pages.

      Really, you can’t go wrong with either theme! Good luck choosing. Let me know when it’s live, I’d love to check it out.

      Reply
      • Zornitsa says

        September 9, 2015 at 12:37 am

        Thank you so much!! I’ll go with the Foodie Pro then, because I know absolutely nothing about CSS/HTML:) Will let you know when it’s live:) Thanks again!
        Zori

        Reply
        • Kristie Hill says

          September 9, 2015 at 8:52 am

          I think you’ll love foodie pro! Let me know if you have any questions during the setup!

          Reply
  18. Jennifer Pizzarello says

    July 19, 2015 at 6:19 am

    Kristie,

    Thank you so much for your blog! I began to create mine yesterday for my new real estate career and your blog has been a lifesaver. I know I still have so much to learn, but you explain everything clearly and have great tips, so I’m sure my blog will be great!

    I am going to take your advice and purchase a Genesis theme. I don’t love the free one I am using now. I will let you know how it turns out!

    Thanks again! YOU ROCK!

    Jenn

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      July 20, 2015 at 4:21 pm

      You’re welcome Jenn! I love the theme you picked out for your blog, hope you are enjoying Daily Dish. Let me know if you have questions about Genesis!

      Reply
  19. Rahul Biswal says

    May 16, 2015 at 5:35 am

    Hi Kristi,

    You can also add eleven 40 pro child theme in this list. This genesis child theme is one of the most loved theme by Bloggers.

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      August 18, 2015 at 4:22 pm

      Yes, that is another great theme!

      Reply
  20. deonna says

    April 28, 2015 at 1:41 pm

    Thank you for mentioning my blog today šŸ™‚ I LOVE LOVE LOVE my theme and tell everyone!

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      April 30, 2015 at 4:23 pm

      You’re welcome. I love how your theme turned out! It’s amazing what a little color and pattern changes can do to a theme.

      Reply
  21. Andrea Beltrami says

    April 25, 2015 at 10:45 am

    It is SO awesome to see how others are using the same themes in such different ways. It proves, it’s a lot less about the theme out of the ‘box’ and more about how you make it your own!

    I ONLY use Genesis for my websites because the child themes are so freaking easy to tweak and customize. There’s nothing that compares in form & function out there, at least not for me.

    Thanks so much for the feature…AND for giving me so much design candy to devour. You ROCK, Kristie!! {big ass high five}

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      April 29, 2015 at 1:48 pm

      I love looking at how other people use the same things. I’m right there with ya, Genesis makes it easy to make small tweaks and you have a “branded” blog!

      Reply
  22. Sandy Meyer says

    April 24, 2015 at 2:34 pm

    Thanks for featuring me! I love my theme and all the help you have been!

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      April 26, 2015 at 4:22 pm

      You’re welcome. You make foodie look DELICIOUS.

      Reply
  23. Kelly Meier says

    April 23, 2015 at 6:16 pm

    So many of these themes were on my short list when I was getting ready for a change. But Modern Pro is by far my favorite theme – thanks so much for including my blog!

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      April 24, 2015 at 3:15 pm

      You made a good choice! I love Modern Pro. How long do you think you’ll keep it?

      Reply
  24. Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom says

    April 23, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    I love my theme (although I’ve never tried anything else). The other themes you showed here look great too! It’s funny, when I switched to WordPress, I had a choice between 35 themes – Beautiful Pro, Foodie, and Tasteful were my favourites – so cool you featured them!

    Thanks for sharing my site too –

    Wishing you a lovely weekend.
    xoxo

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      April 29, 2015 at 1:49 pm

      We must have the same great tastes!

      Reply
  25. Jen Letts says

    April 23, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    Thank you do much for the feature, Kristie! I’ve been thrilled to pieces with my theme. It is everything I was hoping for!

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      April 29, 2015 at 1:49 pm

      I love how your theme turned out Jen. Yours was the first blog I saw using Flourish and I’ve been in love ever since.

      Reply
  26. Melissa Dell says

    April 23, 2015 at 11:14 am

    thank you so much for featuring me in the roundup! I love all of Restored 316 designs! I’ve used many for clients šŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      April 23, 2015 at 2:45 pm

      You’re welcome! Restored316 has some of the best themes!

      Reply
  27. Mandy says

    April 22, 2015 at 8:24 pm

    I clicked on this post hoping Tasteful, my theme of choice, would make the cut. Happy to see that it did. Definitely an added bonus that my site is listed as an example. Thanks! Deciding between Swank and Tasteful was tough.

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      April 23, 2015 at 2:45 pm

      That is a tough decision, but I like how you’ve used Tasteful.

      Reply
  28. [email protected] Peaceful Haven says

    April 22, 2015 at 2:06 pm

    Great post! I am considering updating my blog…how easy is it to switch themes? Do I risk having to set up everything again? Will everything just update? Would appreciate your advise…Thanks!

    Reply
    • Kristie Hill says

      April 22, 2015 at 2:35 pm

      Changing themes is super easy! You will probably want to update things to match the new theme you decide on (moving widget area content around), but you won’t have to do much. Good luck with the giveaway!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Having a quality WordPress theme can improve your blog — blog ambitions says:
    April 24, 2015 at 3:03 pm

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