Category: Web Development

6 Easy Ways To Choose The Best Genesis Child Themes
A good WordPress theme offers not only mobility and rich features but it also plays a crucial role when it comes to SEO and website security matters.

If you are looking for a great WordPress theme, you don’t have to look any further as Genesis framework and Genesis child themes are already a household name when it comes to premium WordPress themes.

StudioPress (the company behind Genesis framework) offers more than 40 breath-taking, eye-catching and mouth-watering themes. With over 96,000 website owners using Genesis themes, I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t.

Before we choose Genesis or it’s child themes, we got to know what is Genesis all about right?

So, what is Genesis framework all about?

Genesis framework offers not only one but 8 different features for bloggers

1. Genesis framework and child themes are search engine friendly – This means that every child themes are SEO ready out of the box. All you need to do is to choose the right child theme to work with and you are basically ‘ready for battle’.

2. Great looking turn key designs – This means that changing the looks of your website is extremely easy and you don’t need a designer or developer to do it. Change it every day or week, the choice is in your hands.

3. Genesis gives you unlimited everything – Unlike any other premium WordPress themes, there is no such thing as ‘Developer Option’ for Genesis. This means that all you need is to pay once and you get unlimited support plus updates … for life.

4. State-of-the-art security features – With thousand of websites being hacked yearly, you need to know that your websites are secure … and Genesis can offer you that. With Mark Jaquith, the security expert and core WordPress developer working closely with StudioPress, you know that you are in good hands.

5. Hassle free and instant upgrade – Forget about calling your developer or webmaster to perform the upgrades as with Genesis framework and child themes, you can easily update them with just a few clicks of the button.

6. Customizing Genesis themes are incredibly easy – From auto-sizing images to advertising ready, the guys behind StudioPress had thought about them. All you need to do is to spend an hour or so in customizing your own child themes and NOT a few hundred dollars for hiring web developers to do the customizations for you.

7. Custom widgets and layout options – Need some customized widgets and layouts for different pages? It is easily doable when it comes to Genesis framework and its child themes.

8. Availability of trustworthy Genesis developers – Let’s say you still need help and want to build your own custom theme. Well, there’s a truckload of skilled and trusted Genesis developers at your disposal.

Now … take a moment and have a closer look at StudioPress’s theme gallery. I know you will be impressed!

Related article: Advantages Of Genesis 2.0 and How To Convert To HTML5?

Brian Gardner, the strong man in StudioPress and Genesis Framework

Choosing the right Genesis child themes – How?

Welcome back! Glad you made it back here 🙂

When I first saw Genesis framework and its child themes, I was mesmerized and I had absolutely NO IDEA where to start.

If you are at the same spot with me right now, then you definitely got to read what I have to say below.

When it comes to deciding a Genesis child theme, you got to know a few basic information which are:
1. What that your website is all about?
2. The basic layout you are looking for?
3. Minimalistic or colourful?
4. Corporate or leisure?
For me, choosing the best Genesis child themes is actually easy as long as you know what you really want.

I have listed down several top child themes which I truly love and I classified them in a very logical manner which is … according to your niche.

What is your ‘type’?

1. Balance website themes between images and words:

Genesis child theme: Magazine

Genesis child theme: Metro

2. Business and corporate genres:

Genesis child theme: Agency

Genesis child theme: Corporate

Genesis child theme: Executive

3. General genres:

Genesis child theme: Blissful

Genesis child theme: Pretty Pictures

4. Photography genres:

Genesis child theme: Crystal

Genesis child theme: Landscape

5. Very specific genres:

Genesis child theme: Education

Genesis child theme: AgentPress

6. My personal favorites:

Genesis child theme: Eleven40

Genesis child theme: Focus

Genesis child theme: Going Green

Genesis child theme: Mindstream

Genesis child theme: Prose

Genesis child theme: Genesis Framework

Are you an outgoing and adventurous blogger?

It is no secret that I am extremely picky and choosy when it comes to choosing a theme.

And for those who know me, there is a tendency for me to change my website theme nearly every month.

If you are looking for unique themes for customization, I would recommend you to try using either Prose or Genesis Framework (most basic).

Currently, I am using Genesis Sample child theme with some customization on this website (as you can see now) with the help of Genesis Extender Plugin.

Help! I still can’t find the right Genesis child theme that suits me!

With so many child themes, you are having a hard time to decide (plus getting a Pro Package for all child themes does not fit into your budget).

Don’t freak out and no fuss. I get it!

Have you ever thought of creating your own Genesis child themes instead?

If you are doubting your ability about creating a child theme, you shouldn’t.

I came across Dynamik Website Builder which offers more than 800 options to build your website theme from scratch.

So, what’s the catch?

You don’t need a type a single line of code … EVER!

The plugin is also highly recommended by StudioPress team (and myself since I have a copy of it).

If you are interested, check out my review on the Dynamik Website Builder here.

What do you think?

I hope you enjoyed reading and looking at the images here. Regardless how many times I see Genesis themes, I am still thrilled!

So, are you a Genesis user already? Share with me what you like about Genesis and do you have any favorite child themes using the comment form below.

Wait! You are NOT a Genesis user yet?

Take Genesis for a spin or have a look at StudioPress can offer by clicking the banner below. Don’t worry, no string attached and no obligations.

If you like this article, could you please share it for me using the red button below?
January 5, 2024
What is SEO? Understand what SEO is all about in 521 seconds
Recently, I read an article about SEO written by Brent Carnduff, CEO of Echelon SEO which you can find it here.

That article … struck my mind about search engine optimization.

Let me ask you something.

What do you know about SEO? Go on … think about it for a moment.

Let’s learn SEO today!

What is SEO all about?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is indeed very simple but why on Earth, everyone is saying that SEO is hard?

Like what Brent said, it is us who confuse ourselves and when I think about it, it make sense.

Let me tell you why.

I had been doing search engine optimization research and practicing multiple techniques over the years (since 2005 to be exact) and it is no secret that we get all our SEO scoop from no other than … other blogs and websites.

There are some reputable SEO sites out there like Moz and Search Engine Journal. However, we usually don’t get enough from these sites and we venture out to the open sea looking for more sources.

I bet you do right?

And there comes other so-called SEO blogs that we assume are providing valuable insight on the matter. The question here is … how many of these sites are trust worthy?

I am not saying that my blog is 100% correct but at least, they worked for me (ding!).

Extra reading: Find out why SEO 2013 And Beyond written by Dr Andy Williams got more than 97 satisfied customers!

Understand what SEO is all about … in just 521 seconds

This time around, I am going to cut the chase. Good by wall of text (do I hear the crowd cheering?) and hello Youtube.

I am a good story teller so … do bear with me alright?

Search engine optimization is rather huge and therefore, I am keeping the video as simple as possible (plus as general as possible).

Basically, search engine optimization (SEO) could easily be divided into 4 very distinct categories which are:
1. Traditional SEO (some call this white hat)
2. Black hat
3. Content marketing
4. Social SEO
For more, watch this video:

I hope you enjoyed watching the video and remember to like it as well on Youtube!

Now, tell me what you think simply by replying using the comment form and could you please share it for me using the red button below?
January 5, 2024
CommentLuv Premium Comment Plugin: Love It Or Hate It?
Leaving constructive comments is a great way to boost blogger’s authority and an undeniable way to build backlinks.

So, how do you actually leave a comment and at the same time, placing a link within the comment without being labelled as spam?

This is where a great WordPress comment plugin called CommentLuv Premium comes into the limelight.

CommentLuv is a WordPress comment system that is widely used by bloggers

What is CommentLuv Premium?

CommentLuv is a WordPress commenting system (plugin) and it is used by thousands of blogs out there.

For every comment submitted, commenters are able to share one link in their comment which is good especially when it comes to search engine optimization.

CommentLuv Premium allows blog owners to control the number links shared in the comment, placing a DoFollow or NoFollow option and many more.

Due to this indirect link building method, CommentLuv is used by many major blogs and gained a lot of popularity among bloggers.

For more information about this lovely WordPress comment system, you can have a look at their official website here.

What I really love about CommentLuv Premium?

Ms Ileane from Basic Blog Tips is the ambassador for CommentLuv and thus, it is a no brainer to try it right?

As for the record, CommentLuv Premium has more than 24 features which is extremely great for both bloggers and blog owners.

Before going deeper into why I actually decide not to use some of CommentLuv’s functions, let me tell you why I love this WordPress plugin so much.

I am a huge fan of social engagement (huge could very well be an understatement). I wanted my readers to drop me a comment and leave valuable insight. Yes this is great especially when the blog is new and you need boost your engagement level.

Having CommentLuv Premium enabled on my blog are able to convince readers (and spammers ~ ouch) to leave comment and in return, getting a backlink from my site.

You might think, “Hey, that’s a good deal right?” … and so do I!

I wanted to do something extra and I added some spice into it by allowing an automatic DoFollow if the commenter share the article on social media.

What did I get in return? 320 comments and counting. Not bad for a figure right?

Related article: My blogging journey after 60 days and 7,977 blog traffic.

The moment of truth – Turning CommentLuv Premium plugin off (partially)

Why did I decided to turn CommentLuv link sharing feature off?

I am quite well verse in SEO and I know one day, this will back fire. And by saying ‘this’, I mean the ability to link out through CommentLuv plugin.

Now, here’s a few bad thing about linking out:
1. The links might return a 404-error which means the page is not found or down
2. The links could be from a penalized website or blog
3. The links could be redirecting too much
4. The links might originated from a site which has very less information
5. And probably a few more down the road
Thought it was very real at the back of my head, I wouldn’t really bother thinking about it since my blog is like 60 days old. No biggy right?

Here was where I was so … W-R-O-N-G!

I am a big fan of Adrienne Smith’s blog and I recently came across her latest article, Blog Maintenance: The Essential Guide written by no other than, Tim Bonner.

In the article, he said about broken links and immediately, it struck me like a thunderbolt straight through my heart.

As recommended by Tim, I used Broken Link Checker (web version) to find for broken links on my blog. I let it run and after sometime, the numbers keep increasing.

Yes! The numbers of broken links. From 10 to 20 to 30 … and finally 60. I thought that was it but again, I was wrong. The process was still running! I ended up with over 160 broken links.

That was bad … real bad. With rumors of coming Google update, I can’t afford to do any mistake now. I basically slapped myself multiple times (virtually) as I been seeing the alert on Google Webmaster Tool on 404 errors and I thought they weren’t important.

Lesson learned!

After some quick checking, majority of these broken links comes from CommentLuv plugin (remember the link building feature?). The thing is even though the broken links were coming from CommentLuv commenting system (indirectly), it doesn’t mean that the plugin is at wrong.

What really happened to CommentLuv Premium?

Honestly speaking … nothing.

So, what contributed to the broken links on the comments?

The answer would be the commenters themselves. From time to time, we change our permalinks, URL etc. And this is very common for new blogs. Let’s say you are visited by these users and they share a link.

Through GASP which comes with CommentLuv Premium plugin, all URLs basically go through some sort of filtering before it goes into your comment box awaiting for moderation.

*If you are interested to read more about GASP, Ana Hoffman from Traffic Generation Cafe wrote about something about it here.

Now it all starts when these URL’s go bad. This means that if the URL changes or goes into 404-error, there is no way to get notified automatically.

Unless you are using a link checker tool, then you would probably find the answer. Otherwise, you are left with … nothing more than just plain dead links.

If broken links on your blog doesn’t sounds bad for SEO, I don’t know what else will!

Obviously, this isn’t a problem with CommentLuv plugin but instead, the problem lies (as said above), on the commenters and the blog owners.

As a blog owner, we got to ensure that those links on our websites are good and therefore, we can’t be lazy (like me).

My new CommentLuv Premium settings

After several discussions with my web host and an hour searching for the answer on Google, I decided that I am going to remove CommentLuv highly-rated feature; the link sharing ability … for at least, a couple of months for some testing reasons.

I am absolutely sure that this is going to leave a huge impact on the my blog and the number of comments is going to drop rapidly.

In my point of view, I got to consider the SEO ranking and what Google actually sees on my blog. It is suppose to be a good website that shares quality content and NOT a site for linking out.

I even went the extra miles by setting the number of words and the duration before posting to further reduce the chance of spammers.

Why am I still using CommentLuv Premium?

Should I or should I not use CommentLuv Premium for my WordPress site?

Basically, disabling the link sharing could mean that I could easily ditch the comment system right?

Yes, I could but I choose not to because I wanted the GASP and ReplyMe features. GASP is the shortform for Growmap Anti Spambot Plugin which is great to control the number of spam on your blogs.

As a blogger, it is a known fact that spam is definitely your number one enemy.

On the other hand, ReplyMe is great to create a chance of engagement with both first time and repeat readers who leave comments. Don’t forget, a simple ‘hi’ or ‘hello’ could go a long way when it comes to relationship building!

Related: Read more about CommentLuv Premium plugin here.

How to overcome these ‘obstacles’?

If you are using CommentLuv Premium plugin like I do, then you probably might not want to face the same issue.

The way out is actually very simple. Here are a few methods:
1. Use broken link checker plugin
2. Use broken link checker web version
3. Using Google Webmaster Tool
4. Ensure that links are automatically NoFollow using CommentLuv setting
Here’s a few thing you SHOULD know.

The first two methods have loopholes such as not able to detect broken links completely (possibility). For example, method #1 told me that I have 60 broken links but method #2 told me I have 80 broken links instead!

So here, you just got to be a little hardworking and double check from time to time.

On the other hand, Google Webmaster Tool is great and its track record is squeaky clean. Here’s a little problem: It only detects broken links on indexed pages.

Method #4 is strictly to avoid sharing your link juice. All you need to do is to set all URL’s shared to be a NoFollow and you would be fine. This method is great when it comes to URL control but it doesn’t help in checking for bad URL’s.

Question: Should I get CommentLuv Premium plugin?

YES … Yes … and yes!

I would still recommend CommentLuv Premium plugin to anyone who asked. It is one hell of a WordPress commenting system and I am sure it will always be that way.

Remember that CommentLuv doesn’t only helps you control the number of spam comments but as well as the rich features of ReplyMe and it increases the chances for readers to leave comments on your blog.

Personally, I am not a hardworking person and thus, checking thousands of links monthly isn’t really my cup of tea. After all, anything could happen anytime right?

What I am trying to say is that CommentLuv Premium is a very sweet plugin that you should get for yourself if you want to boost blog traffic.

Many bloggers are already using it and I see no reasons why you shouldn’t.

Want to try out CommentLuv Premium plugin? Hover and click on this link to see what it is all about … or simply click on the banner below!

*Important update: CommentLuv link sharing is enabled back to the site on 26th August 2013 after some short testings done for 72 hours.

If you like this article, could you please share it for me using the red button below?
January 5, 2024
7,977 Blog Traffic And 60 Days Later – My Blogging Journey
Today is 13th August 2013 and this marks exactly 2 months since the day this website is created.

This blogging journey had taught me a lot especially when it comes to building authority, increasing traffic to blogs and foster relationships with other bloggers.

Before that, I had created a simple video (yes, my second YouTube video) as a summary of this whole article:

Did you enjoy the video? I hope you do! (p/s it would be great if you could just give me a ‘Like’ on YouTube)

Let’s see how far this website had gone, shall we?

This is how my website traffic looks like during the first 60 days

Total traffic: 7,977 (100%)

Organic traffic / Google: 2,446 (30.66%)

Direct traffic: 2,302 (28.86%)

Referral traffic: 3,229 (40.48%)

On an average, the website is getting about 132 traffic a day or approximately 3,988 traffic a month. No biggy right?

I got to admit, I am ashamed of publishing the stats but for the sake of learning and sharing, I believe this is the best interest for all 🙂

Here’s a quick summary of what this whole article is all about:
- My website traffic experience (organic traffic vs referral traffic)
- Monetizing my blog
- Satisfaction issues as a blogger
It all comes down to blog traffic

If you are planning to start blogging, then you got to know that traffic is the lifeline of a blog. It doesn’t really matter if you are blogging for money, passion or as a hobby.

You need traffic to sustain and maintain your site. Moreover, running a self hosted domain isn’t that cheap after all.

When I started this blog, I wanted to make this blog different. This means that I do NOT want to do the same mistakes I did years back with probably a dozen or more websites.

Instead of focusing on organic traffic, I wanted to focus on referral traffic instead. Let’s see what makes them different.

1. The differences between organic and referral traffic

Which is the better choice when it comes to building traffic for your blogs?

Organic traffic vs Referral traffic … what?!

Let’s see what the web has to say about them:

Organic traffic – Visitors who come to your website from unpaid organic or natural search engine results

Referral traffic – Visitors who come to your website from other domains (and pages in those domains)

Source: Google

In my own words …

Organic traffic can easily be defined as traffic gained from search engines. If you are getting more of this, it is safe to say that you are doing the right search engine optimization techniques to rank well on SERP’s.

Referral traffic (aka referred traffic) is traffic that comes from a second party and it doesn’t come through search engines. This type of traffic usually comes from social media, other domains and blogs who are sharing your links.

2. Why I decided NOT to be normal – focus more on referral traffic

Are you focusing in the conventional (organic traffic) or the unconventional (referral traffic) for your blog?

Some bloggers say focusing on organic traffic is risky and I got to agree with this.

Google can easily change its algorithm several times a year but building a website from scratch would take months or maybe longer. You can’t just change your game plan overnight even if you have the manpower to do so.

So yes, I took the road less taken and I know what I did would actually be beneficial for my organic traffic as well (indirectly).

This brings me to the next related point below. Before that, ask yourself why did you do blogging. Could it be:
- Earning some side income?
- As a hobby?
- Living your dreams?
For me, I blog because I love it and the ability to earn some side income is definitely a good plus point.

Okay you will be asking, “So, what would these have to do with referral traffic?”

I want to make sure that every traffic that lands on my blog counts. This means that if I can have 100 readers daily who really enjoy my writing, then I would have struck the gold mine … literally speaking.

Here’s what I think. Readers won’t click on a link shared on Twitter or Facebook if they are not interested with the topic. Therefore, is it safe to say that referral traffic means targeted traffic?

Yup, you can say that!

Now, do you see where this is going?

Monetizating my blog with referral traffic

How you make money blogging … the smart way?

Personally, I think I did rather okay even though I wish I could do more 🙂

Here are the stats after 60 days of uptime:

Google Adsense: $ 1.69

Affiliate sales: $ 209.96

Again, I know most of you guys could be earning more than this. Shame on me!

But here’s the thing. For those who been visiting my site during June would realized that I have more Google Adsense banners.

Compared to now, I only place Google Adsense banners on several spots or categories. But why? I had replaced them with specific banners that are closely related to the said categories.

For example, I will be featuring a web hosting affiliate banner if that category is about website creation. Chances is, those targeted readers will be probably looking for a cheap hosting to go with their self hosted domains.

Oh yes, this is rather crazy as I ended up with 68 widgets on my blog.

Like what I said, the earnings above could just be a fraction of what many other bloggers are earning. Nonetheless, it is a good start. At least, I know that what I did (mostly) are bearing fruits 🙂

Recommended freemium tool for social media management: Socialoomph

You can’t please everyone. So, stop trying!

1. Making your readers happy …

As a blogger, you can’t possibly make everyone happy and you are bound to have lots of enemies when you are above the rest.

When I wrote “3 Disappointing Truth About MailChimp Email Marketing Solutions“, I was so sure that what I wrote is going to spark anger among MailChimp fans.

And for the record, I do receive hate mails and some super epic comments (which sadly, still lying in my moderation folder due to too many 4-letters words).

Here’s the thing about blogging. As long as you are doing it right, you don’t worry about what others think.

I very interesting quote I would love to share from someone I really respect:

Source: Smart Passive Income

The above is taken from Pat Flynn (the guy behind SPI) and the author of the eBook, ‘Let Go‘ which explains how unemployment changed his life completely and currently earning more than $100,000 monthly.

2. Unforeseen issues with blog subscribers

I had just a small number of followers for my newsletter and I too, received some feedbacks from them. Here are some of those:
1. My emails are either too long or too short
2. Wanting more freebies
3. 15% of them subscribed as they thought I was doing more reviews instead
4. Some of them were expecting me to email them during specific days of the week
5. And the list continues …
Disclaimer: Feel free to think if I’m BS-ing but these are the things that REALLY happened to me recently.

My reply to them are the same (including the ones who leave comments on my blogs); I am not forcing you to subscribe to my newsletter and you are free to unsubscribe at any time.

I’m sorry if it might feel a little cocky but I am just one man and obviously, I don’t have super powers to make everyone happy.

Note: It is still rather sad to see that there are people who doesn’t really appreciate you and your writings.

Brighter sky after some stormy days

There is always sunlight after a stormy day

I am sure that all of us have our ups and downs.

Being a blogger is very fun and I am very honored to meet up with some seriously great friends (bloggers).

There are definitely more than this list but they are the ones that truly make my day:

Adrienne Smith ~ Lovely woman who never STOP giving you encouragements especially in blogging and life.

Barry Wells ~ Nice guy and pretty good in IT related stuffs. LOVE his writings too! He’s also one of the guys behind Marketing Mini Classes.

Corina Ramos ~ Another nice lady. If I would give her a nickname, it would definitely be ‘Work From Home GURU’!

Adam Connell ~ Great writer and one hell of a marketer. Learned from him a lot especially when it comes to building authority and Internet marketing.

Harleena ~ One of the most inspiring bloggers I ever seen. She teaches me that you can be good in anything as long as you have the passion.

Again, I felt truly honored to meet up with so many bloggers and lovely friends. I would possibly given up last week or earlier but thanks to them, I felt that everything will be just A-okay for me.

60 days and 7,977 website traffic later …

So, what did I actually learn about blogging after this life changing experience?

We need to:
1. Focus on the right traffic for our blog.
2. Make friends with other bloggers and most importantly, learn from them.
3. Mistakes are common in blogging. Use them to improve yourself.
4. If you want to make money blogging, start improving your blogging skills and focus on traffic first.
5. There are many ways to build your blog traffic. Choose the one that fits you best.
6. Don’t ever give up on negative feedbacks. They will make you stronger!
Before I end

I truly hope that you enjoy this blog post as much as I do. So, did I miss out anything? Hit the reply button below and tell me what you think!

*p/s If you like my writing, feel free to signup for my newsletter and could you please share it for me using the red button below?
January 5, 2024
The Best Managed WordPress Hosting – WPEngine Review
When it comes to the best fully managed WordPress hosting, nothing comes close to WPEngine.

Before we go into detail, a fully managed WordPress hosting is great for bloggers or webmasters who are lack of technical skills.

This is because managed WordPress hosting companies take care of your website speed, up time, updates and many more.

If you are a business owner or serious blogger, you have only two options. Hire a system admin to manage your website which will cost you a bomb, or you can use managed WordPress hosting.

What WPEngine can offer?
- Excellent support team on standby 24/7
- WPEngine takes care of website loading speed
- Automatic WordPress database backup done on a daily basis
- In case of website hacking, WPEngine will restore your website … for free.
- A list of recommended plugins and themes to use on the site
Why do you need managed WordPress hosting?

Let’s take a look at the advantages below.

1. Website security

With the numbers of WordPress sites being compromised yearly, you can finally rest your worries when you are using managed WordPress hosting service.

These web hosting offers very tight security layer that actively scans for malware and block all hacking attempts.

2. Support is just a click away

At WPEngine, all their staffs are highly trained and they know ‘stuffs’. So at anytime you need any assistance, they are there for you. It is like having an army of WordPress experts on your side for assistance.

3. Good bye downtime

With managed WP hosting, your website will probably not go down … at all. Do you remember when was the last time your site went down and how long it took to get back on?

WPEngine servers are strong enough to withstand a sudden burst of traffic and thus, your site is always up.

4. Blazing fast website speed

This hosting servers are specially configured for WordPress. Therefore, you know that your website is always on 5th gear 24 hours a day, 7 times a week.

5. Daily database backup service

WPEngine handles all backup service for your website and thus, you do not need to worry about installing a backup plugin for the matter.

Do you know that WPEngine also offers a 1-click restore point if you ever want to revert?

Bonus…

6. Automatic cache a.k.a. EverCache Technology

Google says they lose 20% of their traffic for each additional 100 milliseconds it takes a page to load. Speed matters. Google also incorporates your page-load time into your site’s search rankings. Faster sites win, literally. That’s why WP Engine custom-built our EverCache technology to deliver WordPress fast enough for Google, and at scale. – WPEngine

The Best Managed WordPress Hosting

Honestly, there is no web hosting company that comes close to what WPEngine can offer.

Large companies such as HTC, foursquare and SoundCloud uses it. Therefore, you know your money and trust is in safe hands.

With a 60-days money back guarantee, I see no reason why you shouldn’t give it a go.

Current promotion: Use special offer “HappyNewHost14” and get 30% discount for your first managed WordPress web hosting service! <– Promotion lasts until 31/12/2013 only.

Or click on the banner below to see what WPEngine is all about!

If you like this article, could you please share it for me using the red button below?
January 5, 2024
Advantages Of Genesis 2.0 and How To Convert To HTML5?
The hype is finally over. Genesis 2.0, HTML5 and Scheme are here to rock your website.

I personally waited more than 3 months for this and I know many who waited way longer for this. When I saw Brian Gardner’s post on G+ yesterday hinting on the possible Genesis 2.0 release, I was basically glued to the download page.

Yes this is the one of the advantages of being a Genesis Pro user. I have unlimited access to all their child themes and updates.

In this article, I am going to cover a few things such as:
1. Why you should use Genesis framework and the advantages?
2. Why you should update to Genesis 2.0 right now (for those current users)?
3. How you can convert Genesis child themes to HTML5 correctly?
I know your heart is pounding like the drums of Amazon and therefore , without any further delay, let’s dive in!

The Advantages using Genesis Framework

See why over 86,000 website owners trust StudIoPress themes

Here are three very obvious advantages for using Genesis framework. With so many website owners using it, I bet you can’t go any wrong with it!

1. Search optimized

State of the art code and smart design architecture mean search engines clearly see your content. And with automatic updates, you never have to think about it again.

Genesis framework and all the child themes are SEO ready out of the box.

This means that you don’t need to spend precious time trying to get your website optimized as Genesis will take care of it.

Genesis framework is also working together with Yoast SEO to ensure that all the themes are having great SEO features. If you want to rank well on search engines, you need Genesis framework.

2. Turn-key designs

The Genesis turn-key designs give you an array of beautiful frames for your content. The design settings give you unprecedented control of the framework.

Imagine you are a website developer and you want to customize the website. Genesis framework empowers you to do so … without hassle!

Basically, this feature offers you a huge range of beautiful designs that you can work with.

Imagine this: Each child theme works as a ‘general body’ for your customized theme. Choosing the right theme and customizing the detailed to fit your requirement is so easy and can be done without needing a developer.

3. Unlimited everything

Unlimited support. Unlimited updates. Unlimited websites. There’s no “Developer Option” here. One low price entitles you to support, updates, and domains.

StudioPress’s business isn’t charging you for every upgrade. Instead, you’ll just need to pay only once and that entitles you for a lifetime update.

What else can I say about this?

Related article: Why did I choose Genesis Framework over Thesis theme?

Why should you buy or upgrade to Genesis 2.0 now?

Upgrading to Genesis 2.0 offers you more mobility that you can ever imagine

Not yet upgrade to Genesis 2.0 … or maybe still deciding on whether to get Genesis? Let this three reasons be the ONLY reasons you need to get it right now!

1. HTML5 ready

Being HTML5-ready out of the box means your site will be fast, flexible, and future-compatible without hassles or headaches.

There are many advantages using HTML5 for your website such as:
- It makes your website future compatible.
- It improves cross-browser compatibility.
- It makes your site truly mobile-friendly.
- It allows for extensible design and supports video and audio like no other markup language.
- It is cleaner and more efficient in terms of storage, API interaction, and other ways impact user experience.
2. Mobile responsive

Now every visitor to your site will get a layout optimized for the device they are viewing from, without you spending big $$$ on a separate mobile site.

We are living in the 21st century and technology is over our heads. Gone were the days where you surf website on your laptops or PC.

Mobile responsive ready out of the box? Bring it on!

3. Microdata

Don’t make search engines guess about the most important elements on your page. Support for schema.org markup lets you do just that.

No idea what microdata or scheme are? Don’t worry! Here’s are what the pros think about it:

Google doesn’t use markup for ranking purposes at this time ‘” but rich snippets can make your web pages appear more prominently in search results, so you may see an increase in traffic. – Google Inc.

Let me start with explaining why you should be bothered with schema.org if you weren’t convinced yet. Not just Google uses schema.org, all 4 major search engines, Google, Yahoo!, Bing and Yandex use it for several different purposes ‘¦ but it’s not just them. Recently, Pinterest joined the party by announcing support for Product, Recipe and Movie schema’s through their Rich Pins effort. So, in my opinion, schema.org markup is a must for everyone serious about their websites optimization. – Joost de Valk’s (Yoast SEO)

Still want to read more about Schema? Then I highly recommend you to check on Ana Hoffman’s article on Schema Markup.

Converting Genesis child themes to HTML5

Converting to HTML5 is easy with the guidance

One thing you have to understand is HTML5 is NOT automatically enabled on your current theme unless it is recently released.

Being said that, you would need to get your hands dirty a little bit to get it working. At this point of writing, all child themes will be able to convert to HTML5 easily.

Important disclaimer: Backup your functions.php and style.css before doing any changes.

1. Adding Genesis HTML5 markups

Open your style.css and replace the old codes (left side) with the new ones (right side). You need to use programs such as Note++ to do the conversion.

Example below:

All you need to do is to change the codes on the left with the ones on the right

You can find the full list provided by Brian Gardner here.

2. Update the new Genesis HTML5 loop hooks

Now, open your functions.php and do the appropriate changes or updates. Again, credit to Brian’s for the codes which you can find it here.

Do not panic if some of the codes are not in your file. These are just very general codes and you just need to replace them if they are available 🙂

3. Enabling HTML5 markup features to your Genesis

As I said above, Genesis is not able to automatically enable HTML5 markup for you. Instead, you need do it yourself.

Before you go wandering around for the solution, all you need to do is to place the code below in your functions.php.

<?php
//* Do NOT include the opening php tag

//* Add HTML5 markup structure
add_theme_support( ‘html5’ );

Yup, you are all done.

Now, clear your cache and check your website out. Everything should be inline and looks … no different from the previous.

All the changes done are basically done on the backend which has little effect on visual part.

Related article: This is how you build a WordPress website like a pro … even though you are a novice!

Bonus! I’m lazy/not confidence/afraid of changing the codes

Let’s say you are worried to change the codes as you might break the site. But … you still want to do the changes!

Lucky for you, Rafaal and Cobaltapps team had created a simple tool to help you perform the conversion from XHTML to HTML5 CSS.

All you need to do are:
1. Copy your original style.css codes
2. Paste in the converter found here
3. Press Convert CSS and paste the codes into your style.css
4. Lastly, update your functions.php with the codes given in step 3 to enable HTML5
What if your pages looks distorted?

It happened to me (using Streamline theme). Now, here’s a quick fix for it. Open your functions.php file and check if the </div> are closed properly.

Here’s an example of broken homepage layout of mine:

genesis_widget_area( ‘newsletter’, array(
‘before’ => ‘<div class=”newsletter widget-area”>’,
) );

This happens because there is no </div> closing which caused the ‘error’. And the fix (bold) is as below:

genesis_widget_area( ‘newsletter’, array(
‘before’ => ‘<div class=”newsletter widget-area”>’,
‘after’ => ‘</div>’,
) );

The reason for this is when using HTML5, we (StudioPress) cannot default to </div> for the closing tag since it could be opened with <article> instead – Credit to Nick_TheGeek for explaining this to me.

Did I miss out anything?

Tell me … have you converted to Genesis 2.0 and enabled HTML5 on your website? If yes, how was the process like? Tell me using the comment form below.

Hold on!

Not yet a Genesis user? WHY?!

With all the features and advantages of Genesis framework, I see NO REASON why you shouldn’t give it a try. See what Genesis framework can offer first hand and this is how you can save over $850 on WordPress themes.

If you like this article, could you please share it for me using the red button below?
January 5, 2024