New WordPress Theme Release from StudioPress
Last week WordPress released Version 3.6. The best theme and plugin designers always update their products when a new version of WordPress comes out, and this time was no exception.
After a few days of testing, StudioPress rolled out an important update to their well respected Genesis Theme Framework.
Genesis 2.0 represents a major step forward for the framework, including HTML5 and schema.org. (If you don’t know what those mean, it’s ok. Basically it means that Genesis is completely up-to-date with the latest in web browsing technology and best practices.)
What are some of the key improvements?
Mobile Responsive
Mobile responsive websites are here to stay, and Genesis 2.0 is completely mobile responsive. So is every theme StudioPress will release, going forward.
Not sure what that means? I explain mobile responsive WordPress themes here.
HTML5 Markup
All new StudioPress themes will be ready for HTML5. For users, this means the themes will be:
- Compatible with all web browsers
- Mobile friendly
- Better at supporting audio and video
- More efficient in several ways that affect the user’s experience
Schema.org Microdata
This will improve search functions.
The major search engines — Google, Bing, Yahoo! and Yandex — all use schema.org. So do sites like Pinterest.
Bottom line is, it will help your site to show up more prominently in search.
Security
For the site owner, security’s a big issue. Genesis has hired one of WordPress’ top developers to review the framework’s security, and he describes Genesis as “top of its class.”
Faster Page Load Speeds
Google rankings include page load speed, and the improvements to Genesis will help with that.
Better Out-of-the-Box Design
You’ve always been able to use the Genesis Framework as a theme, but now it’s even more attractive. Out of the box it used to be really bare bones. Now, not so much!
