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WordPress

eberhapa
eberhapa
51,495 Points

Don't understand the benefits of Genesis Framework - Possibility of multiple columns?

Hi Jesse, Hi Community,

I'm watching the genesis framework courses because i'm searching for a nice enhancement of plain wordpress. When i code different templates, do i have the possibility to fill them up in the page section in the backend? Normally wordpress just has one column to fill. Is it possible to make two or three like in typo3 for example? The wordpress unyson framework also has the possibility of more columns in the backend.

And what are other benefits of the framework?

best, patrick

2 Answers

Jeff Kinley
Jeff Kinley
21,207 Points

Hi Patrick, there are a number answers to this question, but I'll chime in quickly. I think the main draw to frameworks like these is that they are well-documented and therefore fairly easy for a newcomer to make drastic changes to a theme without knowing how to create a theme from scratch. And child themes allow you to make edits without messing up the parent theme. As far as columns are concerned: Columns are just a matter of editing your WordPress page templates with HTML, CSS, and PHP. So any theme can be edited to change columns.

My advice is that you continue to use Treehouse to learn as much about WordPress that you can. I got my start with frameworks and it helped me understand the structure of WordPress. But For me, learning it from different approaches and teachers are what really helped me piece it together.

Here are some other opinions:

http://www.wpbeginner.com/blueprint/genesis-framework/ https://www.nutsandboltsmedia.com/why-you-should-be-using-the-genesis-framework/

eberhapa
eberhapa
51,495 Points

Thanks for you fast answer,

I think you misunderstood :) I want to know if genesis has the possibility to fill multiple columns with content throughout the backend (on one page in the wordpress-backend). Here's an example from the typo3 cms: https://blog.snowflake.ch/2014/02/03/mutlicolumn-got-superseded-by-gridelements/

Ok, so if i'm "good" enough to create custom templates without using a framework, gensis doesn't have many benefits for me?

Jeff Kinley
Jeff Kinley
21,207 Points

What I think you are asking is if you could have multi-column layouts. If so, the answer is yes. You can do this with or without Genesis. There may be existing Genesis child themes that have a 3-columnn layout right out of the box. Or you could edit WordPress page templates in virtually any theme and create 3-column layouts.

I can't make the call whether Genesis is right for you or not. Many developers use starter themes and frameworks as a starting point to speed up development. I think there are probably benefits to using Genesis, or you could use the Bootstrap and Foundation frameworks as starting points as well. I think it depends on what level you want to get started at. If you want, you can take the Treehouse courses that show you how to make your own theme from scratch. This gives you ultimate control, but also requires a bit more knowledge.