You are about to read my honest review of Thesis Theme framework. This is something I always wanted to do, and I really blame myself having not reviewed Thesis before now since I have been using it heavily on my blog. I also depend on it to run several other projects, especially here at FamousBloggers.net and my other design project that relies on Thesis Themes 100%
So, prepare yourself, this won’t be a short review. I have tons of things to talk about as I will take it from my personal prospective and two years of experience with Thesis, mostly as a developer. I don’t have any intention to offend or annoy anyone, and I apologize if I do by accident!
I will tell you why I give it this sort of low rating, which could be shocking for all Thesis fans!
I am reviewing Thesis Theme as I see it today, time plays a big role here and reviews have to reflect the recent condition. I could give it a higher rating if I reviewed it two years ago, but today I am not so sure about that! However, my point of view may change any time, and you should see an update in the future.
Anyway, I worked hard enough with this theme to form an honest opinion, especially that there are a lot of crappy reviews on the web that have been published just to sell you Thesis and make commissions without even taking it for a test drive.
Before you continue reading, I will show you how much money I’ve earned in only one year of working and developing my Skins for Thesis Themes. As proof that I really don’t hate Thesis, I launched the ThesisAwesome.com site. I just feel uncomfortable with the way people think of it, so I want to make it clear to help you with your decision!
Report generated by aMember membership software
As you can see in the image above, I’ve managed to make sales of $30,000 last year from developing and selling Thesis Skins at ThesisAwesome.com. That is almost 50% of my online business income, and it’s clear that I wouldn’t be profiting if Thesis Theme didn’t exist!
However, this doesn’t mean I should rate it 5 out 5 just because I am making good money out of it. There are a few things that I don’t like about Thesis, and I will mention them in my review below!
So, read on…
Thesis Theme is my own Teacher!
I’ve learned tons of useful tricks being a Thesis Theme user, it helped me to enter the WordPress development world in a sweet way. Probably no other WordPress theme or framework would teach me all that and help me establish a design business, but there is always an issue. I didn’t buy this theme to learn how to design cool things, I also never thought that I would be so involved in it working day and night to get the look and feel I wanted for my blog.
I didn’t want a white page! I wanted something that really works out of the box!
To be honest, Thesis Theme actually works out of the box, exactly the way it was explained, and that’s why I ran and quickly bought it, I was convinced!
But…
- No one told me that I need to hire a designer!
- No one told me that I need to get a developer
- No one told me that I will have to spend nights and days working my butt off to get a unique design!
I didn’t buy Thesis Theme to learn cool stuff and be a professional web designer, or an avid developer!
So, if you need to learn, and you have time, then Buy Thesis Theme, it will simply teach you!
There is a always a catch, and a lot more to do. Thesis Theme’s trick was actually in its marketing message! And, that’s another reason for me to rate it lower!
Why Thesis Theme is not getting any updates!
This is one of the most annoying things for anyone who becomes part of a membership site. They promise you will get updates, but no time line. That’s fine and accepted, but one year with no critical upgrades, that’s not good at all! I mean the world is changing!
People keep asking Chris Pearson every day when he will release Thesis 2.0, and Chris keeps telling them “Thesis 2.0 is coming soon”, 2011 ended, but 2.0 has not been released.
I thought maybe he doesn’t want to release 2.0 for the public, and prefers to keep it for his Best Damn Blog on the Planet.
At the beginning I thought those people are just silly, why do they need an update? What’s the point of getting a new update for Thesis? Are they having a problem or they are just asking because they paid for future upgrades?!
I really didn’t understand their point the whole time! I also didn’t understand Chris‘s strategy!
I learned a lot of things while giving support to my ThesisAwesome.com members. I realized some interesting stuff that are maybe facts, or maybe I am just imagining these are facts!
People all the time ask me for updates…..do you know why? Simply because they want “new features”!
They think if they pay $100 for a design, they will keep getting new awesome features forever, and to the end of days! I must say this is impossible, I can’t give you new feature updates for ever. I prefer to focus more on enhancing what I have and make it work better. I add new features only when there is a big demand. Then I make time and work on it, but if I see it’s unnecessary, why should I bother?!
You know what?
I just think that… Chris sees Thesis Theme as a perfect creation, why should someone come up with a new update for something is already perfect?! You won’t get another update any time soon!
But then, I think again, and again, and I remember the Headway 3.0 launch that was considered a big fail for Headway Themes by many of their members. Everybody says it was released earlier than it should be. I really don’t want to see this happen to Thesis, and I hope that Chris knows what he is doing, or it will be a big problem for everyone who depends on Thesis!
Anyway, what do you expect from the Thesis Theme next update?
SEO features, should I use a plugin?
That’s how Thesis could be sold to over 40,000 people. Thesis Theme has solid SEO features, so you don’t need to use any SEO plugin if you are running Thesis Theme on your blog. However, you may want to empower your blog SEO with some plugin So let me tell you this… You simply don’t have the choice!
I’ve tried WordPress SEO by Yoast, and it’s a really awesome plugin, and I see good potential in using it, especially if this gives you more control over SEO. However, it didn’t work well for me as I am using Thesis. SEO features conflict and duplicate in some areas, and I was about to mess things up by editing some part of the framework or disable its SEO functionality so I can use the plugin instead, but I changed my mind, I really don’t need more headaches.
I still see some people using the SEO plugin with Thesis, this is just not right!
Joost says that SEO has to be controlled by a plugin, not a theme. or at least give users the option to enable/disable SEO options. Themes has to focus more on design and layout, I personally agree 100% with him.
Who won’t agree on that anyway?
Yes…
P.S. that’s an old tweet, but nothing has been changed since that time. Chris won’t lose the marketing key and refused to respond while other frameworks like Genesis and Headway have responded nicely to Joost and to their members who simply asked to have the choice to decide which SEO feature to use.
That being said, it has just added another reason for me to rate Thesis Theme lower!
Another Story About Respect!
Ok, while it’s hot and I got your full attention, let me tell you what happened with me when I first launched ThesisAwesome.com
Actually this happened before I launched the site. I tried to get in touch with Chris, the person who I thought I will be working with and needed his advice, as my idea was actually to develop for Thesis, and only Thesis! So, I asked him to DM his email so I can email him privately because I had a very important question for him. I really really needed some business advice atthat time, and simply he was the only person I thought could help me out!
I got a reply from him on Twitter, he told me to send my email via the DiyThemes support email.
And, guess what?
One year passed and I never got an answer to my question! I never heard from him!
No matter what I say, it won’t express my feelings at that time. I was really upset, I mean how can someone contact you and ask for business advice, and you don’t reply to him? I am a Thesis Theme user, and I am part of your affiliate program, my idea should drive more sales. Any professional would reply to such an email!
There was no respect! And I won’t forget that!
Add everything to function.php file, what’s the problem?
You see, I put a lot of effort into this blog, I spent hours and hours coding for FamousBloggers.net. After two years of coding I ended up with a freaking scary and stupid file. I realized that not everything should be included in the theme’s function.php file, it’s not really the best practice. I have a lot of functions in that file and it became confusing. I didn’t know where to start, and where to go anymore, totally lost!
The best way to do this is to create your own functionality plugin.
I got this idea from Ryan Imel of WPCandy.com, and it makes a lot of sense. However, I haven’t had a chance to create my own functionality plugin yet, but at least I started with extracting my function.php file into a few small size file, and restructuring the Thesis Theme /custom/ folder to contain more files and folders that are simple to read, follow and understand.
Child Theme or Skin?
Call it whatever, but Thesis Skins are not Child Themes!
A WordPress child theme is a theme that inherits the functionality of another theme, called the parent theme, and allows you to modify, or add to, the functionality of that parent theme.
I will stick with that because I trust what WordPress.org says!
Thesis Skins is far more than that, so I will stop calling it Child Themes.
Thesis Header Image
In my opinion, this is the worst Thesis option ever since 1.8, why? It says in the option page:
Based on your current layout settings, the optimal header image width is 949 pixels. If your image is wider than this, don’t worry—Thesis will automatically resize it for you!
It’s just silly to resize the header image and fix its width to 949px, and even worse, cropping a header image? Wow! This is amazing! But, what’s the point here?
P.S. don’t worry, I am the last person to worry about this feature because I will never have to use it!
The problem is this particular option gave me a lot of headaches. It forced me to code a new option to solve it for my best selling skin, the BlogSkin, simply because the page width I’ve chosen for the skin is 980px, which this amazing header option thing doesn’t support!
Theme Support
I really don’t have anything against the theme support, all people who are working at DiyThemes.com are cool and they respond quickly, and I appreciate all they do to solve problems and help members. I always appreciate support because it’s really a hard job, I am sure you will know what I mean if you have ever been supporting members in forums.
Let’s say they are doing their “job” perfectly!
DiyThemes Blog
If you are a Thesis member, then I am sure you’ve read some posts on their blog.
Maybe I am the only one, but I am sick of the same boring and repeated stuff that is published on the blog, too much triggers!
I don’t recognize DiyThemes blog anymore, I don’t know whether it’s a design blog or just another blog of Derek Halpern.
Don’t get me wrong, I like strong opinions, and I like Derek‘s work and appreciate the good advice, but the blog needs to have more fresh design related articles and tutorials written by professionals, not only marketing and converting tips. Here is a couple of suggestions:
- Having another player will spice up the blog and make it more exciting!
- Inviting more guests to write for the blog, add new blood!
I am sorry to say that, but this is by far the worst blog ever, I lost interest!
Seriously, Who Makes Thesis Theme Awesome
I think web designers and developers who work in Thesis Theme development are the ones who actually make it awesome, Thesis has never been awesome without their contributions.
You can see a post from the past where I got a few quotes from top niche web designers who develop for Thesis.
Final Thoughts about Thesis Theme
While Thesis Theme is very reliable, at least for me and my business, I make money by solving problems “Thesis problems”, and by developing skins that add additional functionality to Thesis, which makes it awesome, if Thesis was perfect, I wouldn’t be making $30,000 in only one year! Period!
My Thesis Skins are selling because I solve people’s problems.
Marketing Thesis Theme as the best SEO framework is an old idea, it’s not valid anymore, and it shouldn’t be your focus when buying a theme for WordPress.
I really want to see a huge change in 2.0, however I am not sure if there will be a 2.0! I don’t want to jump off the train unless I really have to!
I don’t hate Thesis!
I’ve said what’s on my mind, and what I kept in my heart for a long time! And, as you can see, this review is quite different than any other review that has been published about Thesis Theme. I haven’t paid too much attention to the functionality or features, simply because Thesis Theme doesn’t offer something different than other frameworks in the market, so I won’t be talking about the same thing over and over. And, as I mentioned before, I will be updating this review if I see it’s necessary.
I hope this helps you to make a better decision for your business.
Now it’s back to you, I will be glad to discuss this with you even more in the comments section, really!
- $87
Article by Hesham Zebida
I create websites, and I develop Thesis Skins. I am a social network lover. I am also the night creature who works hard to keep this project up. Owner and founder of FamousBloggers.net.
13
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: namaserajesh
February 11, 2012 at 5:58 am
Yeah, I agree with Thesis deserves only 3 stars, as it is losing it’s market value nowadays. I prefer Genesis over Thesis theme. Thanks for this review.
Twitter: jvprime
February 9, 2012 at 5:16 am
My friends (included me) used Thesis and Genesis frameworks for long time.Some of theme switch back to Thesis recently.I am waiting for Version 2 before decide to switch back
Hung Hong recently posted..What Is Affiliate Network And Why We Choose Them
I have been much of a Thesis user long time back. I had a tech blog and it served the purpose initially. Then as the days changed to month and then to year the competition became tough. The SEO factor was all running into the game. Now with thesis it was not possible to patch in some tweaks which became a necessity. After much interaction with other members I found out that the theme had this disadvantage.
I loved it and it was definitely the best for starters but in order to make out in the long run SEO is the most necessary element which is very limited or I would rather say “static” with thesis theme.
Loved your honest review about it. Those were my views as well and many others who knows how things work around.
Time to move on for everybody ….
Twitter: davidcarralon
February 6, 2012 at 5:37 am
hey Hesham, thanks for the honest and transparent Thesis review. I do agree with 90% of the points you make, particularly the ones to do with lack of response and lack of frequent updates or upgrades on the thesis theme, also with the point that Thesis is nowhere near as straightforward as they sell it. However, like most, I still think it is a great framework. For that reason I have just bought your latest skin as I know it’ll save me loads of time in design integration work.
On another hand, I have to say that I do not share your opinion that Chris should step down and let Joost’s plugin take over funcionality from the Thesis framework, or agree with anyone that suggests that he should do that. At the end of the day, this is just a matter of opinions and those who are not happy with the way Thesis does things, they can always go with Genesis or other theme vendor.
Keep up the good work
David Carralon recently posted..Improve conversion rate with the cre methodology
Personally I think Thesis deserves 6 stars! I hear what you are saying with your gripes, but c’mon, we all know Thesis is the best theme ever made. I’m gonna checkout your skins though because it’s time to give my blog a fresh look.
Twitter: saraharrow
February 4, 2012 at 3:58 pm
I love Thesis, there are not enough hours in the day to spend on playing with it those hence my addiction to your skins. I recently switched back from Genesis to Thesis as I found some of the child theme too buggy. Am sure a developer would get on fine with them, but I am not a developer. Thesis is really easy once you get used and the support is superior.
About ten minutes ago I followed one of the DIY Theme tutorials, added their code to the custom.php and I am currently waiting to have the site restored by my host. 2 days ago I lost it as there was a w3 cache plugin conflict. The conflict had been known to forum members since 2008/ 2009 so how come it hasn’t fixed in the updates?
I am sticking with Thesis for now, my year with Genesis was pleasant but it’s not the framework for me.
Twitter: psahalot
February 3, 2012 at 2:18 pm
I agree with your views for most of the things.
One thing where Chris lakes is what you said “Another Story About Respect!”
I don’t like to compare two personalities but I have always loved the way Brian Gardner replies back to all the questions. He is always humble in his replies. Really, love him for that.
functions.php : yes, it turns out to be a big mess when we need hell lot of customization.
The only reason why I am using Thesis is it’s Design Options and SEO. Thesis design options save me a lot of time from writing CSS. It’s also easier to change font styles and colors if client wants to do that.
Puneet Sahalot recently posted..Get upto 5 GB dropbox free space with dropbox android app
Twitter: BabyBoyKharim
February 2, 2012 at 8:57 am
Wow… Long and lengthy but great review. Keep up the good work Hesham, I love thesis
Kharim Tomlinson recently posted..How To Get Targeted Traffic To Your Blog And Why Is Targeted Traffic Important
Twitter: E_wali
February 2, 2012 at 5:15 am
BINGO!!!! Hesham… I agree with you on each and single word specifically on TRIGGERS part.
You know what I mean. Literally, I was about to opt out from thesis newsletters few days back. How would you relate it to thesis theme the TRIGGERS!!!?
You have also missed another point that I think is very important. Thesis theme is not at all a good theme for newbie, startups or people with no coding knowledge. There are other premium and free themes that are a lot better in design and functionality. Thesis is a nightmare for me (in start). After paying for developer version I was kept looking for designers and developers for 1 year who can develope me custom thesis skin for less than $500 to make my blog attractive. Thank to your Thesis Awesome I am using Silver and Blog skin and now four blogger smart skin. How can you spend Thesis Theme + developer cost $2000 (some quoted even $5000 to $7500) when you are just starting your internet career????
If you are looking for custom design, then you have to open up your pockets. However, I cannot ignore the fact that I love Thesis Theme with all those headaches and everything.
Also one more thing, Derek Halpern has a huge list of subscribers and people like his work. Some of them may not agree that what we think. I always read Derek’s blog posts as they are very engaging.
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Good review, Hesham. I recently wrote a blog on whether Thesis 2.0 upgrade (1st mentioned over 2 years ago) was a marketing con or a great step forward. I still use Thesis, although the latest version of Genesis is calling loudly.
As with you I have put a lot of grunt into making my site look as I would like, and am not particularly keen to start that process again. But Thesis is now old. It does not have child themes. Genesis offers more for the price particularly for site developers.
And Thesis displays zero appreciation of its customers.
As for Derek Halpern. He has a fixed market of all previous Thesis customers (unless they make his blog emails go straight to trash. He is out of touch with the small blogger. And repeats old blogs as though they are new.
The latest latest from Thesis is that a beta version of 2.0 will be out in February.
Who knows.
But if not I at least will buy Genesis.
peter recently posted..Syria, Arab Spring, Israel and the Man Booker Prize
Twitter: ditesco
February 1, 2012 at 4:05 pm
What can I say buddy. I did buy Thesis because you helped me with the design which later serve as one of the “skins” when you launched ThesisAwesome. Wow, it has been a while and I have to admit that without the “skin” you designed, I would probably have opted for a different theme. Fast forward nearly a bit more than a year, like you said, I did learn how to do some few things here and there, but mostly, with again your help and some plugins. Thesis is in need of an “update” that’s for sure, and I do hope that with this honest review, that Chris would take the hint. We’ll see
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Thanks for the impressive review! I’m kind of newbie when it comes to blogging, i.e. making blogs, and so far been using Blogger. I do realize that in the long run Wordpress is the way to go, and I am currently doing research (a.k.a. procrastinating) on what theme to acquire. I liked your review a lot. Very different from many others that just lists the available themes (of which they probably used only a couple) and go on saying “Thesis is good and rich with plugins”; “Genesis is good and rich with plugins too”; “And then there’s Catalyst and a whole bunch of others that are also good… and rich with plugins.” Wow, that was useful! Anyway, good work.
Twitter: BrankicaU
February 1, 2012 at 1:09 am
Well, friend, I salute you. You probably know more about my problems with Thesis than anyone else. I won’t get into details but I will say that although there were times when the only thing that could have been wrong was the theme, I was always told it isn’t. Spent numerous hours fixing the mess of the theme instead of working more on my sites. Bottom line, since I switched to Genesis, I have not had any problems. I also feel better in their forum
I am on the same page about the blog, I stopped reading it awhile ago. It would be way better if it was a tutorial blog instead of the same info I keep reading in some other places.
I still recommend Thesis as a solution to people, but when we make comparison with Genesis, they all go with Genesis.
If there wasn’t for your skins, I would not look back at Thesis twice.
Awesome write up, Hesham, and 3 stars is the best I would give them as well.
I cannot lie Hesham, I have looked at Thesis, but I do not use it. There are WAY TOO MANY cool themes out there that totally kick butt.
I could never be tied to one.
But I will say this for thesis. If you’re not into coding, it does have a cool interface for modding your blog which most don’t.
One huge drawback: Theme files are not accessible unless you dig into your server.
I modded one once and digging out the right file to mod was a “less than impressive” experience.
Mark
Mark recently posted..Sticky: SEO Is Easy, Right? Well, Actually…
Twitter: wpdressing
January 31, 2012 at 4:14 pm
It’s definately the most honest review or at least one of the most honest reviews I’ve came across. The net is full of fake reviews on Thesis and many other themes that only discuss the bright side and roll out lenthy lists of features.
Popular framework developers claim they already have products on the market to satisfy all the individual needs. Fair’s fair, your success is based on the same fundamentals as in any other WordPress project you’ve already started or going to start. There is no such tool that could substitute creativity, experience in web developing and proficiency in WordPress.
PauliusR recently posted..Download Free WordPress Themes: 20+ Quality Sources to Remember
Twitter: abichedid
January 31, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Excellent and Honest review Hesham. (I shared it on twitter)
I agree with most of your conclusions about Thesis Theme.
Sometimes, you have to discover things by actually trying them and bypassing all the
‘wonderful’ marketing gimmicks.
No/Very minimal Customer support and Updates is a big minus.
Boutros recently posted..How To Display Most Commented Posts in WordPress Without a Plugin
Twitter: drlawrencekindo
January 31, 2012 at 10:41 am
Absolutely on spot review with most of the heartaches felt by most Thesis users. I am no designer and I feel the same way about Thesis igniting the learning spirit. I use Thesis and Thesis Awesome Combo for my blogs as I feel they complement each other.
Somehow, @pearsonified and @iamthesis are no saints and lack the scruples to accept that Thesis 2.0 is “vaporware”. When 2.0 didn’t materialize, they came up with a 1.8.3 idea with no solid, veritable timeline despite promises.
Come on guys, Thesis needs a serious overhaul, or is the raked-in dough lasting for eternity.
Anyways, 3/5 seems the best I could give as well. Not that I hate Thesis either.
Twitter: faissalhaithami
January 31, 2012 at 6:08 am
Hesham you are the man
I have never see thesis as something that I want to buy until I saw your “awesome skins” without your skins I would never bother to buy thesis. Simply you made it awesome
and I will never forget the deal we made hehehe
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Twitter: abhibalani
January 31, 2012 at 5:01 am
I really appreciate your honesty for writing this review. There are lot of product reviews over the net. But it looks like promotional post not a review post.
Review is with pro and cons> It’s doesn’t mean to just write about all the good things.
Great and REAL review.
Abhi Balani recently posted..Good Blogger And A Good Blog: What Are The Signs?
Great review, I’ve been using Thesis for quite awhile. I like it, but yeah I wonder when the hell this uber-cool 2.0 version is coming out, or if it ever will. I ignore its SEO functions, because I agree with Joost de Valk, and use his SEO plugin (along with Easy WP SEO). Not sure why you say using the Yoast plugin with Thesis is so wrong, it’s doing what I need it to do.
I don’t know about Thesis anymore. I am am sick of waiting for that improved Version 2.0 update. Thesis is nice, but just damn hard to use. Contrary to the sales crap that no coding is required, Thesis needs lots of coding to make it look unlike everyone else’s site. I now prefer to go with straight Wordpress and child themes. At least I can keep track of what I am doing.
You are right about that Derek Halpern thing. All they talk about is Triggers for blogging, rather than developing a Thesis based website…Who cares about the triggers. Give me the Thesis development knowledge.
Mostly, I don’t like Pearson’s attitude, especially after that stupid episode he had with Matt Mullenweg about GPL (Thesis would be nothing without the existence of Wordpress). That was just egotistic…and it shows when he refuses to listen to customers asking him to provide a timeline for the introduction for a long overdue Thesis overhaul. And so on. Pearson has his Header so far up his Big Ass Save Button that he can’t see his Footer anymore.
Twitter: BlogDesignTeam
January 31, 2012 at 12:23 am
Really great review!
I guess it wasn’t just the product feedback that made this post spot on, it was the fact that you had a high level of engagement when it comes to Thesis. Always knew there was something in you about web designing when I first saw this blog (I think at that time you just moved from US to Egypt?? correct me if I’m wrong).
I have a small understanding of Chris’ logic when it comes to having the theme and the SEO all in one. But Jonathan (yoost) has a point too. Something has to be done about themes not being enough to cover the vast seo-tools needed for a site.
I agree with your rating. Definitely doesn’t deserve anywhere near a 5-star at this point. Though like you, I still remain a thesis fan and user
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Twitter: danlew
January 30, 2012 at 11:40 pm
Awesome review, I started using thesis awesome a while back and the functionality is very good, the sites user structure and light weight aspects makes it quick loading and pretty. I had many customers ask me what theme I had used.
Dan
Twitter: androidcruze
January 30, 2012 at 10:56 pm
Really a lot bigger review.But truly very usefull one.Really good theme but they are increasing the price slowly.I dont think would spend 87$ on a theme.There are a lot of themes with good seo options out there which we get below 40$.
Twitter: Blognetworking
January 30, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Hey Hesham,
This is the best Review I have read so far – about any product
I enjoyed reading your post (Well, I didn’t enjoy the fact that you had faced many problems). But, I liked your post because you incorporated your actual experience to the post
I had the chance to test out Thesis for a few days and then I changed to Headway since I did have some problems with Thesis.
Anyways, thanks for the awesome review Hesham
Jeevan Jacob John
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