As of version 1.3, Thesis is capable of producing nearly every useful, basic HTML markup structure. This has massive implications, simply because it is now possible to recreate almost any design by using a deft combination of custom styles (custom.css), images, and functions (custom_functions.php). Just last week, I demonstrated this amazing flexibility by adapting the award-winning Copyblogger design to the Thesis framework.
That’s compelling stuff, but how does it relate to Cosmo? Well, for starters, I’m sure that many of you (perhaps all of you!) assumed that Cosmo was going to be a completely different theme from Thesis—a magazine-style theme, if you will. Originally, I shared this same assumption, but in the last few weeks, I’ve realized that Cosmo cannot justifiably be released as a separate theme.
On a functional level, Cosmo only does one thing differently than Thesis. It allows you to control the display of your home page rather than being tied to the reverse-chronological list of recent posts that typifies most blogs. Outside of this home page control, however, Cosmo’s functionality would literally be identical to that of Thesis.
When you think about Cosmo in this manner, you quickly realize that the only sensible solution here is to build home page control into Thesis. I’m not going to reinvent the wheel here; I’m just going to make the wheel better.
I know you’ve all been waiting patiently for Cosmo to be released, and on that note, you’ll be happy to know that the next major Thesis update is going to contain home page layout and display controls. Effectively, this is going to be the first release of Cosmo, but we’re not going to change Thesis’ name to reflect that fact.
All Thesis users are going to have access to this functionality at no additional cost, so if you were worried about having to pay more for “Cosmo,” worry no more.
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Awesome! I’m excited to see it, and that all Thesis users will have access to it! Thanks!
Thanks Chris. Sounds awesome. I love digging through the Thesis code to see what you’re up to.
Fantastic! Thank you Chris for all your work.
Well, this is definitely going to be new news (sorry for the redundance) for a lot of people. Excellent to have a true update on Cosmo to refer to.
Super news Chris. Looking forward to it.
Well I’m totally stoked with the latest release of Thesis and so glad I hitched my web aspirations to your talented little wagon; plus the support on the forum is superb.
Thanks for all the hard work!
Better that great news. I’ve been messing around with custom functions a lot lately to get my front page the way I want. Hopefully with the next release of thesis it won’t be such a pain
Chris, very efficient! I actually like this solution better than having a separate theme. Looking forward to 1.4! Keep up the great work!
This is a good development, because it will save the time otherwise spent in learning the new theme.
I had wondered if the increase in design features under Thesis was leading toward a merger of Thesis and Cosmo.
Chris,
Thanks for the update. Question. I never upgraded from 1.1 since I thought Cosmo was going to be a separate theme. Will I have to go through the progression of 1.2 and 1.3 to catch up to the latest release?
You should consider releasing a screenshot “teaser” of the upcoming changes for us casual observers.
Robert — You can jump straight into 1.3, but just make sure that you do a completely clean install (don’t attempt to overwrite your old
/thesisfolder).Sounds very good, but… When I bought into Thesis during the “special offer” period, I thought I’d be getting another theme to use as part of the deal. If Cosmo is effectively the next release of Thesis, then your personal license means I can only use it on one site, whereas under the original offer, I could have had Thesis on one and Cosmo on another – which is what I was planning to do.
Your “special offer” doesn’t look so special, in that light. Perhaps you could consider revising the personal license for people who bought during your offer period?
On the other hand, I remain very happy with Thesis and its continuing progress – and the excellent support community around it. Congrats…
Thanks for the update, Chris. I suspected that the developments in Thesis (best WP theme ever!!) were leading toward a merger with Cosmo. Looking forward to it. Thanks for all hard work.
Marvelous Chris. Can’t wait.
Stupid question: How do I add my own photos to the upper right-hnd corner of Thesis?
This is such exciting news! I was slow to adopt Thesis because I could only justify buying one “premium” theme — but couldn’t decide whether to go for Thesis or for a “magazine style” format — which one would be most useful for the greatest number of blogs, down the road. After the first 10 minutes with Thesis, I knew I’d made the right choice. Now, by adding the option to make a magazine style front page to Thesis, you’re certainly raising the bar even higher for other theme developers. Looking forward to the Cosmo integration!
As Gareth stated above, it would be fair that anyone who purchased Thesis in the ’special offer’ period would have the ability to use it on another site.
Gotta agree with Gareth and Aleksander. I love Thesis, but I only bought because of the special offer, thinking I’d be able to revamp both of my blogs – the second one when Cosmo came out. I wouldn’t have spent money otherwise.
I have loved all the changes that I have seen in Thesis thus far. I can’t wait for the next release.
Chris, you are freak bro! I’m well pleased with my investment. One of the best blogging decisions I ever made. here’s to the the freak of nature known as Chris! Cheers!
I really appreciate the positive reactions as well as the patience and understanding that you guys have shown. Just to tie up loose ends, I wanted to go ahead and say that for those of you who purchased Thesis during the Cosmo promotion, feel free to go ahead and outfit your second site how you see fit. I don’t want to leave folks feeling like they got a raw deal in any way, especially since the ultimate goal here is simply to deliver the best product possible!
Chris, you rock. Thanks.
Will future purchasers of Thesis theme get Cosmo package included, as well?
Whoo Hoo!!
Mark — Yes, absolutely!
That is perfect NEWS! This means we can easily take advantage of all the options in 1 place!
One theme to learn
One way to customize
Any style site!!!!
NICE!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Chris. Good solution. Looking forward to seeing the new tools – and the design overlays sound very interesting…
Cheers
Ok, I’m not a big tech geek but i know what I like and this looks both simple and very nice – and I’m starting to comprehend the intelligence re: the underlying framework.
But… I’m still a little clueless here.
If I buy this, I’d probably want to use it on multiple sites. And, if I use it on multiple sites, I’d want to spice (at least the original) one up with maybe a different theme and header graphics.
I saw where you said the html was such that any theme could be used with it and I’m wondering where, on your site, can I read more about harnessing this baby’s full power?
Thanks!
Sam Freedom
Thanks Chris. Keep up the good job.
Big thumbs up from me. I would MUCH rather one more versitle theme framework for our blog vs two with a scattering of features.
Just pimp out Thesis as much as possible and ill be happy!
Sam — To clarify, Thesis does not run other existing WordPress themes. What I’m saying is that if you were so inclined, you could recreate the design of almost any existing WordPress theme on the Thesis framework.
That was really just a fancy way for me to illustrate how flexible Thesis is, so I apologize for any confusion that may have caused.
Chris,
Will I be able to create a “magazine/newspaper type theme” with the 1.4 version? I am from the Cosmo camp in that I specifically got in on the promo to add Cosmo so being able to have a magazine theme is important. Will that be possible in a “Revolution” type format?
Robert — Yes.
Thanks for the quick reply Chris. Let me be what looks like the first to ask, is there an ETA on 1.4?
Robert — Officially, there is no ETA on 1.4, but if the past is any indicator, there’s a significant chance it’ll happen within the next 3–5 weeks. Here is the data on the last four major Thesis updates:
Ultimately, I’m aiming for a release date in the last half of November, which would fall at right about the four week mark.
Thanks Chris
Gave you some linky love here, Chris.
Robert, if it’s any consolation, every morning I either call or IM Chris and say “I want Cosmo!”
Not sure if it helps or hurts, but at least you know I’m on it.
I bought Thesis after the special offer for use on my Concierge organization’s website. Does this mean that the next update to Thesis will be basically be Cosmos or will we have to purchase it?
Also, I am not clear, if the new update can be used on more than one site.
Hi Clara. Chris answered both of those above in the comments, but you may not have seen that. Here are the answers:
Cosmo will be included in Thesis 1.4 (the next update).
You don’t have to purchase anything additional.
A personal Thesis membership will allow you to use the regular Thesis format on one site, and the Cosmo magazine style on a second site.
Chris – thanks for clarifying re: themes and thesis…
Now, for my next discombobulation – let me see if I understand this:
Cosmo is the underlying framework and thesis is the theme?
Did I get that right? I know you write to people who are mostly already understanding of these things but I’d love a small section called “breakin it all down” where there’s like 1 paragraph that explains each component of all that this involves.
I have to do similarly for newbies in internet marketing because I have to assume they aren’t anywhere near my understanding of it.
If not, that’s ok, but that’s my wish.. .thanks..
Sam
Thanks for the news,
as you are a great at letting the “framework do the job”, are you planning to include functions like automatic image extraction for “featured post” – or do you think that custom keys are the way to go?
Just a sneak peak
Sam — That’s incorrect, simply because you’re still thinking of Cosmo as a “thing,” and in reality, Cosmo does not exist as a separate “thing.”
As I explain in this post, “Cosmo” is nothing more than a code name given to the home page layout and design controls. Originally, it was thought that Cosmo would be a separate theme, and that’s why we gave it a name. However, as development on Thesis has progressed, it’s become clear that there is no need for a separate theme.
Thesis will perform all of the functions that Cosmo would have performed (and then some). For your clarification, Thesis is the underlying framework and the only theme I’m addressing here—it’s going to do everything described in the post and subsequent comments.
derFrankie — In all likelihood, Thesis will offer both automatic image extraction and custom field usage to designate a thumbnail for a particular post. The automatic function will likely behave in a manner similar to the multimedia box, and you’ll be able to turn it off via the Thesis Options panel.
Chris P: I’ve been on the road and haven’t had time to play with the new toys yet, but I just wanted to pop my head in here to say I’m so proud for you. I’m glad to have been on the Thesis project from nearly the beginning. Fun watching it grow.
Give it to us already… I’m updating to 1.3 right now because the last time I updated my site you came out with another update two days later… So here goes the smoking the cigarette only to have to put it out because my entree arrived.
Well, I’m totally excited. I had to buy the developer’s license because after trying Thesis, the other themes were very unintuitive and I just kept thinking of how I could do it better with Thesis. I own all the Revolution themes, but hate to work with them – they just don’t want to be flexible in the way Thesis is.
I am thrilled to know that with my developer’s license I’ll be able to use a magazine-style layout on all of my blogs if I so choose. This is a fantastic solution and I couldn’t be happier. Thank you so much for the awesome product.
Chris, like cutline, have you added the xhtml sitemap, here too ? or, planning to do so?
Thanks for the update Chris. I’ve been dying to get my hands on Cosmo as my venture is an online magazine. I’m even more excited to hear that while it will actually become part of Thesis I will be able to use it on a second site since it was purchased as part of the promotion.
Keep up the great work. Cosmo can’t get here soon enough!
Rick
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