Are you in the blog design business? Do you want to learn how you can improve your business?
Look no further…
I’ll show you why I focus exclusively on the Thesis Theme Framework.
Theme Frameworks are a Designer’s Best Friend.
When my design business was new, I had more time than projects. Even with an abundance of free time, I was still looking for ways to streamline my processes and save time. Why? Because I could focus on finding new clients.
Now let’s say you already have a booming design business. You know that your income varies depending on the number of projects you complete. And if you take pride in your work, you would never rush a project just to make money, right?
Right! The question is, how can you speed up design and development, without sacrificing the quality of your work?
The answer is simple. Use a theme framework.
Why?
When you design on a theme framework, you can focus on your core product—the web design—and not code because theme frameworks are often beautifully executed WordPress themes with advanced SEO functionality, and a slew of other options.
Why I Use the Thesis Theme Framework Exclusively
It was 2009, and I happened upon the Thesis Theme Framework, and heaven opened up, the sun broke through the clouds, and angels began to sing.
Kidding 
.
The first thing I noticed was the price tag; and I realized that if I chose to use Thesis, I would be deciding to ONLY use Thesis. Plus, I wanted to invest my time exclusively into one theme framework so I could be proficient as possible and focus on what matters, design.
Then, I decided to test Thesis on my websites first, and within a week of using it, I fell in love and have never looked back. Getting used to designing on Thesis was easy, and I’ll explain why as you keep reading.
Why Should You Design Using the Thesis Framework?
When you love your clients, you want them to love you too, and Thesis helps with that. More specifically:
1) Thesis doesn’t break when your client updates WordPress.
Ever create a WordPress theme, and then a WordPress upgrade breaks your theme?
Of course. When you consistently improve software, sometimes it’s required to deprecate older, less-useful pieces of code. However, when you use Thesis, the Thesis Dev team ensures compatibility with WordPress, and upgrading your client’s website is a cinch.
Not only that, but you can often upgrade Thesis without losing your website’s look, as long as you don’t modify the core files. This has saved my clients—and by extension, me and other designers I know—a lot of frustration, wasted money, and heartache.
(Yes, heartache. Doesn’t your heart ache when something bad happens to your website? No? Well, this is a little awkward…)
Editor’s note: When WordPress releases a new version, Thesis isn’t automatically compatible. However, the Thesis Team rushes to ensure maximum compatibility and releases a fix. So, instead of updating each of your client sites individually, you only need to update their Thesis installation.
2) Thesis can be modified by any Thesis-capable designer.
Let’s say you’re swamped with projects and one of your existing clients needs some work. Chances are, you would either refer the work to another designer, or in some cases, let your client find a designer on their own.
When you use a Theme Framework like Thesis, there are tons of great designers that specialize in that framework. Also, there is extensive documentation and tutorials that empower your clients to make small changes—adding facebook like button, tweet buttons, etc—without needing your help.
In short, giving your clients peace of mind is priceless. So, whether you’re busy with other clients or on vacation, having that extra layer of support helps keep your clients happy.
3) Two words: DIYThemes Forums.
No matter how much code you know, there is always one stupid piece of code that doesn’t work. Since I purchased Thesis, I gained access to their priceless support forums, and I’ve never had that problem again. Let me explain.
Before I started using Thesis, I used a handful of free themes as my development base. Unfortunately, when I got stuck, it was difficult to find help. Sometimes I was left wondering why I didn’t just start from scratch with Notepad and a fresh pot of coffee.
However, with Thesis, you gain access to the DIYthemes forums which is a huge brain trust of people who can help. I have spent a great many late nights, coffee in hand and the other hand on my keyboard, perusing those forums, and I have never left without finding what I needed!
In other words, it’s easier to build a mansion with a twelve-foot pool when you have access to the secret underground batcave that contains answers to many common questions and problems.
In conclusion, I love Thesis.
As long as I’m in the design business, I’m using Thesis. It helps me build better websites, makes my clients feel secure in what I give them, and pushes me to be a better developer.
How about you? Do you develop using Thesis? What were your experiences?
If you enjoyed this article, join 25,715 others and get free email updates!
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
Reading this takes me back to 2006, when I was doing freelance design and rolling every single line of HTML by hand. At the time, “design” meant one of two things:
Five years later, it’s inspiring to see great designers like Rachael using Thesis to eliminate the HTML headache, because in most cases, it serves as nothing more than an impediment to the design process.
Kudos, Rachael, for being such a savvy Thesis designer and for showing others how to do what they do best!
Chris, I always loved your work in the free themes arena, so when you came out with Thesis I had a feeling it was going to work for me. Thanks for living up to, and exceeding, my expectations.
designing a framework helps you a lot and focussing on that framework is quite hard and many of them fail to get that level like thesis has. Thesis framework has changed a lot in wordpress theme and every second blogger starts with thesis.
The thing which i find using thesis is that it started with nothing, in beginning top notch bloggers used this theme and after it, it becomes so viral that every bloggers thought that he starts with thesis and i’m one of them. Using thesis from almost 2 years.
One of the best thing i like about thesis is that simply edit two files and you are done and your unique website is live. Of course support forum is great.
When wordpress 3.0 released thesis 1.7 is not compatible with newer version of wordpress and in no time thesis 1.8 arrived in market to fix that issue, what anyone can expect from any paid theme. It’s much more than
Thanks Chris for making such a nice framework
Vivek, I think you’re right in the observation that using Thesis is becoming the newbie’s standard. And with good reason!
Nice post.
Thesis’s flexibility is genius. You can be “production work” like we are or high end, and the same tool is useful in both applications.
I like Thesis BECAUSE of the community.
Ditto. I don’t think you’ll find another WordPress framework (or theme) with as much helpful documentation and conversation about it. Makes learning it and modifying it a snap.
I couldn’t agree more about the community.
And I hear you about the theme’s flexibility no matter what your purposes are in developing it. I think that’s the mark of a great product.
I use thesis for my site and am generally happy with it. Especially with the help I get in the forums. Thanks for your encouragement. Programming and code are not my friends! But as long as I’ve got support connections, I’m good to go.
I still stumble over PHP from time to time, so I hear what you’re saying!
Great stuff Rachael,
I’ve been using Thesis for a few years now, and that’s testimony to how well it works for just the DIYer needing a website up and running without learning a whole new language.
Thanks Adam! One of the things that helps me imagine what I can do with Thesis is looking at what smart DIYers have done with theirs. It’s inspiring.
Thanks, Rachael! I love this. I am a writer and marketing strategist, but by no means a web developer. When I lost the wonderful young man who worked with me recently, I was confronted with making significant changes to my website. Because it was based on the Thesis theme I was able to learn the basics, try things, and work out how to change it. Not done yet, but coming along well!
Your humor is refreshing!
Graeme – I’m sorry to hear you lost such a great support person, but I’m really glad that Thesis was able to hold up its end of the deal and get you through the changes you needed to make.
Good words, Rachel. This does take me back… I was never a code guy (self taught, no lessons), but I always loved to dabble. I got into thesis for the buzz, I stuck around at first because of the forum/support, and I’m still using it because of the beauty and extensibility of the code.
I remember my first use of custom_functions.php… holy sh!t that was magic!
Chase, I hear you about the custom functions file, haha! The first time I used it and it worked I was dancing around my office with excitement. Because I do that.
It’s refreshing to read all this from a designer’s (not developer’s) perspective. I remember when I bought THESIS in 2009 and I was sure that I could make it super awesome out of the box. I was a bit disappointed to learn that all the custom designs were done by designers and not by fiddling with the custom control panel.
However, I had quite a bit of free time during this period and I just started breaking stuff. I read every tutorial I could. I scoured the endless threads to learn about modifying the css and php files.
Then I started heading over to some other web development blogs and following code and Photoshop tutorials.
Eventually, it all just stuck and began to make sense. I’m thankful for frameworks because while I understand the html, etc., it’s not my strength. Sure, I can modify and customize to my liking, but my time is best spent designing and being creative with graphics and functionality.
Thusly, THESIS is perfect for me because I don’t have to worry about breaking a bunch of stuff (or having to clean anything up in case of a WP update) unnecessarily.
Nowadays, I can pretty much dissect most php functions or javascript pieces to my liking. and if I get super stuck, I cave in and go to the forums.
it also helps that I’m a nerd.
Nerds FTW!
I love that it’s hard to break Thesis unless you’re mucking about in the core code or leaving an extra character in your PHP code. (Not that I do that much.)
Hi Rachael
Thank you for sharing the information.
I started with with web design back in 2001, it was hard at the time due to limited CMS and dynamic websites. Now Thesis and WordPress combination made it so easy and possible for any one to jump start web business.
I now enjoying the new trend with Local Marketing and designing all my client web sites with Thesis.
I agree that Wordpress and Thesis make website creation so much less of a struggle. I’m glad you’re able to use them!
hi Rachael,
I enjoyed reading your piece. I am getting more and more requests to design sites and although I have only ever done my own (frontpage, yeah, I KNOW) I am eyeing wordpress and Thesis in particular…I have a question though…related to your site. Why do your links all stay on the same page and not open to a new window? why would you want people to be taken away from your page with just one click?…I see this alot, and can’t figure out why designers do this? thanks and keep up the great work!
Hi Nadine!
I think that the links behavior decision is unique to each designer. I tend to utilize browsers that I can set to automatically open links in new tabs, and I don’t like to force the user’s browser to open a new tab if that’s not their preference. However, I do like to set external links to open in a new tab / window when it’s also going to beneficial to them to have my site (whichever one it is) still open.
It’s more about knowing your audience and what they probably need, at least for me.
Hi Rachael,
Nice write up!
I’ve found my way to Thesis around one year back, and I am proud to say that I Love it! and I appreciate what Thesis Framework thought me and added to my 6 years of experience as a web designer!
Now, I am running a Thesis Skins site where I sell customized skins for Thesis!
It’s pretty cool to see how Thesis Framework opened another door full of opportunities!
Hesham, what a great business opportunity for you! That’s awesome.
Thesis is undoubtedly the best framework. The more I worked with it, the more I learned and support forum is always a great help.
I sometimes come up with ideas, which I think are weird, but I have answers to them in support forum.
Talking about the simplicity and ease of modifying Thesis, it’s quick and handy. It is easy for me to explain my clients how they can use their existing theme on new blogs. Just a matter of few clicks and you are done!
There was a time when I used to design HTML websites. After I started working with Thesis and WordPress, I have almost put an end to my HTML website business!
Thanks Chris and Kudos to the Support Team
Did I miss something ?? Yes I did, @Rachael: Your post was great with a good blend of humor
I can even ask my clients to read this, so that they move ahead with Thesis for their blogs and websites 
Thanks for the great post!
Thanks for the compliments on my humor, lol! I’m glad it’s a usable post for you to reference your clients too.
I run tdftips on Thesis. Everything else I do runs on Thesis. Always the starting point (I’m a business owner, not a dev). I always specify “must use thesis”.
I have a similar rule in my business, but if a client wants to use a different theme framework, I have no problem with that. It’s all about what best serves them, although 99% of the time, what best serves them is the Thesis theme.
The four empowering components of Thesis that I use to produce a theme to my liking with much ease are: Site Options, Design Options, Thesis Openhook, and Header Image.
I use Design Options, when I don’t want to tamper with the Custom File Editor. I use the latter when the former becomes insufficient for my requirements.
I used other theme builder before, but none can compare with Thesis in its ability to empower an html/css non-techie in tweaking his web/blogsite.
Hi Rachael -
Really enjoyed your story! Very similar to mine actually! I’m far from a Thesis pro yet, but I don’t think I’ll ever go back to anything else – ever.
CP is THE MAN!
Many cheers and all the best,
- Mack D.
Thanks Mack! Good luck in your Thesis journeys!
Thanks for such a wonderful article Rachael. The versatility of the Thesis Theme really sticks with me. I knew basics of HTML and had designed some static pages in the past but never a blog. So I realized the value of this framework and set about learning about WordPress as an “application” first.
Then after switching to Thesis and using a pre-built theme for a while I visited the DIY forums and my designing journey began. I subscribed to one of the designers, Rick Anderson, and now my ideas are beginning to take shape.
I have a long way to go before I could match anything like the Caffeinated Design Studio, which by the way gives me inspiration. I had never heard of PHP and CSS had only just started to be used more widely when I was learning HTML but as Chris Pearson says at the top, Thesis takes away much of the need to code right from the start. Copy and Paste is all you need to begin designing your dream website.
And of course I couldn’t get by without Firebug and Web Developer now I know about them
So true – Firebug is an incredibly great resource for me. Cuts out all the guesswork!
I’m really glad to have inspired you. Keep up the great work!
I am switching from Blogger to Wordpress very soon. Won’t be getting any help. Doing it myself. Thesis sounds like it is very user friendly for those of us who don’t know html. (I can embed a code but that’s about it.)
Am I right?
Sinea, Thesis is powerful, but you don’t have to know HTML in order to use it. Don’t forget to holler for help when you get stuck, over in the forums.
We love helping!
Thesis is without a doubt the smartest way to code…I design only on Thesis as well and it has taught me a million and one things about WordPress, HTML/CSS, PHP…just can’t even put it into words how amazing has been to me over the years, hah.
Right on, Alex. I’ve been watching you too and am so impressed with your design skills.
Good post Rachael. If I’m building a site for a client, and it’s on WordPress, I use Thesis exclusively. There was a time when I’d use another theme and/or framework because the client requested it, but today it feels as if I’m doing my clients a disservice by not recommending Thesis. There is the very rare exception when the client specifically requests something different because of a very specific need, but the reality is that Thesis is so powerful in many different ways and the perfect foundation on which to build a house.
I love Thesis
Purchasing the developer’s license was one of the best things I’ve done in relation to building and customizing websites.
Thesis gives so much flexibility and ease in building each type of website. What’s more important the support in the DIY Forums is simply awesome.
Thanks Rachel for great summary of how lucky we are to be working with Thesis:)
Just a nuance. You write: “2) Thesis can be modified by any Thesis-capable designer.” Isn’t that kinda obvious? Like stating French is really easy for those who already speak French. Compared to other frameworks, the learning curve of Thesis might be bit more steep. Not that I’m complaining here.
I initially bought Thesis to build a food blog. My web dev company had been implementing sites for years using our own branded product but this was my first foray into blogging and I’m glad I started with this product. Since my experience with Thesis has grown, I no longer bother with something I have to fund updates for and I now use WordPress/Thesis exclusively for both blogs and ‘regular’ websites.
The best use for me is the ability to implement two years of custom coding for a new site with the uploading of the custom functions and css files. That allows me to offer superior results while keeping my costs low which is important. I have found a niche and that niche doesn’t often have the resources of a lot of the businesses I work with locally so that has been a huge value to both myself and my clients.
I looked at several themes and narrowed down to just 2 including Thesis. I chose Thesis and the more I get to use it the more I like it. As you mentioned the Forum is a great source and people there have helped me on numerous occasions. Thank you to all the forum members who help others.
I use thesis for my site and am generally happy with it. Especially with the help I get in the forums. Thanks for your encouragement. Programming and code are not my friends! But as long as I’ve got support connections, I’m good to go.