A Non-Coder’s Look at Headway versus Genesis versus Thesis

October 10, 2010 By Danny Brown Filed Under: Theme Reviews, Videos 19 Comments

With Thesis 1.8 now out, Headway 1.7 about to launch and the Genesis WordPress theme picking up steam from bloggers switching to it, I thought it’d be fun to see how they compare.

Not from a framework point of view – all three themes have proven how adaptable they are in the hands of coders.

No, for this, I wanted to see it from a non-coder angle. All of the theme developers – Headway, Thesis and Genesis – sell their products as perfect for both the novice and coder alike. That you can get a great blog running from out of the box, with no coding needed.

So I wanted to see how easy it would be to replicate my DannyBrown.me site on Genesis and Thesis (since it runs on Headway, obviously it poses no issue there). So here are the results.

A few notes:

Every design is using the built-in options from the dashboard. No coding, no plug-ins.
Each theme is running the latest version – Headway 1.7, Thesis 1.8 and Genesis 1.3.
I just wanted to recreate the design and layout – no additional pages, posts, etc.
This is a comparison post just to give you an idea of what’s available from out of the box with each theme, so no affiliate links anywhere.

You can see the sites “live” by clicking through the links at the bottom of each video. As you can see, there are some pretty drastic differences as to what you can and can’t do, especially with current darling Genesis.

So, on with the videos.

Video 1: Genesis

Video 2: Thesis

Video 3: Headway

Filed Under: Theme Reviews, Videos Tagged With: headway, thesis, wordpress

About Danny Brown

Danny Brown is an award-winning marketer and blogger. His blog is recognized as the #1 marketing blog in the world by HubSpot. Danny is also the author of The Parables of Business and the upcoming book Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage and Measure Brand Influencers in Social Media Marketing.

http://ticklecityaward.com Andrew W

Danny,
This was a great idea for a post, I really enjoyed the videos. Recreating the same basic layout on these three popular themes really gives you a good impression of their strengths and weaknesses.

Little features like easy Subscription widgets in Genesis, header image uploading in Thesis and quick, easy ways to display social media icons can make a huge difference for bloggers. I certainly learned a lot from this and I’m sure plenty others could as well.

If you had to pick one, which would you say is the best, taking everything into account? (Tough question, I know)
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  Hey there Andrew,
  
  Thanks, and glad you enjoyed the comparisons.
  
  Each one definitely has its strengths (and I’m finding a lot more about Genesis as I play with it, especially from a child theme angle).
  
  I guess it depends on your needs. I’ve been using Headway on my personal blog (as well as a few other sites) for more than a year, and I love the flexibility it gives to design without coding.
  
  I’ve used Thesis before, and that’s a solid framework (especially now that 1.8 is out and more user-friendly inside the dashboard area), and it’s still one of the very best for SEO out there.
  
  Genesis is still fairly new to me, but the options of child themes makes it a great option for new blogs to get up and running quickly too. Here’s a look at the child theme option:
  
  http://bestbloggingtipsonline.com/genesis-premium-child-themes/
  
  So, I guess to cut a long ramble short…
  
  * Flexibility and extensive design options without intensive coding = Headway.
  
  * Solid build, community and SEO: Thesis
  
  * Quick sites using child themes and design skills: Genesis.
  
  Hope that helps!
  - http://ticklecityaward.com Andrew W
    
    Hey Danny,
    
    Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer all of that!
    
    I’ve only used Thesis personally and it was only for a short period of time. I have been learning some HTML/CSS/PHP so I actually took a crack at making a custom theme for my current blog. It was fun but I definitely don’t get to enjoy many convenient features unless I make them myself. (Which I don’t know how to do!)
    
    It’s fun to think about these comparisons because although I’ve dabbled a bit but I am very far from being a “real” coder. And I love it when a theme itself makes things really convenient so you don’t have to go out and browse through a million plugins.
    
    Anyway, I’m planning to be involved in a variety of blogging projects in the coming months so I will definitely keep this advice in mind. And I’m a big fan of this new project, I’ll certainly be floating around here.
    - http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
      
      Hey there Andrew,
      
      Anytime. That was one of the main reasons I switched away from Thesis to Headway (though I think Thesis was on 1.6 at the time, so a bit different).
      
      If you’re looking to be more involved in these upcoming blogging projects from a design angle, I’d definitely recommend Headway (the developer license allows you to use on as many sites as you like).
      
      I’ve built a bunch of sites using Headway, from static sites to blogs to more creative. There are some designs below.
      
      http://dannybrown.me
      
      http://bonsaiinteractive.com
      
      http://srmgroup.ca
      
      http://canadianpetconnection.com
      
      http://justkickinit.ca
      
      There’s some CSS coding in some of them, but minimal compared to what I would have to use on comparable theme frameworks.
      
      Hope that helps, and look forward to seeing more of you around here.
http://www.leafletdistributionquote.com ASIM SHEIKH

Hi Danny,

Loved the post and the videos were fantastic. I am a newcomer to the world of internet marketing but I am looking to develop more blog sites. I have one question for you can Are the sites mentioned just themes or can you do the nuts and bolts and install your domain to one of these themes easily?
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  Hi Asim,
  
  Thanks, mate, glad you enjoyed.
  
  Not quite sure if I’m understanding the question (sorry, my bad), but here’s how I think you’re looking for it to work.
  
  Each theme (or framework) is separate, and would be installed onto your web host/domain. Once WordPress is installed, you install the framework and design the look and feel that you’re after.
  
  Depending on the license, you can use the themes on numerous sites. There are some differences, though, so check the licensing options on each theme to see which is the best for you.
  
  As a quick guide, the Genesis framework can be used on as many sites as you like, whether you buy the single license option or the developer one.
  
  The Headway framework can be used on two sites with the single license and as many as you want with the developer license.
  
  Thesis can be used on two sites with the personal license, as many sites you OWN with the developer one. If you’re looking to use on client sites, you’d have to buy add-on licenses.
  
  Hope that helps!
http://www.barrykahan.com/ Barry

Great videos Danny. Often hear about different frameworks but this really gave a terrific overview for a novice. Watching is so much clearer than reading. Headway sure does look like the clear cut winner for simple tools to create changes. The difference is fairly dramatic in your examples. Of course one of the big differences is the ability to add a header. Did you create your own header in a program or was this designed for you? If you did it yourself, what program did you use? Makes a huge difference in professional appearance.

I have worked with wordpress on my site singledadlife.com which is the Church Theme, but it does not have the options of Headway. This was a great help since after reading the blog on this site about finding your voice, I am considering doing just that!
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  Hi Barry,
  
  I had a designer create the header for me, and then I worked the style of the blog from that. I could be wrong, but I think she just used Photoshop.
  
  Just an add-on to the video – while the standard Genesis framework doesn’t have an option to upload a header from the dashboard, you can edit the image files that come with the theme’s zip file to have a header show instead. Additionally, some of the child themes allow you to upload a header directly once you choose the Use Custom Logo option.
http://www.blog.brandsproutmarketing.com Joellyn Sargent

Hi Danny, great videos, thanks so much for sharing! Sorry I missed this when it first came out.

I’m not a coder, but I do like to play around and customize things to my liking. I chose the Atahualpa theme because it has so many options. It’s not nearly as user friendly, and it took many hours to get my blog just right.

I don’t regret the learning process, but next time I think I’ll try Headway.
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  Hi Joellyn,
  
  Thanks, and glad you enjoyed the videos.
  
  I’ve heard good things about Atahualpa – never had the chance to check it out yet, but need to add to the list. One of the ones I’ve been really impressed with lately is the new Catalyst theme:
  
  http://bestbloggingtipsonline.com/video-overview-of-the-new-catalyst-premium-wordpress-theme/
  
  This seems to have an insane amount of options, and the Skins market seems to be picking up too. Definitely one to keep an eye on.
http://easypublicspeaking.co.uk/ Keith Davis

Hi Danny

Three fantastic videos and a great way to compare the frameworks.

You appear to recommend Headway but you mention in the notes below the videos that you now use Genesis for most new sites.

Does that mean that Genesis have made improvements?

Which would you now recommend?
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  Hey there Keith,
  
  When I first made the videos, I was using the Headway framework. But I’ve since stopped using it, as I found it wasn’t meeting my needs anymore and the constant updates to fix bugs put me off.
  
  I’ve been using the Genesis framework more, and while you do need to understand coding to get the best out of the basic framework, the child themes and documentation are excellent to get you a great looking site up quickly.
  
  Of the three themes in the comparison, I’d definitely go with Genesis. I’m also impressed with the new Catalyst framework:
  
  http://bestbloggingtipsonline.com/video-overview-of-the-new-catalyst-premium-wordpress-theme/
  
  That’s definitely got the most in-depth dashboard options (maybe too many!) and is a great alternative.
http://athomewithtyra.com T

Hi Danny.

Since your last post, I was wondering if you could share what you think the best out of the box WordPress framework.
I like some elements of the following theme by Genesis, http://www.studiopress.com/demo/agentpress.html

However, I do not know code and really want to get the site up and running quickly. Is Catalyst now your top pick or do you think Headway is still a good place to start and has done better with bugs?
Do you think I can come close to a similar design as the Agent Press theme using Headway or Catalyst?

Can I also easily create landing pages with these frameworks? Was transferring from Headway to Genesis pretty smooth?

Thanks so much for the videos you made.

God Bless!
http://goinswriter.com/ Jeff Goins

Interesting. So would you NOW use Genesis over headway?
JohnFaux

SEO is VERY important to me..just how much better is Thesis at SEO than the others???
http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown

@JohnFaux Hi John,

I’ve found all three to be pretty comparable, to be honest. I have all three frameworks across a few sites and the SEO results are all impressive.
JohnFaux

@DannyBrown @JohnFaux
Thanks for the fast reply! In that case I will buy Headway.
DerekMurphy

This is awesome, thanks – I’m leaning towards Headway, but I heard the new version (3) is still buggy – any thoughts on that?
Nerrissa Micheal

great now i just use in my blog

http://www.knowledgejunxtion.blogspot.com