Production Theme Released

This theme has been a long time coming. If you are not aware, Rafal originally designed this theme nearly a year and a half ago. There were some issues, largely due to limitations in WordPress at the time, so when I asked Brian about building a video theme for the market place a couple months ago, he asked if I thought I could get Production working right.

I set off on a journey to build the theme on my own, more or less replicating the look and feel of Rafal’s amazing theme, but with new features and the latest in Genesis best practices. As I proceeded I found problems, beat them down, found more problems, and eventually created the Genesis Media Project plugin. The plugin is the core of the theme and is intended to grow, adding new features and becoming the Premier Media plugin for WordPress, enhanced by and for Genesis.

It is a lofty goal, and this theme is the first step. I invite you to preview the theme, and then go buy Production. By supporting this theme, you are supporting the Genesis Media Project, which I want to keep free so other developers can make use of it to make the Genesis and WordPress community even better.

Now to the final part of the QA.

Does this have WooCommerce support?

That is a really great question. While I was building the Genesis Media Project plugin, Ade was working on a plugin to bridge Genesis and WooCommerce. That plugin should work with Production, and if there are any issues I’ll release a 1.1.0 version to reconcile that. As I have said before, I desire for this theme to be a premier example of what a Genesis child theme can be, making use of best practices like the new responsive techniques being used, and outsourcing the heavy lifting to plugins for better lifetime support. Working with the WooCommerce Connect plugin is going to be very important to new themes going forward so it is important to this theme. However, that plugin isn’t available now so I’ll have to cross that bridge when I get to it.

Can I customize the …

Probably. The theme style sheet is customizable for sure, and I’ve made a point to move all colors/backgrounds … from the plugin css to the theme css. This means that if you just use the plugin in another theme it will have a transparent background and you will need to provide CSS to change the backgrounds, but the basic widths are pretty fixed. It can be overridden, but that will require some additional work. One of the features on my to do list for the plugin is to allow more options and controls in the plugin for various aspects of how it works, but for now I am gearing it towards the Production theme dimensions.

Can I use the plugin in another theme?/Do I need to buy Production?

The Genesis Media Project plugin can be used in any Genesis theme. You don’t have to buy the theme, but I would encourage you to. Yes, it is kind of selfish of me, but by purchasing the Production theme you are supporting future development of the Genesis Media Project, which is good for everyone. I want to make it the best, but also keep it free so other developers cna make really cool themes using all the features I’m bringing to the plugin.

Ok, I’m off to buy the theme because I want to see the Genesis Media Project get even better, what else can I do?

Well, the big thing would be to tell everyone. Tweet it, +1 it, share it on Facebook, pin it … help me get the word out however you can. If you are an affiliate you can even make $$ by spreading the word. That’s like a win, win, win, win. Win for me because you are helping me sell the theme, Win for you and developers because it helps me makes the Genesis Media Project plugin better, a win for the folks that buy the theme, because it really is a great theme, and another win for you because … hey free money.

If you want to take another step, you can always donate to the Genesis Media Project too.

So, did your question get answered? if not post a comment and I’ll be sure to answer you.