Why I Switched Instigator Blog to Thesis WordPress Theme

September 9, 2009

The Thesis Theme from Chris Pearson and DIYthemes
I’ve known about the Thesis WordPress theme for some time, having followed its launch and use by a lot of friends and colleagues. I always knew it was a worthwhile theme, but never had a project to use it on until recently.

Recently my wife launched her own site – I Spy Montreal – for parents in Montreal, looking for regular activities, events, etc. When she was getting ready to build her site, I suggested that she use Thesis. I wanted to try it out, and this was a good way to give it a try.

I was extremely impressed with Thesis for WordPress. It’s easy to use and insanely configurable. Plus, it looks like it will reduce my reliance on WordPress plugins. Not that plugins are a bad thing – in some ways they’re the lifeblood of the WordPress community and one of the major reasons for the blogging platform’s huge success – but it’s still nice to streamline as much as possible, keep things clean and maximize the built-in capabilities of WordPress or the theme you’re using.

Equally as important is the fact that Chris Pearson is regularly upgrading Thesis with fixes, enhancements and new features. I’ve been using WordPress for many years, and it’s been rare to find a theme that the owner actually improves on over time. For Chris it makes complete sense because the theme costs money to buy; so there’s an incentive for him to continue improving it and bringing on new customers and fans.

The fact that you know Thesis is going to get better over time is huge. And when you buy Thesis you get a lifetime upgrade (for free). So there’s no additional cost beyond the original purchase. And you get access to the very active forums, for learning how to customize and maximize the value of Thesis for WordPress.

Finally, I know from speaking to others that Thesis is search engine optimized. I have yet to see the benefits of that because I only recently switched Instigator Blog to the new theme. But I’ll be curious to see if the theme does make a difference. Certainly I’ve heard positive stories from others on the SEO benefits of Thesis.

Suffice it to say: I’m a fan of Thesis.

As a result, I’m now selling the Thesis WordPress theme through this blog as an affiliate. I’ve rarely done any affiliate selling on Instigator Blog, but having used Thesis for my wife’s site and now having switched over this blog, I’m a bigger fan than ever, and a huge supporter.

If you’re thinking of upgrading your WordPress theme or starting a new WordPress blog, I would recommend Thesis. And if you have any Thesis-related questions, once you get started, feel free to contact me and I’ll do what I can to help!

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Comments
  • merahputih
    halo Ben...yeah thesis is awesome...it have great feature...I have a dream to use it in my blog...Nice choice, Nice work :D

    regards
    alfred
  • Thanks Alfred. Well it's really quite easy to use. And even if you minimize the customizations to it; it works well and looks good. Good luck...
  • swapmycouncil
    Thanks for the nice post. Well it's really quite easy to use. And even if you minimize the customizations to it and its work good. Thanks
    http://www.swapmycouncilhouse.co.uk/
  • I am a fan of thesis as well. Usually, I'll just buy my themes from themeforest.net but I have seen this theme kicking around a while.

    I really like how you have used it on this site, and it has made me pause for thought over the design and theme selection for my new website.
  • I'm fairly new to WordPress, but I dove right into Thesis for my recently launched blog. Didn't realize I needed to know as much code to customize but love learning new stuff. I love the theme and like you said - it will only get better and better!
  • It takes a bit of getting used to because the way you customize Thesis is unique vs. other themes, but it does end up being easier / faster / better in the long run.
  • zhuli
    I heard about Thesis a lot lately and it seems to be a good choice.

    You are right, regular fixes and upgrades, plus code that allow us to get rid of some plugins is a great thing.

    My current theme is my third one and I learn to include these factors when looking for a theme. I also love when the designer set up a forum to discuss issues, tweaks etc. It's an efficient way to learn more about the theme and to find fixes.
  • zhuli - Once you buy Thesis you have access to a very active forum with plenty of experts and lots of helpful resources. I think it's one of the key advantages to it: a very active community.
  • I've been following the Thesis theme for awhile myself and haven't pulled the trigger. Always felt like, with all the free themes out there, there has to be a few good ones that will work for me. What was the tipping point for you?
  • Yep, thesis fan in Montreal here as well. While I'll admit that to really push thesis to the max and completely customize the design from right out of the box it's a project in itself. However, the real no brainer for using it is the support forums. If anyone here has posted a question or an issue to the DIY Themes support forum you'll agree with me.

    It's a shame that so many bloggers don't experience or realize the benefit of the forums before they pay up. They just see 85$ or so for a basic layout. Thesis is so much more than that.
  • Conrad - I agree completely in terms of the value of the forums. I've used them extensively as I've been working on this blog and others. The support + community is worth the money.
  • I recently purchased the developer version of Thesis and have to say I absolutely love it. As an SEO, I can honestly say the theme is pretty hawt right out of the box from an SEO perspective. Chris Pearson has done an awesome job making the theme easy to update when new releases come out with his "custom" folder containing all custom CSS and custom functions making use of hooks.

    I have a site at that was created w/ zero customizations just to share SEO knowledge free online. I think the Thesis theme looks clean and professional right out of the box.

    It wasn't until after I purchased it that I found out that Matt Cutts, Rae Hoffman, Michael Gray, and lots of other professionals in the SEO field were using it to power their own sites.

    Excellent Theme and WELL worth the money!
  • I have been using Thesis from 4 months and I highly recommend this theme to all.
    It's SEO and typography is amazing, more over Customization of Thesis might feel little
    tricky at the beginning but once you get kick of it, you will enjoy editing and modifying this theme.
  • Indeed, Thesis seems to be a pretty nice theme but i've found it a bit challening to customize to fit exactly your needs. But is is really a nice theme choice.
  • There is a bit of a learning curve because customizing CSS isn't done in the typical way. But now that you can do so directly from within WordPress (instead of downloading / uploading the custom css files) it's a lot easier. I've seen wildly different designs all based on Thesis.
  • Sorry B, but now you actually sell thesis as an affiliate it actually removes the validity of your post. I came across this post through google as I am thinking of switching but nearly all the people who write on the the topic are affiliates.

    You could argue, this means they believe in their product, but you can also argue that the feel forced to promote thesis to make more money...

    Off to find another review!
  • Stuart - Thank you for your comment and point of view. I think it's OK for people to promote / sell stuff they believe in. And it's also important to note that no one forced me to sell Thesis on my site. I don't feel forced at all. But I do think Thesis adds value and is worth the money. So I promote it.

    I could have promoted it earlier, before actually using it in-depth, and I think that would have been more questionable. I know the folks behind the Theme and have seen many friends use it for a long time. But I chose not to sell it on this blog until I had used it, experienced the value and decided if it was worthwhile.

    Let me know what you find out there in terms of reviews!
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