As a computer geek, one of the most common questions I get asked is… “Should I upgrade or buy the latest version of __________? Windows, iPhone, WordPress, Thesis, iPad, etc. My typical response to my non-nerdy friends… “Don’t buy yet, wait six months for bugs to be worked out and the techie early adopters to blog and support it.” Well six months has gone by, DIYthemes is up to 2.0.3.1, and it’s time to take another look. While I admit it is not as easy for the amateur blogger or web designer as Thesis 1.8.5, its benefits outweigh the learning curve. I give it a “thumbs up” and upgrading its status to a “buy.” And here’s five things I like about Thesis 2.0.

1. It’s Added Even More SEO, Right Down to the Images. I have always been a fan of Thesis for it’s ability to have the best SEO options embedded into the themes. This version is even better. In future posts, I will explain the details, but for now, let’s just say the newer version has added meta data in more places–even media images.

2. You Can Create Templates for Different Pages. One of the hardest design elements of previous versions of Thesis was having completely different designs on different pages. If you wanted to have a different layout with completely different menus, sidebars and footers, you had to use extensive plugins and edit php code. Not any more, design freedom on each page can be independent!

3. You Can Create Containers & Boxes Anywhere on a Page. Can we say freedom? Want two NAVs? Drop another box. What to add rotator before the footer? Drop another box. Want to move things around on the page. Rearrange your containers and boxes. Enough said.

4. You can Code CSS Right into the Area You are Working On. I’m going to go geek on you a second, but if you wanted to customize sections perviously you would have added to the global custom.css. Now you can customize elements in the box you are developing and embed code logically where required. While this will be a paradigm change for old school Thesis developers, you will quickly realize its easier to fix and association code appropriately.

5. You can Define and Use Your Own Variables, Globally. Having the power to define a variable that changes the color in one place for certain page backgrounds or font sizes on the sidebar is powerful. When you truly understand that you can define and use a variable for anything, you’ll begin to see how this new option is a game changer.

There are tons more benefits, features, and options of Thesis 2.0 to talk about. Rest assure, I will dedicate and provide specific examples in future posts.

One of FunCity’s Clients

What do you like or hate about Thesis 2.0? What are your favorite features?

Fred Campos is Chief of Marketing and Head Geek at FunCitySocialMedia.com. Like this post? Make sure you subscribe to this blog.

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