13 Amazing Genesis WordPress Child Themes

Howdy there! If you have been around WordPress circles for a while, you must have come across phrases such as WordPress theme frameworks and child themes. If you’re a newbie, you will come across said phrases in no time whatsoever. Lucky for thee, we are lifting the veil of mystery shrouding WordPress frameworks and WordPress child themes. More precisely, we are looking into the Genesis Framework and a some of the best Genesis child themes from StudioPress.

By the end of this post, you will have all the child themes you need to turn the Genesis Framework whichever way you desire. All Genesis child themes on this list are responsive and affordable, and most come with the framework. Without further ado, let’s dive in.

1. Parallax

Parallax Pro is a responsive WordPress theme developed by StudioPress. This theme features elegant parallax homepage sections that are fully responsive and mobile ready.

This theme is a great start to an online resume, blog or small business website. Parallax Pro’s main feature is the eye catching homepage. The theme supports responsive parallax content areas. Add text, buttons, social links or even pricing tables over the top of gorgeous parallax images that slowly shift in the opposite direct that users scroll. This is a great way to draw attention to important information and get users to linger on your website. Plus the theme includes 5 skins (in red, orange, pink, green and blue) that change the color of link hovers, buttons, and callout section just above the footer. Choose a skin that suits you or your brand best, then us the includes typography options and theme options to further customize the look of your site.

Another great feature of Parallax Pro is the built-in page layout options. There are custom layouts for author pages, category pages, multiple column layouts and even a special landing page layout. IN addition there is of course option left or right sidebar support so you can add in widgets to pages where you need them (like on your blog).

Keep in mind that Parallax Pro is a child theme for the Genesis Framework. So right away you know that it comes with options standard to Genesis, including fonts, posts per page, threaded commenting, advertising, auto-image resizing, various widgets and more.

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2. Daily Dish

Daily Dish is a clean and lightweight Genesis child theme that is great for magazines and news sites. But seeing Genesis framework is fully customizable, you can bend Daily Dish to run whichever site you have in mind.

It is one of those Genesis child themes that focuses attention on the most important part of your website; the content. It makes the content appealing and palatable. With multiple widget areas, you can place your content wherever, and since this bad boy is responsive, your users will have a great time regardless of their devices.

6 page layouts and plenty of theme options make Daily Dish a darling of many a WordPress user.

MORE ABOUT DAILY DISH

3. Foodie

As a nutritionist or food blogger, you need a WordPress theme that helps you to get your message across in the easiest and most impactful way possible. Of all Genesis child themes we cover here today, Foodie is a true winner in terms of functionality and style.

Foodie features a clean and minimalist design, multiple color schemes, a responsive and mobile friendly design, multiple page templates, featured images and all the goodies that ship with the Genesis Framework.

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4. Author

We all have dreams, and one of mine is to publish a best seller, make it big and live in a wooden cabin somewhere far away from civilization. That, or travel the world over. When I finally overcome whatever is holding me back, I know I will need a website that lets me showcase my best works in style. But, sadly, this post is not about my dreams.

If you are an author already making waves in your own small way, we present you the Author child theme. It’s one of those Genesis child themes made specifically for you and only you as an author. Theme features an intuitive design that draws attention to your books, and superior functionality makes managing your work incredibly easy.

This theme is a great way to promote yourself as an author or your small publishing business. Author Pro comes with the tools you need to build a lovely website fast, like page template, post formats, easy to use color options and more. Simply install Genesis and Author Pro, then get to work!

But the real powerhouse behind this theme is Genesis and the Genesis Author Pro plugin. This plugin can be used with any Genesis child theme, and it adds great tools any author or publisher will love. These include the ability to create a library, add books (with title, cover, ISBNm publication date and more) and include custom buy-now buttons.

Other theme features include sidebars, widget ready footer, custom widgets, custom backgrounds, color styles, and all of the other great features you know and expect from the Genesis framework.

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5. Education

Learning institutions, too, have a thing for the Genesis Framework. If you run an online course, you need to convey all your awesome content in a short period and with the most impact. You need a no-nonsense child theme such as Education Pro; a theme that helps students and faculty get to the information they need in a timely manner.

Education child theme ships with 6 layouts, plenty of theme options, 6 color styles, featured images, custom backgrounds, a responsive design, custom menus and so much more. It’s exactly the theme you need to give your education site a new lease of life.

MORE ABOUT EDUCATION

6. Glam

Let us help you sell more of your products with one among the most alluring Genesis child themes – Glam. It’s adorable, and ships with the best of the Genesis Framework, taking you closer to your readers.

You won’t struggle to showcase your products, what with amazing categorization features, homepage widgets, a responsive design, multiple color styles, a number of page templates, customizable headers, featured images and HTML5 markup among others.

MORE ABOUT GLAM

7. Infinity

There is a world of possibilities out there for the dreamer. Build any number of WordPress sites with Infinity, a theme that give most Genesis child themes a run for their money. It’s built beautiful and powerful to impress, the one characteristic you need to convert readers to loyal buyers.

Full with an intuitive shop, you will run your ecommerce store like a boss with Infinity. Plenty of sections make it easy to present your best information. This child theme ships with multiple page templates, a range of layouts, custom headers, WooCommerce support, and a responsive design among others.

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8. Jessica

If you’re building an ecommerce site, you needn’t look further than Jessica. Brought to you by Web Savvy Marketing, Jessica is full of all the features that make it incredibly easy to sell your products. You can use WooCommerce, Ithemes Exchange or WP-eCommerce plugin to set up your store, and jazz things up with multiple color styles, custom headers, homepage widgets and so much more.

Other features include featured products, sale products, custom reviews, coupons, social media integration and newsletter subscriptions among others.

MORE ABOUT JESSICA

9. Modern Studio

Modern Studio Pro is a clean and modern blogging premium WordPress theme from StudioPress. This theme is perfect for sharing your thoughts and design ideas with your readers.

This lovely theme is a child theme for the Genesis framework (which means you’ll need to purchase the theme & framework bundle to use Modern Studio Pro). This also means that the theme supports all of the great features of Genesis – like multiple column layouts, built-in theme options, pull-width pages, custom backgrounds, custom menus and more.

Modern Studio adds extra features that you’re sure to love. The theme comes with a custom header design so you can center your logo, an added theme customizer and even color styles. But remember – this is a minimal theme so adding large images, custom link colors and more will really help your content pop.

Other theme features include everything else you love about Genesis themes. Like great support, a flexible theme and plenty of other themes to choose from if you ever want to change up the look of your site.

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10. eleven40

eleven40 is a super cool new theme by StudioPress that is fully responsive so that your site looks great no matter what browser size you are using, whether its a full monitor or a small mobile device like an iphone. They claim eleven40 is the “wildest theme” they have built as it’s focused on expansiveness and plenty “breathing room for your content”. Basically it has some nice sized fonts and really great spacing between the elements, making it a theme that’s very easy to read and easy on eyes.

From what I’ve tested, the responsiveness of the theme works very well. As you re-size your browser you’ll see as content merges to the center and your sidebars will drop-down below the post’s content. This way any mobile viewers will be able to easily read your posts without having to mega scroll through the page to find it.

11. Ambiance

Ambiance Pro is a classy premium WordPress child theme from StudioPress designed specifically for the Genesis Framework. This clean and simple theme is perfect for a blog or online portfolio to showcase your best asset – you.

This theme features a light and airy design with no clutter. Ambiance Pro basically includes it’s own version of distraction free reading, since there is no sidebar or footer to take away from your images or your writing. Each post captivates attention with a full-width featured image, and cleanly centered text so your readers can take in each and every pixel and/or word.

While Ambiance does keep things simple, there are lovely typography options, a custom styled Author page and of course easy to use theme options (like a custom logo upload) so that you can add flourishes where you need theme. This theme also includes social links as a footer, so your readers can quickly and easily follow you on all your social media networks.

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12. LifeStyle

The LifeStyle is designed to fit today’s design trends and blogging demands. The lifestyle theme comes with 10 soft colors to choose from, some great custom widgets and of course it runs on the popular Genesis framework.

If you are looking for a clean and minimal WordPress blogging theme that doesn’t come with any hidden links, is well secured and SEO optimized, then the LifeStyle theme may be a good fit for you. Plus, when you purchase the Genesis framework you can then access more child themes for a lower price and use them on your other blogs. And the LifeStyle template comes with unlimited licenses so you can use it for all your blogs.

MORE ABOUT LIFESTYLE

13. Beautiful

Beautiful is a clean and minimal blogging WordPress theme designed by StudioPress. This clean and simple theme is perfect for sharing your thoughts with the world.

This theme is bright white and offers a clean layout for blogging. Plus the theme is fully responsive. So when you add your content it easy for users to read on desktops, tablets and phones. This is a very important features since you can capitalize on your blog’s traffic, and having a website that works on many devices means you can capture the largest audience possible.

Beautiful also includes easy to use page templates. This means you can build your blog, archive page, and even landing pages in no time at all. Just select the template when creating your page and and add your content – it’s that easy! Beautiful also supports columns and includes lots of widget options so you can really pack in the content.

MORE ABOUT BEAUTIFUL

Bonus: More About Genesis

Now that you know which Genesis child themes we think are the best, let’s just make sure you know what a theme framework and child themes are.

What is a WordPress Theme Framework?

So, what is this animal we are calling a WordPress theme framework? Why do you need a WordPress theme framework? Well, let’s begin with first things first.

You can think of a WordPress theme framework simply as a code library that facilitates development of a theme. Still vague an answer I know, but allow me to explain. A theme framework is a set of standards, functions and features that help you to create your own theme.

In other words, a theme framework offers you the base code you need to start developing your own theme. Instead of building themes from scratch all times, you get a head start using a theme framework. Instead of adding feature after feature from scratch, you get starter features and design elements that make your work a lot easier.

You can build a million and one different themes using a single framework, adding different features to each as you go. A WordPress theme framework is basically the foundation of a WordPress theme.

What is a WordPress Child Theme?

But then, what are WordPress child themes in relation to WordPress theme frameworks? Seeing as a theme framework is the foundation, a child theme is any theme that borrows functionality from said framework. Just like a house has a foundation from where it finds strength, child themes find base on a framework.

A framework provides the functionality, and a child theme provides the stylistic touch. This way, you can build many designs from a single framework. If you need to update the base code in the framework, your styles are preserved.

Say, for example, you’re using the Genesis Framework. Themes that borrow features and functions from this framework are known as Genesis child themes. Another point to note is Genesis child themes won’t work without the Genesis Framework. First, you must install the framework before using any of the Genesis child themes we outline here.

In the general sense of the term though, a WordPress child theme is:

A theme that inherits the functionality and styling of another theme, called the parent theme. Child themes are the recommended way of modifying an existing theme. – WordPress Codex

To learn more, feel free to check out our detailed post on how to create WordPress child themes.

Genesis Framework Features & Pricing

The Genesis Framework is a product by StudioPress, a renowned brand in the WordPress community. The StudioPress trademark is owned by Rainmaker Digital, LLC., the same guys who brought you Copyblogger, yet another renowned name in WordPress circles.

Genesis is probably the most popular WordPress theme framework in this era. It boasts of a huge fanbase (164k+ customers) and over 80 child themes. It’s parked to the brim with the best of features and options to get keep your creative juices flowing.

At a glance, the Genesis theme framework ships with the best of features such as:

• A theme customizer that’s a bliss to work with. It allows you to tweak everything from colors to theme settings and much more in real time
• Featured content widgets for all of your awesome content
• Customizable headers because who can get enough of these?
• Premade page templates
• A million and one theme options
• A fully responsive and mobile-ready framework
• SEO ready
• Plentiful of layout options
• Top of the range security
• Unlimited support and updates
• Et cetera

Really, the list of Genesis’ features is extensive. And for a tiny price of just $59.95 bucks, you could have the agility of a framework like no other powering your site. Add $40 bucks to that and you can walk away with a child theme of your choice.

There’s a Pro Plus package going for $347 bucks that gets you the Genesis Framework, detailed theme tutorials and all StudioPress themes among other goodies. That out of the way, let us look at the top Genesis child themes at your disposal.

If you love the Genesis Framework, you will obviously appreciate a good list of Genesis child themes. The child themes outlined here make it easy to build any website upon a framework like no other. However, this list is in no way conclusive; use it as a road map while on the hunt for the best Genesis child themes.

Did we miss your favorite Genesis child themes? Feel free to share in the comments below to keep this list growing. Cheers!