Genesis 3.0 is coming! WPEngine, the owners of StudioPress and the Genesis framework announced last week that the Genesis Framework would be updated to version 3.0 on June 19. This update will include a number of enhancements, one of which is:
- Removing all the unnecessary root template files.
This includes the BLOG template, and the ARCHIVE template
You can read more about the announcement here: https://studiopress.blog/genesis-3-0-beta/
Before I begin – the Genesis framework is being updated on June 19, but you don’t have to immediately update, so there is no immediate rush to update your sites.
By default, blog posts will automatically display on a WordPress website’s homepage. That functionality is NOT going away. So, for example, if you have my Elise theme, your site will function as it has always done – blog posts on the home page, with pagination at the bottom, leading to the remainder of your blog posts. No blog page is needed.
If you’re using a theme with a widgetized home page (for example, Happy & Playful), and have set a static home page (as the demo does), you would have also set up a posts page. Your blog posts will automatically display on that page. That will NOT be affected if you update to Genesis 3.0.
If you’re using a theme with a widgetized home page (for example, any of the themes by Feast Design Company, or most of the themes by Pretty Darn Cute Design), you may have your home page set to “display latest posts”. Typically, if you’ve done this, and have added you’re home page widgets, you won’t automatically have a blog page; you may have previously create a blog page using the BLOG template.
If you have your site set up like this, with a page using the BLOG template, and update to Genesis 3.0, that page will no longer display your blog posts.
You have a number of options when that happens:
OPTION ONE: USE A POSTS PAGE:
Go to Dashboard > Settings > Reading > select a static home page layout; here you’ll be able to define which page you want to use as your “home” page, and also which page should display your posts.
Alternatively, you can update by going to Appearance > Customize > Homepage Settings
Don’t worry – if you’ve set up your site using the widgets previously, they will now automatically display on the home page you selected, and your blog posts will display on the posts page.
OPTION TWO: USE THE CATEGORY ARCHIVES:
If you are using one of the Feast Design Company themes, I highly recommend reading this post about what constitutes a good Food Blog Site Structure: https://feastdesignco.com/food-blog-site-structure/
Skylar Bowker, the owner of Feast Design Company writes:
For example, instead of the “blog” page template, posts should be properly categorized into categories. For example, if you have generic posts about your life that don’t belong in recipe categories, you can create a category named “Blog” or “Personal” and put those posts into there.
What about the Archive template? That will be the subject of another post!
Still confused? Leave a comment below, and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.
Here are some of the questions I’ve received so far:
(click the question/s to read more)
Will I lose my blog posts?
You will not lose any content. Your blog posts will still remain on your site. If you want to have a blog page on your site, you'll need to make sure that you have assigned that page as your "posts" page in your WordPress reading settings.
Will my site crash?
This update will NOT crash your site. As always, before updating WordPress or the Genesis framework, we recommend taking a backup of your site. This is always recommended, and is not specific to this update.
What will happen to my home page?
Your home page will remain the same as it currently is. Nothing is going to change visually. If you want to use a blog page, you'll need to make sure you have your homepage settings set to display a static home page.
There is no requirement that you have a "blog" page (you may prefer to just use category archives). If this is the case, you can keep your site set to "display latest posts".
Do I need to make this update?
There is no immediate requirement to update your site when the framework is updated, but we recommend taking the update once there have been no issues identified. It's best practices to keep themes and plugins up to date for security reasons. Updating the Genesis framework is also recommended for the same reason.
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