DIYthemes, the maker of the premium WordPress theme framework Thesis, released the newest version of Thesis on Monday, Thesis 2.0. I’ve played around with it for the last couple of days with a local test installation on my desktop PC and I don’t think I’ll be using it any time soon. It’s far too complicated and cumbersome to use. Essentially, it’s nothing at all like the prior versions of Thesis.
The more I try to use Thesis 2.0, the more I appreciate Thesis 1.85.
Seriously, spend a few hours wading through Thesis 2.0, trying to make sense between boxes, skins, and packages, and you’ll have a whole new appreciation for the beautiful simplicity that is Thesis 1.85. What is simple and straight forward in the prior versions of Thesis, the versions not called 2.0, is difficult and complicated in the latest incarnation. The more I try to use Thesis 2.0, the more I wonder why it was called Thesis and not something else, like Migraine or Root Canal.
Compounding the many problems with Thesis 2.0 is the utter lack of documentation. The official user’s guide currently only shows how to install Thesis 2.0. That’s important, because like everything else pertaining to Thesis 2.0, the installation procedure is vastly different from prior versions of Thesis. If you don’t install Thesis 2.0, you’ll never really know how hard it is to use.
Thesis 2.0 hasn’t even been out a week, so I’m sure things will be improved. Until that happens, I won’t be using Thesis 2.0.
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been toying around with Thesis 2.0 and it is way, way too complicated for non-techy. Boxes, containers, packages? Apparently this reduces code, but it seems every time I click on something I’m confronted by options I’m unfamiliar with. Give me “Font colour”, not CSS and HTML entries.
I’ve had earlier versions of Thesis running on my sites for years; it took me long enough to get the knack of Thesis 1.0! I think DIY Themes dropped the ball here – too much of a leap for the layman.
Not only have the dropped the ball, they just don’t seem to care. It’s buggy software and it doesn’t do all the things it’s supposed to do. You can import a skin, you just can’t export one. What good is that?
I was thinking perhaps it was just me and I should persevere but I think the most efficient way to go might be to let it mature a bit before using it. I am finding even the most basic stuff like image upload and changing the header a headache – and I have been using thesis for years now. This does happen with brand new things so no biggie I guess. Shame my old sites won’t be able to be “upgraded” as its totally different to the old version : (
This post is spot on…complicated, cumbersome, and not anything what I was hoping for. An upgrade should be easier for most folks….this one is taking a step or two back.
I think the developers including Chris Pearson himself did not think about the “wordpress layman’s” ability to work out some of the more techy parts of 2.0. And there are a lot of techy parts.