Most great web designers are not the strongest web developers. The skills required for having a great eye for design versus having a great mind for coding while similar can be hard to find in one person. But all is not lost. Theme Frameworks like the ones created for use with WordPress allow the framework to do the “heavy lifting” and leave the design work to you through the creation of what are referred to as “child themes”. A child theme is a theme built on top of the “parent” theme also known as a Theme Framework.

A theme framework is a theme that has been designed to be highly flexible for faster WordPress development which in turn makes it much easier for web designers to design amazing WordPress Themes without a lot of development. So let’s look at some of the WordPress Theme Frameworks on the market today including the Genesis Framework, Woo Framework, Thematic, Theme Hybrid and Carrington. I will also talk about their features and functionality so that you can make a good decision when you decide to use one in your next website development project.

Genesis Framework

Developed by StudioPress

The Genesis Framework was developed by StudioPress as a way to provide a great deal of functionality and offer a wide range of Child themes. I like the fact that they have such a large portfolio of Child Themes already developed and ready to go and the cost of using Genesis Framework and a child theme are very affordable.

Features:

• Unlimited Support, Updates and websites (No “Developer” Option)
• State of the Art WordPress Security
• Fully Search Engine Optimized
• Developed for localization
• Comes Widget Ready
• Ready for Advertising and website monetization
• Custom Widgets and Layout Options

Child Themes Include:

• Agency Child Theme
• AgentPress Child Theme
• Amped Child Theme
• Bee Crafty Child Theme
• Church Child Theme
• And More!

Woo Framework

Developed by WooThemes

WooThemes created the Woo Framework to run and further develop for their own WordPress themes (They also develop themes for Magento, Drupal, Shopify, Tumblr and ExpressionEngine but i am only focusing on the WordPress component in this article). The Woo Framework is a quality framework for WordPress development because it has such extended functionality available that you are getting what you pay for and they are sticklers for the details.

Features:

• This framework is available with all Child Themes
• Navigation options (No need to touch code)
• Advertising Widgets to manage ads on your website
• Customizable layout options (No need to touch code again!)
• Shortcodes to develop your own functionality
• Sidebar Manager makes it easy to manage the sidebar area of your website

Child Themes Include:

• Fresh News
• BoldNews
• Listings
• Elefolio
• Chapters
• And More!

Thematic

Developed by Themeshaper

Thematic from ThemeShaper is one of those free WordPress Frameworks that has a solid following behind it and a number of contributing developers creating some great (and FREE!) WordPress Child Themes for this Framework. It’s widely excepted and You’ll love it if you are looking for a free option in WordPress Frameworks.

Features:

• Great to use as-is or as a blank WordPress Theme
• Options for blogs featuring multiple authorsFully compatible with All-in-one SEO and platinum SEO plugins
• Extra widget ready areas
• A number of free and premium child themes available for upgrading

Child Themes Include:

• Neutica+
• Photo Lover
• Thematic Feature Site
• Early Morning
• SimpleCart (js)
• And More!

ThemeHybrid

Developed by ThemeHybrid

Theme Hybrid uses its Hybrid Core WordPress Framework to make the development of WordPress sites easier, faster and scalable. There isn’t as big of a following in the developer community for this Theme Framework in particular however the bones of this framework are still solid and free to download and publicly use so enjoy.

Features:

• Completely modular design allowing you to use the features you want
• Shortcodes available for further development
• Ability to create and use WordPress Hooks
• Access to a reference guide for further WordPress theme development

Child Themes Include:

• Prototype
• Hybrid
• Hybrid News
• Outline
• Structure
• And More!

Carrington

Developed by Crowd Favorite

Carrington was created by Crowd Favorite as a theme platform for WordPress. It works using Carrington Core, a templating engine that allows for rapid development of WordPress themes. This is a sleek and usable theme but in my opinion appears to developers moreso because of the limited availability of more themes that have been developed. It is publicly available for use like ThemeHybrid and Thematic however if you aren’t a coder or programmer this option may prove much more difficult to use in developing your next WordPress theme.

Features:

• Allows for theme localization
• Widget ready
• Ability to insert navigation components using menus
• Build custom layouts
• No need to program as most elements of the website are customizable using drag and drop functionality

Child Themes Include:

• Carrington Business
• Carrington Blog
• Carrington Text
• Carrington Mobile
• Carrington JAM