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Thesis 1.8.5 and Exciting News about Thesis 2.0

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Thesis Theme 1.8.5

DiyThemes released an update for Thesis Theme to overcome some issues with the latest WordPress 3.4 release, some of these issues was reported by Thesis users last week, most of it has been covered in 1.8.5 and it’s now playing nicely with the new Live Theme Previews in WP 3.4, plus some other cool modifications. So, I will be busy working today on upgrading all my Thesis Skins to the latest version to keep it updated.

Also, a side from this, StudioPress also has begin Genesis Theme development to drop 1.9 soon.

So, back to Thesis, the new 1.8.5 was officially announced today on the blog and it’s ready for download.

Thesis 1.8.5 Update includes:

Front modifications

  • Fixed theme preview in WordPress 3.4 for normal and multisite installations.
  • Improved multisite post thumbnail handling on a wider variety of server setups.
  • Resolved layout.css error message in multisite that appeared (wrongly) due to certain user permissions.

SEO modifications

  • Updated the author microformat in post bylines so it passes the Google Rich Snippet Tool without warnings.
  • Basic HTML tags are now allowed inside widget titles, so you have more presentational flexibility in those areas.
  • In previous versions, if you added a nav menu via a widget, it would display horizontally like the default nav menu. Now, menus added via widgets will display just like a normal vertical list of links, so you won’t have to waste time undoing undesirable styles.

Some other updates reported in the DiyThemes forum

  • Updated JS libraries included in Thesis Design Options → JavaScript to their latest versions
  • Prevented the <!--more--> tag from appearing in meta descriptions in situations where the description is pulled automatically
  • Prevented an empty #comments div from appearing on pages with comments
  • Fixed a minor HTML error in the Killer Recent Entries widget that occurred under certain circumstances
  • Minor fixes to prevent string offset errors in PHP 5.4 and WP debug mode

Thesis 2.0 news

Chris Pearson -the creator of the Thesis Theme Framework– announced: (source)

We’ve got about 120 hours of development and testing left before the alpha (only available to DIYthemes staffers) will be ready. Based on experience, I think we’ll probably have another 60 hours of development on top of that plus a couple of weeks out in the wild before the beta is ready for release.

With that information in mind, I think Thesis 2 will probably make its world debut in August.

I hope to see Thesis 2.0 soon!

Should I upgrade to Thesis 1.8.5 ?

Ok, I know that I will get this question from ThesisAwesome members, so I will just answer it here.

There is nothing that I see stopping you from upgrading to the latest 1.8.5, I’ve done some upgrades on my test sites, and all went good so far. However, I thought I will be able to finally develop without the annoying notices allover my blog, but after upgrading to 1.8.5 I still see some notices on the front and back ends while Debug mode is enabled (this shouldn’t be a problem for Thesis users), it’s a pain for developers.

This is what I get when Debug is enabled:

[box type=”yellow”]Notice: get_theme_data is deprecated since version 3.4! Use wp_get_theme() instead[/box]

It shows in all Thesis options pages.

[box type=”yellow”]Notice: Undefined property: thesis_comments::$comments[/box]

It shows on the front-end of the blog, above the comment section, only when a post has not comments (comments count zero).

I remember when 1.8.4 was released, Thesis team said all warning notices was solved, I was so excited about it, but that wasn’t true. So, even now.. in 1.8.5, things are not yet clean, this turn me off, and to make it clear, I don’t develop while Thesis Theme is enabled on my dev blog, I prefer Twenty Eleven or Genesis Theme as they both provide a lovely development atmosphere.

Also, something else to put in mind, if your blog has heavy theme customization, then don’t do it right away, please give it another thought! Think of what customization could conflict with the new modification, at least start with a test site, then do the less important sites, and when things looks good, make the final move and upgrade your live site.

So, OK! My answer is… It depends.

Update: If you are using any of our skins or using Thesis Theme in general, then follow these steps to upgrade to the latest version 1.8.5:

About

I create websites with WordPress, and I develop Schema Plugins to help SEOs. I am a social network lover. I am also the night creature who works hard to keep this project up. Owner and founder of the Famous Blog.

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{ 21 Responses }

  1. Ramkalyan says:
    Hello Hesham, I'm a Genesis user. However, I've been reading a lot about the Thesis framework recently and I found this information useful. Thank you. Since you’ve mentioned Genesis in this post, I assume that you are familiar with both frameworks. How would compare these frameworks? Do you have a post about it?
  2. Gouri says:
    Thesis 2.0 is said to make the update process quite easy with inbuilt auto update. Eagerly awaiting its release.
  3. Webmaster General says:
    So, version 2.0 is still in the oven? I read another post here about why you gave Thesis 3 out of 5..which you were willing to revise if and when 2.0 arrives. I am a designer choosing between Genesis and Thesis. I find Mr Pearsons business sense appalling! The licensing just sucks - big time. $87 for one user install is rotten. Secondly, i cannot see why he wouldn't reply to YOU as a skins developer - you are marketing his framework for free after all. Maybe he thinks he's Bill Gates or The President - too high and mighty to email people below him. With Themeforest, Pagelines, Genesis and Headay kicking ass, Mr Pearson needs to wake up, smell the coffee, and start offering a better framework with more transparency and openness for all users. Wordpress.org offers a FREE piece of software par excellence after all.
  4. Raaj Trambadia says:
    Hello Hesham. I use thesis framework and have designed my site my way. I have a question regarding thesis awesome skins - Are those just designs? As in, there's an option in Thesis to "Download the Options" (design and site). So are Thesis Awesome skins designed from the thesis framework from where the options are uploaded? I'm not underestimating anything :) Was just wondering about it. Thanks :)
  5. Dean Saliba says:
    While it is nice to see the developers of Thesis swiftly getting 1.8.5 out I fear it has come to late for me. Only one of my blogs is using Thesis (my main blog) and I am strongly thinking about replacing it with Genesis because I've tried it on other blogs and it seems better and less hassle. I might wait until 2.0 comes out and see how that is before I make the final decision whether to move my main blog to Genesis or not. :)
    • Hesham Zebida says:
      2.0 is full of promises!
      • Raaj Trambadia says:
        Hey Hesham! Just saw 2.0 and can't wait to see the new features! Will the existing customers get the upgrade for free? I hope we will :)
        • Hesham Zebida says:
          It depends on what 2.0 has for us, so I really can't answer that question before I see it! By thew way, Thesis Theme 2.0 is not released yet, so no need to get excited!
  6. Sherryl Perry says:
    Hesham, I'm with Kristi as far as being terrified of updates. It seems everything I touch lately has had some sort of minor complication. (Thankfully, minor is the key.) I appreciate your advice to Kristi about her probably being safe. I know you can't make any guarantees but I find that comforting still. Since, I don't make any complicated modifications, I think it's time I went ahead and upgraded at least one site that I maintain. As always, thanks!
    • Hesham Zebida says:
      Hi Sherryl, I did a few other blogs of mine, and some other for clients, I can confirm the upgrade is good to go!
      • Sherryl Perry says:
        Hi Hesham, The upgrade went smoothly. Thanks for the motivation that I needed. Now, off to upgrade more sites.
        • Hesham Zebida says:
          Great, thanks for reporting this :) and good luck your other sites.
  7. Devesh says:
    Hey Hesham, I just upgraded all my sites to thesis 1.8.5 and it's good to know that Thesis 2.0 is making its debut in August.
    • Hesham Zebida says:
      Great, glad all went good!
  8. Ben Troy says:
    The version 1.8.5 Updated the author microformat in post bylines so it passes the Google Rich Snippet Tool without any warnings, this is the important element why other old version could not pass
    • Hesham Zebida says:
      Hi Ben, Glad this worked for you! However for me it won't make any difference, I have modified the part of authorship and it doesn't depend on Thesis anymore, that's what I mean by heavy customization, I have some parts that could break! Needless to say, upgrading is not for everyone!
  9. Kristi Hines says:
    I'm always terrified of updates and how they will affect everything (plugins, themes, etc.). Sounds like Thesis is at least on the ball with fixing anything WordPress breaks for them. :)
    • Hesham Zebida says:
      To be honest, the only blog that terrifies me is FB, I haven't upgraded to WP 3.4 or Thesis 1.8.5 yet, however I did 9 successful site upgrades in the last couple of hours. I don't think you have complicated modification on your blog, so I would just say it's safe!