We’ve been quietly working on Genesis 1.5 for a while now, and we had it in beta for a week now. This is not a very big release – but it does, however, tie up some loose ends, adds some useful new features, and fix some bugs. Below you’ll see what’s been included…
Rewritten Style Sheet
We have taken a lot of time and worked with our development community to rewritte the default Style Sheet. After all, you’re not really supposed to be using Genesis itself, right? True, but keep in mind that many people use the main Genesis Style Sheet as a starting point for their own child themes, just as we do here internally. So we felt like an update might be in order. It now includes a table of contents, sections which are clearly commented, and consolidated styles and definitions. We think you’ll like it.
Genesis Grid Loop
Sites like ChrisBrogan.com required custom code to accomplish that left-right grid loop on the homepage, so we thought it’d be a good idea to build the function that does the heavy lifting into core, add some useful parameters, and make it official. This feature is really simple to use and only requires a few lines of code. In fact, we’ve already got a child theme with the grid loop almost ready to release. In the meantime, you can learn How to Use the Genesis Grid Loop.
New Breadcrumb Class
Thanks to Genesis developer Gary Jones, we now have a well structured and documented breadcrumb class. The markup remains intact, so you probably won’t notice a big difference, but it does make for a better experience with breadcrumbs, especially if you’re using custom post types or taxonomies.
Geeky bit: You’ll notice a new folder for classes. Yes, we are going to start moving things around a bit in the future. Genesis is going to take full advantage of OOPHP for it’s major modules. Hopefully, this will make ongoing maintenance much easier and faster.
Post Format Support
When WordPress 3.1 drops (hopefully soon), it will include a new feature called “Post Formats”. I won’t bore you with the details, just head over here and read all about it. Genesis 1.5 has you covered already. And just like with the Genesis Grid Loop, we’ll have a child theme ready to go, so you can take a look and see how it all works.
Of Course, the Bug Fixes
You already know this, but in case you didn’t, you made the right decision by going with Genesis. We’re constantly discovering new and better ways of doing things, and we get to pass that on to you through updates. You simply could not do that as effectively with a traditional theme setup. Genesis 1.5 is no exception. We’ve squashed some bugs, and you have to do is click a button and within seconds you’re running the latest version. Lucky you!
Head to your dashboard, find the upgrade notification, and click the link. Yes, it’s THAT easy. Have fun!