What to Expect from Thesis 2.0

Thesis 2 has been out for a while… How has it lived up to your expectations? Did all of the features below make it in? What do you think? Check out my review here.

It’s been over three years since i first began using Thesis and participating in its awesome community. Three years from its humble beginnings. Before the abstracted framework. Before it’s powerful design control panel. Before my OpenHook plugin.

Before Thesis became the new hotness in WordPress design and development.

A lot has changed, and today we are on the verge of the next huge milestone: Thesis 2.0 But what do we know about it? If there’s anything developer Chris Pearson is really good at, it’s being secretive, leaking only teasers to keep our appetites whetted for what’s to come. Here are some of the highlights!

Hooks are dead! Long live hooks!

Most notable to me is that 2.0 will feature new & exciting methods of customization, rendering hooks unnecessary. But hooks are not being abandoned! Those of you who are comfortable customizing via hooks (and by extension, via OpenHook) will be thrilled to know that there will be more hooks than ever in 2.0, allowing an even greater degree of customization.

Thesis (and OpenHook) really helped bring the idea of customizing themes via hooks to the masses, and now it seems that every other theme is playing catchup in the hook department. Looks like we’ll be leaving them behind yet again…

New API for add-ons!

While it isn’t yet clear to what extent this new interface will allow us to customize, Chris promises the sexiest add-ons ever. Bold words, but if there’s one thing i know, it’s not to doubt the creativity of the Thesis community, and this new layer of customization will no doubt burst at the seams with awesomeness very soon after launch.

Roll Your Own Web Apps?

I’m most curious about this: the ability to create your own apps, whether backend or frontend, and apparently it’s so robust, Thesis’ own option panels are built using it.

My guess? We’ll be able to port popular WordPress plugins to native Thesis apps. My hope? I’ll be able to roll out OpenHook as a native Thesis app, living within Thesis as opposed to being a separate plugin in WordPress.

My dream? A Thesis app directory featuring the ability to add/update add-ons via WordPress. (I know WordPress allows you to check other repositories for upgrades & such rather than just their own… So this may be a possibility at some point!)

Widgets are dead! Long live widgets!

Yep, just like with hooks, it looks as though widgets may no longer be a necessary customization tool, but for those who choose to use them, 2.0 will be handling them better than ever.

Email list empowerment!

Thesis has always been a powerful, marketing-friendly theme, and now you’ll be able to engage your users even further with native email list integration if you’re using a service such as Aweber or MailChimp. Chris wants to make your WordPress+Thesis site your one-stop for engaging your readers and customers online, and being able to manage your email lists from within that setup is just another step in the right direction.

Pricing

Thesis Theme for WordPress: Options Galore and a Helpful Support Community

It looks as though the price for new customers won’t change: $87 for the Personal Option & $164 for the Developer’s Option. Currently, however, if you already have a Personal Option, the upgrade price to claim the Developer’s Option is a cool $77. And if you’ve ever thought about upgrading, do so soon! The upgrade price is likely to increase when 2.0 hits.

Eye candy… Candy for the eyes!

I’m really digging the splash of green in 2.0. The style likely isn’t final yet (I don’t think Chris is ever truly “done” with tweaking styles!), but it’s already looking great.

WHEN‽

The only thing I know for sure is that it’s possible that we may see 2.0 by Halloween. And if you want to be ready for it, buy Thesis today and prepare to take your site to the next level.

What else?

Have you heard something i haven’t? Share it in the comments! I’m excited for the next generation of the world’s greatest WordPress theme, and if you’re rocking Thesis, I’m sure you are too. Bring on the new hotness, Chris! Also, be sure to follow Thesis on Twitter, as well as my own account, where i’m sharing all sorts of sweet little customizations for your WordPress+Thesis installation.

5 thoughts on “What to Expect from Thesis 2.0”

  1. At this point, I look at Thesis 2.0 sort of like the Great Pumpkin. It’s fun to dream about, but if I sit and wait in the pumpkin patch for it, I’m likely to be disappointed….again.

    1. Your guess is as good as mine. I wish DIYthemes would align themselves to WordPress.org’s model so that their theme could be placed in the premium theme directory. Then we’d have auto-updates, without the need for DIYthemes to reinvent the wheel by implementing their own system, which ultimately adds to the processor overhead of the theme.

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