What is a WordPress Framework?

WordPress Framework is often underestimated

Hello! People often ask me what a WordPress Framework is. It’s a good question because WordPress Frameworks are often underestimated, they need more credit.

However a lot of people use them on daily basis and not many people know the very concept of WordPress Frameworks.

One of the reasons is that WordPress Frameworks don’t have exclusive and unique definition like WordPress plugins, for example.

Two ways of WordPress Framework Perspective

Frameworks have merged into the developer’s area. That’s why sometimes they remain not famous and not many people know about them.

Today there are two main perspectives of how you may think about WordPress Framework:

• End User’s perspective.
• Developer’s perspective.

For End User WordPress framework adds sets of tools that are built into WordPress functionality, it may look like a part of an engine.

Also WordPress Framework brings number of child themes for End User and as a result additional design options that can be switched on and off.

The WordPress theme developers use WordPress Framework as their own internal toolkit for producing WordPress themes faster and make them more stable.

For example, when using parent and child themes, you can fix or customize one element without breaking code in the other.

This is one of the features which makes WordPress Framework so popular and widely spread.

A lot of WordPress developers are using WordPress Frameworks to build themes faster.

Main value of WordPress Framework lies in the developer’s area, i.e., developers use WordPress Framework to speed up theme creation process, make process of theme building seamless.

Most popular WordPress Frameworks

Below is the list of the most popular WordPress Frameworks:

• Genesis Framework
• WooFramework from WooThemes
• Thesis
• Cherry Framework built by TemplateMonster
• Gantry Framework

Top Frameworks aren’t free, e.g., the Genesis Framework costs about $60 per license while Thesis starts at $90 per license. Cherry and Gantry Frameworks are free.

Above is a general definition of WordPress Framework. Let us know in case you have any questions.