Big Changes at StudioPress
StudioPress was purchased by WP Engine in 2018 and has seen a lot of changes. Most recently, StudioPress has been evolving to be compatible with major updates happening with WordPress software. Specifically, StudioPress is changing its themes to be compatible with full site block editing (available with WordPress 5.9.)
Most StudioPress Themes are Archived or Sold Directly from Third-Party Sellers
To be ready for full site block editing, StudioPress decided to limit the number of themes available – as of this writing only ten. The rest of the StudioPress themes were archived. Third-party themes are still listed on StudioPress (33 in total) but are available for purchase only from third-party vendors.
Here are the themes that are available as of November 2021 (no longer sold individually):
- Altitude Pro theme
- Authority Pro Theme
- Breakthrough Pro Theme
- Essence Pro Theme
- Genesis Sample Theme
- Infinity Pro Theme
- Magazine Pro Theme
- Monochrome Pro Theme
- Navigation Pro Theme
- Revolution Pro Theme
Genesis, the main framework theme is now available for free but does require you to sign-up and give your name and email address.
StudioPress Third Party Themes that are available (sold directly from their Creators):
- Agency Focused Pro Theme
- Aspire Pro Theme
- Coaching Plus Theme
- Cook’d Pro Theme
- Course Maker Pro Theme
- Dakota Theme
- Elegance Pro Theme
- Gallery Pro Theme
- Foodie Pro Theme
- Hello! Pro Theme
- Jessica Theme
- Kickstart Pro Theme
- Mai Achieve Pro Theme
- Mai Chic Pro Theme
- Mai Creative Pro Theme
- Mai Delight Theme
- Mai Prosper Theme
- Mai Reach Theme
- Mai Studio Theme
- Mai Success Theme
- Maker Pro Theme
- Market Pro Theme
- Niche Pro Theme
- Oasis
- Recipe Blogger Theme
- Refined Pro Theme
- Showcase Pro Theme
- Simply Pro Theme
- Slush Pro Theme
- Uprising
- Virtual Assistant Theme
What Does This Mean if Your Theme is Archived?
Updates for archived themes will be limited to security patches. Compatibility with WordPress updates will start to wane with functionality. It may take a while for this to become apparent, but you may be okay for a bit.
Most themes (child-themes as they are called) had very little PHP coding to them which helps and relied on the parent Genesis theme. However, technology doesn’t stay still. Updates with WordPress and servers (due to PHP languages) will eventually break the site.
How Long Until Your Archived Theme Breaks?
Hard to say. First it depends on when your website went live with that child-theme. Was it more than eight years ago? In general, any theme that was installed more than 8+ years ago, needs to be checked errors are not being thrown.
The full site editing capability coming with WordPress 5.9 will demonstrably change the landscape of themes. Genesis is a widget based theme for front pages and out of step with this change. Talk to your developer for the best approach, it may be you can let it slide for a bit or you might want to future proof your site and redo the front page. Or you have an older site, it probably looks a bit dated (dated sites can look less professional). Consider a redesign in the near future to keep competitive.
The First Sign of Your Archived Theme is Aging
With WordPress 5.8, came the new Gutenberg block-editor widgets capability. Genesis did block the block-editor widget functionality to prevent websites from breaking that may not work well with the new technology. Most older themes used widgets extensively on the front page and may break your site layout.
Your web developer can activate widget block-editor functionality but be advised, back up your website first and try it on a staging server first. Your theme may not work well with the new widget block editor.
In Summary
If your website is run on one of the archived themes, it is probably time to start thinking about redoing your website with a more WordPress compatible theme framework. Especially if it is older than 8 years.
Our website, Arts Assistance, is going through a redesign (we had the Agency Pro which was archived) with a brand-new theme framework optimized for full site block editing. However, we decided not to continue with StudioPress.
When you shop for the next theme, check that your new theme is “full site editor” compatible. Additionally, although not covered in this article, it’s important your theme be accessible (meets WCAG 2.0 or higher.) If they don’t mention accessibility, that is a red flag.
Do you have an archived StudioPress theme?