A jolly good fellow asked the question “What is your go to framework/theme to accomplish full mobile responsiveness…?” on the advanced WordPress Facebook group.
This question sparked a lot of quality replies from “advanced WordPress users”, who better to enlighten us on the best theme frameworks for WordPress theme development than the people who use these frameworks regularly.
A framework is like a blank WordPress theme, a boilerplate, that serves as a starting point for developing a custom theme, they are sometimes referred to as “starter themes”.
The list is ranked based on the number of times each framework, starter theme or blank WordPress theme was nominated as the best framework for theme development.
1. Genesis
The Genesis Framework by StudioPress allows you to easily build amazing websites with WordPress.
Genesis provides a fast, secure, and search engine optimized foundation for WordPress, It can easily be customized to suit your needs by using a child theme and most importantly, it is a fully responsive WordPress framework.
Genesis with Dynamik
The Dynamik site builder enables you to create completely custom designs with little or no coding and then you can export your design as a Custom Genesis Child Theme. Dynamik offers you the ability to extend the Genesis design with intuitive no-coding design options.
Genesis Extender
Genesis Extender is also a product of ColbatApps. Unlike the Dynamik site builder which is a child theme, Genesis extender is a plugin that basically extends the functions of your genesis child theme, it allows you customize your child theme without having to get out your code editor or FTP, it does this by adding extra options to your Genesis options.
The Dynamik website builder includes all the functions of the Genesis extender.
Genesis is the most popular wordpress theme framework available and it is safe to say it is currently the best WordPress theme framework for developers.
You can get the Genesis framework for just $59.95.
2. Foundation
Foundation by Zurb is one of the most advanced responsive front-end framework on the market.
Foundation could also be used to build responsive WordPress themes. Although it is easy to configure and it comes packed with all kinds of goodies, you are still going to need some coding skills to come up with something beautiful.
Foundation slugs it out with Genesis as the preferred framework used in designing WordPress themes. It is indeed one of the best responsive framework around and better still it is free.
3. Headway
Headway is a solid WordPress framework that could be used to build almost any WordPress layout you can think of, customize page templates, select colors, fonts, and many more, all thanks to the Headway Visual Editor.
The Headway Template is a pre-built website template in the Headway Visual Editor. Developers, designers and even newbies can mold it to fit individual needs.
Headway Themes remains a popular WordPress framework among developers and designers.
A personal license costs $59, business license costs $99 and a developer license would dig a $199 hole in your digital wallet.
4. Underscores
Underscores is a WordPress starter theme that provides a good framework for developers to create a parent theme.
If the term blank WordPress theme was ever correct, Underscores would be the framework that you could refer to as a blank WordPress theme.
Underscore is a product from Automattic, and it adheres strictly to the best theming practices. It is perfect for WordPress developers and designers looking to create their new themes without starting from scratch.
Underscores is a completely free WordPress theme framework and is available for immediate download.
5. Bootstrap
Bootstrap is arguably one of the most popular HTML, CSS, and JS frameworks for developing responsive, mobile first projects on the web.
The Bootstrap framework is a very flexible responsive framework that could be used to create a different kind of websites.
Bootstrap is currently on its third version and it continues to grow in features and popularity among WordPress web designers and developers.
You can get started with Bootstrap right away as it is completely free and available for immediate download.
