iThemes » Essence Series

Essence Theme Series Gets Major Updates

Cory Miller — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:24:57 +0000

Our very first theme that launched iThemes was Essence, which continues to be one of our most popular theme series. And today, we’re pleased to announce some major changes and features to this excellent theme for version 3.4.

Here are the major changes for the Essence theme series:

They are now child theme enabled
They now facilitate the WordPress 3 custom navigation menus feature
Various bugs have been squashed and fixed
Default child themes have been created for each Essence theme version

There is more information in the iThemes Codex.

So not only does this update allow you to make modifications to your Essence theme without having to modify the core theme files, it is also pre-loaded with the proper code to facilitate the new WordPress 3 navigation menus (requires, obviously, WordPress 3)!

The child themes have an addon value, since they also incorporate the code that enables you to use the featured posts images (as described here) in your Essence theme.

Customer Testimonial: Essence Great Theme for Small Businesses

Sarah Sheldon — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:43:30 +0000

From time to time we get a client who volunteers to say something on our website after they’ve used one of our themes. Andy Black recently purchased Essence, and asked if he could write an excerpt sharing his experience with the world of WordPress and iThemes.

We said yes, of course!

***

“I don’t specialize in building websites, and I don’t want to. I help small businesses to grow by getting them more sales leads. Doing this via a website requires that the site has the right content and a professional look in order to convert visitors into sales.

Using WordPress makes it easy to update the website content, and using a good looking theme can supply the professional look and that all important wow factor that helps set you apart from your competition and help you convert visitors to sales.

I have been hunting for a good WordPress theme that I can use out of the box for small business clients of mine. I bought the Essence theme as it looks fantastic yet generic enough to be suitable for many different types of businesses.

With the Essence theme I believe that iThemes have thought of the most important things that a business website needs, things such as:

The wow factor with rotating images on the home page.
A text based header that is good for SEO and easy to change for those of us who can’t create logos!
An area for phone number in the header.
A contact form straight out of the box.

As a small business owner myself, I hate using free (and some premium) themes that have insufficient documentation or support, and where the theme is difficult to set up out of the box.

At the time of writing, the Essence theme had over 3,000+ posts in the support forum for that theme alone, which shows it’s being used a lot and has a lot of support. I can testify that I logged an issue on the forum to have it resolved within 2 hours.

The fix itself took me 10 seconds to perform and the person fixing it has over 4,000 posts so is obviously there for the long haul.

The documentation for the theme is outstanding, with video tutorials to guide you step by step, and there is plenty of support available in the forums too as already mentioned.

My business is knowledge based as well and I can see immediately that iThemes have a mission to capture and reuse the knowledge of all their customers for the benefit of their customers.

This makes me believe that there are no hidden extras of having to pay for additional support later on in their business model.

I bought the Essence theme 2 days ago and have already setup a business site for a client at www.argyllkitchens.co.uk. My clients is over the moon with the professional look of the site, and I’m delighted I can create this initial first cut in only 2 days with minimum web design skills (and most of the time was spent messing with photos!).

I think the Essence theme is the best I’ve come across for small businesses and I’m looking forward to checking out a few more of the themes from iThemes.

–Andy Black
Owner, Digital Insight Limited

Essence Theme 2.5 Released

Cory Miller — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:24:22 +0000

We’ve just released a major feature addition to our most popular theme series — Essence — which now includes a new Theme Options page.

The Theme Options page now allows you to:

Change the Home Page text without going into the code
Enter Feedburner feed information
Exclude Pages from Navigation
Paste in your Google Analytics stats code

Note: We will be sending out the 2.5 theme to all previous customers. Because of extensive changes to several theme files that need to be updated and some restructuring of the theme folder, we suggest you start with the updated theme file rather than trying to update your previous theme. Due to these changes, we can’t offer a change log for the updates. However if you have questions, you can ask them in the Essence Support Forum.

Blank Essence WordPress Theme

Cory Miller — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 23:17:10 +0000

Drawn from the Essence Theme Series, iThemes has released a stripped down version of the inaugural series simply called Blank Theme. This theme is ideal for those who want to highly customize the Essence layout, or simply want a clean, sharp look.

Key features include:

Drop-down menus
Static home page
6 inside page layouts
Integrated blog templates
Two header options: Text or graphic

PURCHASE: Buy this single theme for $79.95 or you can now get it included as a bonus with the 5-pack Essence multi-use package for $199.95.

DEMO: Test drive this theme here.

Single Use License – $79.95

Multi-Use License (includes all 5 Essence color styles) – $199.95

Blue Essence Theme

Cory Miller — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:11:16 +0000

The Essence Theme Series is designed to look, feel and function like a traditional website.Each theme in the Essence Series includes:

Elegant look and feel of traditional website
Static home page
7 inside page layouts
Integrated blog templates
Two header options: Text or graphic

Designed for: Website looking for a sleek and shiny appearance, like financial institutions, automotive dealerships.

See a Live Demo Here | Purchase Now

Blue Essence Theme

See a Live Demo Here | Purchase Now

Red Essence Theme

Cory Miller — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:11:02 +0000

The Essence Theme Series is designed to look, feel and function like a traditional website.Each theme in the Essence Series includes:

Elegant look and feel of traditional website
Static home page
7 inside page layouts
Integrated blog templates
Two header options: Text or graphic

Designed for: Websites for restaurants and food and beverage.

See a Live Demo Here | Purchase Now

Silver Essence Theme

Cory Miller — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:10:54 +0000

The Essence Theme Series is designed to look, feel and function like a traditional website.Each theme in the Essence Series includes:

Elegant look and feel of traditional website
Static home page
7 inside page layouts
Integrated blog templates
Two header options: Text or graphic

Designed for: Websites for interior decorators, insurance agents, real estate agents and more.

See a Live Demo Here | Purchase Now

Dark Essence Theme

Cory Miller — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:10:44 +0000

The Essence Theme Series is designed to look, feel and function like a traditional website.Each theme in the Essence Series includes:

Elegant look and feel of traditional website
Static home page
7 inside page layouts
Integrated blog templates
Two header options: Text or graphic

Designed for: Photographers, artists, designers.

See a Live Demo Here | Purchase Now

Golden Essence Theme

Cory Miller — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:09:43 +0000

The Essence Theme Series is designed to look, feel and function like a traditional website.Each theme in the Essence Series includes:

Elegant look and feel of traditional website
Static home page
7 inside page layouts
Integrated blog templates
Two header options: Text or graphic

Designed for: Photographers, artists, designers.

See a Live Demo Here | Purchase Now