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Greg Rickaby: Alabama-based software engineer, self-taught photographer, and published author.

1 min readCode

Genesis Code Snippets

Genesis Code Snippets

Here is my collection of code snippets I use build child themes in Genesis.

If it's not here, please check out Bill Erickson's Genesis Quick Tips, Gary's Code, or Brian Gardner's Code. Thanks to Gary J for advice on cleaning up the code snippets to adhere with coding standards.

NOTE: While all of these functions still work, some may not with Genesis 2.0's new hook structure. Check out this visual guide to make adjustments.

Quickly navigate to a section:

Custom Header Support

/** Add custom header support */
add_theme_support( 'genesis-custom-header', array(
	'width'                 => 960,
	'height'                => 100,
	'textcolor'             => '444',
	'admin_header_callback' => 'minimum_admin_style',
) );

Remove Header

/** Remove Header */
remove_action( 'genesis_header', 'genesis_do_header' );

Remove Title & Description

/** Remove Title & Description */
remove_action( 'genesis_site_title', 'genesis_seo_site_title' );
remove_action( 'genesis_site_description', 'genesis_seo_site_description' );

Build a Custom Title

remove_action( 'genesis_site_title', 'genesis_seo_site_title' );
add_action( 'genesis_site_title', 'child_seo_site_title' );
 
/**
 * Remove title, add <span> in-between Buzz.
 * Then add title back to header.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_seo_site_title() {
	echo '<h1 id="title"><span>Buzz</span>Montgomery.com</h1>';
}

Move Navigation Menu

/** Move primary nav menu */
remove_action( 'genesis_after_header', 'genesis_do_nav' );
add_action( 'genesis_before_header', 'genesis_do_nav' );

Move Secondary Navigation Menu

/** Move secondary nav menu */
remove_action( 'genesis_after_header', 'genesis_do_subnav' );
add_action( 'genesis_before_header', 'genesis_do_subnav' );

Favicon To CDN

add_filter( 'genesis_pre_load_favicon', 'child_favicon_filter' );
 
/**
 * Change the location of the favicon reference.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_favicon_filter( $favicon_url ) {
	return 'http://cdn.yoursite.com/wp-content/themes/child/images/favicon.ico';
}

Stylesheet To CDN

remove_action( 'genesis_meta', 'genesis_load_stylesheet' );
add_action( 'genesis_meta', 'child_stylesheet_cdn' );
 
/**
 * Change the location of the stylesheet reference.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_stylesheet_cdn() {
	echo '<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://cdn.yourdomain.com/wp-content/themes/child/style.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />' . "\n";
}

Move jQuery To Google CDN

add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'script_managment', 99 );
 
/**
 * Change the location of jQuery.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function script_managment() {
	wp_deregister_script( 'jquery' );
	wp_deregister_script( 'jquery-ui' );
 
	wp_register_script( 'jquery', 'http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js' );
	wp_register_script( 'jquery-ui', 'http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8.16/jquery-ui.min.js' );
 
	wp_enqueue_script( 'jquery', 'http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js', array( 'jquery' ), '4.0', false );
	wp_enqueue_script( 'jquery-ui', 'http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8.16/jquery-ui.min.js', array( 'jquery' ), '1.8.16' );
}

Add viewport for responsive (mobile) design

/** Add Viewport meta tag for mobile browsers */
add_action( 'genesis_meta', 'child_viewport_meta_tag' );
 
function child_viewport_meta_tag() {
	echo '<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"/>';
}

Template

Place WP-Cycle (must have WP-Cycle plug-in installed first)

/** Place WP-Cycle */
add_action( 'genesis_before_loop', 'wp_cycle' );

Image Sizes

/** Custom image sizes */
add_image_size( 'Slideshow', 520, 280, TRUE );
add_image_size( 'Small Thumbnail', 70, 70, TRUE );

Post Thumbnails

/** Add support for post thumbnails */
set_post_thumbnail_size( 300, 165, TRUE );

Post Formats

/** Add support for post formats */
add_theme_support( 'post-formats', array( 'aside', 'chat', 'gallery', 'image', 'link', 'quote', 'status', 'video', 'audio' ) );
 
/** Add support for post format images */
add_theme_support( 'genesis-post-format-images' );

Unregister Site Layouts

/** Unregister site layouts */
genesis_unregister_layout( 'sidebar-content' );
genesis_unregister_layout( 'full-width' );
genesis_unregister_layout( 'content-sidebar-sidebar' );
genesis_unregister_layout( 'sidebar-sidebar-content' );
genesis_unregister_layout( 'sidebar-content-sidebar' );

Force Layout

add_filter( 'genesis_pre_get_option_site_layout', 'child_do_layout' );
 
/**
 * Force layout.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_do_layout( $opt ) {
	$opt = 'full-width-content'; // You can change this to any Genesis layout.
	return $opt;
}

Use the Genesis Custom Loop

remove_action( 'genesis_loop', 'genesis_do_loop' );
add_action( 'genesis_loop', 'custom_loop' );
 
/**
 * Remove default loop. Execute Custom Loop Instead.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function custom_loop() {
	global $paged;
 
	$args = array(
		'category_name'  => 'Blog',
		'order'          => 'asc',
		'order_by'       => 'title',
		'paged'          => $paged,
		'posts_per_page' => 5,
	);
 
	genesis_custom_loop( $args );
}
 
genesis();

Custom Page Template

<?php
/*
Template Name: Custom Page Template
*/
 
// Remove page title.
remove_action( 'genesis_entry_header', 'genesis_do_post_title' );
 
// Force full width content (optional).
add_filter( 'genesis_pre_get_option_site_layout', '__genesis_return_full_width_content' );
 
// Remove default Genesis loop.
remove_action( 'genesis_loop', 'genesis_do_loop' );
 
// Add new custom loop.
add_action( 'genesis_loop', 'child_custom_loop' );
 
/**
 * Execute child loop.
 */
function child_custom_loop() { ?>
	<!-- custom code here -->
<?php }
 
genesis();

Use the Genesis Grid Loop in front-page.php

remove_action( 'genesis_loop', 'genesis_do_loop' );
add_action( 'genesis_loop', 'child_grid_loop_helper' );
 
/** Add support for Genesis Grid Loop */
function child_grid_loop_helper() {
	if ( function_exists( 'genesis_grid_loop' ) ) {
		remove_action( 'genesis_before_post_content', 'generate_post_image', 5 );
 
		genesis_grid_loop( array(
			'features'              => 2,
			'feature_image_size'    => 'large',
			'feature_image_class'   => 'aligncenter post-image',
			'feature_content_limit' => 0,
			'grid_image_size'       => 'grid',
			'grid_image_class'      => 'alignleft post-image',
			'grid_content_limit'    => 0,
			'more'                  => __( 'Continue reading...', 'genesis' ),
			'posts_per_page'        => 6,
		) );
	} else {
		genesis_standard_loop();
	}
}
 
genesis();

Filter out duplicate posts in the WordPress Loop

$do_not_duplicate = array();
 
query_posts( 'cat=featured&showposts=6' );
 
while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
	$do_not_duplicate[] = $post->ID;
	// Do stuff.
endwhile;
 
wp_reset_query();

Add Widgets And WP-Cycle To front-page.php

remove_action( 'genesis_after_post_content', 'genesis_post_meta', 10 );
remove_action( 'genesis_loop', 'genesis_do_loop' );
add_action( 'genesis_before_loop', 'wp_cycle' );
add_action( 'genesis_loop', 'child_home_loop_helper' );
 
/**
 * Add Widgets and WP-Cycle to home.php.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_home_loop_helper() { ?>
	<div id="homepage_widgets">
		<div class="column1">
			<ul>
				<?php if ( ! function_exists( 'dynamic_sidebar' ) || ! dynamic_sidebar( 'Home 1' ) ) { ?><?php } ?>
			</ul>
		</div>
		<div class="column2">
			<ul>
				<?php if ( ! function_exists( 'dynamic_sidebar' ) || ! dynamic_sidebar( 'Home 2' ) ) { ?><?php } ?>
			</ul>
		</div>
	</div>
<?php }
 
genesis();

Body

Remove Post Titles

/** Custom post titles */
remove_action( 'genesis_post_title', 'genesis_do_post_title' );

Remove Post Titles Using Conditional Tags

remove_action( 'genesis_post_title', 'genesis_do_post_title' );
add_action( 'genesis_post_title', 'child_post_title' );
 
/**
 * Remove Post Title with conditional tag.
 */
function child_post_title() {
	if ( is_front_page() ) {
		remove_action( 'genesis_post_title', 'genesis_do_post_title' );
	}
}

See the WordPress Codex for more conditional tags.

Remove Edit Link

/** Remove Edit Link */
add_filter( 'edit_post_link', '__return_false' );

Remove default Post Image

/** Remove default post image */
remove_action( 'genesis_post_content', 'genesis_do_post_image' );

Add Post Image above Title

/** Add custom post image above post title */
add_action( 'genesis_before_post_content', 'generate_post_image', 5 );
 
function generate_post_image() {
	if ( is_page() || ! genesis_get_option( 'content_archive_thumbnail' ) ) {
		return;
	}
 
	if ( $image = genesis_get_image( array( 'format' => 'url', 'size' => genesis_get_option( 'image_size' ) ) ) ) {
		printf(
			'<a href="%s" rel="bookmark"><img class="post-image" src="%s" alt="%s" /></a>',
			get_permalink(),
			$image,
			the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' )
		);
	}
}

Custom Post Info (with Shortcodes)

add_filter( 'genesis_post_info', 'child_post_info_filter' );
 
/**
 * Custom Post Info with shortcodes.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_post_info_filter( $post_info ) {
	return '[post_date] by [post_author_posts_link] at [post_time] [post_comments] [post_edit]';
}

Remove Post Info (Author and Date information)

/** Remove post info */
remove_action( 'genesis_before_post_content', 'genesis_post_info' );

Remove Post Meta

/** Remove the post meta function */
remove_action( 'genesis_after_post_content', 'genesis_post_meta' );

Custom Post Meta (With Shortcodes)

add_filter( 'genesis_post_meta', 'child_post_meta_filter' );
 
/**
 * Custom Post Meta with shortcodes.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_post_meta_filter( $post_meta ) {
	return '[post_categories] Tagged with [post_tags]';
}

Read More Link

add_filter( 'excerpt_more', 'child_read_more_link' );
add_filter( 'get_the_content_more_link', 'child_read_more_link' );
add_filter( 'the_content_more_link', 'child_read_more_link' );
 
/**
 * Custom Read More link.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_read_more_link() {
	return '<a class="more-link" href="' . get_permalink() . '" rel="nofollow">Continue Reading...</a>';
}

Change Avatar Size

add_filter( 'genesis_comment_list_args', 'child_comment_list_args' );
 
/**
 * Change Avatar size.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_comment_list_args( $args ) {
	return array(
		'type'        => 'comment',
		'avatar_size' => 42,
		'callback'    => 'genesis_comment_callback',
	);
}

Remove Default Sidebar

/** Remove default sidebar */
remove_action( 'genesis_sidebar', 'genesis_do_sidebar' );

Remove Secondary Sidebars

/** Remove secondary sidebar */
unregister_sidebar( 'header-right' );
unregister_sidebar( 'sidebar' );
unregister_sidebar( 'sidebar-alt' );

Add Custom Sidebar

/** Add custom sidebar */
genesis_register_sidebar( array(
	'name'          => 'Alternative Sidebar',
	'id'            => 'sidebar-alternative',
	'description'   => 'This is an alternative sidebar',
	'before_widget' => '<div id="%1$s"><div class="widget %2$s">',
	'after_widget'  => "</div></div>\n",
	'before_title'  => '<h4><span>',
	'after_title'   => "</span></h4>\n",
) );

Add Widgets

add_action( 'genesis_sidebar', 'child_do_sidebar' );
 
/**
 * Add a widget/sidebar area.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_do_sidebar() {
	if ( ! function_exists( 'dynamic_sidebar' ) || ! dynamic_sidebar( 'Sidebar Name' ) ) {
	}
}

Custom Footer and Footer Nav (with Shortcodes)

add_filter( 'genesis_footer_output', 'child_output_filter', 10, 3 );
 
/**
 * Custom Footer with shortcodes.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_output_filter( $backtotop_text, $creds_text ) {
	$backtotop_text = '[footer_backtotop text="Top of Page"]';
	$creds_text     = wp_nav_menu( array( 'menu' => 'Footer Nav' ) );
 
	return '<div>' . $backtotop_text . '</div>' . '<div>' . $creds_text . '</div>';
}

Remove Footer Widgets (Genesis 1.6+)

/** Remove footer widgets */
remove_theme_support( 'genesis-footer-widgets', 3 );

Remove Footer

/** Remove Footer */
remove_action( 'genesis_footer', 'genesis_do_footer' );

Create a Custom Footer with HTML

remove_action( 'genesis_footer', 'genesis_do_footer' );
add_action( 'genesis_footer', 'child_footer_html' );
 
/**
 * Custom Footer with HTML.
 *
 * @author Greg Rickaby
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function child_footer_html() { ?>
	<div class="banner alignleft">
		<!-- openx text/code here -->
	</div>
	<div class="creds">
		<!-- credit text/code here -->
	</div>
<?php }

Development

Get settings from database

genesis_get_option( 'option_name', $this->settings_field );

Get settings from database for custom metaboxes

genesis_get_custom_field( 'meta_box_option_name' );

Cache Bust your CSS

add_filter( 'stylesheet_uri', 'child_stylesheet_uri' );
 
/**
 * Cache bust the style.css reference.
 */
function child_stylesheet_uri( $stylesheet_uri ) {
	return add_query_arg( 'v', filemtime( get_stylesheet_directory() . '/style.css' ), $stylesheet_uri );
}