Last week, DIYthemes released Thesis version 1.7, an upgrade that includes new options for search engine optimization (SEO), behind-the-scenes performance enhancements, some interface changes, and my favourite part—an Options Manager that lets you save the settings you make in the options panels to easily reuse them on other sites.

A complete list of the new features is available on the DIYthemes site. (If you don't already have Thesis and would like to learn more about it, check out my earlier post, What Is the Thesis Theme and Why Would You Want It?)

I'll be writing about some of these new features over the next few days. In the meantime, if you're planning to upgrade a site that currently runs Thesis (the upgrade is free for existing customers), please be sure to follow the installation instructions (login required) exactly. The most important thing to note is, if you're upgrading from a version earlier than 1.6, you should not overwrite the new custom folder with your current one; instead, you need to upload the contents of your current folder into the new one.

Also, one thing not mentioned in the instructions is if you've got any URLs in your custom.css or custom_functions.php files (for example, to a header or background image). If you're using hard-coded full paths for the URLs, you'll need to change any references to thesis_16 (or earlier versions) to thesis_17. Otherwise, those images won't appear after you upgrade.

Note that I've installed the new version on both a new site and on this blog and haven't encountered any problems.

I've also updated the Thesis Theme Starter Pack to reflect relevant changes to the theme's interface and functionality. If you purchased the previous version of the Starter Pack (or got it free with your Thesis purchase), you should have received an email from me telling you how to get the updated guide. If you haven't received it, please send me an email at Thesis@TechForLuddites.com.

Posted in Blogging, How To, Social Media, Thesis