Genesis

Genesis is the new name for Genesis 5. During the transition, installed extensions, package names, filesystem paths, APIs, and download URLs may continue to use the genesis, Genesis, or Genesis identifiers for compatibility.

Recent Updates – 2026 Activity & 5.6.0 Release

We've been heads-down on development since taking over stewardship, with lighter public communication than ideal (last major updates were quieter after October 2025). Thank you for your patience—we're back to more visible progress.

Genesis 5.6.0 was released under the former product name on February 24, 2026:

• Full native compatibility with Joomla 5 (dropped Joomla 4 support)
• PHP 8.3.0 or newer is required
• Platform-specific improvements and fixes across Joomla, WordPress, and Grav
• Updated compatibility matrix and admin notices for smoother upgrades
• Recent commits include Joomla 5 native changes, WordPress page assignment fixes, code cleanups, and version bumps

Check the full CHANGELOG.md for details.

Project Status
Genesis is actively developed and maintained by the Dazzle Software team. It is not in maintenance-only mode or abandoned—we are committed long-term.

What's Ahead in 2026

• Genesis remains free and open-source under GPL-3.0-or-later.

• Focus areas: Developer tools + AI-assisted features (smarter particle/outline workflows, AI integration points).

• Optional premium add-on packages to expand core capabilities without gating anything.

• Actively working on a theme migration addon to help convert legacy Dazzle Software Genesis themes (e.g., Quasar, Dominion, Galatea, Versla, and similar from their older catalog) to Genesis using Helium (or Hydrogen) as the base—while preserving as much of the original design, layout, and styling as possible. This includes tools to adapt/replace bundled legacy Dazzle Software addons/plugins like RokSprocket, RokGallery, RokNavMenu, RokCandy, RokQuickCart, RokFeatureTable, and others that were common in RT themes.
  No firm promises on 100% perfect 1:1 fidelity (legacy extensions + platform changes can be complex), but we believe we can cover most common scenarios and make upgrades far easier for sites still on older RT setups.

• Genesis is in active development as the successor name for Genesis, with deeper modern integrations (including MCP support). A detailed feature list and roadmap will be shared through the project channels.

Community & Transparency
We'll improve regular updates here on GitHub (discussions/announcements), genesis.org/blog, and possibly X. If you have open PRs, issues, or ideas—especially around legacy theme migrations—please open a discussion or comment below. We're prioritizing backlog review and merges now that 5.6.0 is out.

Thanks for joining us as Genesis becomes Genesis. Your feedback and support mean a lot—let's keep building!

— Gene Teigland, Dazzle Software

Important

GENESIS IS BECOMING GENESIS - Read about the stewardship transition

Dazzle Software is the official steward of the framework formerly known as Genesis. Under its new Genesis name, the project continues the flexible, fast, and clean theming framework used across WordPress, Joomla, Grav, and phpBB.

Genesis builds on Genesis's established architecture and ecosystem. Existing Genesis installations and themes remain a compatibility priority throughout the rename.

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Ready to get started with Genesis? That's great! We are here to help.

On this page, you will get some quick tips to help you hit the ground running with Genesis. Some installation packages and linked documentation still use the Genesis 5 name during the compatibility transition.

We hope you enjoy Genesis every bit as much as we enjoy building it.

Browser Requirements

The back-end administration requirements of Genesis in order of preference are as follows:

• Google Chrome 60+
• Firefox 60+
• Safari 12+
• Opera 47+
• MS Edge

Note: Internet Explorer is no longer supported

Installing Genesis and the Hydrogen Theme

Genesis is a framework for building and running Genesis-powered themes. You need to install both the framework and a compatible theme. Existing Genesis 5 themes remain part of the supported compatibility path.

During the rename transition, download packages continue to use their existing Genesis 5 names and locations. Download the latest framework build and Hydrogen using the links below or from GitHub.

Download Stable	Download CI Builds

Once you have the latest packages, installation is simple. We have provided a step-by-step guide in the Installation portion of this documentation.

Learn More

Accessing the Genesis Administrator

Joomla

After installing and activating the Genesis framework and Hydrogen, you can access its administrator in several ways. During the compatibility transition, Joomla may still display the legacy Components > Genesis 5 Templates menu and extension identifier.

Here, you will see a list of installed Genesis-compatible themes. You can Preview a theme or select Configure to open the administrator and modify your site.

Navigating the Genesis Administrator

The Genesis Administrator has multiple tools for configuring how your theme looks and functions. Here is a quick breakdown of each tool.

You will notice the following menu items in the Genesis Administrator:

1. Menu Editor: This administrative panel gives you the ability to enhance the platform's menu by altering styling, rearranging links, and creating menu items that sit outside of the CMS's integrated Menu Manager.

2. About: This page gives you quick, at-a-glance information about the currently-accessed theme. This is a one-stop shop for information about the theme including: name, version number, creator, support links, features, and more.

3. Platform Settings: This button takes you to the CMS settings page for Genesis. In Joomla, this is the Permissions configuration page.

4. Clear Cache: This button clears the cache files related to Genesis. This includes all of the temporary files outside of CSS and configuration information.

5. Outlines Dropdown: This dropdown makes it easy to quickly switch between Outlines without having to leave the Genesis Administrator.

6. Styles: This administrative panel gives you access to style related outline settings. This includes things like theme colors, fonts, style presets, and more.

7. Settings: This administrative panel offers you the ability to configure the functional settings of the theme. This includes setting defaults for Particles, as well as enabling/disabling individual Particles.

8. Layout: This administrative panel is where you would configure the layout for your theme. Creating an placing module positions, Particles, spacers, and non-rendered scripts such as Google Analytics code is all done in this panel.

Learn More

What are Outlines, Particles, Atoms, etc.?

Genesis uses a few framework-specific terms. Here is a quick breakdown of their relationships.

Term	Definition
Outline	A configurable style used in one or more areas of your site. It serves as the container on which a page's style, settings, and layout are set.
Particle	A typically small block of data used on the front end. It acts like a widget or module and can be configured in the Genesis Administrator.
Atom	A type of Particle that contains non-rendered data, such as custom scripting (JS, CSS, etc.) or analytics scripts for traffic tracking.

Learn More

Where to Get Help

A chat room has been set up using Gitter where you can go to talk about the project with developers, contributors, and other members of the community. This is the best place to go to get quick tips and discuss features with others.

Documentation is also available, and being continually added to as development progresses. Is something missing? You can contribute to the documentation through GitHub.

How to Contribute

Contributing to Genesis or its documentation is easy. Development is conducted through GitHub, where you can submit issues, suggest improvements, and open pull requests.

We recommend chatting with the team via Gitter prior to submitting the pull request to avoid doubling up on a fix that is already pending or likely to be overwritten by an upcoming change.

Developing from Source on Windows

The repository includes Windows batch scripts for installing dependencies, compiling assets, running the PHP compatibility suite, creating distributable packages, and resetting the development environment. Run them from a Command Prompt or PowerShell window opened at the repository root.

Requirements

• PHP 8.3.0 or newer available as php in PATH.
• Composer available as composer in PATH.
• Node.js 20.19.0 or newer, including npm.cmd, in PATH.
• Windows PowerShell for the repository-wide Node cleanup script.

The scripts use the repository-local Gulp installation, so installing Gulp globally is not required.

Recommended First-Time Build Order

From the repository root, run:

composer-install-all.bat
assets-install.bat
assets-build.bat all
php83-tests.bat
scss-validate-all.bat
package-build.bat dev

This order ensures that PHP and package-builder dependencies exist before testing or packaging, and that all JavaScript and SCSS assets have been compiled before packages are created.

For a production package build, use assets-build.bat all --prod followed by package-build.bat prod.

Batch Script Reference

Script	Purpose	When to run it
composer-install-all.bat	Verifies PHP 8.3+, creates missing platform src junctions, and runs composer install in the root, builder, current platform, and debug-bar projects.	First setup, after a composer.lock change, or after Composer cleanup.
assets-install.bat	Verifies Node.js 20.19.0+ and runs npm install in the root and all asset subprojects.	First setup, after a package.json or lock-file change, or after Node cleanup.
assets-build.bat	Runs the local Gulp compiler. It accepts all, css, or js, plus an optional --prod.	After asset installation and whenever JS or SCSS needs compiling.
assets-watch.bat	Runs Gulp in watch mode for all, css, or js. Press Ctrl+C to stop it.	During active frontend development.
php83-tests.bat	Verifies PHP 8.3+ and runs the PHPUnit compatibility suite with TestDox output. Extra PHPUnit arguments are forwarded.	After Composer installation and before packaging or committing PHP changes.
scss-validate-all.bat	Compiles every Joomla, WordPress, and Grav theme SCSS entry point with modern scssphp and fails on compiler warnings or deprecations.	After SCSS changes and before packaging.
package-build.bat	Runs the Phing package builder through bin\build and writes packages to dist.	After dependencies, assets, and tests are ready.
wordpress-deploy-builds.bat	Replaces the local WordPress genesis plugin and all genesis_* themes with packages from dist. Other plugins and themes are preserved.	After package-build.bat wordpress-dev when refreshing the local WordPress test site.
assets-reset.bat	Runs targeted asset cleanup and then reinstalls the four known asset projects.	When the normal Node installation is stale or damaged.
assets-cleanup.bat	Removes node_modules from the root and the three known asset subprojects.	Before a targeted clean reinstall. Usually use assets-reset.bat instead.
node-modules-cleanup-all.bat	Recursively removes every outermost node_modules directory under the repository, including the root.	For a complete Node reset. Use --dry-run or -n to preview.
composer-cleanup-all.bat	Removes all known Composer vendor directories without changing lock files.	For a complete PHP reset; follow it with composer-install-all.bat.

Asset Commands

rem Compile all development assets
assets-build.bat
assets-build.bat all

rem Compile only CSS or JavaScript
assets-build.bat css
assets-build.bat js

rem Compile minified production assets without source maps
assets-build.bat all --prod

rem Watch all files, SCSS only, or JavaScript only
assets-watch.bat
assets-watch.bat css
assets-watch.bat js

Package Build Targets

package-build.bat defaults to dev and accepts these targets:

Target	Output
dev	Development packages for Joomla, WordPress, and Grav.
prod	Production packages for Joomla, WordPress, and Grav.
joomla-dev / joomla-prod	Joomla packages only.
wordpress-dev / wordpress-prod	WordPress packages only.
grav-dev / grav-prod	Grav packages only.

Additional Phing properties can be passed after the target, for example:

package-build.bat wordpress-prod -Dversion=6.0.0

Existing files in dist may be replaced during a package build.

Modern SCSS Validation

Validate every common and platform-specific theme entry point with the installed scssphp 2.x compiler before packaging:

php bin\validate-joomla-scss.php
php bin\validate-wordpress-scss.php
php bin\validate-grav-scss.php

These validators use only the current platform Composer dependencies. They do not load the removed scssphp 1.x compatibility projects. WordPress packages bundle the current stable Twig 3 runtime; Grav uses the Twig runtime supplied by the current stable Grav installation instead of bundling a second copy.

Run every platform validator and treat Sass warnings and deprecations as build failures with:

scss-validate-all.bat

The batch script checks Joomla, WordPress, and Grav even if an earlier platform fails, then returns a non-zero exit code if any SCSS entry point fails to compile or emits a warning. Individual platform validators can use the same behavior by adding --strict-warnings:

php bin\validate-wordpress-scss.php --strict-warnings

Deploying to the WordPress Test Site

Build and deploy the WordPress development packages with:

package-build.bat wordpress-dev
wordpress-deploy-builds.bat

The deploy script defaults to:

C:\wamp64\www\wordpress\wp-content

It validates the target and package set before making changes. It then deletes the existing plugins\genesis directory and every themes\genesis_* directory before extracting the matching development packages. WordPress default themes, other themes, and other plugins are preserved.

An alternate wp-content path and package suffix can be supplied:

wordpress-deploy-builds.bat "D:\sites\wordpress\wp-content" develop

Complete Clean Rebuild

Use this sequence when both PHP and Node dependencies need to be rebuilt from scratch:

composer-cleanup-all.bat
node-modules-cleanup-all.bat
composer-install-all.bat
assets-install.bat
assets-build.bat all
php83-tests.bat
package-build.bat dev

Cleanup scripts remove generated dependency directories only. They do not remove Composer or npm lock files.

Updating Google Fonts

The Google Fonts JSON file can be generated by following guide at https://developers.google.com/fonts/docs/developer_api or simply using the https://www.googleapis.com/webfonts/v1/webfonts?key=YOUR-API-KEY url. You need to enable usage of Google Fonts API and provide your API key in the place of YOUR-API-KEY.

License

Genesis is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later (GPL-3.0-or-later).