Newbie Question/Advice Please?

[NicktheGeek]

Genesis is a framework, think of it like the structure of a house. It is possible to add different cabinets, flooring, paint ..., and even move some walls and such, but certain parts are a bit more ridged and can't be moved/changed. It provides the basic for the child themes and allows for much faster theme creation without having to worry about the underlying structure. You can read more about it in my Genesis Explained series (I use legos as the illustration there) and in the Guide.
http://www.studiopress.com/news/gene...-beginners.htm

Many of the sites in teh showcase are done by professional developers, while some are done by amateur developers, but the fact that they are all custom means that they were done by a developer. If you chose to customize a theme you are choosing to become a developer. Sort of like if I choose to work on my car I choose to become a mechanic. In my case I'm a decent shade tree mechanic, I've rebuilt an engine, but I prefer not to work on my new car. It's a hybrid and quite frankly I'd rather not even change the oil for fear of breaking things. I still do the work on my old beater though.

I hope that makes sense, because it is really important to understand. There are nearly 50 designs you can use without changing anything from the StudioPress site, but once you decide to start changing it you need to decide if you want to develop it yourself or if you want to pay someone to deal with the development.