Dynamik Website Builder vs. Genesis Extender

We get this questions a lot:

“What are the differences between Dynamik Website Builder and the Genesis Extender Plugin?”

So to answer this just one last time we’ve created this post. The above screencast tells you all you need to know, but let me layout the main points below:

Similarities Between Dynamik Website Builder & Genesis Extender:

• They both require the Genesis Framework.
• They both add “Settings” and “Custom” admin pages to the Genesis admin section, housing virtually identical features for each admin page.
• They both hard code the majority of their Genesis customizations for optimal efficiency.
• They both include member’s only direct email support and no-limit usage.
• They’re both awesome! 🙂

Differences Between Dynamik Website Builder & Genesis Extender:

• Dynamik Website Builder is a Genesis Child Theme and Genesis Extender is a Genesis Plugin.
• Dynamik Website Builder cannot be used in conjunction with other Genesis Child Themes while Genesis Extender can.
• Dynamik Website Builder adds a “Design” admin page to the Genesis admin section which provides hundreds of intuitive no-coding design options. Genesis Extender does not include this admin page.

More About The “Design” Admin Page

Because this is one of the main differences between Dynamik Website Builder and Genesis Extender in terms of included features I thought it might be helpful to share some key benefits of this “Design” admin page.

• Customize your site’s design from scratch (the ultimate “Blank Canvas Genesis Child Theme”!) or Import a pre-customized Dynamik Skin to give you a huge head start.
• Utilize hundreds of no-coding design controls for your Fonts (tons of Google Fonts available), Backgrounds, Borders, Margins & Padding, various dimensions and much more!
• Take complete control over the Content and Sidebar Widths for the various Layouts offered by Genesis.
• Create completely custom widgetized Static Homepage and Featured/Fat Footer areas in seconds (note that Genesis Extender does include a similar “EZ Static Homepage” feature).
• Utilize intuitive “Responsive Design” controls that make customizing your site for mobile devices a breeze!
• Upload images using the built-in Image Uploader to easily add custom logo and background images to your design (note that Genesis Extender also includes this Image Uploader).
• Utilize the extensive Import/Export options to backup, transfer and even take a “Snapshot” of your current design. Even Export your entire Dynamik Website Builder design (including your “Settings” and “Custom” options) into a totally independent, hard coded Genesis Child Theme!

Why Not Include These “Design” Options In Genesis Extender?

The above is another common question about Genesis Extender that is usually followed by something like, “It would be great to be able to use all of those “Design” options to customize the many pre-customized Genesis Child Themes!”

The simple answer is that implementing these design options into a highly refined, pre-customized Genesis Child Theme would not only be quite complicated, but not really ideal either. With Dynamik you’re taking complete control over the design. This is ideal for certain users/designers, but for others it may not be. Many prefer to pick from the many pre-customized Genesis Child Themes in which case we wanted to provide a tool to help “Extend” such Child Theme’s functionality and design, but not completely take it over.

So with Genesis Extender we wanted to provide the perfect balance between powerful control and a light weight Genesis Plugin that doesn’t get in the way of your Genesis Child Theme.  And though Genesis Extender provides things like EZ Static Homepage controls and Front-end CSS Builder design capability it still leaves the overall styling and structuring to the Child Theme. This gives the user the ability to use as much or little of this extensive Child Theme control as they need.

Who Should Buy Which Product?

Dynamik Website Builder was developed for both the non-coder/Do-It-Yourselfer who likes to take complete control over their design as well as the web designer who likes the ability to quickly “Skin” their designs and even spit them out as hard coded Genesis Child Themes in seconds.

Genesis Extender was developed for both the non-coder and web designer who prefer using the pre-customized Genesis Child Themes, but still want all those powerful “Settings” and “Custom” options found in Dynamik to tweak their design and site structure with ease.

Both Dynamik Website Builder and Genesis Extender seem to eventually find their way into the tool boxes of many of our members for the single reason that different web design projects require different tools and both products provide a unique solution. So it’s less about the user and more about their various projects.

At the end of the day you may find that it’s not about “this vs. that”, but just figuring out which one to start with. Your current project may require the functionality provided by one, but the next may lend itself to the other. Either way, hopefully we’ve clarified what distinguishes Dynamik from Extender and given you the insight needed to make the best decision moving forward.