Full Width Widgetized Front Page in Genesis

This tutorial provides the steps for setting up a basic full-width widgetized homepage in Genesis.

We shall register 5 front-page widget areas and display the widgets placed in them inside div.site-inner using a custom template for the front page.

Step 1

Create a static Page titled, say Home and set it as front page at Settings > Reading.

Step 2

Add the following in child theme’s functions.php:

// Register front-page widget areas
for ( $i = 1; $i <= 5; $i++ ) {
    genesis_register_widget_area(
        array(
            'id'          => "front-page-{$i}",
            'name'        => __( "Front Page {$i}", 'my-theme-text-domain' ),
            'description' => __( "This is the front page {$i} section.", 'my-theme-text-domain' ),
        )
    );
}

Step 3

Create a file named front-page.php in the child theme directory having the following:

// Enqueue styles
wp_enqueue_style( 'front-styles', get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/style-front.css', array(), CHILD_THEME_VERSION );

/**
 * Add attributes for site-inner element, since we're removing 'content'.
 *
 * @param array $attributes Existing attributes.
 * @return array Amended attributes.
 */
function be_site_inner_attr( $attributes ) {
    // Add a class of 'full' for styling this .site-inner differently
    $attributes['class'] .= ' full';

    // Add the attributes from .entry, since this replaces the main entry
    $attributes = wp_parse_args( $attributes, genesis_attributes_entry( array() ) );
    return $attributes;
}
add_filter( 'genesis_attr_site-inner', 'be_site_inner_attr' );

// Header.
get_header();

// Content.
for ( $i = 1; $i <= 5; $i++ ) {
    genesis_widget_area( "front-page-{$i}", array(
        'before' => '<div class="front-page-' . $i . ' front-page-section"><div class="wrap">',
        'after'  => '</div></div>',
    ) );
}

// Comments.
// genesis_get_comments_template();

// Footer.
get_footer();

Step 4

Create a file named style-front.css in the child theme directory having the following sample CSS and tweak further for your needs:

.site-inner.full {
    padding: 0;
    max-width: none;
}

.front-page-section {
    padding: 150px 0;
}

.front-page-section:nth-child(odd) {
    background-color: #f7f7f7;
}

.front-page-section:nth-child(even) {
    background-color: #fff;
}

.front-page-section .widget-title {
    text-align: center;
    font-size: 40px;
    margin-bottom: 40px;
}

Step 5

At Appearance > Widgets, drag your desired widgets into Front Page 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 widget areas.