Unwrapping Genesis: How to Move the Header and Footer

In a typical Genesis Child Theme, the header and footer elements are nestled safely inside the main structural #wrap. Today’s challenge is to move the header and footer outside of the main #wrap.

Why would I want to do that? Well, I want to create a theme with a full-width header & footer and fixed-width content. Like this:

In order to carry out this, I’ve opted to reposition the header above the main #wrap and the footer below the main #wrap.

Now there’s another way to go about creating a full-width Genesis Child Theme, as Christopher helpfully dissects here. His method deals with changing the width on the grandaddy #wrap that contains the entire site as well as the mini .wrap(s) that apply to specific sub-sections (i.e. header, nav, inner, etc).

I wanted the same outcome, but didn’t want to change the wrap structure to get there. Here’s how I did it…

Starting with the Defaults

The default structure in most StudioPress child themes will look like this:

We want to move the header and the footer so that our structure looks like this:

Wrap-Up (pun fully intended)

Sometimes I try to make things harder than necessary, but in this case it’s pretty simple! Check the following code blocks:

Move the Header Outside the Main Wrap

To move the header up before the main wrapper <div id=”wrap”>, add this to your functions.php:

Move the Footer Outside the Main Wrap

Moving the footer outside the main wrapper <div id=”wrap”> is just as easy!

BONUS: Move the Primary Nav Above the Header AND Outside the Main Wrap

What’s that? You’re feeling adventurous? Try out this action:

Move the Header and Footer

If you want to play around more with using hooks to reposition elements in your theme, here are some great resources for your bookmarking pleasure:

• Visual Hook Reference (a list of all available hooks you can use with Genesis)
• Visual Hook Guide (diagram showing where the hooks output on a page)
• Visual Markup Guide (diagram showing the structural wraps on a typical Genesis layout)