Cedar paneling and siding outdoors. What finish?

So I'm getting ready to reside and resoffit this porch after I fixed some structural issues caused by the previous owner of the house tearing stuff out without thinking. I'll also be covering the posts and making planter boxes instead of side rails.

Wife wants cedar. I love the way it looks. We want it to stay redish and natural, not gray overtime. 

I got some semi transparent cedar finish, but I'm not convinced it won't end up looking like paint.

So what do you recommend? I understand the cedar is naturally a well weathering wood, but the uv from the sun turns it gray.

Some type of oil? Do I do all 6 sides of the wood before install? Or install and then finish?

If you're curious, here is the before picture showing the structural issue. Clearly there used to be more than just one post at each corner. And if you look carefully, you can see the posts were being pushed outward at the top.

Automatic transmission fluid.  Keeps the bugs out, too.

Cedar is a cast iron bitch to get paint or stain to stick.  Oil it with something, and I'm not really kidding about atf.  It might not be ideal on an urban environment, but it's great out in the bush.

I used TWP stain on my cedar deck. This was after the previous owner used some Home Depot "stain" that started coming off exactly like paint within months of being applied. I ended up having to sand it all off. With the cedar decking I have, I'm pretty sure they didn't prep it at all, from what I read it needs to be sanded before having anything applied. Not sure if cedar siding is different.

The TWP stain has lasted 2 summers with no issues. I'll put another coat on next spring.

www.twpstain.com