Installation
Installing your theme is easy! After downloading you should have a .zip file.
– WordPress Method
1. Go to Appearance » Themes in the WordPress Dashboard and click on the “Add New” button
2. Click on the “Upload link”, select the .zip file and click “Install Now”
3. Activate the theme
– Ftp Method
1. Log into your site via FTP
2. Browse to your folder located at wp-content/themes
3. Unzip the .zip folder and upload theme folder to your server
4. Log In to WordPress and go to Appearance » Themes
5. Find the theme and click to activate
Automatic Update
If your theme is out of date, you will see a notice on your WordPress Dashboard. You’ll be able to update your theme using the traditional WordPress update tools.
You will get update notifications only if you have an active Theme License. You can find the License Keys in your purchase email or by logging into your “My Account” on our site.
Manual Update
There are a few different ways to manually update your theme. We recommend using a child theme if you are going to customize your theme files, as this simplifies updating your parent theme.
Download latest version
Sign in to our website and download the latest version of your theme.
If you don’t have an account, you can create a new one with the email that was used to purchase the theme.
Upload the new version
The easiest way to manually update your theme is to upload it via the WP dashboard.
However, if you try to upload a new version of a theme that is already in your site’s themes directory, you will get a error.
The reason is because you already have a theme folder on your server with the same name as the folder inside your ZIP file.
You can do one of the following:
Delete the theme on your server
- Go to Appearance » Themes
- Activate Twenty Fifteen (or another theme)
- Delete the old theme (Make sure you make a backup just in case something goes wrong)
- Upload new version via Appearance » Themes » Install Themes » Upload
- Activate the new version
If you have done any customizations to your theme files, these customizations will be lost if you use this method.
Rename the folder (via FTP)
- Login to your site via FTP or cPanel
- Navigate to wp-content/themes/ and find your old theme
- Rename your old theme something like “theme-backup” (replacing “theme” with the name of your theme).
- Upload your new theme folder
The old and new versions of the theme will both appear in the themes interface, but you will be able to distinguish them by their folder names and version numbers.
Menu Locations
Sidebar Pro supports 2 Menu Locations:
1. Primary Menu
2. Secondary Menu
Primary Menu are displayed in all Headers Layouts whereas Secondary Menu is optional and only displayed in certain header layouts.
To add Navigation Menus in your site go to Appearance » Menus page in your WordPress admin and create or edit a new menu.
Create a new menu
- Select “Create a new menu” at the top of the page
- Enter a name
- Click the “Create Menu” button
- Add links to the menu by using the options on the left sidebar
Then at the bottom of the menu structure you will see the Menu Settings, where you can assign your menu to specific locations on your website.
For more details of adding, deleting, and maintaining menus, please visit WordPress Menu User Guide.
Featured Image and Thumbnails
The theme comes with it’s own thumbnails to minimize the page size and increase the page loading speed.
The custom image sizes are:
- 780×500 px
- 1120× 650 px
- 600×840 px
We suggest to regenerate your thumbnails.
How to regenerate Thumbnails
Install and activate the Thumbnail Regenerate plugin from here.
Go to Tools » Regen. Thumbnails and press the “Regenerate All Thumbnails” button:
Wait until the regeneration process is 100% done and check your site.
How to Add Post Thumbnails
- Create a new post or edit an existing one
- Scroll down a little to see if there is a meta box called “Featured Image” on the right hand side of the screen.
- Click on “Set Featured Image” link. This will open the WordPress Media Uploader.
- Upload an image from your computer or use an existing image from your media library.
Background Image
Sidebar Pro supports Custom Background, a theme feature that provides for customization of the background color and image.
Go to Appearance » Customize and click on the Background Image tab to upload your custom Background Image.
Site Identity
- Upload Logo.
- Add Your Site Title and Description.
- Enable or Disable Display of Site Title and Description.
- Upload Site Favicon.
Theme Customizer Settings
Sidebar Pro comes with extensive customization option located in its Customizer Panel. To access customizer navigate to Dashboard >> Appearance >> Customize and click on Theme Options Panel
Custom Homepage Options
This section lets you customize the homepage sections. Before using this section:
- Go to Dashboard >> Pages >> Add New
- Add a New Page
- Select “Homepage” from the Template dropdown in the right sidebar.
- Click “Publish”
- Now go to
- Dashboard >> Settings >> Readings
- Click on radio button that says “Your homepage displays”
- Now select the page you just created in the dropdown that says “Homepage”.
- Click “Save Changes”
After this, navigate to :
- Dashboard >> Appereance >> Customize
- Click on “Theme Options Panel”
- Open “Custom Homepage Options”
In this section, you will find 7 sub-panels
- Sort Homepage Sections
In this panel you can drag and drop the position of the sections on the homepage. Click on the panel name and drag to position and click on the “eye” icon to disable or enable the section. - Section One to Six Settings
In these sections you can select the category from which to display the posts. Also enter section labels and post count for each section.
Please do note: Not all sections have section label and post count. We have added these options only when the design requires them.
General Settings
This panel lets you customize general option of your site.
Layout
Choose Between Full Width or Boxed layout
Sidebar Position.
Select position for the sidebar. This applies to index, archive, author, and search pages
Blog Layout
Select style for displaying blog posts. This applies to index, archive, author, and search pages.
Pagination Type
Select style for blog pagination. This is for the index, archive, author, and search pages.
Header Settings
Sidebar Pro comes with Six header layouts. You can choose which one you want to use in your site in this section.
You can also choose to show or hide Off Canvas Sidebar in this section.
Featured Section
Sidebar Pro comes with a featured post section for Homepage which is not available in the Free version of the theme. You can choose to show select posts on the homepage above normal list of posts with various layouts.
Single Post/Page Settings
This section lets you customize the layout for single post and page of your site.
Single Post Layoout
Select layout of single post. There are 3 layouts available for you to choose from.
Sidebar Position:
Select position for the sidebar. This applies to single post and page only
Show Related Posts
Enable or Disable related posts. Enter Text to show above related post section and
Author Bio and Post Comment
Enable or disable Author Bio and Comments on Single Posts Page
Styling Settings
You can customize the color of your site in this section.
Primary Color
Select the primary / accent color of your site.
Background Color
Select the Background Color of your site
Breadcrumb Settings
On websites that have a lot of pages, breadcrumb navigation can greatly enhance the way users find their way around. In terms of usability, breadcrumbs reduce the number of actions a website visitor needs to take in order to get to a higher-level page, and they improve the findability of website sections and pages. They are also an effective visual aid that indicates the location of the user within the website’s hierarchy, making it a great source of contextual information for landing pages.
- Enable or Disable Breadcrumbs
- Toggle to show the Current Page Title in the breadcrumbs
- Enter the text to show at the beginning of breadcrumbs
- Enter separator to show between breadcrumbs titles.
Social Media Settings
Social Link Settings
- Go to Appearance> Customize> Social settings> Social Links Settings
- Enable Social Links in Header to show it in header ( blue is enabled)
- Choose the social media icons to display in Contact Section.
- Add Social Links by clicking Add new Link .
- Click Save & Publish.
Footer Settings
You can edit your footer here.
- Go to Appearance> Customize> Footer settings
- Enter Footer Copyright text
- Hide or Show Author Link and WordPress Link. (Blue is Hide)
- Click Save & Publish.
Footer Settings
You can edit your footer here.
- Go to Appearance> Customize> Footer settings
- Enter Footer Copyright text
- Hide or Show Author Link and WordPress Link. (Blue is Hide)
- Click Save & Publish.
Advertisement Settings
Header AD Settings:
- Go to Appearance> Customize>AD Settings> Header AD Settings
- Enable Header AD to display it
- Enable Header Ad Code and enter the code.
- Choose whether to open the link in different tab or not. ( this option will appear only when Header AD code is disabled)
- Enter the Header AD Image and Header AD Link ( this option will appear only when Header AD code is disabled)
- Click Save & Publish.
Below Post Title AD Settings:
- Go to Appearance> Customize>AD Settings> Below Post Title AD Settings
- Enable AD Below Post Title
- Enable Below Post Title AD Code and enter the code.
- Choose whether to open the link in different tab or not. ( this option will appear only when Below Post Title AD Code is disabled)
- Enter the Below Post Title AD Image and AD Link ( this option will appear only when Below Post Title AD Code is disabled)
- Click Save & Publish.
Below Post Content AD Settings:
- Go to Appearance> Customize>AD Settings> Below Post Content AD Settings
- Enable AD Below Post Content
- Enable Below Post Content AD Code and enter the code.
- Choose whether to open the link in different tab or not. ( this option will appear only when Below Post Content AD Code is disabled)
- Enter the Below Post Content AD Image and AD Link ( this option will appear only when Below Post Content AD Code is disabled)
- Click Save & Publish.
Footer AD Settings:
- Go to Appearance> Customize>AD Settings> Footer AD Settings
- Enable AD on Footer
- Enable Footer AD Code and enter the code.
- Choose whether to open the link in a different tab or not. ( this option will appear only when Footer AD Code is disabled)
- Enter the Footer AD Image and AD Link ( this option will appear only when Footer AD Code is disabled)
- Click Save & Publish.
Typography Settings
You can change font of the theme here. You have option to change Base Font and Heading Font.
- Go to Appearance> Customize>Theme Options>> Typography Settings
- Edit Base Font if you want to change font of your site.
- Select desired font and style
- Click Save & Publish
Demo Import
Click here to download demo content for Sidebar Pro
Recommended Plugins
Some of the feature in this theme is made possible by use of some third-party plugins. All of these plugins are optional and won’t effect your site performance, but they do add certain extra features into your site.
When you activate the theme for the first time you will get a notice in your Dashboard to install these plugins. If you do not want to install these plugins on theme activation then you can ignore the notice and if you change your mind in future then you can install these plugins by going into Dashboard >> Appearance >> Install Plugin.
Shortcodes Ultimate – Shortcodes Ultimate is WordPress plugin that provides mega pack of shortcodes. This is really a premium plugin that you can get absolutely for free! See the Shortcodes page on the theme demo to see a few examples.
Jetpack – Jetpack simplifies managing WordPress sites by giving you visitor stats, security services, speeding up images, and helping you get more traffic. Jetpack is a free plugin.
Helpful Tips
We highly recommend to use Child Theme if you need to change the code of the theme. Do not change the codes in the files of the parent theme as all such changes will be lost when the theme is updated. For information about How to create a child theme visit : https://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes
Always keep BackUp of your theme before making any changes to the theme.
If you get any problem in using the theme, you can do the following things:
Deactivate the plugins, sometime plugin conflict may cause issues with the theme. Please deactivate the unused plugins.
Replace latest modified code with the original code.
If the issue still pertains, feel free to contact us using our Support Ticket