1.General Information #
Oswald – Creative Multi-Purpose Responsive WordPress Theme
Powerful and easy to use multipurpose WordPress themes. No coding skills required.
2.How to Install Theme #
There are several ways to install WordPress theme, we recommend using FTP but you can choose other ways. Please read more about WordPress theme installation on the official website: http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Themes
Upload via FTP:
Step 1 – Please unzip the installable zip file that you’ve downloaded (oswald.zip). In case, if you downloaded the main zip file “Oswald WP.zip”, please unzip it and use the installable one located in the following folder “Theme(v…)” ;
Step 2 – Upload “oswald” theme folder to the theme directory (wp-content/themes/) of your WordPress via FTP;
Step 3 – Log into your WordPress dashboard and activate “oswald” theme in Appearance => Themes section;
Step 4 – After successful theme activation you will be automatically redirected to the Oswald WordPress theme options panel;
Step 5 – At the top of WordPress dashboard, you will see a message ‘This theme requires the following plugins…’, please install and activate those plugins.
3.How to Update Theme #
Updating your WordPress theme to the latest version is highly recommended, not only because it ensures you having all the latest features, but you’ll be up-to-date with any security patches.
Auto-Update:
If you want WordPress to handle theme updates automatically you need enable a special option in the Theme options > Product Activation > Enable Auto-update On/Off.
All the future theme updates will be available through Dashboard > Updates. You will also see a new version of the theme in Appearance > Themes. Click update theme.
Important: If you’ve modified the theme files code, all those changes will be lost because the old theme files will be overwritten with the new ones. That’s why we recommend using a child theme. How to use a child theme? Please read more here https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/01/create-customize-wordpress-child-theme/
Uploading and Replacing the Existing Theme:
Before getting started you need to back up your database and your current theme. Since we’re replacing and updating theme files, there’s a chance something could go wrong so it’s better to keep it safe and have a backup.
While using this method “uploading and replacing an existing theme”, please don’t go to Appearance > Themes > Add New and try to upload a new version of a theme with the same name, it will fail and you’ll get an error message stating that the destination folder already exists. The reason for this error is due to the fact you can’t have two folders in your themes directory with identical names (obviously!)
Connect to your website via FTP or log into cPanel and delete the old theme (your website data and theme settings won’t be lost, don’t worry) and then upload or add a new version. Make sure that you’ve made a backup of the old version of your theme just in case something goes wrong.
After successful update, please log in to your WordPress dashboard and check if everything is ok. Newer versions of the plugins can be required, please update them either. If you have some questions or concerns, please contact us.
4.How to Import Demo Content #
IMPORTANT: Before importing the demo content, please make sure that you have a “Parent” theme activated, not a child one. Also, you must have the theme and all the required plugins updated.
To import the demo content, please go to Theme Options => Demo Importer. Use the “Import Demo” button to import the theme demo content. We have a progress bar to see the import process.
5.Theme Options Panel #
The theme comes with a powerful theme options panel. You can find theme options panel in your WordPress Dashboard.
General: Here you can set General settings for (Responsive, Page Comments, Back to Top, Custom JS etc.), Logo, Header Settings, Header Builder and Page Title;
Header Builder: The header builder allows you to manage the header layout using the existing header templates or choose the custom settings;
Footer: Here you can manage general footer settings, footer content options (Full-Width Footer, Footer Background Color, Footer Background Image etc.) and copyright section (Show Copyright, Copyright Editor, Copyright Title Text Align, Copyright Background Color tec.);
Blog: This section provides the options to manage global blog settings, set related posts visibility, enable/disable post comments, likes on posts and shares on posts etc.;
Sidebars: Create unlimited custom sidebars and select page sidebar layouts;
Color Options: Adjust theme colors and body background color;
Typography: The theme uses google web fonts, please choose the desired font from the drop-down menu for content, typography H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6 and set font weight & style, height, size etc.;
Contact Widget: Select contact details that will display on pages (Display on All Pages ON/OFF, Label Text, Image, Contact Form 7 Shortcode etc);
Shop: This theme is fully compatible with WooCommerce plugin. Here you can adjust additional settings for your online shop;
Demo Importer: The demo content import allows you to import the demo data like on our demo website;
Import/Export: Copy/download your current theme options settings. Keep this safe as you can use it as a backup should anything go wrong, or you can use it to restore your settings on this site (or any other site).
5.1.General #
General section contains a lot of fields that allow setting global settings. The Responsive option can help you to disable or enable responsive mode, if you don’t want to use it on mobile devices please set NO. The Page Comments option will disable or enable comments form on all pages. The Back to Top is the optional button that is located in the bottom right corner of the page, you can it set ON/OFF. Custom CSS field is the area where you can put your CSS styles, all the ones will be saved after theme update. If you want to put own js code to the theme, please use Custom JS area. The Code will be added inside the HEAD tag.
5.2.Header Builder #
Header Builder is the constructor that help to create a custom header with elements you want to place. There are available templates with various layouts. main header settings and builder with draggable elements.
5.3.Page Title #
The theme options have the section where located all the options to set the title style globally. The first option that presented on the Page is ON/OFF the title globally. All other settings allow to show/hide breadcrumbs, to set vertical align in the title area, page title text-align, font color, title are background color. You will find a special area to upload title background image. If your image small or you use pattern, please set repeat all. You can easily play with the settings variants and set the header height.
5.4.Footer #
The website footer area is fully customizable. All the elements can be changed easily. If you want to use Fullwidth footer simply enable it in a special option. Background, Text, Heading colors options can be changed there too. You can replace footer color with own image and set it according to your needs using settings in the footer area.
Footer Content is a section created to change your details in few steps. Ensure the Footer is set On. Please select footer columns number. It will be divided into 1,2,3 or 4 columns. Set the Footer Title Text Align. The padding can be managed in Footer Padding (px) options.
Copyright can be activated or disabled globally, turn ON/OFF. Use Copyright editor to add a copyright text. If text already added the text-align, padding, background and text colors, border activation and color can be set below.
Prefooter can be turned ON/OFF. Use Prefooter editor to add required shortcodes. Select the text-align, padding, background and text colors, border activation and color can be set below.
5.5.Blog #
Here you can manage all the settings related to the blog and its elements. Take a full control over your blog.
5.6.Portfolio #
General settings for the portfolio custom post. Here you can change the slug for this custom post type. Once you’ve changed it, please go to Settings -> Permalinks and click save changes. Only after this, new slug change applies.
5.7.Team #
This is a team section. Here you can change the slug for this custom post type. Once you’ve changed it, please go to Settings -> Permalinks and click save changes. Only after this, new slug change applies.
5.8.Sidebars #
Sidebars – is the area where you can set the main layout for pages: without sidebar, left or right. And after you will choose the layout set the page sidebar.
Sidebar Generator – simply use the option to create as many custom sidebars as you need. Once the new sidebar has been generated, you can find it in the Appearance -> Widgets area.
5.9.Colors #
Colors – is the area that provides options to change the main theme colors and body backgrounds.
5.10.Typography #
Improve your theme typography with font-family, subsets, font-size, line-height, letter-spacing, color and text-align and text-transform. All the options can be set for Menu, Main and Header Fonts. You can set up all available headings: H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6.
5.11.Contact Widget #
Add a contact form to your website to communicate with customers. Invite them to send ideas and suggestions, ask questions or place orders via the form. Use the option to ON/OFF it on pages. Set the label text, upload an image, set the color and Contact Form 7 Shortcode.
5.12.Shop #
It’s a WooCommmerce related section where you can manage the layout options of your online shop. Global settings for the entire shop and product page.
5.13.Demo Importer #
There is a special button to upload demo content to your theme installation. By clicking “Import Demo” you agree that those images will be downloaded to your website server from our demo website and you take full responsibility for their usage. We recommend you to replace the downloaded images with your own ones and then delete them from your server.
5.14.Import/Export #
If you plan to transfer the website to other folder or hosting, please use this option to copy/download your current option settings.
6.Menu Setup and Front Page Settings #
Menu Setup
Please go to Appearance -> Menus -> Edit Menus -> create a new menu by adding required pages=> click Save Menu button.
To activate the main menu – Please go to Theme options -> Header Builder -> Menu -> click the edit button and choose from the drop-down list in Select Menu one from the proposed menu lists (menus will be available only if you imported the demo content) or select the created one, click save changes.
Front Page Setup
Set the page for the front page. Please go to Settings -> Reading -> Front page displays -> A static page (select below) set the page for the front page and save changes.
7.Mega Menu #
The theme comes with the Mega Menu option which allows you to create beautiful menus with columns, images, widgets etc. Please go to Appearance -> Menu. Click any parent Menu tab to open settings, right there please check “Mega Menu” option and start customizing your mega menu. Don’t forget to save the menu settings.
8.Custom Logo Setup #
To change the current (existing) logo, please go to Theme options -> Header Builder -> add Logo item and click edit. Use the “upload image” option in Header Logo field to upload your own image. Once the logo is uploaded, please enable Logo Height ON/OFF, set Logo Height, upload Sticky Logo and Mobile one.
9.Header Settings #
10.Footer Settings #
The global footer and pre-footer settings are located in the Theme Options Panel. Right there you can modify the layout and color settings.
Footer and Pre-footer Content
You can manage all pre-footer area blocks via widgets section, please go to Appearance -> Widgets
The “Column-Footer 1…” sections are related to the pre-footer area. You can add any widgets to display them in the pre-footer area. The pre-footer area is divided into 5 columns.
The “Column-Copyright 1…” sections are related to the footer (copyright) area. You can add any widgets to display them in the footer (copyright) area. The footer (copyright) area is divided into 3 columns.
11.Page Options #
Every single page has its own Page Options. You can use either the default settings available in the theme options panel or set the custom ones for every page. Please go to Pages -> Add New. If you scroll down the page you will see the following page options:
Page Layout: select Page Sidebar Layout;
Logo Options: select default or upload new page logo, Enable Logo Height, set Sticky Logo and Mobile one;
Header Layout and Color: the section provides options to select header, Color, Opacity, Header Height etc.;
Header Builder: choose preset header type (the one created in Theme options) or a new on providing in page options ;
Page Title Options: adjust Title Alignment, show Page title or not, Font color and Background etc.;
Footer Options: show or hide footer options, set Footer columns, Paddings, Colors, Image etc.;
Preloader Options: it allows you to use the default or custom preloader settings;
Contact Widget: option to ON/OFF widget;
Shortcode Above Content: set a custom shortcode above the entire content.
12.Translation #
We recommend using Loco Translate plugin to translate your website into your language.
You can download it at https://wordpress.org/plugins/loco-translate/
This theme comes with .pot file for the theme, it is located in the oswaldlanguages folder.
Please follow these steps to translate your theme text:
Step 1 – please download this software and install it http://www.poedit.net/download.php;
Step 2 – please open .pot or .po files located in oswaldlanguagesoswald.pot using poedit tool and translate the existing text to your own;
Step 3 – when you save the file, you must name it according to your language;
Step 4 – upload the file to the required folder on your server, that’s all.
Please note that you can also use the special plugins like WPML to have a multilanguage website.