Using the theme
To use the theme extract the main downloaded zip file.
After extracting you will find a folder named similar to theme name. That folder is the production ready ( live site ready ) theme.
To set up the theme properly with several setting options, please read through the documentation.
Please edit theme files using a proper code editor. There are lots of free and opensource code editor available. You can choose any of those, some popular free code editor Visual Studio Code , Atom
Installation
WordPress theme can be installed in 2 ways.
- Through WordPress.
- Uploading via FTP.
Through WordPress
Installing a theme through WordPress is very easy. Login to your WordPress Dashboard and be ready to go. Now you have to follow few steps described below.
- In WordPress Admin panel's sidebar navigation go to Appearance > Themes. Now click on Add New button at the top.
- Now click on "Upload Theme" and after That click "Choose File" and locate your Theme zip file(mino-blog.zip). Then install now.
- Within few seconds you will see a message "Theme installed successfully."
- Now click on "Activate".
Your new theme will be installed and activated successfully.
Uploading via FTP
In your themeforest download folder you will find a folder "mino-blog" you have to upload this folder in your web host. Follow the instruction below.
- Connect your webserver via ftp and find the folder wp-content > themes in your WordPress installation. This folder contains all your installed themes.
- Transfer / upload the "mino-blog" folder in that "Themes" folder.
- After successful upload, login to your WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance > Themes. You will see the Mino theme listed here.
- Hover over the theme Thumbnail and click on the "Activate" button. Your new theme will be activated successfully.
Now you will see an notification above the page. It will ask you to install "Meta Box" plugin. Please install that plugin. It installs from wordpress.org Plugin Directory and it's free.
You must should install and activate this "Meta Box" plugin before you write any post or page or anything else. Without this plugin the theme will not work properly.
Common settings
Some common settings which you should check and choose correct option before you go further.
Go to** Settings > Reading** in admin sidebar and check these option "Front page display" > "Your latest posts". Now click on save.
Go to Settings > Permalink and choose "Post name" in common settings and save.
Theme option configuration
For simplicity mino blog theme uses WordPress's default customization option. Go to Appearance > Customize to see the available customization options.
Site Identity
In this section you will see Your site title and tagline which you have set up at the time of WordPress installation. If you want to change these you can do that. Also you can add site icon here.
Also you can upload logo and site icon here.
Colors
Here you can change the theme color.
If you want to change the background color of body area, you can do that in this section.
Header Settings
- Navbar fixed or normal - Choose which type of navbar you want.
- Hide search in header - Select this option, if you want to hide the search option in header.
- Title in home page cover - Add the large title text for your home page cover.
- Description in home page cover - Add some description to show in home page cover below title.
- Hide home page cover - Select this option, if you want to hide the cover area in home page.
Header Image
- Add an image here to show as background of cover area in home page.
Post Style Settings
In this section you will find some options related to post display.
Social Icon Settings
In this section you can add your social links URL. These icons will be shown in header. Keep blank for those icons which you don't want to show.
Footer Settings
In this section you can change the default copyright text and hide widget area.
Menus
This section comes with WordPress by default. In this section you can choose which menu (created in dashboard) will be shown in main menu area.
It is recommended that to setup menu, you don't need use this section. you can do this from Appearance > Menus. It is the more easy way. Later in this documentation I will write, how to use Menus
Widgets
This section also generated by WordPress by default. It's a way to quick add / remove / modification of widgets in your site widget area. It is the same as Appearance > Widgets option in admin panel left sidebar.
Static Front Page
Normally You don't need to use this section. If you want to show a static page in place of blog posts in home page. You can try this.
Custom Code
In this section you can quickly add custom CSS code to insert in your site.
If you want to add lots of css code, I will recommend you yo use a child theme.
A ready to use child theme for mino blog is included in main download. Do not remove any file and code from it. Add your css in the style.css file.
WordPress beginner Instruction
How to Create menu
To setup navigation for your WordPress at first you have to create a menu. To easily create It is recommended that you create your pages at first. No problem if you keep this page blank at this point.
Go to Appearance > Menus now give a name to your menu and add menu item (pages or custom links) to this menu and then save the menu.
Now click on Manage Locations. Here you will see a table with two column "Theme Location" and "Assigned Menu". Choose your recently created menu from the dropdown option for the menu location (In mino theme it is called "Main Menu"). Now click on save changes.
How to add widgets in widgetize area
Go to Appearance > Widgets from the admin sidebar menu.
In mino theme There is 3 widgetize area which are "Footer Widget area left / center / right"
Just drag available widgets from left side of this page into these widget area. and then insert necessary content and settings and save that widget.
Different Post Formats
To make a new post go to Posts > Add New from the admin sidebar. This theme support various post formats. Choose which format of post you are going to create. At the right side you can see "format option". You can choose here.
Depending on which format you choose there will be a meta box (options for that specific post format you choose) below the post content box.
This options are pretty much self explanatory. I highly recommend to use these options for different post format. It will ensure that your posts will be rendered in your site correctly.
Demo Installation
If you want to install the demo data as the Live demo site of this theme. follow the instruction below
Please note, If you import demo data maybe there will be some un-wanted data and / settings in your site. As well as maybe your previous settings will be removed totally or partially. Be sure, you want to do this.
Go to Tools > Import from your admin sidebar.
Click on WordPress. If you didn't used this option before then a popup will be opened showing "WordPress Importer". Click on "Install Now" button.
After successful installation click on "Activate Plugin & Run Importer".
Now click on "Choose file" button and locate "mino.wordpress.demo.data.xml" file. It is located in folder "Demo Data" in your themeforest main download folder. Now click on "Upload file and import" button.
In next step check this option "Download and import file attachments" and click on "submit"
Maybe some error or warning will display but don't worry if you can see a success message then it's fine.
It is recommended that use this demo data import for test / understanding purpose only. Don't use these in your live site.
Changelog
V 2.1.0 - May 20, 2019
- Transferred Custom widgets, social share icons and custom meta box for different post types, from theme to a separate plugin as per the Themeforest latest requirement.
V 2.0.0 - May 15, 2019
- Tested with WordPress version 5
- Added all Gutenberg default block support.
- Updated editor style to match gutenberg block style with theme style.
- Fixed a small php warning.
- Rewritten admin area JavaScript to make interaction compatible with Gutenberg editor.
V 1.0.0 - December 25,2016
- Initial release