Method Theme Documentation

Installation & Plugins

In order to install the theme, you have two options:

1. In the downloaded .zip file go in the /theme folder and upload the method sub-folder contained in it to http://yourdomain.com/wp-content/themes/ directory via any FTP program.


2. Take the .zip found in the theme folder and install it through the dashboard.
   
   In order to activate the Theme:
   • Log into your Wordpress admin using the following URL: http://yourdomain.com/ wp-login.php
   • Next, go to Appearance > Themes. Here, you should see a thumbnail of method theme.
   • Click on the Activate link to activate this theme

Plugins

• After activating the Method theme you will then be prompted in your WordPress to install recommended plugins. Click on Begin installing plugins.


• Check all plugins and select install. Then click Apply


• Alternatively, you can manually install plugins from the WordPress Directory

Manual Plugin Installation

• Visit Plugins > Add New.
• Search for The Plugin Name.
• Activate the plugin from the Plugins page.

• Download the plugin.
• Upload the plugin directory to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory, using your favorite method (ftp, sftp, scp, etc..)
• Activate the plugin from your Plugins page.

Plugins available in the WordPress Plugin Directory

• Tailor Page Builder
• Tailor Advanced Features
• Contact Form 7
• Easy Google Fonts
• Subtitles

Install Icon Sets

The theme includes 2 icon sets which can be used in some page builder sections.

1- Line Icons
2 - Method Draw Icons - These are a special animated SVG icon to be used within the 'Animated Draw Icons' element.

To add a new icon kits:

• Go to Settings/Tailor
• Click on the Add kit button



• Select or upload a compressed icon kit. (You can find the 2 icon kits in the theme download package 'extras' folder)

Note: - Additional icon kits can be created using the Icomoon tool.

Note: - Icon kits can be deactivated or, in the case of custom icon kits, deleted.

Demo Content (optional)

Demo content has been included in your download to make it easier to set up the theme. It is of course completely optional.

Go to Appearance/Import Demo Data.

Note: - Make sure you have installed the required plugins before importing the demo content.

Select a demo to install. (You may be promted to install additional plugins first.)

Note: - The Main Demo and Non-Profit demos featue a mega menu & require it to be activated. *See Menu Setup

Hint: - If you install a demo and then decide you wanted a different one you can use a WordPress reset plugin to start fresh.

Customizing Theme

This theme features advanced customization features with live preview. Click on 'appearance/customize' to open the customizer.

Logo

In appearance/customize/logo you can upload your main logo. You will notice there are also upload fields for a scrolled logo & a widget logo.

You can upload a scrolled logo if you want the logo image or color to change when the page is scrolled

Note: - The scrolled logo is only used when a 'sticky header' layout is applied.

The widget logo adds a logo to the 'slide-out' widget area.

Note: - See more about the 'slide-out' widget area in the sidebar section.

Layouts

You can set the navigation stlye, header style, footer style and single post layout style.

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Colors

Set global theme colors.

Note: - You can overide some of the color setting from within individual page settings.

Custom Headers

Upload a default header image

Note: - You can overide the header image from within some individual page settings.

Menu Setup

This theme has two menu areas. The main menu(primary menu) which can be a mega-menu and lives at to the top of pages.

The second menu (optional) is called the header menu and creates a thin header bar for contact info and social links.

To Create a Menu

1. Go to Appearance > Menus
2. Add Menu Name
3. Click Create Menu
4. Then select it from Manage Locations
5. Save
6. Select the pages that you want in the menus
7. Add to Menu
8. Re-arrange them
9. Save menu

Assign Menus

1. Go to Appearance > Customize
2. Under the 'Navigation' tab, Select your Menus

Mega Menu

If using the Max Mega Menu plugin you will need to enable it.

1. Go to appearance/menus and select the Main Menu and click the 'select' button.
2. Check the enable box.
3. Select the Method Theme and click the 'save' button.

Note: - View the full Max Mega Menu documentation.

Single Page Links

If using a single page design you can set up section links as follows.

Create a Custom Link

1. Select the 'custom link' option.
2. Enter a label & add it to your menu.

Enter Section ID

1. Enter the section ID preceded by a hashtag.
2. Note: It should match the ID you set for that section in the page builder under the element Attributessetting.

Note: - The theme will automatically add the proper url to that section when you are on a different page.

Set Home & Blog Page

Homepage

1. Create a new page using the homepage template (If you imported the demo content, you can skip this step)
2. Go to 'appearance/customize' and select the 'Static Front Page' tab. Set the 'Front page'.

Blog Page

1. Create a new page using the default template and enter your title/subtitle. Leave the rest of the page blank.
2. Go to 'appearance/customize' and select the 'Static Front Page' tab. Set the 'Posts page'.

Note: - To use a custom blog page, leave the "posts page" setting unset.

Note: - To set the same page as your homepage and main posts page, simply set the "Posts Page" to your desired page and leave the "Front Page" selection unset.

Posts

The method theme supports several post formats. You can select 'gallery', 'video', 'quote' or standard post format from the radio list on the right.

Standard Format

This is a regular post. You can enter a 'featured image' to display for the post.

Note: - The feature image is used on blog pages. If you want to set a different header go to settings/general from within the page builder.

Gallery Format

This format adds an image slider to your post. The theme will automatically select the first (Tailor) gallery on your page to use on blog or posts pages.

Video Format

This format adds a video to blog page. The theme will automatically select the first embedded video on the page.

Quote Format

This format adds an image slider to your post. Enter the quote using the excerpt field.

Sidebar & Widgets

You can add widgets to the sidebar in Appearance > Widgets.

Note: - The theme sports 3 widget areas. In the footer, on blog posts & a slide out Menu Sidebar widget area.

The right slide out menu sidebar will only be present if widgets are added to it in appearance/widgets.

Note: - Additional widget sections can be added to pages via the page builder.

Page Builder

This theme adds custom elements to the intuitive 'Tailor Page Builder' plugin which allow you to quickly layout pages.

Note: - You must create and save a new page first. You can then launch the page builder

To launch the page builder click on 'Tailor this Page' from the WordPress admin bar or from within a page or post.

Elements

To add an element to the page, simply drag it from the element list onto the canvas.

Containers have special child elements. For example, to add another tab to the Tabs container element, drag an element from the element list onto the middle of the container.

To create a row/column structure, simply drag an element from the element list onto the page to the left or right of an existing element. That existing element could be a column within a row. To resize columns, drag the handle between the two columns you wish to resize (the mouse cursor will change to indicate horizontal dragging).

Settings

This theme includes many 'in-page' settings. While in the page builder you can click on 'settings/general' to access the page settings panel. From this panel you can overide site customizations such as the navigation color, logo and header image.

Templates

You can save sections of you design to reuse. Simply drag the template to the canvas. You can save and preview templates as well as download/upload templates.

Note: - For additional ducsomentation visit the Tailor getting started documentation.

Gradients

There are a few custom page builder elements that accept the gradient class.

You can set your site gradient in the theme customizer panel appearance/customize/colors

Icons

Elements with icons (excluding animated draw icons) can use gradients. Simply click on the element attributes tab and enter the class icon-gradient

Progress Bars

The Progress bar elements also accepts the gradient class. Click on the element attributes tab and enter the class progress-gradient

Coming Soon Pages

There are 3 preloaded coming soon pages. Or you can create your own.

First create a new page using the blank page template and save it. Now select Tailor this Page

Now you can go to settings/general and toggle the Navigation and/or footer to display or hide.

Finally, go to templates and drag one of the templates to the canvas. Now you're ready to adjust text etc. as needed.

Adding Ripple Effect

You can add the ripple effect to any section background image. In the element settings lick on the Attributes tab. Simply enter the class 'ripples'.

Typography

This theme couples well with the Easy Google Fonts plugin

You can change fonts in the theme customizer appearance/customize/typography

Customizing CSS

There are two options to add CSS to the theme.

1- You can go to appearance/customize/additional css to add your css.
2 -You can create a child theme to add custom css. See more here.

Theme Support

For additional support please visit theme support here.

Credits