Setup Tutorials for Pure & Simple

Creating a custom front page and moving the blog further into your website is called “creating a static front page” which WordPress has a tutorial for this. However, I will give you a quick rundown of how this is done because most people will want this. WordPress by default will always put the blog on the front page, which is why a static front page is usually created because unless you are using this theme as a blog only, you will probably want to change this. For more information about static front pages, check out the WordPress Codex: Static Front Page Create a Home Page Go to Pages >> Add New Title this as “Home Page” and if you are putting in content, you can do that now or later Select the page template you want to use, but if you want to make a page like the live demo…    read more 

Pure & Simple offers you a couple website page widths: Full Width (Default) Smaller Width – 1500 pixels wide Smaller Width – 1200 pixels wide You can change this width at any time, but I would recommend that you choose it right from the start. Also remember that this theme is responsive, so regardless of the page width you choose, as the browser window gets smaller, your page will automatically adjust. Set Your Width Go to Appearance >> Customize >> Basic Settings Select your option for the Page Width setting Click Save and Publish

You can change the page background for Pure & Simple, which already comes with a default background already setup for you. However, you may want to change it to your own preference. Your choicces are: Using the default background Upload and use your own background Use a transparent image with background colour Or just have a background colour without an image Some people may opt in for a full sized image, or you can use an image and with the WP Background settings, tile it to how you want it. Also be aware that if you have set your web page to be full width, only short pages will show the page background at the bottom area. Transparent Image with Background Colour Go to Appearance >> Background You can upload your own or keep the existing transparent image Click on the colour selector for your background colour Click Save Changes…    read more 

When you first install Pure & Simple, you may notice you have no menu showing. This tutorial will help you create a custom menu which is by far the better solution and most flexibile. The Main Menu Go to Appearance >> Menus >> create your first menu by titling it in the Menu Name field as “Main Menu” or whatever you wish to call it. Click the Create Menu button Now you can begin adding menu items to your new menu Under “Menu Settings“, select “Primary Menu“ Click Save Menu The Footer Menu Go to Appearance >> Menus >> click on the text link at the top area “Create a new menu“ Name your menu “Footer Menu” or whatever you wish to call it and then click the Create Menu button Now you can begin adding menu items to your new menu Under “Menu Settings“, select “Footer Menu“ Click Save Menu Disable Active Menu for Home Go to…    read more 

Pure & Simple comes with several widget positions, many offer dynamic sizing which means you can have 1, 2, 3, or 4 widgets side-by-side. If you have 1 widget in a group, such as the Bottom widget group, your widget will automatically go 100% in width. If you publish 2 widgets, each one will become 50% in width, or if you publish 3, each one will be 33%, and if you publish 4 side-by-side, each widget will be 25% in width. In total, you get 19 widget positions available to you. They are also available for every page template for more flexibility in layouts as each person will have different needs depending on the website they are building.  You can view the available widget positions here: Widget Positions Publishing Widgets to Select Pages By default, WordPress will show a widget on every page that the widget position being used exists on. In…    read more 

You will hear this often and this is something that WordPress recommends; but if you plan to make custom changes to your theme, whether mine or from someone else, the best way is to use a child theme. You can read more about child themes here: Child Themes The reason for using a child theme is because when updates are available for your theme, in this case the parent theme of Pure & Simple, you won’t lose any custom changes because they were done in the child theme. How this works is that the child theme inherits the styles and functionality of the main theme (the Parent theme), so any updates that happen, it will inherit those. However, if you made any custom changes to the theme, these exist in the child theme and not the parent theme, which is why when you update, you don’t lose the changes. When…    read more 

Pure & Simple offers several features, but some require plugins if you decide to use them and should be considered as optional. You will need to download and install these because they are not included in the download of this theme. I do this so that everyone can choose which plugins they want to install, but it also ensures the most recent version of each plugin is installed. To install plugins, you will go to: Appearance >> Plugins >> Add New Do a search for the name, click Install, and Activate. Plugins the Demo Site Uses Jetpack – Jetpack offers a library of plugins all within one package. The latest version includes features that you will find gives you most of the functionality that you will want (or need). Breadcrumb NavXT – This gives you a breadcrumb navigation above the content area in pages Hide Title – Allows you to hide the titles…    read more