It’s finally here! The very anticipated and overdue update!
Version 4.0 is now available for Download on Theme Forest.
If you’re a past buyer, you can log into your Theme Forest account and head to the « Downloads » section and locate the « KingSize – Fullscreen Background WordPress Template » – there you will see a link stating « Download ». Please re-download the template to your desktop. Once downloaded, extract the zipped folder to your desktop and you’ll see « KingSize WordPress Version 4 ».
Inside this folder, look for « Template Files », open this folder and inside you’ll find « kingsize.zip » – this is the file you’ll want to upload to your server via FTP. Once uploaded, head over to your Hosting Control Panel > File Manager and locate the WordPress Installation > wp-content > themes directory and decompress the zipped folder to overwrite the previous version 3.3.
It’s always best to play it safe! Backup your website prior to updating!
As long as you follow these instructions, you should have no problems! Not following these instructions while updating your template may result in issues, as well lost settings from your previous theme options. So please be advised, perform the steps in this order, as we cannot be held responsible if you cause any problems. This is why we’ve created these instructions (steps) to updating:
1. After uploading the file to your server and extracting it to overwrite the previous version (3.3), head to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Go to « Appearance > Themes » and you will want to DE-ACTIVATE the template KingSize by activating another template, any template, for example Twenty-Eleven. Once you have successfully de-activated the template, RE-ACTIVATE the KingSize template again.
#2 IS AN IMPORTANT STEP let us explain why… In earlier version of KingSize WordPress, we were using a completely different framework for our Theme Options. To properly carry over these changes (ie., your Theme Settings / Options) you need to allow the database to update itself and when de-activating the template, this enables the hooks we’ve created to carry this information into the newer version.
3. Just as important as #2, you need to go to your Theme Options, which is now located inside « Appearance > KingSize Options » and SAVE ALL CHANGES. This will apply not only the old settings, but also the new settings and if completed in this order, no settings should be lost.
Theme Options – One of our biggest changes in this update is the framework in which KingSize WordPress is based on. In previous versions we had a Theme Options that was very minimal. Everything within one page and at times could be a little overwhelming. We’ve tidied things up and make it a little easier and more organized.
Background Videos – In version 4 you can now assign background videos to not only the homepage, but all pages/posts! The current version supports YouTube, Vimeo and MP4. Although in later versions we’ll be improving this with more options and capabilities.
Background Sliders – Previous versions only allowed the background slider to work on the homepage. Now you can also use the background slider on all pages. Not just that though, we introduced a new post-type called « Slider » and here is where you will be now managing your sliders (even the homepage slider). Create different categories for each of the Sliders and assign them as desired.
Auto Hide Navigation – This has been an ever popular requested feature and now available in version 4. You can hide the navigation by default (on all pages/posts globally) or you can hide it on specific pages/posts (ie., if you want to display a background slider, or video elsewhere, you can hide both body contents and navigation via the write-panel options).
Galleries – We’ve introduced a new « Galleries » post-type as well so no longer are your galleries restricted to just « page templates » but now you can use Galleries with the use of a Shortcode anywhere you want throughout your website and as many times as desired. If you want one specific gallery on a few different pages, just call that specific Gallery ID when inserting the shortcode. No worries though, we still offer the page template galleries so your old galleries will not be disrupted.
Portfolios – Portfolios now support multiple images inside the lightbox when thumbnails are clicked. You can also link both thumbnails and the read-more buttons to custom links or disable them both entirely. Not to forget you can now include Galleries inside your Portfolios.
Comments – The comments have been re-designed and re-coded to work better. In previous versions they were limited and unfortunately rich text formatting was not allowed. In this version, not only is Rich Text Formatting available, but they have a much cleaner and visual design. As well, in previous versions there was an issue with using comments « without avatars » and this issue has since been addressed and comments can now have avatars disabled if desired.
Multilingual Support – We’ve introduced the use of Poedit where you can now use .PO and .MO files to translate your website into various languages as needed. So no longer will manual editing of the files be required to edit the languages.
Blog Excerpts – As you can see in our demonstration, Rich Text Formatting has been improved for the Blog excerpts. In previous versions excerpts were automatic and unfortunately RTF was not supported in these excerpts. It’s important to note though, for you that have larger sized Blogs that when enabling the RTF option (Appearance > KingSize Options > Post and Page) that you understand you will need to edit your posts to include the « more tag » as the excerpts will no longer automatically be applied. This option is disabled by default for past buyers, but can be enabled at anytime from within KingSize Options.
Favicon – Now you can upload your custom favicons via Appearance > KingSize Options > General Settings.
Express Install – For our new buyers, we’ve made the Express Install.xml process a bit easier. Still, if you’re using the Express Install, there is requirement for you to assign your menu via « Appearance > Menus », but things should be a bit easier to follow now. There of course is a video tutorial that explains this in greater detail.
Documentation – It’s our hope that with the new documentation available people will find it easier to manage and find the information you’re looking for. Bare with us though, this is a very elaborate documentation. It’s bulky in size, but we have attempted to cover as much detail as possible for those with questions, as well those who are new to using WordPress. Along with this update new modified Video Tutorials have been included. I (Bryce Wisekal) apologize for the quality of these videos and once I learn a little more about Camtasia, we’ll be producing better ones!
Video Tutorials – Video Tutorials can be found here: http://www.screenr.com/user/OurWebMedia – if you feel as though there is a tutorial missing on video, please make those suggestions and we’ll get them available as soon as possible! Our objective is to make the use of KingSize WordPress as painless and easy as possible.
Shortcodes – We’ve introduced a bunch of new shortcodes, as well a few new snipplets of coding. As time progresses, we’ll introduce more of both. In the meantime though, we hope you enjoy those available!
WordPress Galleries – New and improved styling applied to the Native WordPress galleries, along with Caption / Description support.
Updated Scripts – All scripts used by KingSize WordPress are updated and stable!
Contact Sidebar Widget – In previous versions the map was static but now in version 4 this map can be clicked and opened in lightbox to generate a dynamic map that your visitors can use a little easier. Not to mention, we’ve increased the size of the sidebar on the Contact Page template so when longer emails are used, they will display a little better.
Support Forums – It’s finally here! No more emails! We’ve introduced a Support Forum available on Denoizzed.com and if you need any assistance with registering, we’ve created a Video Tutorial for this as well. We hope that now these forums are available, it will be a bit easier for our buyers to find help within past questions but more importantly, we promise to maintain the reputation we’ve always had by offering you some of the best support possible. It’s important to us, that you find the use of KingSize simple, but most importantly, satisfactory!
With that, we shall conclude this update. We apologize that we could not list off the individual files that were updated but with such a massive updated, it’s almost impossible to mention every file and line that was edited, when we could say almost every file has had modifications in version 4. So please enjoy the new version and if any questions or problems, please use the support forums to reach out for help.
On behalf of all of us on the KingSize WordPress team, thank you for your support!
– Bryce Wisekal [OurWebMedia]
– Kumar Sekhar [OurWebMedia]
– Nick Shylo [Denoizzzed]