eList Theme Documentation

How to install your new theme

Before you can upload your theme, you first need to download the theme package from the Elegant Themes Members Area. Log in and locate your desired theme on the list and click the "download" link. There will be two download options: Theme Package and PSD Files. Click the "Theme Package" link to download the theme. Next you must upload the .ZIP file you just downloaded to your website via the WordPress Dashboard. Log in to wp-admin and click the Appearances > Themes tab. Next click the "Install Themes" button and then click the "Upload" link. Click "Choose File" and locate the .ZIP file you just downloaded and click "Install Now." Once then theme has been uploaded, you can activate it from within the Appearances > Themes tab.

Defining a Custom Logo Image

You can define your own logo image from within the ePanel theme options page in your WordPress Dashboard. Within ePanel, under the General Settings > General tab, locate the "Logo" field. In the field, input the full URL to your logo image. You can use the "Upload Image" button below the field to upload your logo image if haven't already done so. After installing, copy and paste the URL to the file into the field and click "Save" to save your ePanel settings.

If you don't already have a logo image, then you can use the included logo.psd file as a starting point. If you have Photoshop, this file can be opened and the logo's text can be easily edited using Photoshop's type tool. If you don't have Photoshop, then you can use included logo_blank.png file as a blank canvas in a different graphic design program. These files (logo.psd and logo_blank.png) are located within the Theme Package inside the /psd/ folder.

Creating New Categories

Before your visitors can add new listings, you will first need to create some categories for these listings to be placed in. eList does not use normal posts, but instead uses the custom "Listings" taxonomy. After you activate the theme, you will notice a new Listings section appear in your WordPress Dashboard navigation bar. Click Listings > Categories to add a new listings category.

Adding New Listings via the WordPress Dashboard

While the theme is intended to allow your visitors to add new listings, you can also add new listings manually as an admin via the WordPress Dashboard. After activating the theme, click the Listings > Add Listing to create a new listing. You can add it to any of your Listing Categories created using the method above. When you add a new listing, you will notice some additional settings have been added below the text editor. Here you can fill in your custom fields, as well as decide whether or not your new listig should be "Featured."

Required Google Maps API Key

An API key is required in order to use the location feature for listings. To obtain an API key, log into the Google Developers Console, which will guide you through the process, and activate the Google Maps JavaScript API and any related services automatically. The first thing you will be asked to do is create a new project.

Next you will be asked to name your project. You can name the project anything you like. In this example, I simply called it "Maps." You can also input your website's domain name (add an * in front of it if you allow access from both www.domain.com and domain.com) to make sure to other website's are allowed to your your API key.

After you have created an named your project, you will be presented with an API Key that you can use.

After you have obtained an API key, you must copy/paste it into the theme options panel by navigating to:

Appearances>>eList Theme Options>>General Settings>>Google Maps API Key

Creating a Submit Listings Page

Now that you have activated the theme and created some categories, the next step is to create a Submit Listings page that allows your visitors to submit new listings to your directory. The Submit page is created using the "Submit Page" page template. Create a new page, and from the "Template" dropdown menu, select the "Submit Page" page template. Publish your page and then view your newly published page in your browser. You will notice that your new page includes a form for the submission of new listings. Next you can customize the fields that appear on this page to suite the purpose of your directory website.

Customizing Submit Listings Forms/Fields

eList provides you with a system for completely customizing the inputs for your listings. This means that your directory can potentially be of anything, as you have complete control over what information your visitors submit when publishing a listing. You can add custom fields to your submit page via the Listings > Custom Options link in wp-admin. Simply drag new "Text Inputs" or "Textareas" from the Available Options box into the Option Set box to add a new field to your form. You can then customize the name of the form and decide whether or not the field should be required when submitting a new listing.

Setting Up Paid Listings

eList allows you to option to charge money for each new listing submitted. You can charge your visitors a fixed price for each new listing submitted, as well as an additional fee to make their listings Featured. All payments are handled via PayPal, so you will need a PayPal.com account before you can accept money. To enabled paid listings, navigate to the General Settings > Paid Listing OPtions section of ePanel. Here you can turn on paid listings and input your PayPal email address. Here you can also define a price for paid listings, and an additional fee for featured listings. All featured listings are rotated randomly on the homepage and within individual categories.

Using Sample Data to populate your first installation

If you are starting from scratch, and installing your theme onto a WordPress blog that does not have any content yet (posts, pages, categories, etc), then you can choose to import our sample data file, which will populate your new WorPress blog with "dummy content." This dummy content is just a bunch of gibberish text, however, it will give you a good template to work with. Instead of following the above instructions, some people prefer to simply upload the sample data first, and then replace the dummy content with their own. To do this, you can use the Tools > Import feature in wp-admin to import the included sample data file. This sample data file comes with all themes, and is located in your theme folder here: sampledata/sample.xml. When performing the import procedure, be sure to check the "Import epanel settings" box.

Using Shortcodes - Create advanced layouts with ease

All of our themes come with a comprehensive collection of shortcodes. These shortcodes allow you to use pre-made design elements to create advanced page/post layouts without any HTML knowledge. When you install the theme, you will notice that some new buttons have been added to the WordPress text editor. Clicking these buttons will reveal options for adding shortcodes to your post. For complete shortcode documentation you can refer to the video on the left, as well as the following documentation page: http://www.elegantthemes.com/preview/TheProfessional/357-2/

Using Page Templates To Create Advanced Layouts

All of our themes come with a collection of page templates that can be used for a variety of purposes. You can apply each of these page templates to any page that you have created. When you edit a page in wp-admin, you will notice a Templates dropdown menu to the right of the text editor. Here you can select from a list of available page templates. Once a template is selected, additional settings will appear in the "ET Page Templates Settings" box below the dropdown menu. These settings should be configured to acheive the desired result, as outlined in this video tutorial.

Translating The Theme To Another Language

You can use the included Mo and Po files (located in the /lang folder of your theme) to translate the various English words that occur throughout the design. You can learn more about translating WordPress here: Translating WordPress

How To Update Your Theme To A New Version

Updating your theme is done via the WordPress Dashboard just like any normal theme. Before you can update, however, you must first authenticate your Elegant Themes subscription using the Elegant Themes Updater Plugin. Once authenticated, you can update your Elegant Themes using the standard update interface in WordPress.

To authenticate your WordPress installation, you must first download and install the Elegant Themes Updater. Download the ZIP file here, and then install it via the Plugins > Add New link in your WordPress Dashboard. Once it has been installed and activated, navigate to the Settings > General tab and scroll to the bottom of the page. You will notice that a new section has been added called "Elegant Themes Automatic Update Settings." Here you will need to input your Elegant Themes Username as your Elegant Themes API Key. You can find your Elegant Themes API Key here. Once both fields have been filled in, click the "Save Changes" button. You can now update your theme when a new version has been released via the Dashboard > Updates page, or via the Appearances > Themes page.