CraftMag is a block theme (Full Site Editing compatible theme) which can be used on all kinds of Blog, Magazine and News websites. It works smoothly with the Gutenberg Editor.
Download and Install
- Navigate to the WordPress Dashboard > Appearance > Themes.
- Click the Add New button and search for CraftMag.
- When it appears, click on the Install button and then on Activate.
Customizing Your Site ( Using the Site Editor )
You can edit your site’s overall structure (i.e. areas like headers, footers, and the structural appearance of your pages and posts) and your site’s design using the site Editor.
To start customizing go to Appearance > Editor.
Once the editor opens it will load the front page of your site for you to start editing. Then you can hover over each section and make the desired changes. You can use the List View button to see these sections easier.
Header
You can edit the header by clicking the Header on the List View or or by clicking the Header on the Template tab. Then click on the Edit link if you want to separate the Header from the rest of the page and have a compact view for editing it.
Alternatively you can edit the header from Appearance > Editor > Template Parts > Header.
Now you will be able to customize all the elements of the Header. You can add a site logo, tagline, and customize the navigation here.
Site logo
Click on the dotted square to upload a logo. You can choose your logo from your Media Library or upload a new logo image.
If you cannot find the dotted square (Site Logo block) beside the site title you can add that block. To add click on the + Block Inserter button where you want to add the site logo and search for Site Logo. Then click on the Site Logo when it appears on the list to enter that to the Header.
After adding a logo you can change it’s size by dragging the selection points in and out until the size is suitable.
When you’re done, click Save, then Save again, making sure that the checkbox for the Header template part is checked.
Site Menu
By default the menu has included a Page List block which displays all the published pages on your site. This default menu is automatically updated when you publish new pages on the site.
If you’d like to edit the menu that is included in the theme you can do as below.
- Click on any section on the menu, and then select Edit.
- Click on the Convert button to edit these menu items.
- Click into each individual menu item to update the menu item title or link.
- Use the + Block Inserter Icon on the menu to add new menu items. This will allow you to:
- Choose from any of your recently updated pages.
- Search by name and select any page, post, category or tag.
- Manually type or paste to add any link (including an external one from a different site) to your menu.
Templates
A template controls the layout of your pages. The template affects the look and feel of an individual page ( or post ) or groups of pages ( or posts ). You can edit any Template by selecting that particular template from Appearance > Editor > Templates.
Magazine Template
CraftMag theme has included a Page Template called Magazine Template which can be used as the front page of your site. It is built using a few Post Query block patterns designed by the theme. You can edit these query blocks to display your posts in a categorized or an organized manner.
Displaying Magazine Template on your Front Page.
Please do the following to make a front page that uses Magazine Template.
- Create a new page from Dashboard > Pages > Add New and give it a title. ( For eg: “Home”). If you already have one, go to the Edit screen of that page.
- Under Page Settings, under Summary, locate the Template option and click on it. ( Follow the steps showed in the image on right if you couldn’t find it. )
- Select the Magazine Template from the “Template” dropdown list.
- Finally hit the Publish or Update button to publish the page.
Then if you need to display this page on the site’s front page, please do the following.
- Go to Dashboard > Settings > Reading.
- Select the option “A static page” for the setting “Your homepage displays“.
- Select the Page you just created in the previous steps. ( Eg: Home )
- Click the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the page to save the changes.
Now, if you go to your site’s homepage you will see the Magazine Template is displaying there.
Now you can add the “Home” page to your site’s navigation.
Displaying blog archive on a separate page.
When you display your Homepage with the Magazine Template page, you will have to add a separate page to display your blog archive. To do that please do the following.
- Create a new page from Dashboard > Pages > Add New and give it a title like “Blog“.
- Then go to Dashboard > Settings > Reading and locate the “Your homepage displays” setting.
- Select the name of the page you just created (eg: “Blog”) from the “Posts Page” dropdown.
- Click the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the page to save the changes.
- Finally add that “Blog” page item to your site’s navigation menu, so your site visitors will be able to access your Blog archive page if they want.
