AlaCarte, theme documentation

First, thank you for purchasing our theme!

This guide provides instructions for installation, help on getting started and extensive documentation of features. It is recommended you read it thoroughly to fully leverage the AlaCarte theme's capabilities. Please also make sure to check out our Video Tutorials as they explain everything covered in here in greater depth. We hope you enjoy building with AlaCarte as much as we enjoyed developing it and continue to develop with new features!

With ThemeForest regular license you are licensed to use this theme to create one single End Product (the final website customized with your content) for yourself or for one client.

What is allowed with the single regular license:

1. You can create one website (on a single domain) for yourself or for your client. You can then transfer that website to your client for any fee. In that case, the license is also transferred to your client.
2. You can install the theme on your test server for testing/development purposes (this installation should not be available to the public).
3. You can modify or manipulate the theme, you can combine it with other works to create the End Product.
4. The theme updates for the single End Product (website) are free.

What is not allowed:

1. With a single regular license you are not allowed to create multiple websites. For multiple websites you will need multiple regular licenses.
2. To resell the same website (Single End Product) to another clients. You will need to purchase an extended license for this.

For more information regarding license regulations and policies, see the link License FAQ

To install this theme you must have a working version of WordPress already installed. Below are some useful links regarding WordPress information.

• WordPress FAQ - General information about WordPress.
• WordPress Lessons - A great knowledge-base for WordPress beginners.
• PHP Function References - Detailed information on WordPress PHP functions and a lot of usage examples.

Server requirements is one of the key factors for WordPress and AlaCarte theme, it is highly recommended to use a server which supports the following requirements. We explain about WordPress, AlaCarte, WooCommerce server requirements.

WordPress requirements

WordPress recommends following server settings.

AlaCarte requirements

We recommends following server settings for Our WordPress Theme:

WooCommerce requirements

AlaCarte support WooCommerce officially so it is best to make sure your server also supports this plugin requirements if you are going to set up a shop.To learn about the plugin server requirements, read the official article.

WordPress is well-known for its ease of installation. Under most circumstances, installing WordPress is a very simple process and takes less that five minutes to complete.

Before beginning the installation and configuring of your new theme, you must first have WordPress already installed on a server.

If you are struggling, here is a very detailed guide at Wordpress Codex that will walk you through every step.

If you prefer something more visual, you can watch this video tutorial on how to install Wordpress by us

(Please note the video shown is from our NUVO Restaurant theme, but the same process applies)

Once you have setup a copy of WordPress, there are two ways you can go about installing the theme:

• 1. FTP Upload
  

  Unzip the download and upload the theme directory /AlaCarte/ into your WordPress themes directory /wp-content/themes/.

• 2. WordPress Upload
  

  This is definitely the easier route for most. Simply navigate to Appearance > Add New Themes > Upload. Click the 'browse' button and locate the still zipped theme folder. The theme will be uploaded and installed in a matter of seconds.

  Here is our video tutorial to help you through the process

  (Please note the video shown is from our NUVO Restaurant theme, but the same process applies)




After you have installed the theme successfully, you can optionally import the supplied dummy data in order to get a feel for things. If you're interested in importing the data, please check the Demo Data section below.

Once you have installed and activated our theme you will be prompted to install required and recommended plugins. Just click the link to Begin installing plugins.

Next, check boxes to select all the plugins you want to install, select the bulk action of install from the dropdown box and then click the button to apply.

Finally, you will got a confirmation notice that your plugins were installed and activeded.

To help you set up website with the least efforts, we include in the theme package dummy content file. After installing it, all content seen on the live demo will be imported except for images/videos.

There are two methods you can use, one is using our One-click Importer, the other is Importing manually. To go with the former option, please follow the steps below:

1. Go to Import Demo on the Tools menu.



2. The Import Demo section will show for you.

3. Just click Install the demo you want and wait for the process to complete.

Now you have a website just like our demo.

To imprort demo content by yourself, please follow some steps below:

1. Go to Import Demo on the Tools menu.



2. The Import Demo section will show for you.

3. Hover on the Setting icon and select Manual Import tab.



4. Select the demo that you want to import.



5. Download Attachments file by click on Download Attachments File button.



6. After download file, please upload and unzip file to wp-content/uploads folder.



7. After download file, please upload and unzip file to wp-content/uploads folder.



Finally, please wait for the installation process to complete.

Now you have a website just like our demo.

1. 1. From the 'Appearance' menu on the left-hand side of the Dashboard, select the 'Menus' option to bring up the Menu Editor.



2. 2. Select create a new menu at the top of the page



3. 3. Enter a name for your new menu in the Menu Name box.
4. 4. Click the Create Menu button. 

Your menu has been created.

You can add different link types into your menu, these are split between panes left of the menu you're currently editing.

1. 1. Locate the pane entitled Pages.
2. 2. Within this pane, select the View All link to bring up a list of all the currently published Pages on your site.
3. 3. Select the Pages that you want to add by clicking the checkbox next to each Page's title.
4. 4. Click the Add to Menu button located at the bottom of this pane to add your selection(s) to the menu that you created in the previous step.



5. 5. Click the Save Menu button once you've added all the menu items you want.

Your custom menu has now been saved.

When planning the structure of your menu, it helps to think of each menu item as a heading in a formal report document. In a formal report, main section headings (Level 1 headings) are the nearest to the left of the page; sub-section headings (Level 2 headings) are indented slightly further to the right; any other subordinate headings (Level 3, 4, etc) within the same section are indented even further to the right.

The WordPress menu editor allows you to create multi-level menus using a simple 'drag and drop' interface. Drag menu items up or down to change their order of appearance in the menu. Drag menu items left or right in order to create sub-levels within your menu.

To make one menu item a subordinate of another, you need to position the 'child' underneath its 'parent' and then drag it slightly to the right.

1. 1. Position the mouse over the 'child' menu item.
2. 2. Whilst holding the left mouse button, drag it to the right.
3. 3. Release the mouse button.
4. 4. Repeat these steps for each sub-menu item.



5. 5. Click the Save Menu  button in the Menu Editor to save your changes.

1. 1. Scroll to the bottom of the menu editor window.
2. 2. In the section titled Theme locations, click the check box for the location where you want your menu to appear.



3. 3. Click Save menu once you've made your selection.

Congratulations! Your menu has now been added to your site.

You can set any menu as Primary menu here.

The first, please go to Page > Add new in the sidebar left to create a new page.

Enter the Page title and content for page, example as image below:

This is Page Options section:

Click Publish and View page to see Result:

With the Page Settings specially built for our themes, you can easily customize for Body, Header, Logo, Page Title & BC, Content and Footer of every page.

General

General settings for the page.



Padding Content: Choose space for: Top, Right, Bottom, Left.

Layouts: Select a layout for page...

Notice: To manage widget, you can go to Appearance > Widget



Body Background: Choose background style for body with color or image...

Enable Page Loading: Enable Page Loading Effect When You Load Site.

Back to Top Button: Show back to top button when scrolled down.

Header Top

You can choose Custom or hide or set default as theme option.



Example for Header top, it will show on the top page:



Notice: To edit Header top layouts, go to Header Top section for detail.

Header

Header settings for the page.



Result:

Logo

Choose your logo here. If not set, default Logo will be used.



Result:

Header On top

Header will be on top when applicable.

Page title & BC

Settings for page header area.



Result:

Footer

Settings for Footer area.



Result:



Notice: To edit Footer layouts, go to Footer section for detail.

Settings of this group are responsible for selecting the way to display the homepage (front page), as a blog stream or a static one and specifying the pages to be set as a static homepage and as posts page.

To set a page as Home page, go to Settings > Reading in your WordPress Dashboard panel.

1. Set "Front page displays" as "A Static Page"

2. In the drop down menu for "Front Page" choose a page which will be your home page. And in the "Posts page", choose a page whick will be your blog page.



3. Save changes.

Widgets are the blocks of content that can be placed into specifically designed widget areas.

To Add Widget on Sidebar, please following these steps:

1. 1. Navigate to Appearance > Widgets to access the list of widgets and widget section that they can be added. The left hand side show all widgets you can use. The right hand side shows all different section you can add widgets to.



2. 2. Simply drag and drop the widget you want into the widgets section you want to the right hand side.
3. 3. When you finished, make sure to click “Save” in the widget editing box to save the widgets added to your sidebar.



By default our theme supports 4 widget areas:

• Main Sidebar: Appears on posts and pages except the optional Page Builder template, which has its own widgets.
• Nav Sidebar: Appears in Right handside when click Bars icon in Header.
• Shop Sidebar: Appears in WooCommerce Archive page.
• Page Sidebar: AAppears on pages.

On this theme, we use the Visual Composer to build Footer. Please go to WPBakery Page Builder > Role Manager to enable WPBakery Page Builder for Footer.

Enable WPBakery Page Builder for Footer.



Remember to press Save Changes below.

Add new Footer layout

To add new Footer, Go to AlaCarte Footers > Add new:



Visual Composer is a powerful Wordpress page builder that allows you to create complex page layouts without touching a single line of code. To switch to Visual Composer's Backend Editor, click on this button:



When Visual Composer's editing pane comes up, click on either of these buttons to Add Element.



A shortcode selecting panel will show up, you can see all the shortcode available in the theme. Select the one you would like to use.



You will then encounter a setting panel for the shortcode (each shortcode has it own setting options), after a bit of configuration, it will show up nicely on your Footer.

In the Feature Image tab, you can add an image to show in the Theme and Page option.



After creating the footer layout, you can go to Theme or Page option to see and select it to show.



View page default to see the result for Footer 1 layout:

On this theme, we use the Visual Composer to build Footer. Please go to WPBakery Page Builder > Role Manager to enable WPBakery Page Builder for Header top.

Remember to press Save Changes below.

Add new Header top layout

To add new Footer, Go to AlaCarte Header Top > Add new:



Visual Composer is a powerful Wordpress page builder that allows you to create complex page layouts without touching a single line of code. To switch to Visual Composer's Backend Editor, click on this button:



When Visual Composer's editing pane comes up, click on either of these buttons to Add Element.



A shortcode selecting panel will show up, you can see all the shortcode available in the theme. Select the one you would like to use.



You will then encounter a setting panel for the shortcode (each shortcode has it own setting options), after a bit of configuration, it will show up nicely on your Header top.

In the Feature Image tab, you can add an image to show in the Theme and Page option.



After creating the Header top layout, you can go to Theme or Page option to see and select it to show.



View page default to see the example for Heading top 1 layout, it will show at the top page:

The options panel is home to all of the theme's extensive configuration options. To view the panel, click on AlaCarte > Theme Options in the left-hand menu. Here you have the ability to alter many core aspects that make up how your theme looks and behaves. Any of the options that have some ambiguity to them conviently have descriptions to explain their purpose.

Theme Options is the main section of AlaCarte, which you can do your global settings for your website. You can access Theme Options from top left side of your dashboard. We are going to describe about General Settings options available under AlaCarte > General section of Theme Options in this article.

Example for site fullwidth layout:

Example for site boxed layout:

Extra options

You can select style of Page loading and enable or disable Back to top button. The Page loading show when you reload website.

Here you can config layout, typography, background and link color for your header top.

Example:

Notice: To edit Header top layouts, go to Header Top section for detail.

The theme allows you to assign color schemes to specific parts of your website. This is useful for highlighting certain areas and giving them a distinctive look

Set Primary, Heading and Link color

Example:

Not just color, all text elements are also within your control. You can define the style of Body font and H1 to H6 Headlines for yourself.

Body Font

Font family, weight, style, size, line height, letter spacing and font color.

Result:

Heading

Font family, weight, style, size, line height, letter spacing, header margins, and font color options for headers H1-H6.

Example for Heading 1 tag.



Result:

Extra Fonts

On this section, AlaCarte theme had some available fonts for you. If you want to set a special font for a special class, you only need to insert your class into Selector section, and choose the font that you want on the Font dropdown box. Finally, you click Save changes and see your result, all completed.

Here you can enable header top on top and choose pages you want applied Header Top On Top. If empty, Header On Top will applied for all page

Example:

This is one of most important sections for theme because this is what users see first. With our Theme Options, you will find various options to configure Header bellow:

Example for header layout 2:

Header Width

You can make header fullwidth or boxed.



Example for header fullwidth:

Header Height

Add height for header.



Example for Header Height:

Header Menu & Mega Menu

Header Menu: You need manager menu in Appearance > Menu



Example for Main menu:



Mega Menu: To edit Header top layouts, see How to edit mega menu tab for detail.

Select logo and set logo width, height for your site.

Example for Logo Image:

You can choose show or hide Search, Cart, Sidebar Area and Social icons in Header.

Example:

Here you can set background color, typography and link color.

Example:

Here you can set logo, background color, typography and link color for Header on top.

Example Header on top on About 1 page:

Sticky header will show when you scroll down. Here you can enable Sticky header and set height, logo, background, typography and linh color.

Example:

The below are options config color for sub-menu and mobile menu.

Example for Dropdown menu:

Example for Mobile menu:

Page Title

Select Style, layout and background for page title.



Result:



Page title typography: Select typography for Page title.



Result:

Breadcrumb

Breadcrumb Typography.



Result:

Content

Here you can set background and padding for all pages.



Result:

Sidebar Area

Here you can set background and padding for Sidebar Area.



Result:

Archive

Here you can config for archive, search, index... pages.



Result:

General

Here you can choose show or hide New badge and set background for New, Sale and Hot badge.

Result for Shop catalog page:

Shop page

Select layout, product column and product number to show on Shop catalog page.

Result for Shop catalog page:

Single Product page

Result single product page:

Google Maps

Add Google API key.

Twitter

Add you twitter API key.

Instagram

Add your user id to show on Home Instagram page.



If any instagram account is private, you need to enter an access token and a client id

Add your social network

Example for show socials on single post:

Footer Layout: You can select layout, set background, color and margin for Footer.

Example:

Notice: To edit Footer layouts, go to Footer section for detail.

Footer color

Example:

WordPress 5.0 includes the new block editor (Gutenberg), which will be the default editor from this time on. If you run into any problems or just don't like the new editor, there are different methods available to disable the block editor.

Learn more about Gutenberg

A custom post type is an additional type of posts that is tailored for a specific kind of content. And you can use them after the plug-in activation. Include Event and Portfolio.

To display Events on your page, you need to create Event posts first, and then output them using a shortcode. Add a new Event post by clicking Events > Add New.

On a Event page, you can enter the Event's name, insert content in the main content field and add Feature Image.

On a Event Settings, you can add Event details and gallery:

Example for Event post:

Display Events on the front-end using the AlaCarte Post Grid Shortcodes.

To display Portfolio on your page, you need to create Portfolio posts first, and then output them using a shortcode. Add a new Portfolio post by clicking Portfolioes > Add New.

On a Portfolio page, you can enter the Portfolio's name, insert content in the main content field and add Feature Image.

On a Portfolio Settings, you can select Portfolio layout, add Subtitle and Link Page.

Display the Portfolio on the front-end using the AlaCarte Portfolio Shortcode.

The first, please go to Page > Add new in the sidebar left to create a new page.

Visual Composer is a powerful Wordpress page builder that allows you to create complex page layouts without touching a single line of code. To switch to Visual Composer's Backend Editor, click on this button:

When Visual Composer's editing pane comes up, click on either of these buttons to Add Element.

A shortcode selecting panel will show up, you can see all the shortcode available in the theme. Select the one you would like to use.

You will then encounter a setting panel for the shortcode (each shortcode has it own setting options), after a bit of configuration, it will show up nicely on your page.

This shortcode displays Event and Post on page.

After add a new page and switch to Backend editor, please add AlaCarte Posts Grid shortcode.

Select post type and post count.

Select a layout template for Event and column to show on screens devices.

Select Heading tag, enter thumbnail image size and check on Show Pagination to show Pagination.

Example for Event page using AlaCarte Posts Grid:

This shortcode displays Event and Post on page.

After add a new page and switch to Backend editor, please add AlaCarte Portfolio shortcode.

Very simple, you just need to enter the number of portfolio you want to display:

Save change and view page to see the result:

Our themes are optimized by with H1, H2, H3, H4, H5 tags, clean code, HTML5 but if you want to get higher ranking on search engines, you must need some help from SEO plugins and Google Pagespeed Service:

• Yoast SEO plugin
• Google Pagespeed Service
• Smush.it ( Optimizing Images )
• SEO Friendly Images ( SEO Images )

You can update our theme using some ways bellow

1. Update theme using Envato WordPress Toolkit

2. You can update manual theme

If you have any troubles while using auto update ( It is likely to be a permissions issue ) then you may want to manually update the theme via FTP or Cpanel.

Download the latest version of the theme on ThemeForest download page and simply replace with the old one via FTP or Cpanel.

The team at RedEXP are always happy to help you with any questions or recommendations you have about the AlaCarte theme. If you need any help or support please contact us through the TF Messaging system or
Direct at Email: info.spyropress@gmail.com
Direct at Forum: Close