Lahanna Documentation
Overview of the theme, its contents, and how to get started with the theme
Overview of the theme, its contents, and how to get started with the theme
by Pixelwars
Thank you for purchasing our theme! If you have a question that this documentation doesn't answer, ask us on our support forums. If you like the theme, please rate it on ThemeForest.
- Pixelwars Team
Sign in to our support forums to ask your question. To open a new topic, you need your Item Purchase Code (where is my purchase code?).
If you like the theme, you can rate it on your ThemeForest Downloads page.
We assume you have basic knowledge of WordPress. In this documentation, you will learn how to install, set up and customize Lahanna.
We've assembled some links to get you started:
Learn WordPress: Level up your WordPress skills.
- (Course) Beginner WordPress User
- (Video) How to Find Help with WordPress
- (Video) WordPress Dashboard Overview
- (Video) How to Install a Theme
- (Video) How to Choose and Install Plugins
- (Video) Using the Theme Customizer
- (Video) Using the Media Library
- (Video) Intro to Publishing with the Block Editor
- (Video) Intro to the Block Directory
- (Video) Using WordPress in Other Languages
WordPress Documentation: A variety of resources to help you get the most out of WordPress.
- Where to Start: Learn the basics of WordPress and take your first steps.
- Dashboard: Get to know the control center of your site.
- Administration Screens
- WordPress Block Editor - Blocks
- Pages Screen - Create Pages
- Posts Screen - Posts Categories Screen - Posts Tags Screen
- Comments Screen - Comments in WordPress - Comment Moderation - Avatars
- Media Library Screen - Media Add New Screen - Edit Media
- Settings General Screen
- Settings Writing Screen
- Settings Discussion Screen
- Settings Media Screen
- Settings Permalinks Screen
- Customization: Get the look and feel you want on your site.
- Maintenance: Keep your site updated, backed up, and ready.
WordPress Support Forums: Community-based Support Forums are a great place to learn, share, and troubleshoot.
- Fixing WordPress Forum: For any problems encountered after setting up WordPress.
- Requests and Feedback Forum: Suggest new features and share feedback about WordPress.
- Everything else WordPress Forum: For relevant questions and problems not covered in the other forums.
Note: The WordPress.org forums don't provide support for commercial themes. For questions about Lahanna, please use our support forums.
Free Plugins: The WordPress Plugin Directory is the largest directory of free and open source WordPress plugins. Extend your WordPress experience with plugins.
You can add the theme to your WordPress site in one of the following ways.
The Envato Market plugin connects your site to your ThemeForest account and installs the themes you purchased.
The plugin also helps you keep the theme up to date (see the Update section).
Note: The "Theme/1 - Parent Theme" folder also has a "Previous Version" folder, with the ZIP file of the previous theme version. Don't install it on a new site. It is there for sites that already use the theme: if your site has a problem after an update, you can go back to the previous version by installing this file (see the Update section).
Note: Your host limits the size of the files you can upload. You can see this limit under Tools > Site Health > Info > Media Handling ("Max size of an uploaded file"). If the theme's ZIP file is larger than this limit, install the theme with one of the ways below, or ask your hosting provider to increase the limit.
A child theme inherits the functionality and styling of the parent theme. If you want to change the theme's code, use the child theme: your changes are kept when you update the parent theme (see the Update section).
This theme is coded to high standards to ensure seamless compatibility with plugins.
Go to Appearance > Install Theme Plugins to install the plugins used on the demo site. Pixelwars Core adds the theme's features, such as the portfolio, the custom widgets and the "Featured Media" box. Pixelwars Core Shortcodes adds the shortcodes (see the Shortcodes section). The other plugins are:
<p> <label>Subscribe your e-mail address and get to know about fresh stuff!</label> </p> <p> <input type="email" name="EMAIL" placeholder="Your email address" required="required"> </p> <p> <input type="submit" value="Sign up"> </p>
Importing demo data (posts, pages, theme settings, etc.) is the quickest and easiest way to set up your new theme. It allows you to simply edit everything instead of creating content and layouts from scratch.
Before you import the demo, make sure your server meets our system requirements (WordPress and PHP versions, and PHP limits such as memory and upload size). You can check your current values under Tools > Site Health > Info > Server. If you are not sure whether your server meets them, contact your hosting provider.
First, go to Appearance > Install Theme Plugins, and install and activate the plugins listed there. Then choose one of the following methods. A low upload size limit on your server can stop the import. In this case, you need to increase it; see this article for how to do it.
Use this method if the one-click import doesn't work on your server. The files are in the "Sample Data" folder of the theme package. If the theme has more than one demo, each demo has its own folder.
Permalinks are the permanent URLs to your individual pages and blog posts, as well as your category and tag archives. A permalink is the web address used to link to your content.
For more information
This theme supports WordPress's Customizer feature. In the Customizer, related settings are grouped under the same section. Therefore, finding a setting is very easy.
With the Customizer, you can customize almost every aspect of your theme. While doing so, you can see the changes live on your website.
You can set your logo either as plain text or as an image. You can also configure your main navigation menu and widgets with the live preview.
We especially recommend adjusting the color settings to align your website's color scheme with your business or logo. If the default color settings work well for you, there is no need to change them.
You can always access the Customizer by going to Appearance > Customize.
To add small style changes, use Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS. For changes in the theme's code, use the child theme, so that your changes are kept when you update the theme (see the Installation and Update sections).
To control your fonts in a single place, check "Disable Default Fonts" under Elementor > Settings > General (see the Elementor section). Then all fonts on your Elementor pages come from the font settings in the Customizer. When you want to change a font, you change it once in the Customizer, instead of changing each title one by one in Elementor.
If the Customizer doesn't meet your needs, you can also set global colors, fonts and styles for all your Elementor pages in Elementor's Site Settings.
For more information
Widgets are independent sections of content that can be placed into widgetized areas.
This theme has custom widgets. They come with the Pixelwars Core plugin, so make sure it is installed and active (see the Plugins section). In the widget list, their names start with "(Pixelwars)".
Note: Check out the Plugins section for "Subscribe" widget.
The Intro widget can use one of the following backgrounds:
Example embed code: (Vimeo)
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/111529240?autoplay=1&loop=1&muted=1" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
Note: ?autoplay=1, &loop=1 and &muted=1 are optional. Browsers only play a video automatically when it is muted, so keep &muted=1 if you use ?autoplay=1.
Set a featured area for your page with the "Featured Area" option in the "Page Settings" box of the page edit screen.
Featured areas are widget areas, like sidebars. You can create new ones from Appearance > Theme Options > Widget Areas (see the Sidebar section).
You can add many widgets to a featured area. See the Widgets section for all widgets of the theme.
Main Slider displays your latest blog posts or your sticky blog posts. Choose this with the "Slides" option of the widget ("Latest posts" or "Sticky posts"). You can also set the number of slides, the ratio and the animation of the slider.
In the post editor, open the settings sidebar and mark the post as "Sticky". You can also use Quick Edit in the Posts list and check "Make this post sticky".
Note: This theme uses custom image sizes. If you have images in your Media Library, run Regenerate Thumbnails plugin once (see the Installation section).
Pages are similar to posts in that they have a title, body text, and associated metadata, but they are different in that they are not part of the chronological blog stream, kind of like permanent posts. Pages are not categorized or tagged, but can have a hierarchy. You can nest pages under other pages by making one the "Parent" of the other, creating a group of pages.
When editing a page/post in the WordPress editor, you will find a Settings sidebar on the right-hand side of the screen. This panel contains various options and settings related to the page, such as:
These settings control how the page is displayed. You can find more information about the Settings sidebar in this article.
The theme also adds its own boxes to the settings sidebar: "Page Settings" (with options like the page style, the sidebar and the featured area) and "Page Header Style". With them, you can change these settings for a single page (see the Posts section).
You can assign a custom template to any page by editing it in the WordPress admin area. To select a custom page template, open the Template dropdown in the settings sidebar.
The theme's page templates:
When the Elementor plugin is active, you can also choose its "Elementor Full Width" and "Elementor Canvas" templates (see the Elementor section).
Some page templates include a sidebar area that can display widgets such as recent posts, categories, or custom content.
By default, sidebars are disabled for pages. If you want to display a sidebar on a specific page, open that page in the WordPress editor and select a sidebar with the "Sidebar" option in the "Page Settings" box. The theme has a "Page Sidebar" widget area for pages, and you can also choose any other widget area, including the ones you create in Appearance > Theme Options > Widget Areas (see the Sidebar section).
After selecting a sidebar, go to Appearance > Widgets and add any widgets you want to the sidebar you chose for that page (see the Widgets section).
Managing pages is very similar to managing posts, and the screens can be customized in the same way. You can also perform the same types of actions, including narrowing the list by using the filters, acting on a page using the action links that appear when you hover over a row, or using the Bulk actions menu to edit the metadata for multiple pages at once.
Learn more about Managing Pages.
Useful Resources
Learn how to get the most out of the WordPress block editor when publishing your content.
WordPress allows you to choose what your homepage displays. You can use a classic blog page showing your latest posts, or you can assign a static page. If you don't want a blog page on your site, you can set a static homepage only. Creating a blog page is optional. To set a static homepage, simply create (or choose) a page and assign it as the Homepage in Settings > Reading.
Note: Like the demo site, your homepage shows your latest posts by default. The widgets in the "Blog Featured Area" widget area (for example a slider) are shown above your posts (see the Featured Area section).
If you want a static homepage instead:
You can also design your homepage with Elementor (see the Elementor section).
You can also show your latest posts on any page with the theme's "Latest Posts" page template.
Here, you will find the information you need to create a blog post. Once you have created your blog post, you can publish it on your blog page. Blog posts have a title, body text, and associated metadata, and they are part of the chronological blog stream. Posts are categorized and tagged, but can not have a hierarchy. Post categories can have a hierarchy. You can nest categories under other categories by making one the "Parent" of the other, creating a group of categories.
If you have any questions about blog page and blog posts, feel free to reach out to us on our support forum. We are happy to assist you!
Let your creativity flow and craft engaging blog posts to share. This will enhance the value of your website and also help it rank higher in search engines.
When editing a page/post in the WordPress editor, you will find a Settings sidebar on the right-hand side of the screen. This panel contains various options and settings related to the page, such as:
These settings control how the page is displayed. You can find more information about the Settings sidebar in this article.
The theme adds the following boxes to the settings sidebar. With them, you can change these settings for a single post or page. The default value, "Inherit from Customizer", uses the setting from the Customizer.
"Post Header Style" and "Featured Media" come with the Pixelwars Core plugin (see the Plugins section).
Creating a blog page in WordPress is simple, and you can do it in just a few steps. Here's how (see also the Homepage section):
Now, whenever you publish a new blog post, it will automatically appear on your blog page. Happy blogging!
You can use categories to define sections of your site and group related posts. The default category is "Uncategorized" until you change it in the WordPress Writing settings.
To show an image at the top of a category page, go to Posts > Categories, edit the category and choose a "Header Image". The image appears across the full width of the page, with the category title and description on it. This field comes with the Pixelwars Core plugin, so keep the plugin active and up to date (see the Plugins section). Categories without a header image show only their title.
You can assign keywords to your posts using tags. Unlike categories, tags have no hierarchy, meaning there's no relationship from one tag to another.
The Post Formats feature in WordPress allows you to use different styles and layouts for various types of content. This feature helps your theme make posts more dynamic and user-friendly.
On the post edit screen, you can choose the format of a blog post. To do this, open the edit screen of a post and locate the "Format" option in the settings sidebar on the right-hand side.
Note: You can change the post format of an already published post at any time. Simply edit the post and select a different "Format" from the options. WordPress will automatically adjust the layout based on the new format, ensuring that your content remains visually appealing.
For the Audio, Video and Link formats, use the "Featured Media" box in the settings sidebar of the post edit screen:
WordPress provides a variety of Post Formats, each designed for specific types of content. When creating a post, you can enhance its layout using the WordPress Block Editor.
In the block inserter menu, you will find suitable blocks for each post format. For example, the "Gallery" format supports the "Gallery" block, and the "Video" format supports the "Video" block. To quickly find the right block for a format, simply type the format name (e.g., "Image," "Quote," or "Video") into the block search field. WordPress will automatically suggest the most relevant block for your post format.
This theme supports the following WordPress Post Formats:
JOHN: Hey there MARY: Aye, matey! JOHN: Huh?
Sidebars allow you to display additional content alongside your main blog page and individual posts. This can include widgets such as recent posts, categories, search bars, social media links, and advertisements.
Sidebars help improve navigation, user engagement, and monetization. Customize them to match your site's design and audience preferences.
This theme allows you to enable or disable sidebars through the Customizer. To check:
Then go to Appearance > Widgets and add widgets to the "Blog Sidebar" and "Post Sidebar" widget areas (see the Widgets section).
The Sidebar section of the Customizer also has other options, like "Sidebar Position" and "Sticky Sidebar". See the Sidebar section for more.
Hovering over a row in the posts list will display action links that allow you to manage your post. You can perform the following actions:
Learn more about Managing Posts, Categories and Tags.
Useful Resources
Learn how to get the most out of the WordPress block editor when publishing your content.
The theme uses the free Cooked plugin for recipes, and styles its recipe cards. For all features of the plugin, see the Cooked documentation; for questions about the plugin itself, use the Cooked Support Forum.
Go to Appearance > Install Theme Plugins, then install and activate the "Cooked" plugin. Now you can see the "Recipes" menu in your dashboard.
This page lists all your recipes, with a search box and category filters.
[cooked-browse] and publish the page.To use the colors of the demo, go to Recipes > Settings > Design, set "Main Color" to #ccc0ae and "Main Color (on hover)" to #333333, and click "Update Settings".
Recipe Template: The theme already shows the featured image at the top of the page. So that the image isn't shown twice, open the "Layout" tab, remove the [cooked-image] shortcode from "Recipe Template", then click "Save as Default" and "Apply to All". You need to do this only once.
The blog page, the (Pixelwars) Main Slider and the other post lists show blog posts, not recipes. On the demo site, each recipe is added to a blog post, so that it appears in these places too:
[cooked-recipe id="149"].Note: This way the recipe has two addresses: the recipe page and the post. If you don't want search engines to show both, hide the recipes from search results in your SEO plugin (for example, the "Recipes" content type in Yoast SEO or Rank Math), so that only the posts are shown.
Go to Appearance > Install Theme Plugins. You can see the plugin "Pixelwars Core" in the list. Install the plugin. When you click the "Install" link, it will be installed and activated automatically. Then go to your main dashboard page. Now you can see the "Portfolio" menu.
There are three submenus under the Portfolio menu:
When editing a page/post in the WordPress editor, you will find a Settings sidebar on the right-hand side of the screen. This panel contains various options and settings related to the page, such as:
These settings control how the page is displayed. You can find more information about the Settings sidebar in this article.
The theme also adds its own boxes to the settings sidebar: "Post Settings" (with options like the post style, the sidebar and the gallery type), "Post Header Style" and "Featured Media/Link". With them, you can change these settings for a single portfolio post or page (see the Posts section).
Portfolio items are similar to blog posts.
Note: You can see a "Gallery Type" option (Grid or Slider) in the "Post Settings" box. The type option affects content galleries when you view your portfolio post in individual page.
Note: If you do not see the boxes mentioned above in the edit screen, turn them on from Options (⋮) > Preferences > Panels in the upper right side of the editor.
There are two ways to build one or more portfolio pages.
This page shows all published portfolio posts.
Note: Add some text to content of the page to show it like a message in your portfolio page.
Note: Play with post publish date to change item order in your portfolio page.
A portfolio category page shows its own published portfolio posts.
Note: Add some text to description field of a category to show it like a message in your portfolio category page. (Portfolio > Portfolio Categories > Edit > Description)
Note: Play with post publish date to change item order in your portfolio category page.
Go to Appearance > Customize > Portfolio.
This setting is used in single view of portfolio posts.
Activate Overflowing Functionality
Enable Overflowing For Images
Control portfolio sidebar from Appearance > Customize > Sidebar:
Sidebar for Portfolio Page Template: Adjust sidebar with the "Sidebar" option in the "Page Settings" box in edit screen.
Portfolio Widget Area: You can see the Portfolio Sidebar widget area listed in the Widgets page under Appearance menu.
Useful Resources
Learn how to get the most out of the WordPress block editor when publishing your content.
The theme works with Elementor, a drag-and-drop page builder. With Elementor, you can design your pages visually without writing code. The demo site isn't built with Elementor, so using it is optional.
Install and activate Elementor from Plugins > Add Plugin. Before you install it, make sure your site meets Elementor's requirements.
Go to Elementor > Settings > General:
With these options checked, Elementor uses the colors and fonts of the theme instead of its own defaults.
When creating a new page, choose Template: "Elementor Full Width".
The shortcodes come with the Pixelwars Core Shortcodes plugin. Install and activate it from Appearance > Install Theme Plugins.
[row] Column shortcode here. [/row] [column width=""] Content here. [/column] width="" ... 1 to 12. (required). 12 = 100%, 6 = 50%, 3 = 25%. width_xs="" ... 1 to 12. (optional). Extra small devices - Phones (<768px). width_md="" ... 1 to 12. (optional). Medium devices - Desktops (≥992px). width_lg="" ... 1 to 12. (optional). Large devices - Desktops (≥1200px). Example 1: (Two Columns) [row] [column width="6"] Content here. [/column] [column width="6"] Content here. [/column] [/row] Example 2: (Three Columns) [row] [column width="4"] Content here. [/column] [column width="4"] Content here. [/column] [column width="4"] Content here. [/column] [/row] Example 3: (Four Columns) [row] [column width="3"] Content here. [/column] [column width="3"] Content here. [/column] [column width="3"] Content here. [/column] [column width="3"] Content here. [/column] [/row]
[button text="" url="" new_tab="" size="" icon=""] new_tab="" ... yes size="" ... mini, small, big, huge icon="" ... See Icons section. Example: [button text="My Button" url="https://www.example.com"]
[social_icon type="" same_tab="" url=""] [social_icon type="" same_tab="" url=""] [social_icon type="" same_tab="" url=""] same_tab="" ... yes type="" ... behance, blogger, bloglovin, deviantart, digg, dribbble, facebook, fivehundredpx, flickr, foursquare, github, goodreads, instagram, lastfm, linkedin, medium, meetup, paypal, pinterest, quora, reddit, rss, slideshare, snapchat, soundcloud, spotify, stack-overflow, tiktok, tumblr, twitch, twitter (X), unsplash, vimeo, vkontakte, weibo, whatsapp, wordpress, xing, yelp, youtube Note: You can use your site's feed url for the rss icon: https://www.yoursite.com/feed/ Example 1: [social_icon type="facebook" url="https://www.facebook.com/username"] [social_icon type="twitter" url="https://x.com/username"] Example 2: [social_icon type="facebook" same_tab="yes" url="https://www.facebook.com/username"] [social_icon type="twitter" same_tab="yes" url="https://x.com/username"]
[contact_form captcha="" to="" subject=""] to="" ... Your email address. captcha="yes" Example: [contact_form to="yourname@example.com" subject="New Message from My Site"]
[alert type=""]Text here.[/alert] type="" ... success, error. Example 1: [alert]My alert text.[/alert] Example 2: [alert type="success"]My alert text.[/alert] Example 3: [alert type="error"]My alert text.[/alert]
[tab_wrap titles="" active=""] [tab]Text here.[/tab] [tab]Text here.[/tab] [tab]Text here.[/tab] [/tab_wrap] titles="" ... Separate with commas. Example: [tab_wrap titles="Tab One,Tab Two,Tab Three"] [tab] Tab one text here. [/tab] [tab] Tab two text here. [/tab] [tab] Tab three text here. [/tab] [/tab_wrap]
[accordion_wrap] [accordion title=""]Text here.[/accordion] [accordion title=""]Text here.[/accordion] [accordion title=""]Text here.[/accordion] [/accordion_wrap]
[toggle_wrap] [toggle title=""]Text here.[/toggle] [toggle title=""]Text here.[/toggle] [toggle title=""]Text here.[/toggle] [/toggle_wrap]
[quote align="" name=""]Text here.[/quote] align="" ... alignleft, alignright
[timeline] [event_group_title icon="" text=""] [event current="" date="" title="" sub_title=""]Text here.[/event] [event current="" date="" title="" sub_title=""]Text here.[/event] [event current="" date="" title="" sub_title=""]Text here.[/event] [/timeline] icon="" ... See Icons section. current="" ... current
[skill title="Fireworks" percent="90"] [skill title="Photoshop" percent="70"] [skill title="Illustrator" percent="50"]
[testimonial image="" title="" sub_title=""]Description text here.[/testimonial] [testimonial image="" title="" sub_title=""]Description text here.[/testimonial] [testimonial image="" title="" sub_title=""]Description text here.[/testimonial] title="" ... Person's name. sub_title="" ... Person's job. image="" ... An image url. Upload your image to your Media Library, then copy its url and use in this parameter.
[section_title]Title here.[/section_title]
[fun_fact] An image here. Heading 4 title here. [/fun_fact]
[service] An image here. Heading 4 title here. Description here. [/service]
Edit images in your content. Add full keyword as Image CSS Class to your image from
advanced options.
Edit images in your content. Add zoom keyword as Link CSS Class to your image from
advanced options. And Link To: Media File from display settings.
Edit images in your content. Add parallax or parallax half keywords as
Image CSS Class to your image from advanced options.
Available icons here.
Select your icon from the list. Don't use the prefix pw-icon-. Only use icon name
for the icon="" parameter of the shortcodes.
This theme is coded to be fully compatible with the WooCommerce plugin. You can install the WooCommerce plugin at any time to transform your website into an e-commerce platform. Whether you want to sell digital products or physical goods, it's all possible with this setup.
There are also numerous free and paid extensions available for the WooCommerce plugin. With these, you can add extra features to your website and build a more advanced structure. This way, you can stay one step ahead of your competitors.
For questions about how the theme works with WooCommerce, feel free to ask on our support forums. For questions about the WooCommerce plugin itself, use the WooCommerce support forum (see below).
Go to Plugins > Add Plugin, search for "WooCommerce", and install and activate the plugin.
The theme has its own settings for your shop:
All four demos (Demo 01 to Demo 04) include shop products. To import them too, install and activate WooCommerce before you import the demo (see the Demo Import section).
The WooCommerce plugin comes with its own sample products. You can import them to see how your shop looks with products. The sample files are in the "sample-data" folder of the WooCommerce plugin. See Importing WooCommerce Sample Data for how to import them.
All texts of the theme are translatable. You can translate them into your language with a plugin (Loco Translate) or with a desktop editor (Poedit).
The theme includes a template file that contains all of its texts: lahanna.pot, in the "languages" folder of the theme. You can also use translation to change the theme's English texts. For example, category archives show the title Browsing Category. You can create an "English (United States)" translation and change this title to something like Posts under Category.
Important: Don't save your translation files in the theme folder. Theme updates replace the whole theme folder, so your translations would be deleted. Save them in one of the folders described below, which theme updates don't touch.
lahanna-de_DE.po and lahanna-de_DE.mo for German. Then upload them to the "wp-content/languages/themes/" folder.
Go to Settings > General and choose your language in "Site Language". Your translation appears on the site only when the site language matches it.
Some texts, like the portfolio labels and the theme's widgets, come from the Pixelwars Core plugin. The plugin has its own translation files and already includes translations for some languages. To translate or change its texts, follow the same steps under Loco Translate > Plugins > Pixelwars Core.
To publish your content (posts, pages, and menus) in more than one language, use a multilingual plugin. For the theme's own texts, most of these plugins use the theme's translation files, so translate the theme first as described above.
A backup is a copy of your site that you can go back to if something goes wrong, like a failed update, a broken plugin or a hacked site. Keep recent backups, and keep at least one copy outside your server.
A full backup has two parts. You need both to restore your site:
Keep copies outside your server (in cloud storage or on your computer), so you can restore your site even if your server has a problem. See WordPress Backups to learn more.
Restore your site with the same tool you used to back it up. In UpdraftPlus, go to Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups, find the backup in the list of existing backups and click "Restore". For hosting backups, use your hosting control panel or ask your hosting provider.
Note: From time to time, check that your backups work, for example by restoring one on a test site.
Choose one of the following ways. With the Envato Market plugin, you don't need to download anything. For the other two ways, download the new theme package from your ThemeForest account and unzip it. The theme file to upload (lahanna.zip) is inside the "Theme/1 - Parent Theme" folder of the package, in the folder with the new version number.
Note: The "Theme/1 - Parent Theme" folder also has a "Previous Version" folder, with the ZIP file of the previous theme version. If your site has a problem after an update, you can go back to the previous version: install this file the same way, via WordPress or via FTP.
The Envato Market plugin connects your site to your ThemeForest account. WordPress can then check for updates of the themes you purchased and install them.
You don't need to activate another theme or delete the current one first. Switching to another theme and back can mix up your menu locations and widgets.
Note: If your host doesn't allow uploading large files, update the theme via FTP.
You can upload files to your site with an FTP client or with the file manager in your hosting control panel. See Updating WordPress using FTP to learn more about both.
Note: Don't upload the new folder over the old one. Files that were removed in the new version would stay on your server.
The theme comes with its own plugins, like Pixelwars Core. A new theme version can include new versions of these plugins, so update them right after you update the theme. Go to Appearance > Install Theme Plugins and update the plugins listed there. WordPress also shows a notice in the dashboard when these plugins need an update.
Keep WordPress up to date, because new versions include security fixes (see the Security section). Before you update to a new major version of WordPress, make a backup and check whether a theme update for the new version is available. You can find your theme's page on ThemeForest in the Pixelwars portfolio.
If you prefer to start major updates yourself, go to Dashboard > Updates and click "Switch to automatic updates for maintenance and security releases only". Maintenance and security releases will still be installed automatically. Don't postpone major updates for long.
Using a WordPress site securely is essential for protecting your website from potential threats. Here are some key security recommendations:
Always keep WordPress, themes, and plugins updated to the latest versions to prevent security vulnerabilities. See the Update section to learn how to update the theme.
Download the theme and its updates only from your ThemeForest account or through the Envato Market plugin (see the Update section). Download plugins only from WordPress.org or from their developers' websites. Never use "nulled" (pirated) copies of themes or plugins: they often contain hidden malicious code that can give attackers control of your site.
Delete the themes and plugins you don't use. Deactivated themes and plugins still stay on your server, and a security flaw in them can still put your site at risk. Don't delete the parent theme if you use its child theme, and keep one default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-Five) as a fallback.
WordPress runs on PHP, and old PHP versions no longer receive security fixes. You can see your PHP version under Tools > Site Health > Info > Server. If it is no longer a supported version, ask your hosting provider to switch to a newer one. Before switching, update WordPress, your theme, and your plugins.
Don't use "admin" or other easy-to-guess usernames. WordPress doesn't let you change a username, so if your site has an "admin" account, create a new administrator account with a unique username, log in with it, and delete the old account. When WordPress asks what should be done with the content owned by that user, choose "Attribute all content to another user" and select your new account. Otherwise, all posts and pages of the old account will be deleted.
Ensure that you use complex passwords for your admin panel, database, and hosting account. Consider using a password manager. Don't re-use the same password on different services, especially if you are using the same username.
Ensure your website uses HTTPS with an SSL certificate. Most hosting providers offer free SSL via Let's Encrypt. Once your site opens with https://, go to Settings > General and change both "WordPress Address (URL)" and "Site Address (URL)" to start with https://. See HTTPS for WordPress for more details.
Use a security plugin like Wordfence, Kadence Security (formerly iThemes Security), or Sucuri Security to add extra protection layers. Important: If you decide to use a security plugin, make sure to activate only one at a time. Running multiple security plugins simultaneously may cause conflicts and errors.
Prevent brute-force attacks by limiting the number of failed login attempts. Wordfence and Kadence Security include this feature. If you don't use one of them, you can use a plugin like Limit Login Attempts Security (formerly Limit Login Attempts Reloaded).
For additional security, enable 2FA for your WordPress login to prevent unauthorized access. With 2FA, you enter a one-time code from an app on your phone after your password. WordPress doesn't include 2FA by default. Wordfence and Kadence Security include this feature. If you don't use one of them, you can use the Two Factor plugin.
Use a backup plugin like UpdraftPlus or your hosting provider's backup service to prevent data loss (see the Backups section).
By following these security measures, you can significantly reduce the risk of attacks and keep your WordPress site safe.
Answers to the questions we are asked most often in our support forum. Click a question to see its answer. Each answer links to the section with the details.
Most import errors, like "503 Service Unavailable", "500 Internal Server Error", "Looks like some of the plugins failed to install" or a site that shows only "Hello World", come from server limits. Make sure that your server meets the system requirements (PHP version and PHP limits such as memory, execution time, input time and upload size), or ask your hosting provider to raise them. Also install and activate the theme plugins before the import (see Import Methods). If only some demo images fail to import, your server couldn't download them; the rest of the content works, and you can replace them with your own images.
The recipes of the demo are imported only if the Cooked plugin is active, and its shop products only if WooCommerce is active. Install and activate both plugins before you import the demo (see Import Methods). If you already imported the demo without them, delete the imported content first, then import the demo again, so that nothing is imported twice.
These demos have a few extra styles that come with their own child themes: "Lahanna Child Style 2", "Lahanna Child Style 3" and "Lahanna Child Style 4". Without the right child theme your site looks a little different from the demo, for example with a space between the menu and the slider. Install and activate the child theme of your demo, and keep the parent theme installed, because the child theme needs it (see the Child Theme section). Import only one demo: the demos use the same widget areas and settings, so a second import mixes them up.
The slider and the boxes under it are widgets in the "Blog Featured Area" widget area, which is shown above your latest posts. Go to Appearance > Widgets and add the "(Pixelwars) Main Slider" and "(Pixelwars) Link Box" widgets to "Blog Featured Area" (see the Featured Area section). These widgets come with the Pixelwars Core plugin, so make sure it is active. If your homepage is a static page, add the widgets to "Page Featured Area" and choose it with the "Featured Area" option in the page's "Page Settings" box.
Each box is a "(Pixelwars) Link Box" widget in the "Blog Featured Area" widget area. Go to Appearance > Widgets, open a box and change its title, link URL and image, or delete it. To change the look of all boxes, like their title style and text alignment, go to Appearance > Customize > Featured Area > Link Box.
Open the "(Pixelwars) Main Slider" widget: "Slides" shows your latest posts or your sticky posts, and "Slides Count" sets how many. To make a post sticky, mark it as "Sticky" in the settings sidebar of the post editor (see the Featured Area section). WordPress also shows sticky posts at the top of your latest posts. To show them only in the slider, go to Appearance > Customize > Blog, set "Sticky Posts" to "Exclude from blog" and save.
The "Ratio" option of the "(Pixelwars) Main Slider" widget sets the shape of the slider on tablets and computers. On phones the slider is square, and the "Tall" and "Fullscreen" ratios make it even taller, so choose one of the others. To make the slider lower on phones too, add this code to Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS and change the percentage as you like:
@media screen and (max-width: 767px) {
.slider-box .post-wrap { padding-top: 75% !important; }
}
Go to Settings > Reading and set "Blog pages show at most". To change the layout, go to Appearance > Customize > Blog and choose one in "Blog": Regular, Grid, List, Circles, "1st Full + Grid" or "1st Full + List" (see the Homepage section).
Recipes are a separate content type of the Cooked plugin, so the blog page, the slider and the other post lists don't show them. Like on the demo site, add each recipe to a blog post with its shortcode (see Recipes in Posts). To list all your recipes on one page, use a recipe archive page (see Recipe Settings).
When you add a recipe to a post, the recipe has two addresses: the recipe page and the post. Hide the recipes from search results in your SEO plugin, so that only the posts are indexed (see the note in Recipes in Posts). Cooked also has a "Disable Public Recipes" option in Recipes > Settings > General, under "Advanced Settings". It shows recipes only through the [cooked-recipe] shortcode, so the recipe pages, and the links to them on your recipe archive page, stop working. Use it only if your visitors see your recipes in posts alone.
This was a bug in older versions of the Cooked plugin. Update Cooked to its latest version in Plugins > Installed Plugins. Then go to Settings > Permalinks and click "Save Changes" without changing anything, so that WordPress rebuilds its addresses (see Permalink Settings).
The theme shows the featured image at the top of the recipe page, and the default recipe template of Cooked shows it again with the [cooked-image] shortcode. Remove this shortcode from the recipe template of your recipes (see the "Recipe Template" note in Create a Recipe).
Post lists, like the blog page and the category pages, show the excerpt of each post. A post that has only a recipe shortcode has no text of its own for the excerpt. Edit the post, write a short description in the "Excerpt" field of the settings sidebar, and update the post.
These features belong to the Cooked plugin. See the Cooked documentation, and ask questions about the plugin in the Cooked support forum. Some features, like recipe submissions by visitors, need the paid Cooked Pro.
The theme's widgets come with the Pixelwars Core plugin, and its shortcodes come with the Pixelwars Core Shortcodes plugin. Go to Appearance > Install Theme Plugins and install and activate both (see the Plugins section). In the widget list, the names of the theme's widgets start with "(Pixelwars)".
The cart icon is shown when WooCommerce is active. If you don't have a shop, deactivate WooCommerce in Plugins > Installed Plugins. To keep the shop but hide the icon, add .shopping-cart { display: none; } to Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS.
Go to Appearance > Customize > Meta. "Blog Meta" is for post lists and "Single Post Meta" is for single posts. Set an item, like "Views Count", "Share", "Category" or "Date", to "Hidden" and save. If the view count also appears below your posts, turn it off in the settings of the Top 10 plugin, which counts the views.
This message comes from the Social Feed Gallery plugin when it isn't connected to your Instagram account. Connect your account in the settings of the plugin (see the Plugins section). If you don't want an Instagram feed, go to Appearance > Widgets and remove the widget from the "Footer Instagram" widget area.
Use the Loco Translate plugin (see the Translation section). If Loco Translate says "Translation set not known", click "New language" first, then choose your language and start translating. The texts come from three places: the theme (Loco Translate > Themes > Lahanna), the Pixelwars Core plugin, for example "View Post" in the slider, and the Cooked plugin for the recipe texts (both under Loco Translate > Plugins). To have your content in more than one language, use a multilingual plugin like Polylang or WPML. If some letters of your language (for example Greek or Cyrillic) don't use the theme's font, go to Appearance > Customize > General > Characters, check the character set of your language and save.
The theme uses its own image sizes. Images that you uploaded before you activated the theme don't have these sizes yet. Install and activate the Regenerate Thumbnails plugin and run it once from Tools > Regenerate Thumbnails (see After Installation).
Go to Settings > Permalinks, select "Post name" and click "Save Changes" (see Permalink Settings). If you use a cache plugin, clear its cache too.
These messages appear because WordPress is set to show debug messages. Notices don't break your site, but visitors shouldn't see them on a live site. Open the wp-config.php file and set define( 'WP_DEBUG', false );. If you want to keep the messages in a log file instead, use define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false ); and define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );. See Debugging in WordPress.