Blog Express Pro

Theme Installation

After you purchase and download your theme from Axle Themes, you can choose either of the approaches given below to install your theme.

WordPress Admin Panel

  • Log in to the WordPress Admin panel.
  • Go to Appearance -> Themes.
  • Click Add New.
  • Then click Upload Theme.
  • Click Browse. Locate zip file of theme in your computer.
  • Select zip file and click Install Now.

Manual Installation using FTP

  • Unzip zip file of theme to your Desktop.
  • Using an FTP client to access your host web server, go to /wp-content/themes/ and upload your new copy of Theme.
  • Now, log into the WordPress Dashboard with your login details.
  • Go to Appearance -> Themes.
  • You will see the theme in the list.
  • Click Activate button.

Site Identity

You can customize site identity like Logo, Site Title, Site Tagline and Site Icon.

  • From Customize section, go to Site Identity.
  • You can see following options.
    • Logo: You can add your logo for your site.
    • Site Title: It changes the main site title.
    • Tagline: It changes the tagline (i.e description) of the site. Just below site title.
    • Site Icon: The Site Icon is used as a browser and app icon for your site. Icon must be square, and at least 512px wide and tall.

Header Image

  • From Customize section, go to Header Image.
  • From Header Image Options, you will see Current Header & Suggested Options sections. Note: Header image applies to all pages except front page.
    • Current header: Upload your desired header image. If the preview is fine, click on Save and Publish to apply recently uploaded Header image.
    • Suggested: You can even use the suggested header image if you dont want to upload other image.

Background Image

  • From Customize section, go to Background Image.
  • In Background Image Options you will see:
    • Background Image: Select the image for Background available on media library or upload from the other location.
    • If the preview is fine, click on Save and Publish to apply recently selected/uploaded image as Background Image.
    • Image Position: You can adjust the image position according to the arrow.
    • Image Size: You will be able to chose various options from the dropdown. (Fit to screen , original , Fill Screen) you can chose any as your requirement .
    • Repeat Background Image: You can check this to repeat the background image .
    • Scroll with Page: You can check this option to scroll the image with the page

Theme Options

You can customize this theme using cool additional features through Customizer at Appearance -> Customize from your WordPress Dashboard.

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see different sections. They are:
    • Header Options
    • Search Options
    • Layout Option
    • Pagination Option
    • Content Meta Options
    • Footer Instagram Options
    • Footer Options
    • Blog Options
    • Author Bio Options
    • Related Posts Options
    • Breadcrumb Options
    • Font Family Options

Header Options

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see Header Options.
  • In Header Options you will see:
    • Header Layout 1 / Header Layout 2
    • Show Site title: To show the site title on header.
    • Show tagline: To show the site tagline in header.
    • Show Social Icons: To show the social icons in header.
    • Make Primary Menu Sticky: To make the primary menu sticky.
    • Enable Search Form: To enable search form in header.

How to change default text in search box?

  • Go to “Appearance -> Customize -> Theme Options -> Search Options”
  • Change the text below “Display Default Text in Search”
  • Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

How to set Layout Options?

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see Layout Options.
  • In Layout Options you will see:
    • Site Layout: Fluid or Boxed
    • Global Layout: This is for theme global layout. Here you can see different options select one that you would prefer.
    • Archive Layout: This options is for archive content layout. Select option that suits your site.

How to set Pagination Options?

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see Pagination Options.
  • In Pagination Options you will see options as dropdown. Select one of your choice.

How to set Content Meta Options?

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see Content Meta Options.
  • In Content Meta Options you will see:
    • Show Date: This option displays/hide the date.
    • Show Author: This option displays/hide the author.
    • Show Categories: This options displays/hide the categories.
    • Show Tags: This options displays/hide the tags.
    • Show Comment: This options displays/hide the comment.

How to set Footer Instagram Options?

To display Instagram images, “Instagram Widget” should be activated. You also need to fetch access token. Click “Connect with Instagram” button to obtain access token.

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see Footer Instagram Options.
  • In Footer Instagram Options you will see:
    • Enable Instagram Section
    • Enable All Page
    • Button Text

How to set Footer Options?

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see Footer Options.
  • In Footer Options you will see:
    • Copyright Text: From here you can write the copyright text for your site.
    • Powered By Text: From here you can write the powered by text for your site.
    • Reset Footer Content: Checking this check-box will reset the footer content to its default values. Note: You need to refresh the page to see the changes.
    • Go To Top: This option enables the go to top icon in the site.

How to set Blog Options?

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see Blog Options.
  • In Blog Options you will see:
    • Excerpt Length: Enter excerpt length in words.
    • Read More Text: You can change text for Read More form here.
    • Exclude Categories in Blog: Enter category ID to exclude in Blog Page. Separate with comma if more than one.

How to use Author Bio Options?

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see Author Bio Options.
  • In Author Bio Options you will see:
    • Show Author Bio: Checking this check-box will enable author information.
    • Show Recent Posts by Author in Bio: This option shows/hides the recent post by author.
    • No of Recent Posts: Enter number of posts to show in the author box.

How to use Related Posts Options?

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see Related Posts Options.
  • In Author Bio Options you will see:
    • Enable Related Posts
    Related posts will be displayed in single blog post.

How to set Breadcrumb Options

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see Breadcrumb Options.

Featured Slider/Carousel

Here are several featured slider types. They are Posts, Pages, Category and Tag. For Featured Slider Options, go to “Appearance -> Customize -> Featured Slider”.

How to enable Featured Slider?

  • Go to “Appearance -> Customize -> Featured Slider” from your WordPress Dashboard
  • To enable slider, select “Front Page” option under “Enable Slider On”
  • Under “Select Slider Type”, Select slider type.
  • Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

How to display Featured Carousel?

To display carousel instead of slider, you will find option under “Featured Slider” -> “Slider Options”. Check “Enable Carousel” option.

How to change Font Family Options?

  • From Customize section, go to Theme Options.
  • From Theme Options, you will see Font Family Options.
  • Here you will see:
    • Site Title: You can change the site title font form here.
    • Site Tagline: You can change the site tagline font from here.
    • Default: You can change the default font from here.
    • Content Title: You can change the content title form here.
    • Content Body: You can change the content body font from here.
    • Heading Tags: You can change the heading from here.
    • Navigation: You can change the navigation menu font from here.
    • Reset Font Settings: You can reset the font setting by checking the check-box and Save and Publish and refresh the page to see the font being reset.

How change Color Options?

Theme has various you can change the color in various elements in the site through Color Picker options categorized in section such as Main background, Basic Colors, Top Header Colors, Header Colors, Primary Menu Colors, Custom Header Colors, Slider Color, Content Color, Sidebar Colors, Home Page Widget Colors, Go To Top Color,Pagination Color, Footer Widget Colors,Footer Area Color and Reset Color

  • To change the colors, go to “Appearance -> Customize -> Color Options”, change individual colors and then click on “Save & Publish”

How to set Menu?

Our Theme offers exciting Menu Options! This theme supports and recommends using “Custom Menus”. You can create Custom Menu through “Appearance -> Menus” from your WordPress Dashboard.

Select Menu Locations

You can assign your custom menu in 5 different locations. You assign it either from “Appearance -> Customize -> Menus -> use Location” or from “Appearance -> Menus -> use Location”
Select your Custom Menu as Primary Menu to display it as the Main Menu, which will replace the default Page Menu

  • Select your custom menu as Primary Menu to display Menu in Header Area
  • Select your custom menu as Social Menu to display Menu in top header and Social Widgets
  • Select your custom menu as Footer Menu to display Menu in Footer Area

Widgets

Several custom widgets are available. They are:

  • Social widget
  • Address widget
  • Author widget
  • Featured Page widget
  • Advanced Recent Posts widget
  • Testimonials widget

How to add Widgets in widget area?

You can add widgets to your widget area from two location

  • Go to “Appearance -> Widget”, then drag the widget to the widget area or you can click in the widget then list of widget area will appear, now you can choose desired widget area and click on “Add Widget”.
  • Go to “Appearance -> Customize -> Widgets”, then you can find list of widget area. Click on the any widget area and you will see “Add a Widget” option by click on it you can find list of Widget which you can add to respected widget area.

How to use static front page?

  • From Customize section, go to Static Front Page.
  • From Static Front Page, You will be able to set any page as A Static page and you will find Your Latest Posts page option as well

Additional CSS

You can add your custom CSS that will overwrite the theme CSS for further design customization through “Appearance -> Customize -> Additional CSS”, in your WordPress Dashboard.

Reset All theme Settings

You can reset theme options from here. Caution: All theme settings along with custom header and custom background will be reset to default. Refresh the page after save to view full effects.