Flexthemes version 2.6.1 | What’s new and how to update your theme?
This week we’re releasing important updates for all Flexthemes users. This post is for you if you own one of the following themes - Mono, Lyra, June, Elise, Velvet, Verso, Faro, Nomade, Zephyr, Nessa, Cotton, or Ember.
How to update your Flextheme
To access all the features listed out below, you’ll need to update your theme to version 2.6.1. We do recommend creating a backup for your website before proceeding to any major updates(including this one). Here's a
tutorial on how to back up your site. After the update, be sure to
clear your site and browser cache to view the latest version of your site.
Note: if you haven’t updated your FlexBlock plugin in a while, be sure to
update it to version 3.9.0 before proceeding to update your Flextheme.
Important Step after Updating
After successfully updating your theme, please go to Flotheme -> Posts and simply resave the Global Post Layout.
Then perform the same action for Galleries under Flotheme -> Galleries -> Global Layout
What’s new in version 2.6.1 of your Flextheme
Shortcode Option for Footer Instagram Area / FloSocial Discontinued
In the past few weeks, our team has been investigating and trying to find a solution for the FloSocial issues that some of you were experiencing. The problem was that after Instagram’s latest API update, some of our users were not able to pull their Instagram feed into their website.
Having investigated and tested countless client cases and scenarios, we came to the decision that the only way we can ensure a seamless experience for Flothemes users - is by
discontinuing our FloSocial plugin and offering an alternative way to display your Instagram feed on your site.
Therefore, we highly urge you to deactivate and delete your FloSocial plugin, and implement one of the following alternatives on your site:
- Show a static, curated Instagram feed, linked to your Instagram account. This can be done by using the"Upload Images" option, instead of the FloSocial IG Feed, in the Footer > Instagram Area. Here's how to do it.
This option is great for 2 reasons - it allows you to thoroughly curate how your website’s footer looks at any time. Plus, by uploading scaled, optimized images - you get to save some additional MBs for your page size, thus ensuring a faster loading time. The optimal image size would be 640x640px. make sure to also run them through JPEGmini or TinyPNG.
- Show a Live Instagram Feed - once you update your theme, in the Footer > Instagram Area you’ll notice that the“FloSocial IG Feed” option is replaced with“Shortcode”. This allows you to use any third-party plugin to display your Instagram feed. We’ve tested a plugin called Smash Balloon (you can use the Free version, it works just fine), which works seamlessly with our themes. Here’s a tutorial on how to add Smash Ballon to your Flextheme.
Minor Speed Optimization Updates
(to
improve your page speed insights score)
- Added support for dynamic loading of JavaScript libraries;
- Removed obsolete JavaScript libraries;
- Miscellaneous settings > Added option for preloading theme icons;
- Minor code optimization improvements;
New Features & Enhancements
- Mobile Header > Added mobile search option. Now you can add a search bar to your mobile site.
- Slideshow blocks-> Added keyboard navigation. This will allow your users to browse through your slideshow by clicking on their keyboard arrows. They can still click on the slideshow itself to navigate through the slides.
- Related Items-> Added item sorting options. Before, the Related Items block would allow you to display recommend posts at the bottom of your articles in a random manner. Now you have the option to display them based on their titles(alphabetical order), in a chronological order(newest or oldest), or in a random order.
- Listing Blocks-> Increased Items Per Page to 60;
Other Updates & Bug Fixes
- Updated bundled ACF plugin;
- Support for PHP 8.0. Be sure to update your theme first, then your PHP. If you encounter any issues after updating to PHP 8.0, please let us know by submitting a support ticket.
- Contact Blocks > Added support for posts and custom post types. Now you can include your WP Contact Block into any post or gallery.
- Fixed Gunteberg editor image align options;
- Rename Analytics Code field to Header Scripts. You can add your Google Analytics code, your Facebook Pixel or any other third party code.
- Highlight Flothemes admin submenu;
- Various bug and styling fixes;
That’s it Flothemers. If you have any questions let us know inside our Facebook Community.
If you need additional information, check out the recommended tutorials listed below. And if you hit any technical issues, you’ve cleared your site and browse cache and still see the errors, please
submit a ticket and our team will assist you. Know that even if the support subscription for your Flextheme expired, if the issue is related to the theme update - our support team will investigate and help you fix it for free.