Getting Started with Academica Theme

Academica is a non-profit / education CMS theme with a modern layout and elegant design.

1. Installing Academica Theme

All themes by ProudThemes.com can be installed directly from the Dashboard: go to Appearance > Themes and click Add New > Upload.

 

2. Theme Options Page

Once you've uploaded and activated Academica Theme you will be automatically redirected to the Theme Options Page.

There you will be able to tweak some settings and options, make sure to check them all out. We tried to make the process as simple as possible.

 

3. Post Thumbnails

All our themes support the Post Thumbnail feature that was introduced with WordPress 2.9.

On the Add/Edit Post page, on the right, you will see the Featured Image box. Use it to upload an image as a thumbnail for the current post or click the "Use as thumbnail" link on images that are already uploaded.

 

4. Setting Up TimThumb

Make sure to set the permissions on the /themes/academica/scripts/cache folder to 777 to allow TimThumb to automatically generate thumbnails.

TimThumb FAQ

  1. TimThumb requires the GD library, which is available on any host server with PHP 4.3+ installed.
  2. With some hosting providers (ex: HostGator) TimThumb will work with default 755 permissions (rwx-rx-rx). On other hosting servers, you need to set 777 to the /cache/ folder. Try both cases and see which work for you.
  3. Some hosting providers (ex: HostGator) block TimThumb (mod_sec), take a look at this thread to solve the issue: http://code.google.com/p/timthumb/issues/detail?id=8.
  4. TimThumb will NOT work with images hosted on other servers, so you will have to upload all images to your domain first.

5. Custom Menus (since WP 3.0)

Academica Theme fully supports the new Menu Management feature of WP 3.0 and has 2 default menu locations: one at the top of the page and one in the footer (bottom).

You can also create additional custom menus and set them as widgets (fully styled in Academica Theme) on the Appearance > Widgets page, the Custom Menu widget.

If you are not familiar with the new Menu Management in WordPress 3.0, you might want to read this small tutorial: Custom Menu Management in WordPress 3.0

 

6. Sidebars & Custom Widgets by ProudThemes.com

Academica Theme has 9 built-in sidebars: three for the homepage, two for pages, two for posts, one for archive pages (category archives, author archives, search results pages) and one for the footer.

Academica Theme includes 3 unique widgets developed by ProudThemes.com specifically for this theme.

  1. Proud: Featured Posts
    This widget allows you to add a special category block in the sidebar that will contain posts in that category. This widget can be added only to the Right sidebars.
  2. Proud: Posts Gallery
    This widget allows you to add a special category block in the sidebar that will contain posts in that category, only thumbnails. This widget was designed for the Sidebar: Homepage (Middle) sidebar.
  3. Proud: Ads Widget
    This widget allows you to add a special ad block (mostly used in the sidebar).

Important: You can add multiple instances of the Featured Posts and Ads Widget widgets.

 

7. Custom Page Templates

Academica Theme includes 4 page layouts: default (sidebars on the left and right), full width (full page width, no sidebars), only left sidebar, only right sidebar.

  1. Default:
    A three-column layout with the sidebar on the left and right. This is the default layout for all pages. Sidebars are 200px wide each.
  2. Full Width:
    If you don't need the sidebar and would like to use the full width instead. Total width: 960px.
  3. Only Left Sidebar:
    If you need the sidebar in the left column but not in the right column. Content area is extended to 730px.
  4. Only Right Sidebar:
    If you need the sidebar in the right column but not in the left column. Content area is extended to 730px.

How To: To use one of the three custom layouts, simply choose the style from the Template field on the Edit Page page.

 

8. Custom Post Templates

Same as page templates, Academica Theme includes 3 templates for posts.

How To: To use one of the two custom layouts, simply add the template custom field with one of the values: double or full on the Edit Page page.

 

9. Theme Support

Academica Theme has been developed for the most recent official (stable) release of WordPress (3.0.1 at the time of writing this).
It is guaranteed to work on a clean instance of WordPress and does not require any third-party plug-ins.

All theme support is provided only via our special Support Forum: http://www.proudthemes.com/forum/ and only to people who purchased the standard or developer license.

To gain access to the forum, first you will have to log in using the credentials you provided when signing up with ProudThemes.com.
If you downloaded this theme for free, your account will not have access to the Support Forum.

We will NOT provide support via E-Mail, Skype, Twitter, Facebook or other means of communication.

 

10. Legal Disclaimer

Academica Theme has been developed by ProudThemes.com and is property of ProudThemes.com

Academica Theme may be applied to unlimited websites for the developer's purposes, but cannot be freely re-distributed to the public or re-sold verbatim as Academica Theme. It may be modified for your own projects.