soho prophoto design
Welcome to our ProPhoto support area.
On this page you will find everything you need to get your ProPhoto design up and running.
Follow the general instructions first, which apply to all our designs and then move onto the video walkthrough and special features.
If you’ve followed all of the steps below and searched the site but you’re still stuck on something, feel free to get in touch.
INSTALLING & USING the Prophoto parent theme
In this section we will help you get started with the ProPhoto parent theme, from installation through finding your way around and where to go for further information and help.
Our instructions cover the set-up and customization of your specific template rather than how to use WordPress and ProPhoto in general, so we really do recommend taking a little time to explore the ProPhoto tutorials area.
InstallING ProPhoto
ProPhoto Documentation and Support Forums
The ProPhoto tutorials area is very thorough with short, easy to understand videos. We recommend starting here.
If you don't find what you need there, check out their Trouble Shooting area here. Still no joy? Get in touch with them for help here - they pride themselves on their fast and responsive customer service.
There is also the very fabulous ProPhoto Support Facebook group which you can join to take part in knowledge sharing and discussion.
instalL your prophoto design
Got ProPhoto installed and activated already? If yes, carry on, if no, go back up to the first section to find links to ProPhoto's instructions.
In this guide I will be demonstrating with several of our designs but the instruction below apply to all.
follow the step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Download and unzip
- Your download can be found in your Account Area under Downloads. Click DOWNLOAD and the zip file will download to your computer.
- The file is called something like UNZIP ME! - DESIGN NAME.zip. (or the name of your chosen design). Use your computer's search function with your design name if you don't know where it went, but it's probably in your Downloads area.
- Now unzip the file - as you can see from the name we have given to the download file, this is a step that is often missed in all the excitement.
To unzip on a Mac it's Right click > Open or double click. On a PC Right click > Extract. Some computers are set to auto unzip on download, in which case jump straight to look at your files.
You should now see this set of folders and files. You will be uploading the yourdesignname.zip file.
Step 2: Install the design zip file
- On your dashboard go to ProPhoto > Manage Designs - you may need to hover on ProPhoto until the sub-menu appears.
- Scroll down a little to ADD DESIGNS, and in the Import a Design area click where it says 'Drop files here to upload'.
- Navigate to the location of your downloaded folders and files, select Flora_Design.zip and click Open. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the file if you want.
- Once uploaded, you can choose to Customize and work on your new design in the background (only you see it) or Go Live and all visitors will see it.
You will see ProPhoto checking for assets and doing some downloading, so be patient while it does its thing.
You can create as many design copies as you like from the premium design you purchased. The premium design acts as a pattern and can be used as a starting point again and again.
Step 3: Design Setup
- Time to move into the ProPhoto Customize area via the left menu.
The Default or Base Layout
As soon as you hit, Customize, you'll be taken to the Default or Base Layout. This layout contains all of the common blocks which appear on every page, like the menu, logo and footer. You can change or modify these items on a per page basis, by choosing the 'Make Unique' option when you edit the block, but most people tend to click 'Continue' to edit these items across all pages.
Set Your Home & Blog Pages
Click on the Layouts link on the left. This will take you into the Layout Assignments area.
Once in the Assignments area, you can set your Home page and Blog posts page. You need to create these pages, and any pages you want to have in your site, in the WordPress Pages area first.
Once you've set your home and blog pages, you'll see the assignments in the relevant blocks to the right.
Continue to create as many pages as you want and assign them to the layouts that come with your template.
CUSTOMIZE YOUR PROPHOTO DESIGN
To get your site working just like our demo there is some set up and configuration to do.
If you're new to ProPhoto and WordPress, or just a little rusty, we recommend you work your way through this step-by-step guide to configuring your theme.
Take it steadily and don't panic - if something doesn't work the way it should it's not always your fault. There will always be tech issues and bugs coming along to cause a glitch, so if you've done everything you can and it still isn't working, please submit a ticket and we'll do our best to help you.
connect YOUR pages in the main menu
- From the Assignments screen, click on Elements and then Menus and select the menu you would like to edit. In this example shown below, there are two menus, one either side of the logo. Click on the cog to edit each link and assign it to a page.
- If menu navigation text you want isn't the same as the page title, edit the menu text in the pop-up box text field, as shown above.
ADD MENU LINKS THAT SCROLL TO ANOTHER PART OF THE PAGE
Some of our design make use of scrolling links in the menus - these link to a specific place on a page.
To set up a menu item, open a block and find the copy link controls in the pop-up editor box.
Then select the menu you want to edit and paste the copied link.
EDIT A PAGE USING THE VISUAL BUILDER
The Visual Builder, along with Blocks, Rows & Modules are the main building blocks of your site. You will need to learn how to work with their settings, save changes and update the page. Watch the very short video to see how they work together and how to edit them.
For more detailed instructions, view the ProPhoto tutorial here.
ELEMENTS - TILES, FORMS, GRIDS & WIDGETS
The Elements area contains nearly all of the other design settings you'll need to customize your site.
GALLERIES
The Galleries area allows you to edit both the gallery images and switch between different styles.
For more detailed instructions, view the ProPhoto tutorial.
content + FONT STYLES
The Content and Font styles areas allow you to add and edit font styles on the fly.
For more detailed instructions, view the ProPhoto tutorial.
Special features of SOHO
FONTS USED
Visit our demo site here.
The free Google fonts used are PT Sans, Cardo, Montserrat and Georgia. You can download all Google fonts here.
SPECIAL FEATURES VIDEO WALKTHROUGH
ProPhoto Design FAQs
My menu links aren't working
Menu items need to be connected to the appropriate page, post, blog category etc.
If you have not configured the menu item, or the thing it's linking to has moved or changed then the menu item won't work.
Go to Elements > Menus and select the menu and menu item you would like to edit.
Nothing is on my page except the header and footer
Check that you have assigned a template layout to this page. Go to the Layouts area to edit the layout and assign a page.
THE WORDPRESS PAGE CONTENT IS SHOWING AND I DON'T WANT IT TO.
You might have the Page & Post Content block present in your layout. You can safely delete it if you don't need to pull through any content from the WordPress page itself.
How do I use a template for more than one page?
To make another page using a template layout you already have, in the Layouts area, you can duplicate, rename and assign the template. When you come to edit each block, you'll have the option to 'Make Unique'. Remember to do this to prevent accidental editing of modules in other places.
HOW BIG SHOULD My IMAGES BE?
Our recommended image sizes (longest side) are:
- Full width images: 1920px
- Gallery images :1200px
- Blog post images and images for central content: This will vary depending on your preferred width but 1080px is a good suggested size.
I can't see where to change this full width image/gallery.
Sometimes, although you can see a gallery on a page, it might actually have been placed in the block background. A good clue is that you can't see a Gallery Module in the Layout. Instead you need to open the relevant Block and look at the background settings.
There is a demonstration of this in the Galleries section above.
I don't know what to do about security and backup
Security and backing up are hugely important, and are overlooked at your peril. This is a big topic, so we've got a further learning area dedicated to helping you find your way to a suitable and reliable set up for your needs.
There is no one-size-fits-all for this, so please head over to the area to find out more about what would be right for you and your site.
I STILL HAVE A QUESTION
If you've had a really good look on this page and you're still stuck, log a support ticket with us and we will help you.
We aim to offer high quality support to our customers every step of the way. If you have noticed an error on this page - maybe something that has gone out of date due to updates, or a typo - please let us know so that we can continue to be the best we can.