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How to install and upgrade themes


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This tutorial will teach you how to install a theme (as a parent), create a child theme and upgrade your theme.

All IPS themes are in .xml format. If you have download a .zip file, extract the file first and you'll find the .xml file inside.

 

Installing the Parent theme and creating a child

First, we'll be installing the theme as a Parent theme. Parent themes should never be edited and should generally be hidden from all users. Once it has been installed, we'll create a Child theme which can be edited via theme settings (to change colours, logos, etc), and it'll be shown as the default front-end theme to all of your visitors.

1. To install the Parent theme, go to Admin Cpanel > Customization > Themes. At the top right, click the + Create New button.

2. From the popup box, click the manual upload link at the top right and select the .xml file from your computer. This tutorial will use the Dimension theme as an example. Press Next.

3. Once it has processed, you'll be returned to the Theme list. Click the pencil icon (aka, the Edit button) to the very right of your theme and deselect all settings and user groups, like so:

Screen Shot 2018-01-12 at 2.58.38 pm.png

This will hide the Parent theme for all visitors. The Parent theme should never be edited beyond this, so press the Save button at the bottom and proceed to creating the Child theme.

4. Click the + Create New button again, but this time select Manual Mode and press Next. Enter a Name for your theme (I'll use "My new theme" for this example). In the Parent field, un-check the box and select your Parent theme (from the above step). If you would like to set this theme as your Default theme, make sure to enable that setting. Your page should now look like this:

Screen Shot 2018-01-12 at 3.24.03 pm.png

Press Save and you're done! Your theme page will look something like this:

Screen Shot 2018-01-12 at 3.33.52 pm.png

Clicking the theme name will expand a list, showing your Child theme:

Screen Shot 2018-01-12 at 3.33.18 pm.png

 

A quick summary: The Parent theme which we installed is hidden from all members, and your site will be using the Child theme, named "My new theme". The Child theme inherits everything from the Parent theme. If you need to edit the theme, make sure you only edit the Child theme. The Parent theme should never be edited and should stay untouched.

 

 

Upgrading your theme

When new theme updates are released, browse to Admin Cpanel > Customization > Themes. Click the arrow icon to the very right of your Parent theme and select Upload a new version from the list. Browse for the updated .xml file, press Upload and your theme will be updated!

Upgrading between major versions, such as 4.4 to 4.5 will likely require a fresh theme installation. The above instructions for upgrades will apply to minor upgrades, such as 4.5.0 to 4.5.1.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I really need to upload like two .xml files (one with the theme-name and one with named images..) it seems. I have managed to upload the one named the theme-name.xml, but how do I upload the second one? Right now my forum looks really..dull. Could it be that my brand new cloud-installation of IPS (not sure which version, could be 4.x ?) isnt compatible with the theme?

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I'm sorry, but I've tried to upload both of the .xml files as new themes to my 4.x system without success, theme is only looking really white and boring. What is my got damn problem? ;)

Thanks in advance!

As mentioned in post #3, you are trying to install a 3.x theme on your 4.x forum, which will not work. You'll need to wait for your theme to be upgraded to 4.x before you can install it. :)

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I understand this, but when will this happen, dear Root Admin? :P

They are being worked on. They will be released when they're ready.. Unfortunately that's as accurate as i can be at the moment, there are no set dates ;)

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I understand, but are we talking days, weeks or months? :blink:
I would appreciate some kind of idea cos my forum release is pretty much waiting for the working theme..if this takes too long, I would like to know so that I can apply something else (and release it) while waiting. Thanks in advance!

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I understand, but are we talking days, weeks or months? :blink:

I would appreciate some kind of idea cos my forum release is pretty much waiting for the working theme..if this takes too long, I would like to know so that I can apply something else (and release it) while waiting. Thanks in advance!

Feel free to direct any questions to the announcement topic, since this topic is intended for "Installing themes" :)

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  • 1 month later...

IMPORTANT: Version 4.x has a "feature" which attempts to inherit the theme and apply it to your ACP. In most cases, this may impact visibility or your layout. To use the Default theme in your ACP, go to ACP > "Signed in as..." > AdminCP Theme > Default.

Didn't know that. I also had to go into the default theme and enable it for admins so I could see it in the dropdown. Then the colors stopped conflicting with each other in the ACP.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Hi,

I installed the dark_editor.

I then installed the Spectrum theme.

When I set the Spectrum theme to default I get a 500 error message.

When I set the Default theme back to default the error message goes away.

What this means is that I cannot use the Spectrum theme.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

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Hi,

I installed the dark_editor.

I then installed the Spectrum theme.

When I set the Spectrum theme to default I get a 500 error message.

When I set the Default theme back to default the error message goes away.

What this means is that I cannot use the Spectrum theme.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Hello,

You are likely using an outdated version of 4.x.

Upgrade to the latest version (4.0.12.1) and it'll work fine. :)

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Hi Ehren,

Thanks for the reply.

I put a ticket into invision power services (who hosts the board for me) to see about upgrading the version.

I am not sure that I have that option.

Thanks

EDIT:

They upgraded my installation to the latest version and everything works fine.

Thanks!

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  • 4 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

hi i already install dashboard theme 4.1.7 to my ip board 4.1.7, but after finished upload, appears words that say "Sorry, you do not have permission for that!" and "1S111/1".

I already buy this theme and cannot used that theme, can you help me?

Hello,

Please contact IPS for support. It is likely an issue with your forum and not my theme.

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