Ares Pro Theme For WordPress – Getting Started – Smartcat

Thanks for choosing Ares Pro by Smartcat. This tutorial will get you set up with tips and instructions on using our theme.

The video below shows you how to upload Ares Pro to WordPress and activate it. It also shows you how to import your Ares Free theme options to Ares Pro

Quick Set-up Tips

Replicate the Demo’s “Features” section.

If you want to replicate the “Features” section we have in the preview, we’re going to make it easy for you. Here’s how:

Go to “Appearance” > “Widgets”
Drag and drop a new Text Widget into the “Homepage Fullwidth Widget” area.
Paste in the code below, and click “Save.”

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Show Off Your Team

The theme comes pre-loaded with Smartcat’s Our Team Showcase plugin. Click on “Team” in your WordPress dashboard to add your team members, and visit the settings page of the to select which template you want to display. The team members can be displayed using one of the fou templates. In the theme demo, we are using the Grid Circles layout. You can change colors and adjust many of the settings easily, as well as re-order the way the members show up on the page.

Add the short code our-team inside [square brackets] to the full width banner to display. Alternatively, you can place that short code on any page or post.

Set Your Front Page

Ensure to set your Front Page as a static page for best results. You can edit your Front Page display by clicking “Settings” in your WordPress dashboard, and then “Reading.”

Ares From A to Z

We love that the Ares Pro defaults look good out of the box. These additional set up tips will show you how to achieve a look and feel similar to the demo, and take your Ares site to the next level.

1. General Setup Instructions

Menu Structure: Configure the page order for your menu under “Appearance” > “Menu” . For Theme Locationcheck the “Primary Menu” box and click “Save.”
Under your “Settings” > “Reading” . Select the Home Page as the posts page.

2. Header Bar

The Header Bar features social icons and customizable links to the pages you choose. The Header Bar is optional, and you can deactivate it for simpler navigation.

Edit the Social Icons under “Appearance” > “Theme Options” > “Header”. Simply paste a link to your social media profiles and click “Save.” If you don’t want to use a certain field, just leave it blank and the theme will hide it.
In the theme options under Header, you can enter a custom text and custom link by editing Headerbar Link text and Headerbar Link URL
To hide the Header Bar completely, go to under “Appearance” > “Theme Options” > “Header” and select the “No” radio button for the Header Bar setting.

3. Design & Appearance

Ares Pro’s highly customizable appearance options truly let you make the site your own. To customize the theme skin color, background or font, go to “Appearance” > “Theme Options” > “Design”.

4. Homepage: Slider

To turn the slider on or off (its on by default when you open Ares) go to “Appearance > Theme Options” in your WordPress dashboard, and select the “Homepage” tab.
Under the heading “Slider,” you can select an image slider as in the demo, a single image with a Parallax effect, or no image frame at all.
You can upload the slider images, set the captions, set the button text and the URL from the “Homepage” tab.
You can also set the slider rotation speed, and select a slider transition style.

5. Homepage: Call-To-Action (CTA) Buttons

The CTA boxes are the three icon buttons with text below the slider in our Ares Demo. (“WooCommerce Supported,” “Easy Customization,” “Easy Free Import Version Options.”)
These boxes are activated by default. To turn them off, go to Appearance go to “Appearance > Theme Options” in your WordPress dashboard, and select the “Homepage” tab. Scroll past the five slider sections, to “Show 3 CTA Buttons.” Select “Yes” or “No.”
You can then proceed to edit the CTA Heading text, select an icon, set a link, and button text for Box1, Box2 and Box3.

6. Sidebar

The sidebar appears on the right of pages and posts. To turn the sidebar on or off, go to “Appearance” > “Theme Options” and select the “Templates” tab..
The page template can be changed from the Edit Page screen directly by choosing the Default Template or Full Width Page template.

7. Widgets

We’ve made the following widgets available in Ares: Full-width Banner(Homepage), Header Right, Sidebar & Footer.
To customize the contents of these Widget areas, go to “Appearance” > “Widgets” and drag and drop your desired widgets into the Widget areas. You can delete or customize the default placeholders.