We’re excited to announce a new phase in the Memberlite theme lifecycle plus the release of the Memberlite Elements plugin.
This update prepares Memberlite further for submission to the WordPress.org theme repository. One requirement for this is that some functionality needed to be moved into plugins. Functionality around banners, sidebars, and widgets have been moved into the Memberlite Elements plugin. After upgrading to Memberlite 4.0, you will need to install the new Memberlite Elements plugin. Use the steps below to upgrade Memberlite and install the new required plugin.
As soon as the theme is accepted into the WordPress.org theme repository, we will push out a minor update to tell the theme to update through WordPress.org going forward.
To find out more about Memberlite 4.0, you can now browse the demo site of the entire Memberlite Theme or read the theme documentation.
Adhering to WordPress theme standards and best practices.
In preparation for the theme’s submission to the WordPress.org Themes Repository we’ve updated the code to fully adhere to WordPress’ standards and guidelines as outlined in the Theme Check plugin. We also purchased a theme review from Justin Tadlock at ThemeReview.co, which prompted additional updates to harden up our code base and make it more reliable and secure for all users.
In Memberlite v3.0 all shortocdes were extracted to a separate plugin: Memberlite Shortcodes. For Memberlite v4.0, some other functionality around banners, sidebars, and widgets have now been moved to a new plugin Memberlite Elements.
Style Updates
Memberlite v4.0 has a few relatively minor, but impactful, style updates.
- The default font size has been increased for improved readability. This should look fine on most sites, but you may need to tweak some content and styles on your site to get things to fit with the new sizing.
- We are now including some web safe fonts (Arial, Helvetica, Times, etc.) in addition to the Google Fonts previously available.
- Font Awesome has been updated to version 5.2, offering new icons and icon styles (regular, solid and brand).
- Buttons have been given a hover effect to grab the attention of your users.
- A new [memberlite_accordion] shortcode has been added to Memberlite Shortcodes.
- Additional theme Hooks and Filters have been added to support individual site customization as well as child theme development.
Already using the Memberlite Theme?
Below are the step-by-step directions for upgrading to the new version and installing the companion Memberlite Shortcodes plugin. Before beginning this process we recommend taking a backup of your WordPress site.
- Back up your site files and database [instructions]
- Install and activate the Memberlite Elements plugin.
- Upgrade your theme via the WordPress Updates admin page, or download the theme and upload it to your
/wp-content/themes/folder. - If you haven’t already, consider installing the Memberlite Shortcodes plugin.
- If you are using a caching plugin, delete and rebuild your cache.
