This round of updates had some common changes for our older themes. In Vigilance, Titan, Traction, Linen, React, Photography, Shelf and Paperpunch we made a few small changes:

• Added styling for the <small> HTML tag – some styles for the wee ones!
• Removed the 12-month limit on the Sitemap page template.
• Removed the footer “stats code” option – it was outdated and we think there are a large number of plugins that can handle tracking scripts better than we can. This means if you’re currently using this option and you plan on upgrading, you’ll need to install a plugin to handle JavaScript tracking – let us know if you have any questions, of course!

All of our themes are getting some updates, and you can learn about those in the changelog files (included with your theme package). The theme with the most changes is our recent release Duet – we’ve gotten lots of feedback and made quite a few fixes, including:

• Made the gallery slideshow available on Pages and non-gallery posts using the [gallery slider="true"] shortcode.
• Changed how column breaks are handled in Internet Explorer, fixing some bugs with how columns display.

Photography also got a small improvement that should speed up load times on newly-created galleries.

In addition to the changes mentioned above there are the normal fixes we make with each update:

• Stylistic updates and fixes.
• Updating our translation templates.
• Code and functionality fixes and improvements.

We hope you enjoy this round of updates! Download the latest package from your downloads page, and check the changelog for specific details for your theme. We love getting feedback on our handiwork – so if you have any questions, comments or suggestions feel free to contact us or write a comment below!

Happy 2012, everyone!

We try to keep our themes current by responding to customer requests and bugs every so often.

This time is no different – over the last couple of weeks we’ve gone through and made a round of updates to all of our WordPress themes, with mostly minor bug cleanup for many of the themes.

One major addition – we’ve added Google Plus icons to all of our themes that have “social site” support – that means Anthem, Linen, Paperpunch, Photography, React, Shelf, Titan and Traction all now feature a hand-crafted Google Plus icon, configurable on your Theme Options page.

Also, Duet received some much-requested stylistic tweaks – removing the author from pages and hiding the “Read More” link when there is no “more” tag on a post are the most notable.

Download the latest package from your downloads page, and check the changelog for specific details for your theme. Of course, we’re always looking for more feedback – so if you have any questions, comments or suggestions feel free to contact us or write a comment below!

We’ve added an attachment template for viewing media items associated with a post.

Another new feature: Linen now has support for excerpts! If you specify an excerpt it will be used as the summary of your post.

We’ve also made modifications to the featured slider for both Linen and Traction – you no longer need to have 2 sticky posts to activate the slider – 1 will work just fine! We’ve also added the option to display sticky posts both in the featured slider and in the standard post list – something we’ve gotten several requests for.

In addition, there are several bug fixes applied to all of our themes. Check the change log for your theme to see the changes in the update.

If you run into any trouble please post in our forums and we’ll help you out!

The biggest visible change is an updated theme options panel that matches the look and feel of the new WordPress 3.2 interface. Also included are a bunch of bug fixes and enhancements. Check out the /docs/changelog file included in your theme if you’re interested in reading more about the changes.

If you run into any trouble please head straight to the support forums and we will help you out :)

Traction 2.1 Changelog

• New PRO Feature: HTML5 support!
• Speed Improvement: Consolidated an extra functions file to improve theme load time.
• Speed Improvement: Removed an extra function from the comments template (now in WP core).
• Enhancement: Add automatic feed links function.
• Enhancement: Now using the new(ish) get_template_part function.
• Enhancement: Added support for an Apple touch icon.
• Enhancement: Updated the loopedSlider plugin to version 0.5.7.
• Enhancement: Added a check to make built in Twitter function pluggable from a child theme.
• Bug Fix: Added a file check for favicon in case it doesn’t exist.
• Bug Fix: Fixed two separate translation issues.
• Miscellaneous: Cleaned up the master stylesheet and added a table of contents.
• Miscellaneous: Organized functions.php file and added a table of contents.

Paperpunch 2.1 Changelog

• New PRO Feature: HTML5 support!
• Speed Improvement: Consolidated an extra functions file to improve theme load time.
• Speed Improvement: Removed an extra function from the comments template (now in WP core).
• Enhancement: Add automatic feed links function.
• Bug Fix: Removed deprecated escape attribute from search query.
• Bug Fix:Fix duplicate search title in sidebar search widget.
• Miscellaneous: Cleaned up the master stylesheet and added a table of contents.
• Miscellaneous: Organized functions.php file and added a table of contents.

Vigilance 2.1 Changelog

• New PRO Feature: HTML5 support!
• Speed Improvement: Consolidated an extra functions file to improve theme load time.
• Miscellaneous: Cleaned up the master stylesheet and added a table of contents.
• Miscellaneous: Organized functions.php file and added a table of contents.

Titan 2.1 has been released and includes an updated social icon section in the header! Cruise on over to the downloads page and grab your copy. To take advantage of the new social icons (Facebook and Flickr) simply log in to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Titan Options → Follow Icons.

Titan 2.1 Changelog

• New PRO Feature: New social icons!
• New PRO Feature: Improved styling for the “subscribe to comments” link.
• WP Enhancement: Use new automatic feed links function.
• Bug Fix: Add paragraph styling for the text widget.
• Bug Fix: Properly clear the content wrapper.
• Miscellaneous: Organize functions.php file.

Before I get into the structure changes, let me explain why we are making the change. In the past we maintained two separate versions of each theme. One was the free trial version, and the other was the PRO child theme. The PRO child theme unlocked features in the free trial version. This worked well for a long time, but we eventually started updating the PRO child theme almost as much as the free parent theme. This defeated the purpose of having the child theme in the first place and was a hassle for our users.

Starting with version 2.0 of Paperpunch, Titan, Traction, and Vigilance (Photography is already using the new structure) the PRO child theme will be emptied out. It will be a true “blank canvas” for customizing your theme, and it probably won’t ever be updated (the way it should be). In place of the old free parent version will be a new 2.0 PRO version of each theme, which will only be available to members. We will still release a free trial but it will be a stripped down copy of the PRO version and it won’t receive regular updates.

Upgrade instructions

There are basically 3 upgrade scenarios. I will use Vigilance as an example, but any of the themes can be updated using the same process.

Always backup first!

You should always make a backup of your /wp-content/themes folder before you upgrade any themes. Log in to your server via FTP and download the entire /wp-content/themes folder to your local hard drive. If you aren’t sure how to use FTP check out the video library. If something goes wrong simply delete your /wp-content/themes folder from the server and replace it with your backup copy.

You haven’t customized any code

First, login to your server via FTP and navigate to /wp-content/themes. Find your PRO child theme folder, most likely called `vigilance_pro`, and rename it to `vigilance_pro_old`.

Download the new 2.0 themes (eg. Vigilance PRO 2.0 and Vigilance PRO child theme 2.0) and follow the install instructions. After completing the install you will have two new themes under Appearance → Themes section of your WordPress admin panel: Vigilance PRO 2.0 and Vigilance PRO Child Theme 2.0. Simply activate Vigilance PRO Child Theme 2.0 (green PRO image in the middle) and you are good to go. If you have any images in your `/vigilance_pro_old/images` folder be sure to copy them over to the new `/vigilance_pro_child/images` folder. After things have been working well for a few weeks feel free to delete all your old 1.x themes. Don’t worry about losing any of your “Theme Options” settings or posts/pages, they are stored in the database and won’t be touched.

You have customized CSS only

First, follow the instructions outlined above in the You haven’t customized any code section. After completing the instructions your theme will be working, but all your custom styles will be missing.

Find your Vigilance 1.x child theme folder (the one we renamed `/vigilance_pro_old`) and open up the style.css file. You should have made all your CSS customizations below the Make all custom CSS changes BELOW this line section. Select all of your customization code and copy it to your clipboard. Now, open up your brand new `/vigilance_pro_child/style.css` file and paste all the code below the Make all custom CSS changes BELOW this line section. Save the file on your server and your custom styles will re-appear.

You have customized CSS and added or customized template files in your PRO child theme

First, follow the instructions outlined above in the You haven’t customized any code and You have customized CSS only sections. After completing the instructions your theme and custom styles will be working, but your template customizations will be missing.

Find your Vigilance 1.x child theme folder (the one we renamed `/vigilance_pro_old`) and make a copy of all your customized template files. Don’t include header.php or any other old “default” files (page templates, files in the /functions folder, etc.) unless you have customized them. Now, open up your new `/vigilance_pro_child` folder and drop in all your customized template files.

Questions or problems?

Remember, we aren’t deleting any of the old theme folders or files so you can always switch back to the 1.x version of the PRO child theme under Appearance → Themes and you will be right back where you started. If you run into any complications during the upgrade process please drop us a line in the support forums and we will help you get everything straightened out.

Changelog

• Bug Fix: Fixed squished/stretched Flickr thumbnails by adding an option to override with a featured image.
• Bug Fix: Fixed random “headers already sent” errors.
• Bug Fix: Fixed IE8 gallery display issues.
• Bug Fix: Fixed disabling of password protected gallery title and descriptions.
• Bug Fix: Use WordPress variables for language attributes and character set.
• Bug Fix: Fixed descriptions not displaying for single images inside galleries.