Ready to start customizing your site with Startup Blog Pro? Follow this guide to learn how to use each of Startup Blog Pro’s features on your site.
If you need help installing Startup Blog Pro, please follow this tutorial first: How to Install Startup Blog Pro.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
This guide will teach you how to use each of the new features added with Startup Blog Pro. The tutorials are newbie-friendly, so every step is explained in detail.
It’s recommended that you follow along with your site as you read.
New Layouts
Startup Blog has a right-sidebar and left-sidebar layout. Startup Blog Pro adds the following six new layouts:
- Narrow
- Wide
- Two-column – right-sidebar
- Two-column – left-sidebar
- Two-column – narrow
- Two-column – wide
The layout is applied to all pages on your site. However, every Post/Page can also use its own layout.
Follow this tutorial to learn how to change to a new layout:
Tutorial: How to Change Your Layout
Post Templates
Startup Blog Pro gives you 4 stylish new post templates to choose from. This lets you create a whole new look for individual posts on your site.
The layout is applied to all pages on your site. However, every Post/Page can also use its own layout.
Follow this tutorial to learn how to change to a new layout:
Tutorial: How to Change Your Layout
Custom Colors
Startup Blog Pro adds color controls for virtually every element on the site. This includes colors for specific elements, like widget titles and menu links, and hover effects for buttons, social icons, and more.
The color controls are grouped into sections. Each section covers one area of the site, such as the Primary Menu or the Footer.
Changing these colors will allow you to match your site to your brand’s colors (or simply pick a color you like).
Follow this tutorial to learn how to change your colors with Startup Blog Pro:
Tutorial: How to Change Your Colors
Use New Fonts
Startup Blog Pro adds 728 new fonts to choose from.
With the increased selection, you can choose the font that perfectly complements your content.
Follow this tutorial to learn how to apply a new font to your site:
Tutorial: How to Use Your New Fonts
Change Your Font Sizes
Startup Blog Pro adds font size controls for 5 different site elements.
Follow this tutorial to learn how to customize your font sizes:
Tutorial: How to Use Your New Fonts
Featured Videos
Just like Featured Sliders replace Featured Images, Featured Videos can be used to add videos in place of Featured Images.
This gives you a simple and beautiful way to publish videos on your site.
Startup Blog Pro will responsively embed videos from any of the following sites:
- Youtube
- Vimeo
- Dailymotion
- Animoto
- Funny or Die
- Hulu
- TED
- WordPress.tv
- Blip
- Vine
All you need is the URL of the video to embed it. While not video sites, you can also embed SlideShare presentations and SoundCloud tracks with Featured Videos.
Tutorial: How to Add Featured Videos
Featured Image Sizes
Featured Images have a fixed 2:1 aspect ration in Startup Blog. With Startup Blog Pro, you can choose from a variety of new sizes including using the image’s natural dimensions.
You can change the aspect ratio for individual images in the post editor as well.
Follow this tutorial to learn how to edit the Featured Image Sizes on your site:
Tutorial: How to Change the Featured Image Size
Custom Footer Text
By default, the footer text in Startup Blog reads, “Startup Blog WordPress Theme by Compete Themes”, and links to our site.
With Startup Blog Pro, you can easily replace this text with whatever you want it to say.
To learn how to replace the footer text, follow this tutorial:
Tutorial: How to Change the Footer Text
Conclusion
If there’s anything else you want to change about your site that wasn’t covered, check for an article about it in the sidebar to the left. Otherwise, there’s probably a free plugin available for it on wordpress.org.
Check out our WordPress Resources page to find awesome plugins and tools we recommend, and if you want to try using CSS to customize Startup Blog Pro, we’ve got some pre-written snippets for you to get started with in the Startup Blog CSS Snippets Collection.