Theme and Site Configuration

Once the theme is installed, you’ll want to walk through some of the core WordPress settings as well as the ones included with Rank It WP. How the site is configured can be changed in the future but there are several options that should be considered and set before releasing your site into the wild.

License code

Your notification email that contained the download link will include a license key that needs to be used to activate updates. To do this:

Copy the activation code from the email you received. If you don’t have this email, go to your account on PROPER Web Development, log in, and you will see the code there.
Go to Settings > Rank It WP License
Enter the code in the first field and the email you used to purchase the theme in the second
Click Save Changes and you should see a green checkmark next to both fields

If you have any issues with this process, contact us for support. Please include the API key and email that you are using.

Core WordPress settings

WordPress provides a number of options that affect how the Rank It WP theme works. The bold text below indicates a path in the wp-admin screen using the menus on the left.

Settings > General
- To allow new users to register on the site, check the “Anyone can register” box under “Membership.”
- Rank It WP can allow certain actions based on the role of a user. To set the default role for newly registered users, change the “New User Default Role” drop-down. By default, new users are allowed to do all actions on the site.
- Make sure to set the correct timezone for the site so submissions are listed correctly
Settings > Reading
- The homepage is hard-coded to display submissions sorted by date or algorithm (see below)
- Set the number of submissions to show on the homepage and the listing pages using the “Blog pages show at most” field
Settings > Discussion
- To allow users to make comments on new submissions, check the “Allow people to post comments on new articles” box. This can be overridden on specific submissions and posts, if needed.
- Use the two settings under “Before a comment appears” to control how and when comments become public. Leave both of these boxes unchecked to allow comments to go live immediately
Settings > Permalinks
- Set this to anything besides “Default” and click Save Changes if you’re installing the theme for the first time

Rank It WP settings

The theme settings for Rank It WP are located at Appearance > Rank It WP Options.

Submission Process

Submit form header – Large header text on the submission form
Default: Submit
Submit form title label – Submission title label on the front-end submit form
Default: Name of this submission
Submit form description label – Submission excerpt label on the front-end submit form
Default: Short description
Character limit for description text – Limit the number of characters allowed on the submission form; to allow limitless length, set this field to 0
Default: 100
Should the URL field be shown and required? – If set to “No,” the URL field will not appear on the form. Otherwise, it will be available and either required or not.
Default: req
Submit form link label – Submission form link field label, if the field is shown
Default: Direct link
Show categories on submit form? – When set to something other than “No” the terms located at Submissions > Categories will be displayed on the submission form for users to choose. Site administrators and editors can change these categories before (and after) submissions are live on the site
Default: multi
Require a category to be selected? – This option will be forced off if the above is set to “No”
Default: no
Submit form category label (if enabled above) – Submission category label on the front-end submit form
Default: Category
Submit form created by label – Label for the checkbox indicating that the submitter is also the creator of the content being submitted. Leave blank to hide.
Default: I created this
Text for successful submission – This is the text that will display after a successful submission. Make sure to tell users that their submission is held for moderation.
Default: Submission complete and will be live on the site shortly!
Text for auto-published submission – This is the text that will display after a successful submission that have been auto-published and will include a link to view the submission.
Default: Submission complete and live on the site!
Email notification to site admin – Turning this on will send an email to the site admin when a submission is saved for moderation or published.
Default: no
24 hour submit limit per user – This number will limit the number of submissions allowed within a 24 hour period by a single user. To remove this limit, set this field to 0
Default: 10
Require unique links? – If this setting is on, only new links can be submitted to the site; existing submitted links will not be accepted
Default: yes

Site Style

Should the header stick to the top of the site? Default: yes
Primary site color Default: #02AFD1
Voting icon Default: circled2
Google font name – Enter a valid font name fromGoogle Fonts
Default: Montserrat
Base font size – Base font size for the site, in pixels
Default: 16
Featured image shape in listings – How should the featured image look in listings? The size of the image is controlled at Settings > Media using the “Thumbnail size” fields
Default: round
Featured image on single display – How should the featured image look in single displays? The size of the image is controlled at Settings > Media using the “Large size” fields
Default: above

Site Display

Use algorithm on homepage? – When set to “Yes,” submissions listed on the homepage will be sorted by a “hot” algorithm, similar to Reddit. Otherwise, they will be sorted by publish date and grouped by day
Default: yes
Use algorithm on Submission category pages? – When set to “Yes,” submission category pages will use the algorithm. Otherwise, they will be sorted by publish date and grouped by day
Default: no
What post types should use a featured image? – Select the post types that should allow a Featured Image. How the image is displayed is controlled on the Site Style tab above
Default: no
Where to show Categories – Controls where Categories are shown for Submissions and Posts
Default: single
Where to show Tags – Controls where Tags are shown for Submissions and Posts
Default: single
Try to embed link on single item page? – When set to “Yes,” valid oEmbed links will be automatically embedded on the single submission page where comments are listed
Default: yes
What post types should show share links? – Select the post types that should show sharing links on the display
Default: no
Show related submissions on the single page? – Displays related submissions based on the category
Default: yes
Listing links go straight to submission URL? – Setting this to “yes” will link submission listings straight to the URL that was submitted. Otherwise, the links will point to the on-site page (same page as the comments link).
Default: yes
HTML or text to appear below the header – This content will appear on the pages indicated below. This can accept HTML of all kinds, including an email signup form, advertisements, or plain content.
Default: [blank]
Where should the masthead appear? – Determines what pages the HTML masthead, set above, will appear on.
Default: no
Show top links on listing pages? – Checking this box will output links to top content for specific time periods on all listing pages. If this is not turned on, you can add it to the main menu or add a new menu and create a widget.
Default: no

Users and Permissions

Use front-end login? – This will force users to use the front-end pop-up login and register forms. This might be incompatible with plugins that alter the core WordPress registration or login process. If users are having trouble logging in or registering for the site, disable this option.
Default: yes
Email notice to admin for new users? – When this is on, an email will be sent to the email address found at wp-admin > Settings > General when a new user registers.
Default: no
What roles should be allowed to vote? Default: administrator, editor, author, contributor, subscriber
What roles should be allowed to submit content? Default: administrator, editor, author, contributor, subscriber
What roles should be allowed to submit comments? Default: administrator, editor, author, contributor, subscriber
What roles should have their submissions auto-approved? Default: administrator, editor
Text for logged-in users without the correct permissions – This text is used when a user is logged in but does not have the proper role to allow a particular action. Permissions are set on the Users and Permissions tab above. Use “[action]” in the text to include the action the user is attempting.
Default: Your current user level does not allow [action]. Please contact the site administrator to upgrade.

Other Site Text

Header text for the home page Default: Top
Description text for the home page – This text will appear below the title on the home page
Default: [blank]
Text for “Top” section and link – Word to use for top links header and path. Use only letters and numbers here and make sure to test the link after changing (try saving a 2nd time if the change does not take).
Default: Top
Text for top links for all time – Word to use for “All Time” top links.Use only letters and numbers here and make sure to test the link after changing (try saving a 2nd time if the change does not take).
Default: All
Text for “Year” section and link – Word to use for top links this year.Use only letters and numbers here and make sure to test the link after changing (try saving a 2nd time if the change does not take).
Default: Year
Text for “Month” section and link – Word to use for top links this month.Use only letters and numbers here and make sure to test the link after changing (try saving a 2nd time if the change does not take).
Default: Month
Text for “Week” section and link – Word to use for top links this week.Use only letters and numbers here and make sure to test the link after changing (try saving a 2nd time if the change does not take).
Default: Week
Text for “Day” section and link – Word to use for top links in the last 24 hours.Use only letters and numbers here and make sure to test the link after changing (try saving a 2nd time if the change does not take).
Default: Day
Submission categories public name – Shown when listing submission categories, typically plural
Default: Categories
Submission categories URL slug – The URL slug used on Submission category archive page. Please note that if you change this once your site has been live, you will want to add redirects for the previous structure.
Default: submit_cat
Submission tags public name – Shown when listing submission tags, typically plural
Default: Tags
Submission tags URL slug – The URL slug used on Submission tags archive page. Please note that if you change this once your site has been live, you will want to add redirects for the previous structure.
Default: submit_tag
Submission votes public name – Shown when showing submission votes, typically plural
Default: Votes
Text for external link Default: [blank]
Comment header text Default: Comments
Next page link text Default: Next Page »
Previous page link text Default: « Previous page