GridMode Documentation

GridMode is a free WordPress grid theme that includes a number of useful configuration options. It is great for bloggers and comes with a responsive design, two navigation menus with flexible placement, sticky sidebars, 4 columns posts grid, full-width post/page templates, header image support, 60+ social buttons, post share buttons, RTL language support, right sidebar, 4 columns footer, scroll-to-top button and more. The theme is very starter-friendly and easy to set up.

Method 1: Install via WordPress Dashboard (Recommended)

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Appearance → Themes → Add New.
3. Search for GridMode in the search box.
4. Click Install on the GridMode theme, then click Activate.

Method 2: Upload via WordPress Dashboard

1. Download the gridmode.zip theme file from WordPress.org.
2. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
3. Navigate to Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme.
4. Click Choose File, select the gridmode.zip file, and click Install Now.
5. After installation, click Activate.

Method 3: Upload via FTP/File Manager

1. Download the gridmode.zip theme file and extract it.
2. Connect to your server via FTP (FileZilla) or use your hosting File Manager.
3. Upload the extracted gridmode folder to /wp-content/themes/.
4. Go to your WordPress Dashboard → Appearance → Themes and activate GridMode.

You can import the demo content, widgets, and Customizer settings shown in the GridMode theme demo.

If your website already has existing posts with featured images, it's highly recommended to regenerate thumbnails after activating the GridMode theme. This ensures that all images match the new theme's layout and display sizes.

Regenerating thumbnails is optional if your site is completely new and doesn't have any uploaded images yet.

However, if you imported the demo content, regenerating thumbnails is essential to display images correctly across the site.

1. Install and activate the Regenerate Thumbnails plugin.
2. Go to Tools → Regenerate Thumbnails.
3. Click the "Regenerate Thumbnails for All x Attachments" button to start the process.
4. Wait until all images are regenerated. This may take a few minutes depending on your media library size.
5. If you want, you can deactivate and delete the plugin once the process is complete.

This step ensures clean image alignment and sharp visuals throughout your website using the GridMode theme.

Use the WordPress Customizer to add or manage the header image that appears at the top of your site.

How to add a header image

1. Go to Appearance → Customize → Theme Options → Header Image.
2. Click Add new image and choose/upload your image (recommended width: 1920px or larger).
3. Crop if prompted, then click Publish.

Useful options

• Hide Header Image from Everywhere – remove the header image globally.
• Remove Link from Header Image – keep the image but remove the homepage link.
• Hide Title/Description – hide the overlaid title/description text.
• Custom Title/Description – enter your own text for the header image area.
• Header Image Destination URL – set a custom link target when the image is clicked.
• Header Image Alt Text – set an alt attribute for accessibility/SEO.

This theme includes two Display Locations for menus: Primary Menu, and Secondary Menu.

Right after installing the theme, WordPress may display your existing pages as the default menu items in these locations. You can replace them with your own custom menus containing links, categories, pages, and more by following the steps below:

1. Go to Appearance → Menus and click the create a new menu link.
2. Enter a name for your menu in the Menu Name field.
3. Select a display location for your menu by checking one of the available options under Display location
4. Click the Create Menu button.
   
5. To add items to the menu, use the options in the left-hand column—select the pages, posts, categories, or tags you want, then click Add to Menu.
6. To create dropdown menus, simply drag and nest the submenu items beneath the parent menu item.
7. Once you've added your links, click the Save Menu button.

There are 21 widget areas in the GridMode theme. The free version does not bundle custom widgets; use WordPress core widgets or plugins of your choice inside these areas.

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1. Sidebar 1 Widgets

   Right-hand sidebar for your pages/posts.

2. Top Full Width Widgets (Default HomePage)

   Full-width area after the header, shown only on the default homepage (latest posts).

3. Top Full Width Widgets (Everywhere)

   Full-width area after the header, shown on every page.

4. Above Content Widgets (Default HomePage)

   Above main content (above posts), shown on the default homepage (latest posts).

5. Above Content Widgets (Everywhere)

   Above main content (above posts), shown on every page.

6. Top Left Widgets (Default HomePage)

   Left-top area of the content section, shown on the default homepage (latest posts).

7. Top Left Widgets (Everywhere)

   Left-top area of the content section, shown on every page.

8. Top Right Widgets (Default HomePage)

   Right-top area of the content section, shown on the default homepage (latest posts).

9. Top Right Widgets (Everywhere)

   Right-top area of the content section, shown on every page.

10. Below Content Widgets (Default HomePage)

    Below main content (below posts), shown on the default homepage (latest posts).

11. Below Content Widgets (Everywhere)

    Below main content (below posts), shown on every page.

12. Bottom Full Width Widgets (Default HomePage)

    Full-width area before the footer, shown on the default homepage (latest posts).

13. Bottom Full Width Widgets (Everywhere)

    Full-width area before the footer, shown on every page.

14. Single Post Bottom Widgets

    Appears at the bottom of single posts (all post types except pages/attachments).

15. Footer Top Widgets

    Full-width area above the footer columns.

16. Footer 1 Widgets

    Footer column 1.

17. Footer 2 Widgets

    Footer column 2.

18. Footer 3 Widgets

    Footer column 3.

19. Footer 4 Widgets

    Footer column 4.

20. Footer Bottom Widgets

    Full-width area below the footer columns.

21. 404 Page Widgets

    Displayed on the 404 (not found) page.

GridMode includes two custom page templates you can use for full-width layouts without sidebars.

• Full Width, no sidebar (Page) — Template for pages (template-full-width-page.php)
• Full Width, no sidebar (Post) — Template for posts (template-full-width-post.php)

How to apply a template

1. Edit a page or post in the WordPress editor.
2. In the Page Attributes (or Post Attributes) panel, open the Template dropdown.
3. Select Full Width, no sidebar and update/publish.

Most of GridMode's settings are managed through the WordPress Customizer. Go to Appearance → Customize to find each section below.

Here are some best practices to improve your site's performance and SEO when using GridMode:

• Use a caching plugin — Install W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, or LiteSpeed Cache to improve page load times.
• Optimize images — Use plugins like Imagify or EWWW Image Optimizer to compress images.
• Use a CDN — A Content Delivery Network (e.g., Cloudflare) serves your content from servers closest to your visitors.
• Install an SEO plugin — Use Yoast SEO or Rank Math to manage meta tags, sitemaps, and structured data.
• Keep WordPress updated — Always use the latest versions of WordPress, themes, and plugins.
• Minimize plugins — Only keep the plugins you actually use.
• Use quality hosting — A good hosting provider makes a significant difference in performance.
• Set featured images — Always set a featured image for posts to ensure proper display in the grid layout and when sharing on social media.

GridMode is fully translation-ready and supports Right-to-Left (RTL) languages like Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian out of the box.

🌐 Translating the Theme

The theme includes a gridmode.pot file located in the /languages folder inside the theme directory. You can use this file to create translations in your own language using any of the following tools:

• Poedit – Desktop translation editor (view tutorial)
• Loco Translate – Translate the theme directly from your WordPress dashboard (view tutorial)

After translating, save your files as:

• gridmode-[language_code].po
• gridmode-[language_code].mo

Place them inside the /languages folder in the theme.

↔️ RTL Language Support

GridMode includes built-in RTL support. If your WordPress site language is set to an RTL language, the theme will automatically adjust layout direction, alignment, and spacing accordingly. No extra setup required.

If you're customizing your site with RTL content, make sure your text widgets, menus, and custom styles are also RTL-compatible for best results.

In this section, you'll find quick answers to the most frequently asked questions about using the GridMode theme. If you can't find your answer here, you can contact our support team for more help.

This section covers common technical problems you may encounter. If your issue isn't listed, reach out to our support team.

The GridMode theme is released under the GNU General Public License v2.0 (GPL v2). You can use the theme on unlimited websites and modify the code.

What's included in free support:

• Help with theme installation and setup
• Bug fixes and troubleshooting related to the theme
• Guidance on using built-in theme features

What's not included in free support (but available as paid tasks):

• Theme customization or resolving third-party plugin conflicts
• Custom coding or feature implementation requests
• Performance tuning, SEO setup, or server configuration assistance

If you need help, please contact us. We typically respond within 24-48 hours on working days.

Contact Support

Upgrade to GridMode PRO

For more features including color options, font options, news ticker, related posts, and much more, consider upgrading to GridMode PRO.

The following is a log of all updates and changes made to GridMode. We recommend always using the latest version.

You can use the following date format values to control how dates appear in various places such as custom widgets, post metadata, news tickers, and more. These formats follow the standard PHP date formatting rules used by WordPress. Refer to the table below to choose a format that best fits your design and content style.