GridPal Documentation

GridPal is a fresh and elegant, 3 columns masonry grid WordPress theme for building responsive news magazine or gallery websites. It features Customizer theme options, a sticky header, primary and secondary menus, a 3 columns posts grid, full-width templates for posts/pages, left and right sticky sidebars, 4 columns footer, RTL language support, 60+ social buttons, scroll-to-top button and more. GridPal theme also has a translation-ready codebase. 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 GridPal in the search box.
4. Click Install on the GridPal theme, then click Activate.

Method 2: Upload via WordPress Dashboard

1. Download the gridpal.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 gridpal.zip file, and click Install Now.
5. After installation, click Activate.

Method 3: Upload via FTP/File Manager

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

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

If your website already has existing posts with featured images, it's highly recommended to regenerate thumbnails after activating the GridPal 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 GridPal 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 both Title and Description – hide the overlaid title/description text.
• Hide Description – hide only the description from the header image.
• 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.

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 22 widget areas in the GridPal 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

   Left-hand sidebar for your pages/posts.

2. Sidebar 2 Widgets

   Right-hand sidebar for your pages/posts.

3. Top Full Width Widgets (Default HomePage)

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

4. Top Full Width Widgets (Everywhere)

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

5. Above Content Widgets (Default HomePage)

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

6. Above Content Widgets (Everywhere)

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

7. Top Left Widgets (Default HomePage)

   Located at the left top of your website, shown on the default homepage (latest posts).

8. Top Left Widgets (Everywhere)

   Located at the left top of your website, shown on every page.

9. Top Right Widgets (Default HomePage)

   Located at the right top of your website, shown on the default homepage (latest posts).

10. Top Right Widgets (Everywhere)

    Located at the right top of your website, shown on every page.

11. Below Content Widgets (Default HomePage)

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

12. Below Content Widgets (Everywhere)

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

13. Bottom Full Width Widgets (Default HomePage)

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

14. Bottom Full Width Widgets (Everywhere)

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

15. Single Post Bottom Widgets

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

16. Footer Top Widgets

    Full-width area above the footer columns.

17. Footer 1 Widgets

    Footer column 1.

18. Footer 2 Widgets

    Footer column 2.

19. Footer 3 Widgets

    Footer column 3.

20. Footer 4 Widgets

    Footer column 4.

21. Footer Bottom Widgets

    Full-width area below the footer columns.

22. 404 Page Widgets

    Displayed on the 404 (not found) page.

GridPal 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.

Go to Appearance → Customize to access the WordPress Customizer. Most GridPal options live under the Theme Options panel. Below is a complete reference of every section and setting.

GridPal 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 gridpal.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:

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

Place them inside the /languages folder in the theme.

↔️ RTL Language Support

GridPal 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.

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

• Use a caching plugin — Install a caching plugin such as W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache to speed up your website.
• Optimise images — Use Imagify or EWWW Image Optimizer to compress images without visible quality loss.
• Set featured images — Always set a featured image for posts to ensure proper display in the grid layout and when sharing on social media.
• Use an SEO plugin — Install Yoast SEO or All in One SEO for meta tags, sitemaps, and structured data.
• Keep WordPress, themes, and plugins updated — Updates contain security patches and bug fixes.
• Minimise plugins — Only use the plugins you actually need. Remove unused themes and plugins.
• Use a CDN — A content delivery network like Cloudflare improves loading times for visitors around the globe.
• Choose a reliable host — A quality hosting provider with good server response times makes a significant difference in page speed.

My menus disappeared after theme activation. What should I do?

After switching themes, your menus may not be assigned to menu locations. Go to Appearance → Menus, select your menu, assign it to a Display location, and save.

How do I switch between grid and non-grid post layouts?

Go to Appearance → Customize → Theme Options → Posts Grid Options and check "Activate Non-Grid Posts" to switch from the masonry grid to a traditional blog-style list layout.

How do I add social media links?

Go to Appearance → Customize → Theme Options → Social Links Options. Enter the full URL for each social profile you want to display. The icon will appear automatically in the social buttons area.

How do I change the footer copyright text?

Go to Appearance → Customize → Theme Options → Footer Options and enter your text in the "Footer copyright notice" field. Basic HTML is allowed.

How do I use a static page as my homepage?

Go to Settings → Reading and select "A static page". Choose a page for the homepage and optionally set a posts page. Then click Save Changes.

How do I show author images on the posts grid?

Go to Appearance → Customize → Theme Options → Posts Grid Options and check "Show Post Author Images on Posts Grid". Author images use the Gravatar associated with each user's email.

How do I change the date box style?

Go to Appearance → Customize → Theme Options → Posts Grid Options and use the "Posted Date Boxes Style" dropdown to choose between Round and Square.

Post thumbnails are missing when sharing on social media

Ensure every post has a featured image set. Install an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO that adds Open Graph meta tags for proper social sharing previews.

I get "The uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize directive" error

This is a server-side limit, not a theme issue. Increase the upload_max_filesize and post_max_size values in your php.ini file, or contact your hosting provider for assistance.

The posts grid looks broken or images are misaligned

Regenerate thumbnails after activating the theme. Use the Regenerate Thumbnails plugin to rebuild image sizes for the masonry grid layout.

Widgets are not appearing

Make sure the widget area you are targeting is not hidden via a Customizer option (e.g. "Hide Footer Widgets"). Go to Appearance → Widgets and ensure the correct widget area is populated.

Social buttons are not visible

Go to Appearance → Customize → Theme Options → Social Links Options. Make sure "Hide Social Area" is unchecked and that you have entered at least one social profile URL.

The GridPal 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 GridPal PRO

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

The following is a log of all updates and changes made to GridPal. 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.