Last months, popular Instagram plugins (WP Instagram Widget) have been removed from WordPress.org repository.
Is a bad news for all WordPress users, including VolThemes’s users.
That affects Marlin theme since the theme use these plugins to integrate users’ sites with Instagram accounts.
Why are Instagram plugins removed from WordPress.org?
The reason that the plugins are removed because they’re using a technique to scrape images from Instagram account (no token needed), which is forbidden on WordPress.org.
This is a response from Scott, the plugin author of WP Instagram Widget plugin.
It was removed without my consent unfortunately and it will not be re-instated to the .org repository due to the approach the plugin uses for obtaining data.
Scott – Author of WP Instagram Widget
Our solution is to replace “WP Instagram Widget” to “Instagram Feed” by Smash Balloon.
We make the layout same look and feel, so no custom CSS required.
To setting up Instagram Feed, please refer to: Documentation.
What else is new in Marlin v2.0?
**Schema Markup
So this is a great way to create and add structured data. to help Google identify all parts of your site and under get better search results and better SEO. you can get the likes of Google, Bing, and Yahoo to read and display additional information in the search results.
By using the schema markup can help SEO in terms of click rates but please note Google does not display all schema on all niches.
**Error-free W3C HTML markup validation
Google’s support pages show that valid HTML matters. using valid HTML in the head section is a reminder of how important it is to validate HTML. The validity of web pages can protect a web page from unforeseen errors and also an important step towards ensuring the technical quality of web pages.
** Support to display Category Description
Categories can help you get better SEO results. And also, Categories come with another interesting feature – the description.
This function will return the description of a category defined in the category settings screen for the current category (Posts > Categories). Category Description only show on the category archive page.
To add category descriptions, go to "Posts Categories". This will take you to a page containing all the categories of your website.
Click “Edit” on the category. On the resulting page, provide the description, and click “Update“. This will add the description to the category. You can add descriptions to all of your categories.
It is also possible to add descriptions to your tags. To do that, go to "Posts Tags". Similar to the categories, you can add a new tag with descriptions, or add descriptions to the existing tags by clicking the “Edit” link.
**Support Ad-Sense /Banner Ads on single Post
Optional and Easy to use AdSense/Banner Ads that help you monetize your website.
These setting can be found at:
"Appearance Customize Theme Settings Single Post Advertisement".
** Support Header Image + Logo/Site Title
You can now display custom header as a Header background with Custom logo or Site Title at the same time, like the example below.
To add Header Image, go to: "Appearance Theme Settings Header"
1. Click on “Add new image”
2. Click on “Select files”
3. Select your header image
4. Click on “Select and Crop”
5. on the bottom, select “Full screen header images” to make the header image fit the container
6. Save & Publish to apply changes.
To make Header Images change randomly, simply click on ‘Randomize uploaded header’ button under recently uploaded images and then save your changes.
** Sticky Sidebar (optional)
Increase your website’s usability and accessibility.
This function will scrolls a sidebar normally until it reaches the top of the screen, at which point it attaches itself to top of the viewport until you scroll back up the page.
If you want to disable this function, Go to:
"Appearance Customize Theme Settings Blog Settings Disable Sticky Sidebar"
**More great Features
* New Layout “2 Column Grid with No Post Excerpt”
* Implement Lazy Load for post thumbnail to boost performance
* Optimizing Image alt
* Redesign Slider & Promobox styling
* Compatible with WooCommerce 3.7.x
Full Changelog
*** v1.2 – Sept 05, 2019 ***
============================
* Support Header Image + Logo/Site Title
* Improved HTML Microdata specifications in order to markup structured data
* Implement Lazy Load for post thumbnail to boost performance
* Implement Sticky Sidebar (optional)
* Optimizing Image alt
* Error-free W3C markup validity
* Support to display Category Description
* More SEO Tweaks
* Removed Google+ Share Button & Social Profile (Due to Google+ closing down)
* Removed Full screen header images option
* Recommended plugins changes
* Redesign Blockquote css
* Redesign Slider & Promobox styling
* Remove box shadow on Topbar
* Enable/Support to display Category Description on Category Archive page
* ADD: Recommended plugin list: Classic Editor, Instagram Feed & WooCommerce
* ADD: New Layout “2 Column Grid + No Post Excerpt”
* ADD: New Option to Disable Site description
* ADD: New Option to Disable Featured images on single posts
* ADD: New Option to Hide Post excerpt in Featured slider
* UPD: Theme screenshot
* UPD: Theme language
* UPD: Compatible with WooCommerce 3.7.x
* UPD: Formatting Date and Time – Textual three letters
* FIX: W3C Validation time-datetime in the required format
* FIX: W3C Validation Google Fonts link
* FIX: W3C Validation Font-weight with numeric values
* FIX: Unexpected RBRACE error. Missing/Multiple semicolon (;)
* FIX: Instagram widget (WP Instagram Widget plugin has been removed from WordPress.org)
* Files Removed:
– /template-parts/date-format.php
* Files Updated:
– /assets/js/marlin-scripts.js
– /assets/css/style-admin.css
– /woocommerce/cart/cart.php
– /woocommerce/css/woocommerce.css
– /layouts/blog-2col-grid.php
– /layouts/blog-standard.php
– /template-parts/featured-slider.php
– /template-parts/post-meta.php
– /template-parts/post-share.php
– /template-parts/post-format.php
– /template-parts/single-post-author.php
– /core/classes/plugins.php
– /core/functions/custom-header.php
– /core/functions/template-tags.php
– /core/customizer/styles.php
– /core/customizer/customizer-options.php
– /core/customizer/customizer-library/extensions/fonts.php
– 404.php
– archive.php
– header.php
– footer.php
– sidebar.php
– functions.php
– style.css
Upgrade/Uploading the new version
Download latest version
You can download the latest version of your theme in your Member Area dashboard.
Upload your theme
The easiest way to manually update your theme is using Easy Theme and Plugin Upgrades
*Click here for tutorial.
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