UPDATED for v2.0 Below are the recommended theme settings for Ashford. You can modify and activate many Ashford features using the Theme Options panel. The free version of Ashford is loaded with features, but not all are enabled. Those features which are NOT supported by Ashford are noted here. Need all the features? Consider buying Pro.
Dashboard → Appearance → Ashford Options
Customize your site
| Feature | Options | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Choose your color “style”: | Select a radio button | There are 13 different color styles or schemes. If your theme does not support color styles, this will have no affect. |
| Choose your headline font | Select a radio button | There are 22 different web fonts powered by Google Web Font API. If your theme does not support web fonts, this will have no affect. |
| Enter page color | Enter a HEX color | #FFFFFF or White |
| Use custom header | Yes or no | The default header image is used by default.To replace the header image, upload a 940x100px image to Dashboard > Appearance > Header.
Selecting “no” will replace header image with your Blog Title and Tagline from General > Settings. |
| Enter custom header height. The default is 100px. | Enter a unit measure. | If you are using a custom header, enter your header image height. Must include unit measure 120px not 120. |
| Enter text color | Enter a HEX color | #555555 or DimGray |
| Enter link color | Enter a HEX color | #FF4500 or OrangeRed |
| Enter your navigation menu link color | Enter a HEX color | #FF4500 or OrangeRed |
| Enter link hover color | Enter a HEX color | #F0F8FF or AliceBlue |
| Enter footer link color | Enter a HEX color | #FFFFFF or White |
Build your site
| Feature | Options | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Display Home tab | Yes or no | By default, the home page tab is displayed. Choose no to turn off the home page tab in the navigation bar. |
| Display Search box | Yes or no | By default, no search box is displayed. Choose yes to turn on the search box in the navigation bar.Tip: you can also add a search box by putting the search widget into a sidebar. |
| Display Category Submenu | Yes or no | By default, the category submenu is displayed. Choose no to turn the category sub menu off. |
| Display breadcrumbs | Yes or no | By default, breadcrumbs are displayed. Choose no to turn breadcrumbs off. |
| Add a site stripe | Enter text or HTML | Use to add a site wide message to every page and post. By default, the site stripe is fixed to the bottom of the browser viewport. Tip: Pro pages allow you to add a second “Page Stripe” which displays just under the breadcrumb and above the page title. |
| Add custom sidebars | Enter comma separated list. | sample,sample_column,sample_pageNames of sidebars can contain letters, numbers, dashes and underscrores. Tip: this is for expert use only since incorrect use of this may break your site. |
| Display comments on pages | Yes or no | By default, comments are active on pages. Choose no to turn comments off on pages. Customize your comments. |
| Display footer sidebar | Yes or no | If no widgets are placed in footer sidebar, it also will not display. |
| Enter your SPEED DIAL category name | Enter a category name | By default, speed dial buttons are not displayed. To display speed dial buttons which appear just above the footer, enter a category name here. Ashford will display posts from this category as buttons at the bottom of every page just above the footer. Tip: this is typically a category like ‘featured posts’ or ‘top products’. |
| Enter footer text (e.g. Creative Commons) | Enter text or HTML | By default, Ashford will use its default footer. To use your custom footer text, enter it here as plain text or HTML. Tip: find footer text at Creative Commons. |
| Display Hints and Widgetized Sidebar Regions | Yes or no | By default, site admins see little lightbulb icons and hint text when they view pages. These are useful when first building a site, but should be shut off when you are familar with Ashford. Choose no to turn them off. |
| Display the WELCOME message | Yes or no | By default, site admins see “Welcome” screen. This are useful when first building a site, but should be shut off when you are familar with Ashford. Choose no to turn the Welcome screen off off. |
Navigation menu
| Feature | Options | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Select Main Navigation Type | Drop down (default), Static,”navigation” menu or Mega menu |
By default, Ashford builds main navigation out of top level pages and a dynamic, heirarchical menu.The static option removes the drop downs displaying only the top level pages.
The “navigation” menu will display a dynamic, heirarchical menu based on a custom menu. Learn how to build it custom menu. The Mega menu is only available to Ashford Pro. Learn how to build it using widgetized sidebars. |
Grow your site
| Feature | Options | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Enter front page title | Enter text | Used on the frontpage. |
| Enter default meta keywords | Enter text | Used on the frontpage. |
| Enter default meta description | Enter text | Used on the frontpage. |
| Enter Feedburner url | Enter Feedburner URL | Leave blank to use the default RSS feeds instead of Feedburner. |
| Append this text to each RSS summary | Enter text or HTML | Works ONLY if you show summaries (not full text) in your feed. |
| Enter Google Analytics Code | Enter Google Analytics code | Adds code to the bottom of the page. Leave blank to NOT use Google Analytics. |
Ashford Mobile
| Feature | Options | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Enable Ashford Mobile | Yes or no | Choose YES to enable Ashford Mobile. Ashford Mobile is on by default. If your theme does not support web fonts, this will have no affect. |
If you do nothing, Ashford will use its default values. Ashford does not support color styles, web fonts, mega menus or mobile. Only Pro supports these features.