Orbital Theme® Guide
CLUSTERS
-
What are clusters?
Clusters are the elements that will constitute the SILO structure of our site, thus favouring SEO.
These clusters can be made with combinations of pages, posts, categories… We can sort them by name, creation date, modification date, in ascending or descending order…
We can differentiate between two different types of clusters:The first type is the normal cluster, where the featured image of the post + title will appear.
The second is the highlighted cluster, the cluster that has a blue shading when you pass the cursor over it and the title of the post appears integrated.This last cluster is created automatically in the first three posts when our home page is composed of the latest posts or categories. However, we can also create them ourselves, by adding a value, in this case the number of posts we want to appear in the featured clusters, in the ‘featured’ marker.
You can find it in the right column of the editor of a post or page when you select a cluster. -
How can I get the title clusters to appear inside the image and not below it?
You are differentiating between featured and non-featured clusters. Featured clusters are the longest clusters that have the image and text inside. To get this type of cluster you have to include a value in ‘featured’ in the cluster generator.
-
Can I put descriptions in my clusters?
Yes, Orbital includes the option to add a text extract to clusters, except for custom links.
Go to the post you’ve made the cluster of and in the right column you’ll see the ‘Excerpt’ dropdown. There you can write your custom description.
To make sure it is activated, go to Appearance > Customise > Listing options and check that you have activated descriptions.
Since Gutenberg is the default editor in WordPress, excerpts are not added automatically, so the ‘Read more’ functions and the number of characters marking in Listing Options are deprecated right now and will be removed in a future update.
This operation can be done from plugins such as Yoast SEO. -
How can I stop the first three highlighted clusters from being created when I choose a home page with the last posts?
In the file home.php and index.php you have to modify this part:
<div class="flex flex-fluid"> <?php $featured = 0; while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); if($featured == 3) do_action('orbital_after_featured_home'); if($featured < 3) get_template_part( 'template-parts/loops/loop', 'featured' ); else get_template_part( 'template-parts/loops/loop', 'grid' ); $featured++; endwhile; ?> </div>
For this:
<div class="flex flex-fluid"> <?php $featured = 0; while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); get_template_part( 'template-parts/loops/loop', 'grid' ); endwhile; ?> </div>
IMAGES
-
What dimensions do my images need to have in order to be displayed correctly?
The images must have a predetermined size to fit well in the cluster.
These measures will be a minimum of 450×350 and always in that aspect ratio, because if we put an image that is taller than wide in a cluster that is wider than tall, the image will not be displayed correctly.These images will always be the ones we have chosen as featured image. If we have not chosen a featured image in our post, the cluster that corresponds to it will be without an image.
This does not mean that this image must appear at the top of our post. If we do not want this to happen and keep the featured image only as the cover image of the cluster, we can deactivate it under the text editor, within each post, by unchecking the ‘Featured image’ box.As for the header images of your site, they must have a size of 1920 x 400px, as indicated by the theme.
-
How can I modify my images so that they have the same dimensions in the clusters?
Check the desired size of the clusters in Appearance > Customise > List Options.
Then, install the free Regenerate Thumbnails plugin and run it from Tools.
Remember that images can become pixelated and WordPress may not work well with them if they are too small. The minimum recommended size is approximately 450 x 350. -
My images look pixelated, what can I do?
Try to make sure you are using the recommended sizes on your featured image.
Also, this is an error that can occur because your theme is not updated to the latest version.
Go to Desktop > Updates, and there you can check all the plugins / themes you need to update.
PLUGINS
-
What kind of plugins should I not use?
There are few plugins that can present incompatibilities with the theme, but even so, there are some that, because of the way they act, cause some problems if used with Orbital.
The worst enemy are visual editors such as Elementor, Visual Composer / WPBakery Page Builder, TinyMCE, Divi… These are plugins that abruptly modify the css of the theme and get results far from those desired in the template.
On the other hand, we contraindicate them, since, in addition to causing technical conflicts, they are not exactly the best friend of SEO, since they create an unnecessary amount of code that becomes an obstacle for the words we want to position on our website.On the other hand, performance optimization plugins are not a good idea, as Orbital has a multitude of optimisation functions that you can activate and modify in Appearance > Customise > Performance Settings. The theme’s functions will always perform better as they are integrated, but if you activate these functions and those of any optimisation plugin, you would be generating duplications that would cause serious incompatibilities.
-
Which plugins do you recommend to install for Orbital Theme?
Yoast SEO: This tool teaches you how to write for the internet and is a great SEO support. We definitely recommend it.
Regenerate Thumbnails: We have already discussed the ideal configuration of the images, but maybe you have already set up your page and cutting all the thumbnails with the same size is a very dense work. That’s why we recommend this plugin, it will ensure that the images of your clusters are well aligned and at the same size.
W3 Total Cache or Litespeed Cache: These plugins will help you to manage the caching of your website and have many options to optimise your website. These plugins have to be selected correctly according to the server system you are using: Nginx or Apache. Nothing better than asking your hosting provider directly.
-
PAGESPEED
-
How can I improve my PageSpeed score?
One of the most frequent queries is how to improve your PageSpeed score, the Google tool that measures how optimized your website is and that does not translate into how fast your website loads, being the loading speed only one of the parameters it would measure, although it is clear that if you make the proposed optimisations, your website will gain in speed.
Orbital Theme includes in Appearance > Customise > Performance Settings, a series of functions that will make it easier for you to improve your score by simply copying and pasting the conflicting routes that PageSpeed indicates in each of the corresponding sections.
For example, if you have a problem loading the Google Fonts you’ve selected and PageSpeed tells you the path, simply copy and paste it into Appearance > Customise > Performance Settings > Preload Fonts.
Other general improvements we suggest are as follows:
Blocking JavaScript or CSS:
Orbital has a quick and easy solution built into Appearance > Customise > Appearance Options, which allows us to fix these display blocking issues with just two clicks.
These are the fix render blocking css and js checkboxes, which we recommend always having checked.Image compression:
Most of the time, a low score is due to the unnecessary heavy weight of the images on our website. To prevent this from happening or to solve it, we can use a compression plugin like WP Smush. You will notice a big difference.
Take advantage of caching space:
Many people, believe that the cache plugin is installed and is ready to fulfill its function. In some cases it is, but most of the time it needs to be adapted to the needs of our server and is configured differently depending on whether the server is based on Litespeed, Nginx, Apache… We can always ask our hosting provider for advice.
Reduce response time with the server:
This problem can be overturned due to any of the above mentioned problems, so it would be solved by applying those improvements. However, many times it can be a server quality problem or a temporary server failure.
That said, if our score has not improved significantly, it is probably a problem related to a plugin we are using.
In that case, we will have to evaluate whether or not we want to continue using that plugin and if it is worth it.The important thing in this case is that the user experience is good and can navigate quickly through your website.
If an error related to Lighthouse appears and it is not possible to measure your PageSpeed score, there may be a temporary problem with the tool, so we recommend that you try again later.
This error can also be caused by a misconfiguration of your cache plugin, so we recommend that you revert to the original default settings and try again.
What can you paste in Appearance > Customise > Additional CSS?
-
To centre your H1 in posts and pages
/*Entradas*/ .single .title{ text-align: center; } /*Páginas*/ .page .title{ text-align: center; }
-
To justify your page content to the left:
@media (min-width: 48rem){ .no-sidebar .container{ width: 720px; } }
Analytics and Adsense
Orbital has its own Adsense and Analytics ad manager.
You can find it under Appearance > Customise > Adsense and Analytics.
Remember that the Analytics and AdSense checkboxes will be displayed by default in the first tab. In the dropdowns below this, you can find the different locations to paste your AdSense script (not automatic ads).
-
What should my Analytics script look like?
<!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics --> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-XXXXXXXXX-1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-XXXXXXXXX-1'); </script>
-
Where do I place my AdSense code?
The script that you have to paste for the automatic ads will look like this:
<script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({ google_ad_client: "ca-pub-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", enable_page_level_ads: true }); </script>
-
AdSense cannot locate the code on my website.
It is possible that, despite having placed the code provided by AdSense, it is not being located on your website when you log into your account. This problem can be easily solved if you copy the script provided above and replace the ‘X’ with your user ID.
Miscellaneous
-
Why doesn’t my iframe work with Orbital?
If the iframe is http and the website is https it will not work.
Remember also that it is always more convenient to embed the iframe provided by the YouTube ‘Share’ option rather than pasting the URL directly. -
How can I generate a table of contents?
To generate your table of contents you only need to have a series of tags in your content. I.e. H1, H2, H3…
These tags in your titles will determine the hierarchy of the table of contents.
You will see in the editor of each post, below the text container and other content, an option ‘table of contents’, which must be checked. This is a built-in function of our theme, so you won’t need any additional plugins 😉Under Appearance > Customise > Table of contents, you will see, at the top, a shortcode that you have to insert in your page or post in case you don’t want it to appear at the top.
Further down, you can check the general activation on pages and posts. If there is a page where you don’t want it, just uncheck the ‘Table of contents’ option in your editor.
-
What should I include in the NIF / NIT / VAT field when I make my purchase?
You must include your country’s tax identification number, your ID. If you don’t have one you can put ‘not applicable’.
-
Why do I try to buy the licence and the final price is more expensive than the one you mark?
We sell a product from the European Union, so our currency is the Euro. If you are buying from a non-EU country, you are being charged in dollars.
In other words, even if it is a higher value, a $71 licence is the same as a €59 licence.
-
To update the theme to a new version, is it advisable to make a child theme to keep the changes?
It depends, Orbital’s own settings will not change even if you upgrade.
If you have modifications related to the theme code, you should do it, because the code is rewritten in each update.On the other hand, we will not be able to give you proper support if you use a child theme, as we cannot recognise it as the original theme and we would not know which modifications you have applied.
In addition, you will no longer receive regular updates, as WordPress will not recognise the theme as the original one.
-
I want to know how to remove the publication dates of posts or categories in the clusters, how would it be possible to do this?
Appearance > Customise > Layout options; uncheck ‘Show date’.
-
How can I make the logo bigger like on AvesExoticas.org?
What you can see on that page is the header image. Although it is really a logo, it is working as the header of the website.
-
What is the purpose of “Exclude jQuery on Fix Render Blocking” and should it be activated or not?
jQuery is a multiplatform JavaScript library, which simplifies the way to interact with HTML documents, manipulate the DOM, develop animations, add AJAX interaction to web pages….. It is the most widely used JS library.
It is advisable to have the option enabled depending on your own web needs.
If you run your website through Pagespeed and you perceive that one of the problems is that jQuery is blocking resources, you should uncheck it so that fix render blocking will solve it.