Catch Base

Catch Base is a simple, clean and responsive framework/starter WordPress Theme. This theme can be use as base theme for your theme development or custom site development. This theme is built in HTML3, CSS3 and WordPress core customizer for easy real time customization. This theme is translation ready. Check out Support at https://catchthemes.com/support/ and Demo at https://catchthemes.com/demo/catch-base/

Features in “Catch Base” Free Theme:

  1. Responsive Design
  2. Site Identity: Option to enable/disable header text, add/edit Custom Logo and Site Icon (Favicon/Web Clip Icon)
  3. Color Options: Light and Dark Color Scheme, Header Text and Background color
  4. Header Image: Option to add Custom Header Image, enable/disable featured header image, add alt, title and link/URL, open link in new windows/tab and select Post/Page Featured image size
  5. Navigation (Menu Options): Option to use Primary and Secondary Menu
  6. Breadcrumb Options: Option to enable/disable Breadcrumb on Homepage/Frontpage or Entire site and Option to change separator
  7. Excerpt Options: Option to change Excerpt Length and Read More Text
  8. Homepage Category Setting: Select option to show post from selective category
  9. Icon Options: Open to add Fav Icon and Web Clip Icon images(Replace by Site Icon from WordPress Version 4.5)
  10. Layout Options:
    1. Default Layout: Option to choose from i. Primary Sidebar,Content ii. Content Primary Sidebar iii. Three Columns(Secondary Sidebar, Content, Primary Sidebar) and iv. No Sidebar (Content Width)
    2. Archive Content Layout: Option to choose from Show Excerpt and Show Full Content (No Featured Image)
    3. Single Page/Post Image Layout: Option to enable/disable Single Single Page/Post Image Layout or Select Large, Medium, Full Size or Slider Image Size as Single Page/Post Image
  11. Pagination Options: Option to choose Pagination type from Default, Numeric (Requires WP-PageNavi Plugin), Infinite Scroll(Click and Scroll: Requires JetPack Plugin with Infinite Scroll module enabled)
  12. Promotion Headline Options: Option to enable/disable Promotion Headline on Homepage/Frontpage or Entire site, edit Promotion Headline text, edit Promotion SubHeadline text, edit Promotion Headline Button Text, add/edit Promotion Headline Link and open link in new tab
  13. Scroll Up Feature
  14. Search Options: Option to change the search box text
  15. Additional CSS: Option to add your own CSS style to change the design as per you need
  16. Featured Content : Option to enable/disable featured content on Homepage/Frontpage or entire site, option to select Featured Content layout from 3 columns and 4 columns, option to display/hide Excerpt or Full content ,option to highlight your Featured pages as Featured Content and option to move featured content position above footer
  17. Featured Slider : Option to enable/disable featured content on Homepage/FrontPage or entire site , option to select Transition Effect, Transition Delay and Transition Length of slides and option to highlight your featured pages in slider
  18. Social Links: 27 different social icons to choose from
  19. Widget Areas: 5 Widget Areas, i. Primary Sidebar, ii. Secondary Sidebar, iii. Footer Area One, iv. Footer Area Two and v. Footer Area Three

Additional Features in “Catch Base Pro” Premium Theme:

  1. Header Image: Additional option to select featured header image position
  2. Menus: Additional 2 Menus which totals to 4 custom menus: Primary Menu, Secondary Menu, Header Right Menu and Footer Menu
  3. Menu Options: Additional option to enable/disable Primary Menu and enable/disable search box in Primary Menu
  4. Comment Options: Option to enable/disable comments, notes and website field
  5. Feed Redirect: Option to redirect your feed to feedburner
  6. Font Family Options: Option to choose Site Title Font Family, Default Font Family, Site Title and Tagline (Description) Font Family, Content Title Font Family, Content Body Font Family and Headings Tags from h1 to h6 Font Family
  7. Footer Editor Option: Option to edit/delete footer text
  8. Header Right Sidebar Options: New header right sidebar widget area. Where you can add widget to replace default right sidebar content or add more widgets to header right sidebar. Also have option to disable header right sidebar
  9. Layout Options:
    1. Default Layout: Additional 7 default layouts, which makes a total of 11 Default Layout Options: i. Primary Sidebar, Content (Left Sidebar), ii. Content, Primary Sidebar (Right Sidebar), iii. Three Columns (Secondary Sidebar, Content, Primary Sidebar), iv. Three Columns (Mobile Secondary Sidebar First), v. Three Columns (Equal Primary and Secondary Sidebars), vi. Three Columns (Equal Secondary Sidebar, Content, Primary Sidebar), vii. Three Columns (Content, Primary Sidebar, Secondary Sidebar), viii. Three Columns (Secondary Sidebar, Primary Sidebar, Content), ix. No Sidebar (Content Width), x. No Sidebar (One Column), xii.No Sidebar (Full Width)
    2. Woocommerce Layout: Select layout for your woocommerce pages. Option to choose from 11 Layout Options: i. Primary Sidebar, Content (Left Sidebar), ii. Content, Primary Sidebar (Right Sidebar), iii. Three Columns (Secondary Sidebar, Content, Primary Sidebar), iv. Three Columns (Mobile Secondary Sidebar First), v. Three Columns (Equal Primary and Secondary Sidebars), vi. Three Columns (Equal Secondary Sidebar, Content, Primary Sidebar), vii. Three Columns (Content, Primary Sidebar, Secondary Sidebar), viii. Three Columns (Secondary Sidebar, Primary Sidebar, Content), ix. No Sidebar (Content Width), x. No Sidebar (One Column), xii.No Sidebar (Full Width)
    3. Archive Content Layout: Additional 4 content layouts, which makes a total of 6 Content layouts: i. Show Excerpt, ii. Show Excerpt (Portrait Featured Image), iii. Show Excerpt (Landscape Featured Image), iv. Show Excerpt (Thumbnail Featured Image), v. Show Excerpt (Full Featured Image), vi. Show Full Content (No Featured Image)
  10. Responsive Design Options: Additional option to enable/disable responsive design and enable/disable footer mobile menu
  11. Scroll Up: Option to enable/disable scroll up
  12. Single Post Navigation: Option to enable/disable single post navigation
  13. Update Notifier: Option to enable/disable Theme Update notifications
  14. Color Options: Additional option to use color picker to change various Basic Color Options, Header Color Options, Content Color Options, Sidebar Color Options, Pagination Color Options, Footer Color Options, Promotion Headline Color Options, Scrollup Color Options, Slider Color Options, Featured Content Color Options, Primary Menu Color Options, Secondary Menu Color Options, Header Right Menu Color Options and Footer Menu Color Options
  15. Featured Content Options: Additional 3 featured content types, which makes a total of 4 featured content types: i. Featured Post Content, Featured Page Content, Featured Category Content and Featured Image Content
  16. Featured Slider Options: Additional 3 featured slider types, which makes a total of 4 featured slider types: i. Featured Post Slider, Featured Page Slider, Featured Category Slider and Featured Image Slider
  17. Social Links: Additional option to add upto 10 custom social icons and links
  18. Widget Areas: Additional 12 Widget Areas registered which makes a total of 17 Sidebars registered. That is, i. Primary Sidebar, ii. Secondary Sidebar, iii. WooCommerce Primary Sidebar, iv. WooCommerce Secondary Sidebar, v. Optional Homepage Sidebar, vi. Optional Archive Sidebar, vii. Optional Page Sidebar, viii. Optional Post Sidebar, ix. Optional Sidebar One, x. Optional Sidebar Two, xi. Optional Sidebar Three, xii. 404 Page Not Found Content, xiii. Footer Area One, xiv. Footer Area Two, xv. Footer Area Three, xvi. Footer Area Four and xvii. Header Right
  19. E-commerce Ready: It supports WooCommerce plugin
  20. Multi-language Ready: It supports WPML plugin

Installation Using the WordPress Administration Panel #

You can download Themes directly to your blog by using the Add New Themes option in the Appearance sub-menu.

  1. Download Catch Base from your Catch Themes site at https://catchthemes.com/themes/catch-base/ to your Desktop
  2. Log in to the WordPress Administration Panel
  3. Go to “Appearance => Themes => Add New”
  4. Click on “Uploads” and Browse the downloaded file catch-base.zip from the desktop where you have it downloaded
  5. Click on “Install Now” and then “Activate” to install the Theme

Manual Installation using FTP

To add a new Theme to your WordPress installation, follow these basic steps:

  1. Download Catch Base from your Catch Themes site at https://catchthemes.com/themes/catch-base/ to your Desktop
  2. Unzip catch-base.zip to your Desktop
  3. Using an FTP client to access your host web server. Go to /wp-content/themes/ and make sure that you do not already have a catch-base folder installed. If you do, then back it up and remove it from /wp-content/themes/ before uploading your copy of Catch Base
  4. Upload Catch Base to /wp-content/themes/
  5. Activate Catch Base through “Appearance => Themes”, in your WordPress Dashboard

Updating Theme Using the Administration Panel #

You can update Themes directly from the Administration Panel using Catch Updater plugin. Click here to read details about Catch Updater plugin.

Updating Theme Using FTP

To update Theme though FTP, follow these basic steps:

  1. Download Catch Base from your Catch Themes site at https://catchthemes.com/themes/catch-base/ to your Desktop
  2. Unzip catch-base.zip to your Desktop
  3. Using an FTP client to access your host web server, go to /wp-content/themes/ and upload your new copy of Catch Base Theme which shall replace the old files

This theme relies heavily on Featured Images. If your post is missing a Featured Image, the post image will not show up on homepage, on archived pages and on Featured Page Slider. Click Here to see how to add Featured Image in your Post/Page.

Image Sizes:

Featured Slider
Width: 1200px
Height: 514px

Featured Image: Excerpt Featured Image
Width: 780px
Height: 439px

Featured Content
Width: 400px
Height: 255px

Custom Header Image
Width: Flexible (recommended width 1200px)
Height : Flexible (recommended height 400px)

How to add Featured Image in Post/Page?

  1. Open the editor of the post/page where you want to display image, and locate the Featured Image module in thSet Featured Image bottom right corner under Page Attributes. Click on Set Featured Image.
  2. Then you can either upload the image from your computer or select the existing image from your media library and click on Set Featured Image.Click to view screenshot
  3. For more detail, click here to watch video Screencast

Regenerate Thumbnails #

If you have just changed your theme then you need to regenerate image thumbnail for post published before activating this theme. You can simply install Regenerate Thumbnails Plugin. Then Regenerate Thumbnails through “Tools => Regen. Thumbnails” in your WordPress Dashboard.

Widget Areas #

Catch Base currently has 5 widget areas that are 1. Primary Sidebar, 2. Secondary Sidebar, 3. Footer Area One, 4. Footer Area Two and 5. Footer Area Three. You can add a variety of Widgets to this theme from “Appearance => Widgets” or “Appearance => Customize => Widgets” in WordPress.

Catch Base offers exciting Menu Options! This theme supports and recommends using “Custom Menus”. You can create Custom Menu through “Appearance => Menus” from your WordPress Dashboard.

  • For more detail, Click here to watch video Screencast
  • Select Menu Locations
    You can assign your custom menu in 2 different locations. You assign it either from “Appearance => Customize => Navigation” or from “Appearance => Menus => Manage Locations”
    Select your Custom Menu as Primary Menu to display it as the Main Menu, which will replace the default Page Menu
    Select your custom menu as Secondary Menu to display Menu below Primary Menu

    Customizer (Theme Options) #

    You can customize this theme using cool additional features through Customizer at “Appearance => Customize” from your WordPress Dashboard.

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Site Identity
    2. You can replace the default logo by clicking on it, or click on “Change Image”
    3. Then you can either upload the image from your computer or select the existing image from your media library
    4. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    How to enable/disable Site Title and Tagline #

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Site Identity”
    2. Uncheck “Display Site Title and Tagline” and it will display Site Title and Tagline
    3. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    How to add Site Icon (Favicon/Web Clip Icon)? #

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Site Identity => Site Icon”
    2. Click on “Select Image” and then you can either upload the image from your computer or select the existing image from your media library
    3. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    Header Image #

    Custom Header Image is different from site logo. It’s a large global image in the header to obtain a much more personalized look and feel. To add header image, you need to go to “Appearance => Customize => Header Image”. Here, you can add/change/hide Header Image, select option to Enable Featured Header Image on, Position, Size and add in links and alt tag as per your website need.

    Options to Enable Header Featured Image

    When you are in “Appearance => Customize =>; Header Image”, you will see option “Enable Featured Header Image on”. There are 7 options, which gives you flexibility to add Header Image as per your website need.

    Option 1: Homepage/Frontpage
    This option will show header image in Homepage/Frontpage only.

    Option 2: Excluding Homepage
    This option will show header image throughout the site, excluding Homepage.

    Option 3: Excluding Homepage, Page/Post Featured Image
    This option will show header image throughout the site excluding Homepage. But in Page/Post, your header image will be replaced by Featured Image.

    Option 4: Entire Site
    This option will show header image throughout the site.

    Option 5: Entire Site, Page/Post Featured Image
    This option will show header image throughout the site. But in Page/Post, your header image will be replaced by Featured Image.

    Option 6: Page and Post
    This option will show Header Image in Page and Post only. But in Page/Post, your header image will be replaced by Featured Image.

    Option 7: Disable
    This option will disable Header Image completely.

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Header Image”
    2. Now, select enable options in “Enable Featured Header Image on”
    3. Click on “Add New Image” to add new header image
    4. Then you can either upload the image from your computer or select the existing image from your media library
    5. Click on “Select and Crop” and you can either crop image or skip cropping
    6. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    How to enable Breadcrumb and change separator? #

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Theme Options => Breadcrumb Options”
    2. Check option “Check to enable Breadcrumb” to enable Breadcrumb
    3. To enable Breadcrumb on Homepage, check option “Check to enable Breadcrumb on Homepage”
    4. To change the separator between Breadcrumbs, use desired separator below “Separator between Breadcrumbs”
    5. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    How to Change the Excerpt Length and Read More Text? #

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Theme Options => Excerpt Options”
    2. Type in the Excerpt Length as in, the number of words, and Read More Text
    3. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    How to Set Certain Categories to Display in Homepage/Frontpage? #

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Theme Options => Homepage/Frontpage Options”
    2. Then select the category you want, and you may select multiple categories by holding down the CTRL key(windows)/Command Key(Mac)
    3. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    Layout Options #

    Catch Base has 4 Default Layout options, 2 Archive Content Layout options and 4 Single Page/Post image layout to choose from “Appearance => Customize => Theme Options => Layout Options”

    Default Layout Options
    Once you are in Layout Options, you can Check the box below “Default Layout Options” which will set our site layout. Further, you have the choice of selecting custom layout for individual pages and posts through “Catch Base Options => Layout Options”, which you shall find below individual posts and pages, when you click on them for adding/editing.

    Archive Content Layout
    Once you are in Layout Options, you can Check the box below “Archive Content Layout” which will set our site archive layout.

    Single Page/Post Image Layout
    Once you are in Layout Options, you can Check the box below “Single Page/Post Image Layout” which will set our posts/page image layout. Further, you have the choice of selecting Single Page/Post Image Layout for individual pages and posts through “Catch Base Options => Single Page/Post Image Layout”, which you shall find below individual posts and pages, when you click on them for adding/editing.

    How to edit individual posts/pages layout?
    This can be achieved through custom meta box by following the steps below:

    1. Go to Add/Edit option of Page/Post
    2. There you can find Catchbase Options
    3. Then click onLayout Options
    4. You select required option under”Default”
    5. Finally Click on “Publish/Update”

    How to enable/disable Header Featured Image for individual Page/Post?
    This can be achieved through custom meta box by following the steps below:

    1. Go to Add/Edit option of Page/Post
    2. There you can find Catch base Options
    3. Then click on Header Featured Image Options
    4. You can select option “Enable or Disbale”
    5. Finally Click on “Publish/Update”

    How to select Single Page/Post Image Layout for individual Page/Post?
    This can be achieved through custom meta box by following the steps below:

    1. Go to Add/Edit option of Page/Post
    2. There you can find Catchbase Options
    3. Then click on Single Page/Post Image Layout
    4. You can select option “Featured Image, Full Image, Slider Image or Disable Image”
    5. Finally Click on “Publish/Update”

    How to change Pagination Options? #

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Theme Options => Pagination Options”
    2. Under Pagination Type, select desired option
    3. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    How to add Promotion Headline? #

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Theme Options => Promotion Headline Options”
    2. To enable Promotion Headline, select “Homepage/Frontpage or Entire Site” option under “Enable Headline on”
    3. Then, you can change the defult text as needed or delete it to remove any fields
    4. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    How to enable/disable scroll up option? #

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Theme Options => Scroll Up”
    2. Uncheck option, “Check to disable Scroll Up” to enable scroll up and check to didsable scroll up
    3. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    How to change default text in search box? #

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Theme Options => Search Options”
    2. Change the text below “Display Default Text in Search”
    3. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    Additional CSS #

    You can add your custom CSS that will overwrite the theme CSS for further design customization through “Appearance => Customize => Additional CSS”, in your WordPress Dashboard.

    Note: If you are doing heavy customization and adding lot of additional css then we recommended to build Child Theme and add it in your child theme style.css file. Read More about child theme…

    Color Options #

    Catch Base has 2 different color schemes that you can choose from.

    To change the color scheme, go to “Appearance => Customize => Colors”, then select Color Scheme and then click on “Save & Publish”

    Catch Base supports Featured Page Content. For Featured Content Options, go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Content”.

    How to enable Featured Page Content?#
    Featured page content is created to highlight your Page in the featured content. So, first you need to create a Page and then add Featured Image to the Page.

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Content” from your WordPress Dashboard
    2. To enable featured content, select “Homepage/Frontpage or Entire Site” option under “Enable Featured Content on”
    3. Under “Select Content Type”, you need to select “Featured Page Content”
    4. Then, select Page in Featured Page 1, Featured Page 2 and so on
    5. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    Note:
    When you select page, make sure your Page have Featured Image. Click here to watch our Video Screencast to add Featured Image.

    How to change Featured Content Layout?#

    1. Catch Base currently supports two layouts: 3 columns and 4 columns
    2. Make sure featured content is enabled
    3. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Content” from your WordPress Dashboard
    4. Under “Select Featured Content Layout”, you can select your desired layout from “3 columns” or “4 columns”
    5. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    How to Move Featured Content above Footer?#

    1. Make sure featured content is enabled
    2. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Content” from your WordPress Dashboard
    3. Check option, “Check to Move above Footer”
    4. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    How to change Headline and Subheadline?#

    1. Make sure featured content is enabled
    2. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Content” from your WordPress Dashboard
    3. Under “Headline for Featured Content”, you can change the text as needed or Leave field empty if you want to remove Headline
    4. Under “Sub-headline for Featured Content”, you can change the text as needed or Leave field empty if you want to remove Sub-headline
    5. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    Note:Make sure the number of sliders are greater than the Featured Content Layout(greater than 3 for 3 columns and greater than 4 for 4 columns) for Sliding Effect to be enabled even after checking “Check to Enable Sliding Effect” option.

    How to change number of Featured Content?#

    1. Make sure featured content is enabled
    2. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Content” from your WordPress Dashboard
    3. Under “No of Featured Content” set number of Featured Content as required(You need to save and refresh the page after changing number of Featured Content)
    4. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    Note:For best results, it is recommended to set number of featured content to be multiple of Featured Content Layout (E.g. for 3 columns layout, 3, 6, 9 etc. will yield best results).

    How to Display/Hide Content?#

    1. Make sure featured content is enabled
    2. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Content” from your WordPress Dashboard
    3. Under “Display Content”, you can select “Show Excerpt, Show Full Content or Hide Content” to display excerpt as content, whole content as content or not display content respectively, as per you need
    4. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    Catch Base supports Featured Page Slider. For Featured Slider Options, go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Slider”

    How to enable Featured Page Slider?#
    Features page Slider Content is created to highlight your Page in the Slider Content. So, first you need to create a Page and then add Featured Image to the Page.
    Click here to watch our Video Screencast to add Featured Page Slider.

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Slider” from your WordPress Dashboard
    2. To enable slider, select “Homepage/Frontpage or Entire Site” option under “Enable Slider on”
    3. Under “Select Slider Type”, Select Slider Type as “Featured Page Slider”
    4. Then, select Page in Featured Page # 1, Featured Page # 2 and so on
    5. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    How to change Transition Effect, Transition Delay and Transition Length on Slider?#

    1. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Slider” from your WordPress Dashboard
    2. To change Transition Effect, select option under “Transition Effect”
    3. To change Transition Delay, change number of second(s) under “Transition Delay” as per your need
    4. To change Transition Length, change number of second(s) under “Transition Length” as per your need
    5. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    Image Loader#

    1. Make sure featured slider is enabled
    2. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Slider” from your WordPress Dashboard
    3. Under “Image Loader”, select “True, False or Wait” as per your need
    4. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    Note:
    True: Fixes the height overlap issue. Slideshow will start as soon as two slider are available. Slide may display in random, as image is fetch.
    Wait: Fixes the height overlap issue. Slideshow will start only after all images are available.

    How to change number of slides?#

    1. Make sure featured slider is enabled
    2. Go to “Appearance => Customize => Featured Slider” from your WordPress Dashboard
    3. Under “No of Slides”, select the number slides as per your need
    4. Finally, click on “Save & Publish”

    Note:
    Featured Image
    When you select page, make sure your page have Featured Image. Click here to watch our Video Screencast to add Featured Image.

    Social Media Icons #

    Catch Base has custom social icons for various social networking sites. You can activate the social icons you want by adding in your social profile links through “Appearance => Customize => Social Links => Social Links”, in your WordPress Dashboard.

    Embed Multimedia into Posts or Pages #

    For externally hosted videos (for example a YouTube or Vimeo video), you can directly paste the link of your video page into the content editor. You do not necessarily have to paste the embed code in the content. WordPress will automatically embed the video from the link.

    Webmaster Tools #

    We have moved Webmaster Tools to our plugin Catch Web Tools for better management and data access. So, just install Catch Web Tools plugin and activate “Webmaster Tools” from Catch Web Tools plugin dashboard. You can verify your site on Google, Yahoo and Bing by adding in the IDs in the respective boxes through “Catch Web Tools => Webmaster Tools” in your WordPress Dashboard. Further, you can add in the Google Analytic. Adding scripts in Header and Footer does not require you to edit codes through Webmaster Tools.

    How to Insert Site Verification IDs?

    1. Go to “Catch Web Tools => Webmaster Tools => Site Verification” in your WordPress Dashboard
    2. Enter the Site Verification ID (Google, Yahoo, Bing) wherever you wish to verify your site
    3. Click on Save Changes button

    How to Insert Analytics / Other Scripts in Header/Footer?

    1. Go to “Catch Web Tools => Webmaster Tools => Header and Footer Scripts” in your WordPress Dashboard
    2. Here you can add in various scripts like, google, facebook etc.
    3. Enter the script in upper text area, for text you want to load on Header
    4. Enter the script in lower text area, for text you want to load on Footer
    5. Click on Save Changes button

    Recommended Plugins
    * Catch Web Tools for Webmaster Tools, To Top, Catch IDs
    * Essential Content Type
    * Contact Form 7 for Contact Form
    * Regenerate Thumbnails to for Regenerating Thumbnails
    * Jetpack for Infinite Scroll, Gallery, Stats, Image CDN and many more