All theme versions prior to 4.0.8 displayed categories as full-width on mobile. This lead to needing to scroll excessively to browse through a category. In version 4.0.8, we updated the default ...
Blog
Why we're dropping the blog page template
The “blog” template is being deprecated and removed from the Genesis framework after June 19th, 2019. It will be disappearing from all Studiopress themes as of version 3.0, and Feast will be following ...
Revenue
There's a bunch of ways to monetize for food blogs - here's a quick overview of documents needed to support the different channels. Note: Canva has a large selection of templates available for any ...
Rethinking the Thumbnails
Thumbnails are generated from the featured image specified in the post. In Rethinking the Featured Image, we came to the conclusion that the correct size for featured images is 1200x1200 (square) ...
Feast Plugin: Configurations Audit
Between everything involved in running a food blog, keeping on top of changing recommendations and configurations is nearly impossible. One of the most frequent requests we get is for help managing ...
Genesis Schema vs Yoast v.11
Update 2019/08/23 - Genesis 3.1.0 automatically removes its own schema if Yoast is enabled, removing the need to install a plugin when running Genesis 3.1.0 and later. It comes with a number of ...
Contact Forms
Feast does not offer support for contact forms. Our themes are designed to affect styling, not functionality, and this is outside the scope of our expertise. The three most popular contact ...
Feast Plugin: Word Count + Reading Time
The wordcount + reading time shortcodes are being removed from the Feast Plugin due to low usage. We'll be providing a tutorial on manually implementing them via code snippets once this is ...
Feast Plugin: Disable Theme Google Fonts
Implements the Manually disable Google fonts tutorial without editing code. All sites in 2021 and beyond should use the System Font setting in the Feast Plugin to override the theme fonts, which ...
"Featured Images" for categories
This is a feature of the Feast Plugin The "Featured Images" for categories is a common request from bloggers looking to associate an image with a category. It replicates the "Featured Images" ...
Color Schemes
How do you settle on a color scheme? It's actually not as difficult as you'd think. You'll want to pick a primary color, then use settle on a "color harmony you like: Check out this color wheel ...
Food Blogger Income: Personal Chefs
Running a food blog is in simple terms, just another small business. Like all businesses, food blogs should have multiple income streams. Not only does this earn you more money each month, it ...
Rethinking the Nav Menu
Last year we updated the header/logo, making it simpler to manage for food bloggers, and correcting some faux-pas, like hidden off-screen text. We've continued listening to feedback and monitoring ...
Why we removed the banner-top on mobile
Modern versions of the themes have the "Before Header: Newsletter" widget area set to display:none; on mobile. This is an update to bring the themes in-line with search engine requirements to provide ...
Disclosures for Food Bloggers
Food bloggers that take compensation (in any form) for promoting content are legally obligated to disclose it. This can include: moneyfree productsfree trials or subscriptionsquid pro quo ...
Food Blog Site Structure
A good site structure helps search engines understand and crawl content, and it helps visitors find related recipes. As of 2019, we recommend a simpler website structure that will save bloggers ...
Genesis 2.6.0 Search Menu Disappeared
Studiopress pushed out version 2.6.0 with extensive changes. Among these, they've "deprecated" the search function - among others - which has been around for quite some time. This means that ...
About Theme Updates
We'll clarify some questions and concerns customers have had about updating themes - why there's been so much recently, and whether or not you should update. The two main points are: Your ...
Configure the classic theme category Pages
If you're using the Feast Plugin ignore this tutorial. This tutorial covers how to configure the category pages (formerly known as the "content archives") for all themes: Foodie ProBrunch ...
Photography
Common photography camera gear is: Canon 5D Mark IVCanon 24-70 f/2.8L and Canon 100mm Macro LensesTripod Flashpoint (Godox) AD400 and AD200 When photographing, you generally want: 1 ...
What am I paying for with a theme?
We'll outline what the role of a theme is here, and what you've paid for when purchasing a theme. What does my $75 - $125 pay for? When you purchase a theme, you're making a small payment to ...
Should I remove content?
The following is a Facebook post from Casey Markee on the topic of deleting vs. re-writing content. We've republished it here with his permission. It's amazing how much incorrect and just plain ...
Future of Food Blogging
Food blogging has come a long way in the past few years, and I'm sad to say that our themes had fallen behind the times. These will be the changes moving forward: Mobile is King Most customer ...
Feast Design Co. Has Acquired the Cookbook Recipe Plugin!
We recommend everybody migrate to WP Recipe Maker! Not a day goes by that we don't get asked about recipe plugins. This is something that's critical to food blogging and therefore, something we ...
Paywalled Recipe Posts
A popular avenue for large, long-established editorial sites is to create a paywall for their content. A paywall is a feature that blocks visitors from accessing content on your site (like a wall), ...
How to Write a Recipe Post
There are days when writing is a breeze, and others where the words just don't flow. In both cases, having a structure to work off and knowing what's important to answer helps the flow so that you can ...
Foodie Rates for Recipe Development, Sponsored Posts
A common question we get is: How do I set rates for my freelance work? The all-encompassing answer is: whatever the market will pay. We'll address the issue of creating sponsored posts for a ...
Rethinking the Featured Image
This has been completed, and rolled into the Modern Thumbnails. It was recently brought to our attention in July 2019 that Google's requirements for featured images have changed on articles and ...
Category Pages Need Content
An often overlooked part of creating a food blog is the category pages, which double as recipe indexes, grouping recipes that share certain characteristics. Actually, this is a mistake that almost ...
SEO for Food Bloggers
Our themes come pre-designed for SEO as best as they can be, but we cover only a fraction of what it takes to compete in search in rankings. Functionality does not belong in themes. SEO features ...
Font Styling
This post is outdated and should not be used or implemented. As of 2020, we no longer recommend any custom fonts on food blogs due to CLS, pagespeed and potential accessibility issues. Instead, all ...
Copyrights
This post reflects our current understanding of copyrights within the recipe industry at the time of writing. It is not legal advice. Always consult with a lawyer. As a content creator online, you ...
When should I start using ads?
Broadly speaking, we don't recommend adding ads until you qualify for Mediavine or AdThrive. Why? The pay out just isn't worth it. While it can be enticing to think you can start to "cover ...
Rethinking the Header
Update 2019/05/14: we'll be taking this another step further in 2019 with rethinking the nav menu. Update 2019/12/01: this has been completed and released as the Modern Mobile Menu Update ...
Food Blog Sitelinks
Probably one of the least capitalized-on opportunities for food bloggers is sitelinks. What are sitelinks? The Feast Plugin Sitelinks inserts navigation code into your page's content, adding ...
Theme Update Philosophy
We've had some questions about why certain features are implemented, or modified, or dropped when it comes to theme updates. There are a number of factors that go into the decisions, but the most ...
Protected: Food Blogging for Fun and Profit
This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: ...
Food Blogging Trends
Visitor Participation What do all the top recipes in the search engines have in common? High visitor engagement. This isn't a coincidence - factors such as time on page, and pages-per-session are ...
heart_this Removed from Cook'd Pro
Why was it removed? The heart_this plugin was developed as a styling element for Cook'd Pro, which was removed from version 4.0.0 released on December 21, 2018. The issue was that nothing it ...
Configure the Category Pages
This tutorial covers how to use the fields on the "edit category" page for each category. The how to use categories tutorial covers best practices for categories overall. Setting the category ...