FAQ relating to the Feast Plugin.
How do I install the Feast Plugin?
Always back up your website before installing or updating themes and plugins. Your hosting company should be doing daily backups for you.
- Download the latest feast-plugin.zip version in your account: https://feastdesignco.com/shop/account/downloads/
- Navigate to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
- Choose File > feast-plugin.zip > Install Now > Activate > Settings
You can also access the plugin settings page by navigating to your theme menu in the left-side of the admin, and selecting the “Feast Settings” page.
How do I update the Feast Plugin?
Always back up your website before installing or updating themes and plugins. Your hosting company should be doing daily backups for you.
- Download the latest feast-plugin.zip version in your account: https://feastdesignco.com/shop/account/downloads/
- Deactivate AND delete the existing version (your settings will be saved)
- Follow the installation instructions above
Are my current settings preserved if I update my theme?
Settings that you configure in the Feast Plugin are saved between theme changes and updates.
Settings that you have configured within your theme are not saved when updating or changing themes.
How do I enabled/disable each feature?
By default, features are set in the “default” or “blank” state, and are not loaded. In this configuration, the feature does not load and does not affect the website. This is to prevent unexpected changes and conflicts when the plugin is initially installed.
However, when:
- a checkbox is checked
- input field is given content
- drop-down is set anything aside from “default”
Then the plugin is then instructed to load the features on your blog.
Why is this a separate service from the themes?
Themes are designed to affect the styling, visual aspect of a WordPress blog, which is not supposed to change or receive updates. This means we could invest a flat amount into designing and developing the visual aspect of a theme as long as we expected it to pay for itself eventually. The $75-$125 price for themes does not include ongoing updates.
Plugins are designed to affect the functional part of a WordPress blog, which requires on-going maintenance and development to stay up to date with best practices. This ongoing development costs money, which is not covered by one-time theme purchases.
For more information, see this post.
Over the years our customers have asked repeatedly about making changes to features that were built into the themes with good intentions. However, as best practices changed, the functionality became outdated and our customers fell behind other blogs that had the budget to stay up to date. Without the funding to re-develop these features, updates were few and far between.
In order to continue funding updates and development for the functionality, it has to be moved into a paid plugin with on-going revenue to pay developers, designers and consultants. That’s what the Feast Plugin was born for.
But there’s more. One of the most frequent issues our customers encounter, has been that updating is tedious and difficult and time consuming.
By building the settings into the Feast Plugin, this introduces a whole new way to allow customers to preserve their customizations. Now that the functionality lives in the plugin, the themes can be more easily updated for bug fixes (and new design elements for the block editor) without undoing some of the major customizations.
With the way that plugins are integrated into WordPress, we can release new features and updates to the plugin and all you need to do is click the “Update” button on the plugins page.
Will the individually purchased themes continue to get updates?
Yes, the themes will continue receiving styling-related fixes.
For example, version 4.0.0 of all themes received a big visual update in December 2018 with the font sizes being increased to the now web-standard 16px. This styling-related update makes posts easier to read (providing a better visitor experience) and resolves the “font size too small” warning in Google Webmaster Tools.
The mobile version of the navigation menu also received a styling update, to resolve the “touch elements too close” warning in Google Webmaster Tools.
Newly developed and updated functionality is being moved to the plugin, as premium features for food bloggers that want to stay ahead of their competition.
Why would I want all 5 themes?
We provide a handy theme comparison chart for new food bloggers to use when deciding which theme they want. We’ve had feedback that it’s still difficult (and comes with some anxiety because there are no refunds).
To make it easier, we now provide access to all themes when you purchase the plugin (+theme access), so that bloggers can try them all and decide which works best for their blog.
Some established food bloggers also enjoy visually refreshing their website, keeping the site from getting stale with their readers. Others decide they want things styled a certain way, after becoming more experienced with their blog and audience, and realized a different theme was closer to their ideal.
This is most easily done by installing one of the other themes.
Previously, “updating” a theme (eg. from Foodie Pro 2.1.4 to Foodie Pro 3.1.6) meant re-installing a fresh copy, which is the same as installing a new theme from scratch. This means it’s just as easy to switch themes as it is to re-install an existing theme.
How many websites can I install the plugin and themes on?
At this time, we only require that you use the themes on your own personal sites. If you have 2, or 5, or 10 personal sites, you can install the themes and plugin on all of them.
If you’re developing a site for anyone else – client, employer, colleague, friend – they should purchase their own subscription.
We’ll be introducing licenses down the road, along the same lines as WP Recipe Maker.
Does the Feast Plugin work with Non-Feast themes?
At this time, we’ve only tested Feast themes with the Feast plugin. We expect that most of the features would work with Genesis-based themes, but we wouldn’t guarantee this because other developers may implement things different.
We’ll look into further testing with this at a later date.
What’s currently working in the Feast Plugin?
Features not marked with “(in development)” on the Feast plugin page are live.
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