NVM. I found it.

Thanks for responding hope you had a good holiday as well. I’m using the header builder. On the off canvas menu setting the Expanded setting in the sub menu is set to off however all items are still expanded in the drop down despite having this setting off.

Hi,

Oh yes, in the Off-Canvas menu, the Mega Menus display using headings for each section like this: https://a.cl.ly/ApudXmNX – and if you turn off the Headings then it will display all items in a single list since there is no way to create “sections” as you need the headings for this.

There currently isn’t any way to display the items as “toggles” for the Mega menu in the Off-Canvs element, but I think this would be a good option to have. Let me look into it, it should technically be very easy as all it would essentially do is disable the Mega Menu functionality – so perhaps a simple on/off switch for Mega Menus should work as that will treat the mega menus like every other menu and create toggles.

I can let you know when the update is ready (I will work on it today) so that you can update the Total Theme Core plugin and make use of the new option right away without waiting for an official theme update.

- AJ

Oh ok, I forgot that this element by default does not add “toggles” for sub-dropdowns. Regardless if it’s a mega menu or not – I was fixed on the mega menu aspect.

The Off Canvas Menu uses the modern details element for the toggles (no need for JS) and having threaded details is bad practice and creates accessibility concerns:

Here’s why:

Screen readers: Each <details> element creates a disclosure widget. Nesting them adds cognitive load because users must track multiple “expanded/collapsed” states in sequence.

Keyboard navigation: Users tabbing through may find it cumbersome to reach deeply buried content, especially if summaries aren’t descriptive enough.

Usability: People with cognitive impairments (or even just on mobile) may lose context when opening multiple levels of nested disclosures.

-

I could update the element to add an option that will make it possible, but I wouldn’t want to encourage it as users may be creating accessibility issues unknowingly.

If you want the mega menus to be toggle-able, what I would recommend is creating a seperate menu for mobile where the mega menus are actually added as parent items, this way they are “moved” up a tier and so their sub-items will be hidden behind the toggle affect.

- AJ

Hi,

I’m releasing the 6.4.1 fix shortly. If you don’t have local Google Fonts enabled then some other plugin on your site is parsing the whole site content on save which triggers the error. Basically the code in the theme loads only on the front-end as it shouldn’t be needed in the admin, but some plugins will render the full page on save to do some things and it can trigger the error as it’s trying to load content intended only on the frontend but on the backend.

Sorry for the troubles, you should see the update popup hopefully within the hour!

- AJ

The update with the fix is live!

WordPress caches theme update checks to prevent constantly pinging the server. So if your site had recently requested a theme update check and it returned false then it may not check again for 12hrs.

So, if you don’t see the update available in your WP admin and your license is active, you can go to the Theme Panel and click the “Force Check” button under the “Updates” widget on the right hand side.

Sorry again for the troubles, if you have any other issues or questions please let me know, I hope you had a nice weekend.

- AJ

Hi,

The term order is based on the default term order in WordPress. There are 3 ways you can can change the order if you want a custom sort:

1) Don’t display categories automatically, rather create a custom menu so you can add the categories manually in the order you want.

2) You can use a term re-ordering plugin: https://wordpress.org/plugins/taxonomy-terms-order/

3) If you just want a different order (non-custom) that uses native WordPress sorting you can add a little custom code to your child theme functions.php file or via a code snippet plugin by hooking into the “vcex_navbar_get_terms_args” filter. Example:

add_filter( 'vcex_navbar_get_terms_args', function( $args ) {
    $args['order'] = 'ASC';
    $args['orderby'] = 'count';
    return $args;
} );

Here is the WP codex which explains all the $args that can be passed: https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/__construct/

So the example snippet would change the order based on how many posts are assigned to the term and sort them in ascending order.

- AJ

It sounds like there may be a different plugin on your site that is rendering the full page content whenever you save the post.

I am pushing out the patched 6.4.1 update shortly so you should see the update popup within the hour, sorry for the troubles!

Basically, the error happens because in Total I optimize my code so it only runs when absolutely needed, the local scroll function is only needed on the live site, so if a plugin is triggering the code in the admin then it will cause the error. I’ve added an extra check so if the local scroll code is called when not needed it will exit early and not trigger any error.

Sorry for the troubles, I don’t use any plugins that renders the live site when saving the page on the backend so I didn’t have this issue during my tests prior to updating. But I will be sure to keep this in mind for future theme changes.

- AJ

The update with the fix is live!

WordPress caches theme update checks to prevent constantly pinging the server. So if your site had recently requested a theme update check and it returned false then it may not check again for 12hrs.

So, if you don’t see the update available in your WP admin and your license is active, you can go to the Theme Panel and click the “Force Check” button under the “Updates” widget on the right hand side.

Sorry again for the troubles, if you have any other issues or questions please let me know, I hope you had a nice weekend.

- AJ

All fixed, many many thanks!

Hi,

There are many reasons why switching could cause issues, but they would all be server-related and not on the theme’s side.

When you say “site layout” I’m assuming you mean the design which would imply that perhaps the CSS is not correctly loaded on the site. My first thought would be that perhaps the issue is related to user permissions so the theme’s CSS isn’t loading.

• Ensure the PHP-FPM process user (commonly www-data, nginx, or similar) has read access to your WordPress files, themes, and plugins. CSS, JS, and media files must be readable; otherwise, pages may load without styles.

• Make sure URL rewrites in .htaccess (Apache) are correctly translated for Nginx or your FastCGI setup. Incorrect paths can prevent CSS/JS from loading.

If you switch to PHP-FPM and notice layout issues, open your browser’s developer console. Any errors related to files not loading, such as CSS or JavaScript, will show there and can help identify the cause.

- AJ

Thank you AJ

Hi,

Hmm, I looked back a few versions and nothing has changed with this filter. Are you updating from a much older version?

At one point I did optimize the code to cache the Footer ID so the filter is only going to run once so I can see how it can cause issues if you are wanting to modify the filter after the wp hook (where you can use conditionals like is_post, is_term…etc).

Working on a fix for this, it’s a bit tricky to keep things optimized and also allow to modify the footer in the later hooks. But I’ll figure it out. I’m most likely going to release a Total 4.6.1 small patch shortly and I’ll include this fix.

This has definitely been an issue for several versions now though no one had reported it, so thanks!

If you want email me directly to wpexplorer [at] gmail dot com and I will provide you with the patch as soon as it’s ready!

- AJ

Actually the fix is very easy! If you want to patch it yourself you can…Simply edit Total/inc/footer/core.php and locate the get_template_id() function and change it from this:

public static function get_template_id(): int {
    if ( null === self::$template_id ) {
        self::$template_id = 0;
        if ( get_theme_mod( 'footer_builder_enable', true ) ) {
            $id = get_theme_mod( 'footer_builder_page_id' );
            $id = (int) apply_filters( 'wpex_footer_builder_page_id', $id );
            if ( $id && 'publish' === get_post_status( $id ) ) {
                self::$template_id = $id;
            }
        }
    }
    return self::$template_id;
}

To this:

public static function get_template_id(): int {
    if ( ! get_theme_mod( 'footer_builder_enable', true ) ) {
        return 0;
    }
    if ( null === self::$template_id ) {
        self::$template_id = 0;
        $id = get_theme_mod( 'footer_builder_page_id' );
        if ( $id && 'publish' === get_post_status( $id ) ) {
            self::$template_id = $id;
        }
    }
    return (int) apply_filters( 'wpex_footer_builder_page_id', self::$template_id );
}

Basically we are just moving the filter outside of the cached check, this way it can be changed on demand whenever the function is called, but it will only run the status check on the initially set custom footer defined in the admin panel – which makes sense…no need to run these checks on user defined ID’s.

- AJ

Great. thanks. I did find a way around it by using the Custom Actions area (inside footer) to use a generic dynamic template, then use a new function to swap that out based on the custom post type slug matches. But i’ll try this in an older site that is using our original method.

Hi,

None of the theme demos use the WP-Forms plugin, so I’m not sure what you are referring to. The theme has it’s own simple Contact Form Element though which I use in some demos: https://totalwptheme.com/elements/contact-form/

- AJ

That’s what I see the one on the left, who and where is this defined?

I’ve sent a test email, but I don’t see anything come through to me email address (which is the admin for the site) sorry if I’m missing the obvious?

Hi,

The Contact Form element is added on the page itself via WPBakery so you can edit the page to modify the design, but it’s a simple contact form so you can’t add/remove fields (anything more would be best done via a 3rd party plugin).

By default, the theme’s Contact Form will send the email to the admin email address (as you mentioned) but this email can be modified in the main Theme Panel – https://totalwptheme.com/docs/contact-form-recipient-address/

If the form shows a green notice on submission letting you know that the the email was sent, but you didn’t receive any, most likely it’s going to your spam folder or your domain’s DKIM, SPF and/or DMARC records are not setup correctly. Because the green notice would only display if the email was sent by WordPress, thus it means the issue is on the receiving end.

This plugin can be helpful for testing to make sure emails are being sent correctly by your server – https://wordpress.org/plugins/check-email/ – so if the emails are properly sent, but not received then you know the issue is with either the domain records or with your email provider.

- AJ

Nope, I actually had a notice on the upcoming changelog because I specifically updated the plugins live so if you want you can delete and re-install them.

But I just finished Total 6.4 so you should be able to update any moment now as soon as it’s accepted by ThemeForest I will send out the notice to your dashboard – https://totalwptheme.com/docs/changelog/6-4/

- AJ

Awesome, thank you AJ! Looks like a brilliant update as usual.

Hi,

I’ve already patched Templatera as well, but technically Total overrides the Templatera code and the code in the theme has had this patch for years.

Total 6.4 is ready and you should see the notice to update any moment now – https://totalwptheme.com/docs/changelog/6-4/ – so you can wait for the official update to update Templatera if you wish. Also, most customers choose to not install or even use Templatera as it’s not really needed – especially since the introduction of Dynamic Templates in Total a few years back.

- AJ

Hi,

I had a notice on the upcoming changelog – https://totalwptheme.com/docs/upcoming-update-changelog/ – which explained that you can simply delete and re-install the plugin to get the patched version. But because the vulnerability required author/contributor access or greater (these users can already do all sorts of bad stuff by default), it didn’t warrant releasing a whole theme update since 6.4 was right around the corner. If there is ever a severe vulnerability I will of course release a theme update immediately.

Be sure to always reference the upcoming changelog if you have any issues or warnings like this as I generally use it to display important notices.

But Total 6.4 is now finished – https://totalwptheme.com/docs/changelog/6-4/ – you should see the update notice and email from Envato any moment now.

- AJ

Thanks, AJ,

All sorted!

Hi,

This is AJ the theme author. I hope you had a nice weekend. Actually I was finishing up Total 6.4 – https://totalwptheme.com/docs/changelog/6-4/ – which I just submitted and you should see it available any moment now!

- AJ

Hi,

This is Aj the theme author.

The CSS Animations are an exclusive WPBakery feature (not part of the theme) so we pretty much just have to wait for the plugin developers to enhance the feature

But…Total is also built for Elementor! Maybe you haven’t noticed that I’ve added support over the years. See here: https://totalwptheme.com/elementor-integration/

Since most my customers don’t use Elementor and the customers that do use Elementor usually don’t import theme demos, I haven’t converted the theme demos yet to create Elementor versions. I’ve only done one of the demos (as requested by a customer). But you can see here: https://totalwpthemedemo.com/synergy-elementor/ – this demo is using Total to recreate the WPBakery based demo – https://totalwpthemedemo.com/synergy/ – as you can see all the Theme Features are available for both builders. All new demos released will have both WPBakery and Elementor versions and I will update old ones as requested

I have spent a lot of time ensuring compatibility with Elementor free and Pro – all the theme’s awesome Elements and features like Dynamic Templates, Color Palette, Custom Fonts, Footer Builder, Header Builder…etc – all work with both WPBakery and Elementor!

Plus, Total has a unique Elementor feature built-in that removes all the extra Elementor upsells and marketing for a better experience. I actually wrote a guide on how to do this – https://www.wpexplorer.com/complete-guide-to-removing-elementor-upsells/ – if you are using Total though, this is all done for you automatically.

So, don’t think you are stuck using WPBakery! In fact, I even added a notice in the admin to let customers know before installing WPBakery: https://a.cl.ly/d5u5EDd0

Be sure to keep up with the theme’s changelog because that’s how you would find out about things like the Elementor integration – https://totalwptheme.com/docs/changelog/

Let me know if you have any questions!

- AJ

Hi,

This is Aj the theme author!

Thank you for reporting the issue, this is definitely a bug. When I added support for taxonomy fields I must have forgotten to update this specific element. I’ve fixed the issue for the upcoming 6.4 update (which should be released within the next few days – the update is done I’m just testing everything).

The fix is quite simple if you want to update the file yourself for the meantime:

• Edit the file at plugins/total-theme-core/inc/vcex/templates/vcex_image_grid.php
• Delete lines 24-39 which look like this:

$cf_fallback = $image_ids;
$image_ids = ''; // !!! important !!!
$custom_field_gallery = sanitize_text_field( $custom_field_gallery );

if ( function_exists( 'get_field_object' ) && str_starts_with( $custom_field_gallery, 'field_' ) ) {
    $field_obj = get_field_object( $custom_field_gallery );
    if ( ! empty( $field_obj['type'] ) && 'gallery' === $field_obj['type'] && ! empty( $field_obj['value'] ) ) {
        $image_ids = $field_obj['value'];
    }
}

$image_ids = $image_ids ?: get_post_meta( vcex_get_the_ID(), $custom_field_gallery, true );

if ( ! $image_ids && vcex_is_template_edit_mode() ) {
    $image_ids = $cf_fallback;
}

• Paste this code where you deleted the previous code:

$cf_fallback  = $image_ids;
$image_ids   = [];
$meta_value = vcex_get_acf_field( sanitize_text_field( $atts['custom_field_gallery'] ) );

if ( $meta_value ) {
    if ( is_array( $meta_value ) ) {
        foreach ( $meta_value as $k => $v ) {
            $image_id = $v['id'] ?? $v;
            if ( is_numeric( $image_id ) && wp_attachment_is_image( $image_id ) ) {
                $image_ids[] = $image_id;
            }
        }
    } else {
        $image_ids = $meta_value;
    }
}

if ( ! $image_ids && vcex_is_template_edit_mode() ) {
    $image_ids = $cf_fallback;
}

If your site has the plugin file editor enabled you can make these changes under Plugins > Plugin File Editor. However, it’s best to make these changes via FTP so if there is any error you can fix it. If you make changes via the WP admin and there is an error you may not be able to access the admin and then you will need to use FTP to fix it.

Thank you again for reporting the bug and sorry for the troubles!

- AJ

Thank you for the prompt fix!

Total 6.4 is finished and you should see the notice to update any moment now – https://totalwptheme.com/docs/changelog/6-4/

The fix I sent you will work if you are exclusively using ACF and it won’t work in certain scenarios (like inside custom cards). Total 6.4 should work with all use cases though – but if you do have any issues after updating please let me know!

Also in Total 6.4, I’ve introduced support for ACF Options Panels. For example, you might create an ACF options panel for the end client with settings like “Homepage Banner”, allowing the client (or yourself) to make quick changes without needing to edit the page with the builder.

- AJ

“vc_row[vc_column_text css=””]”

Hi,

I can recreate the issue and it’s very strange because looking at the source code it’s displaying the HTML but clicking the “Terms & Conditions” link reveals shortcodes. I assume the reason for this is because WooCommerce loads a “generic” checkout and it’s refreshed with ajax when the page loads. In this case WPBakery shortcodes don’t exist because of the context.

I wrote a snippet with the code to fix this: https://totalwptheme.com/docs/snippets/fix-wpbakery-woo-checkout-terms-conditions/

But I would recommend using the classic editor or Gutenberg for your terms page, there really is no need for a page builder for this page and it will keep things much more efficient and slim.

- AJ

The height part of the code doesn’t technically do anything as it was never used in the theme, I’ve just added it pre-emptively.

If your images are “cut short” it’s going to be because of the actual SVG code.

I used the WaybackMachine though to compare your HTML from March to what you have now and the HTML is exactly the same for all the SVG’s I checked. Example: https://a.cl.ly/nOuO85y1

Now, one thing worth mentioning, is that you are using SVG’s but rendering via the Image element, so it makes that extra request to the server. If you instead insert your SVG’s as plain HTML via the HTML element, then it would be much more optimized because it doesn’t have to make those extra requests for the resources as the SVG code is already on the page.

I could add a new “SVG” element in the theme that allows you to choose an SVG from the Media Library and render it as HTML not an image – the problem with this is security. I would need to also add a massive sanitization function to parse the selected SVG. It’s just not worth it when you can just use the HTML block.

But..it’s very easy to write a custom shortcode for this if you trust your SVG’s (as a theme developer I can’t trust the end user) and want a simple shortcode for selecting an SVG and rendering it inline as HTML. I wrote a sample class for you: https://gist.github.com/wpexplorer/31080f2bca87d3b13f47e07a8c99b9b0

Here is a video showing how the new element would work: https://a.cl.ly/6qun5vdE

Actually…I may actually add this element built-into the theme if the “Safe SVG” plugin is installed, then I can use their built-in sanitization function instead of adding one myself. Let me look into this, because it would be a really cool feature to have in the theme by default

- AJ

ps: I had a look at the Safe SVG plugin and they have a custom Gutenberg Block and in their code they do not sanitize the selected SVG on render, they just grab the contents and return them like such:

$contents = file_get_contents( get_attached_file( $attributes['imageID'] ) );  // phpcs:ignore

So maybe it is fine to assume that content in your media library is safe…But according to WordPress coding requirements (from my understanding) this wouldn’t be allowed – https://developer.wordpress.org/apis/security/escaping/#toc_3

I’d have to think about this further, because passing each SVG through a complex sanitizer each time the page is loaded (without caching) may be too resource intensive. And security is always a primary concern.

- AJ

You are a genius AJ love the way your mind thinks with these things. I am tracking with you.. because the svg is a liability for some contexts. I always just add your svg function to the child-theme. I have pasted full code versions of maps into sites. I will say that the raw code on a larger more complex images can be pretty darned big. I did that here: https://psomas.com/contact/ I guess I could make a shortcode.. I used a WPBakery template at that point. I would use a Total Dynamic Template now.

Hi Charles,

I will definitely add the option to disable the accordion effect and it will likely be the default option for new installs. This is a quick/easy fix and so I’ll put it in the 6.4 update so I can get that out asap while I figure out a good solution for the accordion style.

Regarding your second question…under the Toggle > Content tab there is an extra field you can use to enter a unique ID. Technically the ID added on the content and not the heading, hence why the field is added here, but perhaps it’s not very obvious.

One thing I want to mention though is if you have a page with a lot of the same design (it sounds like it). I would strongly recommend instead creating a custom post type – https://totalwptheme.com/docs/adding-custom-post-types/ – maybe it’s called “Documents” (sorry i dont know what you are actually displaying).

Then what you can actually do is create a custom card to display these – https://totalwptheme.com/docs/custom-card-builder/ – this way, you create the design for each of the items in a single place that you can control globally. You can get very creative with this, for example your post type could have the editor completely disabled and use the ACF plugin to add 2 fields: Main Content & Additional Content. If it’s mainly text this would work well.

I made a quick video example with a very simple/plain design if interested: https://a.cl.ly/6qunBdmE

The video is a little long (5mins) but hopefully you check it out, because if you aren’t familiar with creating custom post types, cards, etc – it may really blow your mind to what’s possible with Total

Relevant docs:

• https://totalwptheme.com/docs/adding-custom-post-types/
• https://totalwptheme.com/docs/how-to-add-custom-fields/
• https://totalwptheme.com/docs/custom-card-builder/
• https://totalwptheme.com/docs/dynamic-variables/

Perhaps you don’t need it for this specific site, but it’s worth a mention…And if you are interested in doing this but can’t quite follow the video, let me know I’ll send some quick written steps.

ps: Just realized I didn’t add a title to the custom card in my video, of course that’s easy enough either with the Heading or the Title element…

- AJ

AJ, you are brilliant! Thank you so much for this.

For the page I’m working on, the chunks of text with abstracts are broken up with other content, in a fairly irregular fashion, so in this instance I don’t think Custom Cards will work. Nevertheless, I need to say I am a HUGE fan of your Custom Cards feature and I have created cards for a number of other pages, using Post Types Unlimited and ACF as you showed. They work really well, and I don’t know how I’d manage without them now!

I’ve added a random string for each of the toggle content IDs so there is no conflict.

Many thanks as always,

C

Hi,

Ok, so I’ve updated the Toggle Group so you can disable the Accordion and also added some JS to scroll to the section, if and only if it detects that it’s not in view. Here i a short video example: https://a.cl.ly/rRuR9bvR

Don’t think the scrollTo is so bad and it will only happen if it has to. This will help prevent issues on active sites without having to go back and disable the accordion. Plus, the user would have to scroll up themselves so I don’t think it should be too annoying. I also tried doing the scrollTo using an “instant” behaviour instead of smooth but that looked way worse.

Last, you may have noticed my accordion has backgrounds…I added a new Boxed styled and options to control the background, padding, active colors, active font weight…etc.

I was also planning on adding a left border style accordion, which I saw somewhere and it looked cool – but now I can’t find my inspiration, so maybe next update

- AJ

Hi,

I made this demo/logo like 10 years ago, honestly I can’t remember. I tried asking chatGPT but it wasn’t of much help and I can’t locate the original PSD file.

I found these Google Fonts which are similar-ish:

• https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Permanent+Marker
• https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Knewave
• https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Finger+Paint
• https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Rubik+Spray+Paint

A lot of fonts have been removed from Google over the years, it’s possible the exact font isn’t available anymore.

- AJ

Hi,

Total uses modern methods for loading javascript files for optimal site speed. This includes the user of the “defer” attribute which tells the browser to start loading a javascript file but don’t do anything with the file until the page has rendered.

On your site there is some sort of plugin or server script which is converting the file into inline code and inline code can’t be deferred. See this screenshot: https://a.cl.ly/9ZupN1qv

You’ll need to locate whatever plugin or server script is improperly taking your deferred scripts and dumping the code from the file inline instead of actually loading the file.

This issue on your site will break a lot of site functions, not just the search icon (for example, the mobile menu is also broken).

If there’s no optimization plugin installed on your site and your hosting provider doesn’t offer built-in optimization settings, the issue may be related to the PageSpeed module on the server. Based on your site’s source code, it appears that the PageSpeed server module is currently enabled.

- AJ

ps: Technically, I could modify the theme’s JavaScript files so that they still function when inlined at the top of the page. However, this would add unnecessary bloat to the theme. Any well-designed optimization plugin or server module should be smart enough to handle deferred scripts properly, especially when it’s taking external files and inlining them. It should automatically move those scripts to the bottom of the page when appropriate. So, making these changes manually doesn’t make much sense.

Thank you AJ, it’s been a while! The hosting admin auto turned on inline javascript. I disabled it and it’s working now!

Glad it was an easy fix. Would be good to let them know as well that whatever function they are using to dump the JS inline is correctly incorrectly. This way they can fix it and you can take advantage of the functionality if you wanted to and prevent headaches with other customers.

- AJ

Hi AJ, Ive managed to do this with the Parralax setting in the row, with an image 2000px wide and an offset code in css, just working on a few finer points on other image and context

Hi,

Glad you were able to get it to work using the theme’s parallax function and some custom CSS.

- AJ

ps: Not sure if I’ve mentioned this to you specifically, but Total is also fully compatible with Elementor and they have this sort of function built-into the Pro version:

• https://totalwptheme.com/docs/elementor-integration/
• https://elementor.com/help/motion-effects/