Last updated on July 7th, 2024 at 10:51 am
You can download this for free.
Image by Alexander Gounder from Pixabay
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The Push to Pay for ColorMag
Some developers really go out of their way to get people to purchase their WordPress themes. I recently had a client who was running a website using the ColorMag free theme by ThemeGrill. Like most themes, the developer has both a free version and premium paid version. The paid version obviously comes with much more functionality including the cherished ability to remove the ThemeGrill credits out of the footer.
The ColorMag theme is actually really a great theme and the free version does pretty much everything one might want. ColorMag is actually so cool and versatile that I might be looking at the one for some of my future design clients. The problem is that if you want to remove the ThemeGrill credits from the footer, the developer coded in some variables that essentially break the website if you do it wrong – even if you’re using a child theme. It’s kinda their way of trying to get you to buy the paid theme just so you can get their links out of the footer of your website. I recently wrote a child theme for another great WordPress theme called Wellington. Their footer was much easier to modify; it wasn’t coded to break the site if you attempted to change it.
The Fine Print
The ColorMag child theme is provided without warranty. It was written to work with the free version of ColorMag 1.2.0. Given that ThemeGrill has already shown they’re willing to break your site unnecessarily, there’s no guarantee that a parent update won’t be designed specifically to break a child theme. I’m offering it free to use at your own risk.
The child theme I’ve provided has ThemeGrill’s footer credits removed. Your own site title information is there instead. Pretty cool right?
Ready? Download the ColorMag Child Theme
Damage Control
What if a theme patch comes down which totally breaks your site and you can’t even get in? You should be able to restore the site by following these steps:
- Access your WordPress installation via FTP or CPanel File Manager (how to do this depends on your web host).
- Navigate to the folder wp-content/themes/colormag-child/ and delete the file footer.php
- Reload your site. The footer will be reverted to the default with the ThemeGrill credits, but at least your site will be back up.
Questions or comments? Let us know!
Sharif Jameel is a business owner, IT professional, runner, & musician. His professional certifications include CASP, Sec+, Net+, MCSA, & ITIL and others. He’s also the guitar player for the Baltimore-based cover bands, Liquifaction and Minority Report.
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