This article was last updated on the December 21, 2016.
HostGator users, please see our notes at the end of this article regarding HostGator's server configuration.
In v3.0.0 of X, we proudly presented a whole new set of elements to the X ecosystem: Extensions. The great thing about these Extensions is that they keep the theme free of additional bloat for features that not every user will necessarily find useful for their particular project. For users that do need a specific feature, it allows us to include that feature in the most efficient manner possible. Additionally, Extensions also allow us to take certain features to a new level (such as email integration), that wouldn't be as efficient or functional placing into the theme directly. For a brief overview of what each Extension entails, make sure to check out our Extension demos.
The Breakdown
Extensions for X are broken down into two categories: Themeco developed and third party developed. Themeco developed Extensions are plugins developed exclusively by our team and built to be used seamlessly with X, which require X as a base to operate. Third party developed Extensions are plugins developed by outside developers that we have either integrated into our theme or partnered with to bring to our users based on the functionality provided. As of v3.0.0, our Themeco developed extensions include the following (with a short description of each):
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Content Dock – An incredibly simple and effective tool that allows you to place content or marketing offers in front of your users in an elegant, non-intrusive manner.
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Custom 404 – Redirect all of your site's 404 errors to a custom page that you have complete control over. Easily create any layout you want using page templates, shortcodes, and more!
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Disqus Comments – Take advantage of powerful and unique features by integrating Disqus comments on your website instead of the standard WordPress commenting system.
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Email Forms (MailChimp) – Creating custom opt-in forms has never been this easy...or fun! Carefully craft every detail of your forms using this plugin and subscribe users to a MailChimp email list.
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Facebook Comments – Take advantage of powerful and unique features by integrating Facebook comments on your website instead of the standard WordPress commenting system.
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Google Analytics – Simply drop in your Google Analytics code snippet, select where you'd like it to be output, and you're good to go! Google Analytics made easy.
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Olark Integration – Sign up for an Olark account and experience the easiest way to boost your sales, help solve issues, and understand your customers with live chat.
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Smooth Scroll – Enabling smooth scrolling on your website allows you to manage the physics of your scroll bar! This fun effect is great if you happen to have a lot users who utilize a mousewheel.
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Terms of Use – This plugin will allow you to add a simple terms of use that visitors must agree to before completing user registration.
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Under Construction – Got a little work that needs to be done under the hood? The Under Construction plugin is the easiest maintenance plugin you'll ever setup and the last one you'll ever need.
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Video Lock – You've never seen a video marketing tool quite like Video Lock. Place offers and a call to action in front of your users without any fuss.
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White Label – Customize the WordPress login screen, Addons home page, and much more. This is a great tool to use if handing X off to a client to provide them with tailored content right in the WordPress admin area.
Additionally, our third party developed Extensions include the following (with a short description of each):
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Slider Revolution – Create responsive sliders with must-see-effects, all while maintaining your search engine optimization.
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Visual Composer – Visual Composer for WordPress is a drag and drop page builder plugin that will save you tons of time working on site content.
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Soliloquy – Soliloquy is a responsive WordPress slider plugin that makes building sliders in WordPress a task that you will want to experience over and over again.
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Envira Gallery – Envira Gallery is a WordPress gallery plugin that makes building responsive video and photo galleries in your site a breeze.
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LayerSlider – LayerSlider is a multi-purpose WordPress slider plugin for creating image galleries, content sliders, and mind-blowing slideshows with must-see effects, even from your WordPress posts and pages.
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Essential Grid – Essential Grid is an all-purpose grid building WordPress plugin that allows you to display various content formats in a highly customizable grid. Possible applications range from portfolios, blogs, galleries, WooCommerce shops, price tables, services, product sliders, testimonials and anything else you can imagine.
Managing Extensions
All Extensions (Themeco and third party) are managed via the X Addons menu item within the WordPress admin menu.
While third party plugins will have their own settings menu dictated by the plugin developers, any Themeco Extension that has been activated will have its settings page appear beneath the Extensions submenu item like so:
This allows for one central location to manage all Themeco Extensions quickly and easily. To add new a new Extension, simply go to the X Addons homepage, which looks like the following:
If you scroll down further on that same page, you'll see the Extensions section where you can install extensions to use on your site.
Unlocking Extensions
All Themeco developed Extensions and any additional third party Extensions are made available after the theme has been validated (for more information on this process if you have not done it already, please consult this Knowledge Base article). Upon successfully validating your purchase, previously "locked" items will become available for download:
After installing an Extension, you'll see that it now shows a Go Activate button as well as a green checkmark showing that it is installed.
To activate the plugin, click Go Activate which will take you to the WordPress admin plugins page to activate the plugin.
Click on Activate and you should then see a Plugin Activated message at the top of your screen like this:
Once you've activated the plugin, if you go back to the X Addons home and scroll down to Extensions, you'll see the installed extension nows shows Installed & Activated like this:
Additionally, all Extensions are included in the All files & documentation download from ThemeForest and can be installed and updated manually if desired however automatic updates will not work.
HostGator Users
It has come to our attention that some users who are with HostGator are having issues installing Extensions. It has been reported that they receive a 403 error page. We have looked into this and discovered it is a problem with HostGator's server configuration. They are blocking remote file downloads that originate from Amazon S3, which is where we host all of our products. X relies on the TGMPA library for our extensions system, and there have been reports from other users as well which you can see here. We're looking into any solutions, however it is a configuration issue on their end. If you're experiencing this, you may wish to contact HostGator to see if they can lift the restriction for you and/or opt to install the plugins manually as outlined directly above, however automatic updates will not work for situations like this since it is due to a server configuration with HostGator.
One known solution is contacting HostGator support chat and making this request:
“Please whitelist rule ID 1234234″
Special thanks to community member himagarwal, who discovered this and shared it with us.
