Request - roll back to old version of theme ASAP

Today’s update of my X Pro 1.20 has broken Cornerstone. While it seems that the website itself is working, When I load the new Cornerstone it kills all my formatting. Will multiple purchases of the X Theme Pro for our websites, we don’t have the time to start from the beginning again, relearn an extremely complex system, fix all the ‘better’ formatting options and do all that in the tiny text box for ‘long-form’ text.

Yes we want the power to format each section and page to our liking, however, we also want this to be SIMPLE and actually work without throwing out years worth of content WE have built up on the platform. The additional power features should not override past formatting and they should be ADDITIONAL - ie, click the button for advanced formatting options for the section/row/column.

Moving from X to X Pro was a big learning curve and we could just auto-update all our pages. While X Pro is the better system, we can’t have to rebuild our pages every time the theme decides to ‘improve’ things.

This latest update is going in the completely wrong direction. The first thing we want is to NOT have to relearn everything again and rebuild each page from scratch. The second is to NOT make the interface so difficult and overwhelming - simple is better and hide the rest (with the option to click ‘advanced formating’ for the additional power features).

5 Likes

They need to roll back this update until they iron out all the bugs. While they are always looking to improve the platform, they need to:

  1. Not disregard all the formatting we currently have. Roll back the theme/cornerstone update until this is fixed.

  2. Enable us to upgrade each content block from the ‘classic’ to the new versions. We don’t want to have to copy and paste our ‘old’ content into new content blocks - and then transition all the extra formatting (CSS/html) we have used to make it look like we want for each content block. Allow us to click a button to auto upgrade each content block - we can fix any issues from there.

  3. Hide all the power formatting options until we click a button to view and use them.

  4. Bring back the ‘full page’ text content boxes. The tiny text editor box is next to useless. You can probably allow this option on any of the contact blocks as well - ie Promo box text.

Themeco will lose customers if we can’t trust that upgrades do not break our websites AND disrespect our time - in needing to rebuild our websites just because their new ‘better’ system can’t ‘old’ content blocks.

I still believe this is a great product and I have recommended this to everyone over the last couple of years. Look forward to a quick fix.

5 Likes

I have exact the same problem. :confused:
Where I can download the 1.1.1?

1 Like

Hey Guys,

Thanks for posting in! Sorry for the inconvenience. Several hours ago we have release a patch update. Please update your theme to Pro 1.2.1. And please check out the changelog here: https://theme.co/changelog/

By the way, if you want to go back to the previous and stable code Pro 1.1.1, you can download it right in your dashboard: https://theme.co/apex/dashboard
https://image.prntscr.com/image/jJ00xUavR-2062R-Z43TJQ.png

Hope this helps. Please let us know how it goes.

I agree the text box is a bit silly right now. That needs to change ASAP.

I can’t even get some text to display on a page. Don’t understand what you guys are doing to a theme that used to be really innovative (and easy to use)…!!!

@Innovatek,

I wanted to jump in here and address a some of your points to avoid any potential confusion:

  1. The initial release of the theme did have some issues that inadvertently affected styling for anything using the Text Element. This was fixed in the most recent point release, and is confirmed to be working as it used to by other users. I provided a detailed explanation on this here: https://theme.co/apex/forum/t/after-latest-update-all-line-height-css-on-elements-are-broken-and-other-stuff/10177/7?u=kory
  2. Quite simply, there is no way to “update” an old Section or Element to a new one as they are completely different systems. However, there is no need to update anything you’ve already created. This is precisely why all classic Elements, including classic Sections, Rows, and Columns are still available to use as you wish for backwards compatibility and the continued use of them if you wish. These systems can work side by side without any issue. You can easily have a Classic Section with a v2 Section on your page, or keep using Classic Sections exclusively. As mentioned, there is no need to update anything old, and on new projects, if you wish to utilize the v2 functionality you can do that.
  3. The point of v2 elements it to provide a curated list of controls to style elements as needed, while not throwing the CSS kitchen sink at users. There is no real way to show a “simplified” version for editing options, as the whole point is to give users full control over all elements as they wish (which is something users have requested since X and Cornerstone were released).
  4. We have absolutely heard people’s concern over full page content boxes, and we are working through ideas to introduce this back into the builder. Remember, this was a monumental update that required a complete overhaul of the content builder to bring it under the same system used for headers and footers, so there are a few things like the fullscreen textbox that were inadvertently left off, but we have certainly heard and value the feedback of users that this is important to them and will work to implement a similar solution as quickly as possible.

Remember as well that this is only the beginning of coming systems that will greatly unlock the power of Pro and the reusability of these settings. I go into detail here on some of the items related to user-defined presets (coming very soon) and ultimately, “Global Defaults,” which will truly give you all the flexibility of the whole theme from top to bottom: https://theme.co/apex/forum/t/after-latest-update-all-line-height-css-on-elements-are-broken-and-other-stuff/10177/7?u=kory

Thank you.

Hi Kory,
@kory Thanks for responding. I didn’t know you could download the older version. I have updated you your new release and things look better. I also respect that you are looking to fix the whole overuse of CSS users needed to use to get the formatting they want.
While more control for the user to style the content exactly how that want is a BIG improvement (and this upgrade does help), I still want to stress a couple of key points:

  • The interface still needs to be simple to use and not overwhelming for the user. While I can learn pretty quickly, if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, the rest of my team will have absolutely no idea as to how to operate all our websites - even the ones who do know a bit about websites. That’s why I suggest you just hide SOME of the advanced tools until the user pushes a button asking for them. The average small business owner needs to be able to jump in and easily edit the page. Too many options will confuse most.

  • User default settings for page and website wide needs to be integrated as soon as possible. Currently it seems we need to change the font settings (size, line height, colour, padding, etc) for every element. Some of these use to be in the global settings and/or template settings, however, they don’t seem to do anything now. This will also go a long way in making the design more user friendly - especially for business owners who are not website designers.

  • Glad to hear the text box is getting bigger - this is another key user interfaces that I am confused was removed. Again, please integrate asap.

  • I understand why older elements can’t be upgraded. All I want to point out is that, in the process of your team making the X Theme and X Pro systems better, us users need to constantly rewrite our websites to ensure basic formatting still works. I have had multiple X Themes for a couple of years now and have had to rewrite/reformat all of our websites several times as many of the new systems did not recognise ‘old’ formats and text. ie moving from Visual Composer to Cornerstone, Cornerstone to an upgraded cornerstone, cornerstone to X Pro and this month’s X Pro to new X Pro cornerstone. Most of this changes need a complete rewriting of the content from our end (copy and paste, padding, css, etc). I have also given up write SOPs for our staff as the options change too often.

To finish, please note that this is ONLY CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. I love your theme and believe it is only getting better. I also recommend this to others who ask.

@Innovatek,

Thanks for writing in and further sharing your points:

  1. We completely hear the points on this, but as with most things, they are simply easier said than done. We are always looking for ways to streamline things, and much thought has gone into the layout and functionality of each element. The simple fact is with a lot of power, comes a bit more of a learning curve. Photoshop doesn’t have an “easy” mode with simpler controls, it’s just Photoshop. If users want something simpler, they can opt for a more paired down app, but it will never be as full-featured or powerful as Photoshop. This is precisely why Classic Elements still exist, as they are more “set it and forget it.” You don’t have to use v2 Elements, and we aren’t trying to force anyone to do so.
  2. Agreed, and we will be working on it as soon as we can.
  3. As mentioned here and many other places, text editor expansion wasn’t “removed” intentionally, but yes, we will be working to have this rectified soon as well.
  4. Again, I cannot stress this enough: we have never forced our users into “having to upgrade” to a new system. As mentioned here, here, here, and many other places, the usage of these new systems is completely optional. Your old page templates, section layouts, shortcodes, et cetera will all still work alongside v2 elements. There is absolutely no need to have to rewrite anything unless you wish to have access to utilizing the new controls. You can do that in many ways. Some people may wish to redo certain sections from scratch because they wish to have it all the exact same. But if you’re happy with how things are currently using the “Classic” versions of Elements, then you can absolutely keep using those or reusing them as long as you want. The choice is up to you, but we have left all systems in tact for backwards compatibility and future use. You can absolutely still build a page using Visual Composer in X or Pro…it is strongly advised against as we only do security patches and maintenance and there is no new feature development there, but if you are still happy with that setup and what you can achieve, you are welcome to do so. We cannot offer upgrade paths from a Visual Composer to a Cornerstone, or Cornerstone’s “Classic” Elements to “v2” Elements because their systems are in no way connected tangibly that a path can be forged between them, but they can absolutely exist alongside one another.

We absolutely value the constructive feedback of all of our users and you can rest assured we are taking notes, setting a course forward, and plan to execute on it soon. Please note that my emphasis in the last point is only to say that with some of these more major releases, there is a tendency to casually throw out phrases or repeat statements that may have been said like “we’re forced to update,” et cetera. This is simply not true, and we want to make it abundantly clear that we know v2 Elements are not for everyone, but the vast majority of our users have been asking for this type of functionality since day 1. For those who do not wish to use it and are happy utilizing Classic Elements, you will continue to be supported and we encourage you to do so if that is where you feel most comfortable working for yourself, or with a client.

We are very appreciative of your continued support and involvement in helping us to make X and Pro better with each release.

Cheers.

Is there some kind of video about how to use this updated version? How are you going to compare this theme to Photoshop? Yes there are learning curves to both, but once you learn Photoshop, you don’t worry about having to learn it all over again. Upgrades are fine, but this is unbelievable. People just don’t have time to stop their lives with no warning and no direction.

How do you just say that you didn’t intentionally remove the text editor expansion and you are working to rectify this? It makes no sense that it would ever even be considered for removal.

We want to use the product we paid for and spent time learning, and teaching our editors. Please direct me to the tutorial so I can figure this out because in no way is my website acceptable until I do it.

@bparkbella,

As mentioned previously, the text editor is being updated in the coming release.

Tutorials are where they have always been, in the Knowledge Base:

Extensive videos here:

v2 Tips and Tricks here:

https://theme.co/apex/forum/t/elements-tips-and-tricks/214

v2 Elements are optional as mentioned above if you don’t care for the advanced control. Classic Elements will always remain functioning as is, as mentioned here:

Cheers.

I want the link to the video that explains how to use the totally new cornerstone page builder. Why can’t I add social sharing without editing in cornerstone anymore? What happened to the cornerstone elements from the basic Wordpress editor screen?

We had a choice to switch to Pro or stay with X. I chose to stay with X because I was fine with what it gave me.

Your statement about not forcing users to use new elements or is not true since currently I am unable to use Cornerstone.

You are trying to fix what isn’t broken. I am not trying to use Visual Composer, I am trying to use Cornerstone. By the way, I shouldn’t have to go through all kinds of work to update my theme. Frankly, the only update I am interested in are the ones that keep my website secure.

Please send me a link to go back to the version that had classic Cornerstone elements and a little box near the title bar where I can add social sharing and columns in my posts without editing in Cornerstone.

@bparkbella,

I’m sorry you’re frustrated at this moment. Please allow me to explain one more time:

You can still use what are now referred to as “Classic Elements” both within Cornerstone and in the WordPress admin. However, you can only use the legacy shortcode generator in the WordPress admin and not within the drag-and-drop interface of the content builder.

In the WordPress admin you can still utilize the legacy shortcode generator, which is now turned off by default as we strongly encourage users to utilize Cornerstone’s visual interface. To enable the legacy shortcode generator, go to Pro → Seettings in the WordPress admin, and towards the bottom of that page you will see this option:

Checking that box will bring back the shortcode generator in the WordPress backend, seen here:

In the drag-and-drop builder, you cannot utilize the shortcode generator anymore (for example, with a “Text Element”), because of various reasons, mostly to do with performance and our new systems that aid with the generation of markup, dynamic styling, et cetera. That being said, it doesn’t seem as though you are interested in utilizing the drag-and-drop portion of Cornerstone, so you should be all good to go here.

Hopefully this helps to set you on the right path.

Cheers.

Holy moly, thank you. Now I am struggling with Cornerstone. While editing my homepage elements, they are not showing up in preview and they aren’t showing up on the page either after I save and refresh. Is there anyway to go back to the old version of cornerstone until I can learn all these new options? I have also been getting the message about something on the page blocking this action. I click on try again and it takes me to Cornerstone…

@kory,
Legacy shortcode generator not working with new elements?
Does this affect other shortcodes like The Grid, Slider Revolution or TablePress?
I use the shortcodes for the Grid and Slider Revolution because I have found, in the past, that the Cornerstone elements for both plugins are not reliable - they have a tendency to randomly change the selected Grid or Slider to another selection (normally to the one at the bottom of the dropdown menu). It seems that, because the elements use a dropdown menu to select the ‘correct’ item, it enables it to automatically change to another selection.

It doesn’t happen every time, however, it can happen when you save the page in Cornerstone or when you open it up to make other changes. Several times over the last year I go to one of my websites are found that the wrong sponsors or wrong event banner is showing.

Event since I noticed this happening, I now don’t use the unreliable elements for these plugins. I now only use the shortcodes in a text element because I know exactly which Grid or Banner it is for and it can’t change.

Legacy shortcode is working and I am super thankful for that. My issue now is when I try to edit my homepage with cornerstone.
I use Renew stack
I have a two column row with an image link in each column.
I click on the image element and insert the image with link and it isn’t showing up in preview. That would be ok if it actually saved to the homepage but it is not

One thing of note is that the preset keeps showing integrity and I change it to renew but it doesn’t stay. I have never seen this preset option before so I’m not sure what it does but I assume it should Mach the stack I’m using?
Also, my live preview section in cornerstone shows comments.
The only way to edit is to click on he view that shows where the elements are placed -I’m not sure what it is called - like skeleton view…

@Innovatek, you can still use the classic elements for plugins like Revolution Slider or The Grid, or manually enter in a shortcode by hand from that plugin into Classic Raw Content Element or the new v2 Content Area as needed (we do not recommend using the “Text” elements for outputting shortcodes as issues can arise from this due to the WYSIWIG editor interface, which is not something we control, only integrate. What I mentioned was the button in the screenshot above I sent, that is no longer available in Elements directly in Cornerstone for the reasons mentioned above. You are free to continue using the built-in Elements for plugin integration, or manually entering in shortcodes as you seem to prefer. If you have happened to run into issues with those elements, definitely feel free to open up a thread and we can look into it some more. I haven’t personally encountered this in any of my testing, but we could certainly investigate further if needed.

@bparkbella, I’m glad to know you’re happy having the legacy shortcode generator back. At this time, I would like to kindly ask that you open a new thread, specifically outlining any remaining issues you might have so that we can more adequately address your needs. As threads like these tend to go on, they become harder for our support staff to keep up with and address everyone’s needs. We will be happy to assist you further, we just need it in its own thread and not something nested within someone else’s thread.

At this time since most discussion points and issues have been addressed, I’m going to close this thread down as it’s gotten pretty long and we have multiple threads going at once. If anyone needs anything further, please don’t hesitate to open a new thread and we will be happy to assist with anything there.

Cheers!