In order to unlock the power of Cortex, you must first change your page template from the default WordPress template to the Page Builder template. This step isn’t optional.
There are two main templates that make up what we’ve decided to call the Cortex Page Builder. The Page Builder and the Page Builder Sidebar. The Page Builder template is the most flexible of templates allowing for all components to be utilized including multiple headings.
This is especially good for longer pages that need to tell a brand story, or for single page websites.
Page Builder
This WordPress page template does not have a sidebar that flanks the full length of the page content. (Although, some page builder components do allow for having sidebars within them.) There is also an option in WordPress admin that allows you to set the navigation type on that particular page if you are using the Page Builder template. That means you could have a transparent navigation like here, or an opaque navigation like here.
For examples of what layouts look like, checkout any one of our demos, there’s XML files for all of our various layouts in the Cortex zip file you downloaded.. You can also see a description of each component that’s available for each Page Builder WordPress template below.
PAGE BUILDER Navigation
Both the Page Builder and the Page Builder Sidebar template make use of a one additional choices related to the page navigation. Depending on the template, there’s an option to change the header navigation type on a per-page or per-post basis should your header image work with no background behind it, or if it’s an image that hides the main nav and your logo so you need to put a flat color behind them. (Set in Theme Options)
Changing Templates
Keep in mind that each template uses different custom fields, so if you change from one template to another, your fields, content, text, and information will not carry over!
Adding/removing/sorting page builder components
To add a section you can click on any of the teal buttons like Add Header Section or Add Section you can also add a section above an existing section by clicking on a plus sign.
To move a section, hover over the title of the section and drag & drop it above/below any other component.
To delete a section, hit the minus sign next to the plus sign as seen in the screenshot seen above.
To collapse sections to make it easier to see all the items on your page, click the arrow on the title bar for the component.
mandatory step
Select Page Builder
If you imported demo content, and plan on using one of the versions of the homepage you imported, you can skip these first two steps where we create the page itself since you’ll be choosing an existing page most likely to assign as your homepage.
- Head to Pages > Add New
- Enter a title for the page like something super creative like Homepage vME, or whatever you’d like
- On the right side of the screen you should see a Page Attributes box, if you don’t, click the Screen Options link in the upper right hand corner of the admin and check Page Attributes.
- Select either the Page Builder, or Page Builder Sidebar option, and you should see the Cortex Page Builder fields pop up, depending on which template you’ve chosen.
In theory, you could use any of the available templates as your homepage, but for this demonstration, we’ll be using one built with the Page Builder Sidebar, which is different from the regular Page Builder in that it has a Cortex Header Builder section, for adding sliders, image galleries, text, video embeds, or background videos to be featured just below the navigation, as well as the Cortex Page Builder Full Sidebar section, which is flanked to the right or left (Depending on your Theme Options) with a sidebar of your choosing.
OPTIONAL STEP
set the front page
- If you haven’t already, head over to the Settings > Reading page and under the
- Once there in the Front Page: select box, select the page you just created, or another page you imported from demo content
You may also do this from the Appearance > Customize > Static Front Page screen from the WordPress Customizer.