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Themes

A theme is a ready-made look for your whole site, built by the Dealer.ms team: search results page, result cards, vehicle details page, forms, header, footer, colors, fonts, and optionally sample pages and demo inventory. You import one, or just the parts you like, from Dealer.ms > Themes.

Info

Themes are built with Elementor, so Elementor must be active. A theme with a header or footer also needs Elementor Pro.

Before you start

  • Open Dealer.ms > Themes. Each card shows a preview image, the version, and whether you already have it installed. A Not Live badge marks a theme that is still being tested.
  • Click Preview on a card to see the live demo.
  • The page checks what the theme needs (Elementor, Elementor Pro, DMS version, extensions) and tells you what is missing before anything is imported.
  • Nothing changes on your site until you press Import theme.

Import a theme

Click Install on a card (Update if you already have it). The window lists everything in the theme.

  1. Colors and fonts - replaces your Elementor global colors, fonts, buttons and custom CSS with the theme's. Your site name, logo and favicon stay. Untick it to keep your own look.
  2. Templates - search results pages, result cards, vehicle details pages, forms, PDF brochures, header and footer. Everything is ticked. Click Choose templates to import only some.
  3. Demo pages and menus - adds the theme's sample pages and navigation menus as new pages and menus. Your own pages and menus are never changed.
  4. Demo inventory - creates a new listing type with the theme's categories and some demo listings, so the templates have something to show. Great for a fresh site, not for a live one.

On a fresh site with no listings yet, demo pages and menus and the demo inventory are ticked for you. On a site that already has listings they start unticked. 5. Import into - pick a listing type to put the templates on one type only, or leave it on All inventory types for global templates. 6. Make the theme's default templates active - see below. 7. Install the extensions this theme needs - installs and turns on the DMS extensions the theme uses.

Press Import theme and watch the progress. A big theme takes a minute because images are copied into your media library. Keep the window open until it says Import complete.

Warning

Options 1, 3, 4 and 6 change the whole site, so they need the permission to manage DMS settings. Without it those options are greyed out and you can still import templates.

"Make active" or just import?

A theme can hold several search results pages, result cards and vehicle pages. Importing adds them all to your site, but only one of each kind can be the site-wide one.

  • Make active ticked - the theme's marked default of each kind becomes the one your site uses. The header and footer show on the entire site and replace the old ones. With demo pages, the theme's home page becomes your front page and its menus take the same spots they have on the demo.
  • Make active unticked - everything is imported but nothing in use changes. Pick the templates yourself where you use them (an inventory type's settings, a page's search results element). This is the safe choice on a live site.

Update to a newer version

When the theme has a new release the card says Update: 1.0.0 to 1.1.0. Updating never overwrites anything by surprise. For each template you already have, choose:

  • Add as a new copy - the new version is added next to yours. Your copy stays untouched.
  • Replace my copy - your old copy goes to the trash and the new one takes its place (and its active status). Any edits you made to the old copy are in the trash.

Pages and menus are always added as new ones.

Import only one part

You do not have to take a whole theme. Untick everything you do not want in the install window, or use Choose templates to pick single templates from that theme. You can also import one template at a time from a type's Templates screen with Import Template.

Undo

The bar at the bottom of the Themes page shows the last import with an Undo button. Undo:

  • moves the imported templates, pages and header/footer to the trash
  • deletes the imported menus and the demo listing type with its listings
  • deletes the images the import copied into your media library
  • puts back your previous colors, fonts, front page, menu locations and active templates

It only undoes the most recent import, and only things the import created. Changes you made yourself afterwards are left alone.

Good to know

  • Images are copied from the demo into your media library, so the theme works even if the demo changes later.
  • If your site uses Plain permalinks, the import switches it to Post name so the new pages work. A site that already chose a structure keeps it.
  • Imported templates use your listing type, categories, site URL, name and admin email in place of the demo's. Change the phone number, address and business name in the header and footer yourself, they still show the demo's.
  • Elementor only builds the post types ticked in Elementor > Settings > Post Types. If pages were off, the import turns them on, and says so.
  • Using WP-CLI? wp dms kits list, wp dms kits show <slug> and wp dms kits import <slug> do the same from the command line.