A complete guide to installing and customizing SWIFT

This guide was written for SWIFT-v2.07, most of the things here dont apply to the latest version. You can find the guide for the latest version here
SWIFT Options
SWIFT Options

Installing SWIFT is not different from installing any other WordPress theme. SWIFT looks great with the default options but spending a few minutes on the options page will give you a unique look to make your blog stand out from crowd. SWIFT is actually a infinite number of themes packed in to one 🙂 .

Here is an example of how you can make your SWIFT unique without any template edits

http://geniushackers.com

Installing SWIFT

Installing and activating SWIFT
Installing and activating SWIFT
  1. Download your copy of SWIFT theme, and unzip the file you have downloaded.
  2. Upload the entire folder on to your server wp-content/themes. The template files should thus be here now: /wp-content/themes/swift-vX.X.X/.
  3. You can also upload your zipped file via CPanel and extract it.
  4. Log into your WP admin panel and click on the Appearance tab –> themes. Now click on the SWIFT theme to activate it (see the first screenshot below).
  5. Change the permissions of swift/cache folder to 777 and swift/custom-styles.css to 666.
  6. Your blog is now powered by the fastest SEO friendly, cross browser compliant, Adsense optimized, server friendly theme.

Note:If you are using WordPress 2.7 or higher, you install the theme directly from the admin dashboard.

187 Replies to “A complete guide to installing and customizing SWIFT”

  1. I am using Swift theme since last year, now i want to use this theme in 3 columns. Left Sidebar – Content – Right Help me to make my blog like this…

  2. Hi, Just getting into Swift. Would like to add a font to match our product labelling. I have found the “enable custom fonts” checkbox and see how to select a font for the home page header but how to add a font – want Papyrus font for some things.
    Thanks for any tips.
    Steve

  3. Hello,

    We’re using your theme at tribalblogs.net and it’s great. I’ve been able to customize all of my colors except for the blue box that says Post a Comment and Submit Comment. Where is the coding? I know which html color code I want to use, I just can’t find the right place to change it.

    Thank you!

  4. Hello, Satish
    please tell me how to properly configure the widget Swift 125 * 125 ads that it displays ads. what I do, go to the swift option in the management of banner ads in the box # 1 enter the URL where the jpg folder with the jpg, it is loaded on my site, then in the Enter destination url (link) here prescribe URL showing on partner sites image.jpg but it does not appear in Swift widget 125 * 125 ads. Tell me please what I’m doing wrong ….
    Thanks.

  5. i need help

    I am currently using version 4.1.4 stable version and i wish to countinue like that but it dont have author bio for post pages. i would like to add author bio box with related post in it just like the one below this post(Black box) to my blog.
    Can you help me out…..
    waiting for your reply……..

  6. change the permissions of swift/cache folder to 777 and swift/custom-styles.css to 666.

    ??? in /uploads/swift_custom ??? is it called “custom-styles.css” or “custom-style.css” ?? so not “swift/cache” BUT “/uploads/swift_custom/cache/” ??

    1. This guide is for older versions,
      cache folder and custom css are now located in
      wp-content/uploads/swift_custom
      wp-content/uploads/swift_custom/custom-styles.css

  7. Hi Satish!
    I’ve been using this theme since February but it is only now that I’ve really started tweaking with it (downloaded the latest version too), and I should say it is AWESOME!!! way, way better than the themes I tried and seen on other blogs.
    Got a question. I know this has been asked somewhere here but I tried looking and couldn’t find any. Anyway, my question has something to do with the post titles on the homepage. How may I reduce their size?

  8. I have setup feedburner on my blog. Now I need to install Chicklet Chooser. Google tells me to : Copy the HTML below for use in your own page templates:
    I have the code. Now I need to know where to go to install it.

  9. I would like to know how to proceed to “Change the permissions of swift/cache folder to 777 and swift/custom-styles.css to 666.” I am using  5.28
    Thanks,

  10. I have chosen Swift theme because it is as easy to handle as it looks good. Yet, for the first time ever, my latest installation – http://herbs4all.com/blog – refuses to read my adsense codes… After triple checks… I am unable to find the answer. Anyone ever had the same problem ^ Anyone out there with an answer.
    Regards
    Paul Rodgers
     

  11. Hi Satish,
    Just to thank you for a a really wonderful WordPress theme. I am using swift theme at my website http://hostingpackagsare.com
    I am wonder if i can get the Twitter and Facebook widget at my site, i am unable to find one at current version.
    Thanks again, have a nice day….

  12. I am using Swift v5.28. At the bottom of the “Ad management” page – Banner Destination – I have installed a banner in the Banner Destination section. Now, I would like to remove it but I do not know how to proceed…

  13. Hi,
    I installed swift through wordpress and it seems that it’s missing option.  Under the “layouts” tab i don’t have all of the available layouts that you show in your tutorials and I also don’t have the option of creating a child’s theme.  Can you think of a reason for this?

  14. Can someone tell me how to change the header height to larger?

    [I have a header pic that’s 960×253.]

    Thanks,
    mk.

  15. I like this theme a lot. I’d like to use it for my online magazine. One thing that I’d like is to have the author or contributor name (as well a other optional text – e.g., date/time, location) appear under the title of each article. How do I do that? Thanks in advance

  16. Satish-
    I need help.  I get this error when I activate the theme:
    Warning: fopen(/home/mpkoontz/public_html/wichita-today.com/wp-content/themes/swift/includes/custom-style.css) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/mpkoontz/public_html/wichita-today.com/wp-content/themes/swift/admin/admin-core.php on line 89

    Warning: filesize() [function.filesize]: stat failed for /home/mpkoontz/public_html/wichita-today.com/wp-content/themes/swift/includes/custom-style.css in /home/mpkoontz/public_html/wichita-today.com/wp-content/themes/swift/admin/admin-core.php on line 90

    Warning: fread(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /home/mpkoontz/public_html/wichita-today.com/wp-content/themes/swift/admin/admin-core.php on line 90

    And it just doesn’t look like your picture.
    I did have version 5.14 working much better… But the new version is not working for me. 

    Have a look at my site: http://wichita-today.com

    1. Sorry, I just realized that i accidentally removed custom-styles.css file from the swift/includes folder, copy the custom-style.css from the earlier version to the new version and then activate the theme.

  17. Hi there. I installed Swift and it’s working well so far. I installed directly from the admin panel. However, the options I selected when I first implemented it yesterday, such as which categories featured posts pull from on the homepage, can no longer be accessed. The only two links under Swift Options are for Options and Design Options. Neither show the layout options again, nor can I find how to add new categories to pull from. The ones I selected were a little light, so I don’t have the content populating as I’d hoped. Any ideas? I am not sure if I can do this manually now, but I am not seasoned with php.

    1. Sorry if I’m wrong to answer, I though the Layout Options you can find inside “Design Options”, Category Featured Post at “Swift Options >> Home and Archives” and you can add category name to show on navigation is form “Swift Options >> Header” down to the bottom.

  18. I can see now itself, that you are going to be the competitor for DIY Themes 🙂 Hats off to you Satish.
    – Robin
    DailyTUT

  19. Hallo, I am just want to start to make my blog, when I saw swift theme, I directly installed it. But in your guidance there is statement like this:
    Change the permissions of swift/cache folder to 777 and swift/custom-styles.css to 666.
    What it means, and how I do it? please explain step by step, cause i dont understand.
    Swift theme i installed was 5.21 version
    Wordpress 2.9.2
    Thank you 🙂
    Veronica

  20. I managed to install the theme without hitch except that I could not make the post slider work.  I know that to enable the slider, I need to modify the permissions like swift/cache and custom styles.css.  Now my problem is I cannot find the cache folder?
    Can someone help me please?
     

  21. Hi
    My dropdown categories aren’t working properly and appear behind my posts instead of infront. can anyone help me please?

    Thanks

  22. LOVE THIS THEME!! just installed…getting to know it a little bit:) Will leave more comments if Ihave questions:) EXACTLY what I was looking for!

  23. Hello Satish,
    I am a WordPress beginner (even though a long time Joomla! adept). Your template is great!! Best than many premium templates 😉
    Great work
    Luca

  24. How do I upload my custom logo and have it become my header? Do I upload directly to a specific place within the swift theme?

  25. I am new to the swift theme. I want to ask why the About page is not visible on my blog. How do I make it visible? I really like this fully loaded theme.  Thank you.

  26. satish i need a hand , i have a problem with layout, nothing change if i set magazine layout , i want show  posts in boxes, how can i do ? i have the latest version of swift

    1. That layout is removed from the v5.0 of due to difficulties in implementation.
      I’m working on it, and almost there.
      It will be included in the premium version of SWIFT.

  27. In the process of switching to Swift from a (basic) blogspot template.

    1- I want to ‘choose’ which stories/posts are on the front page. 
    2- I want the main post to be showing up bigger or even completely

    3- I don’t have pictures on all my posts, can that black ‘box’ be removed from the top of the stories? I want just a headline/title

    Thanks!

  28. Satish,
    Your theme makes me look GOOD! What a great theme.
    I got a couple of pages to “nest” properly and drop down under the parent page titles on the top navigation bar, but then it stopped working. The only thing I could find on the forum was someone did an upgrade & it worked. My version is up-to-date.
    I made a mistake with my registration at the support forum & although I can log in I am not activated. I have sent an email through “contact us” so, hopefully, that can get solved and I will be able to post future questions there.
    I’m just really excited to keep building this site and would like to get the drop down child pages working… I already have a bit of content there, but no way for people to see it or navigate to it.
    Thanks. Again, awesome theme. I’ve worked with a few and this one scares me a little because I am just a regular point & click computer user, but so far almost everything is intuitive and working really well.

  29. I use version 5.0 and there is no check box to activate Banner Ad Management (125×125).  I have used this feature in the prior versions of Swift and I would like to use it again but there is no check box to activate.

      1. That was very helpful.  Now I am trying to choose a different topic for the slider.  Only the recent posts works as a category for the slider.  All the other categories are blank in the slider.

  30. ive installed ur latest version (5.15)
    but when i change the design on swift design option, i save it and when i preview, nothing change!!! what happen on that?? and on your guide you wrote to change swift/cache folder to777 and swift/custom-styles.css to 666. how do i change it if i dont have swift/cache folder on my root directory? and for custom style.css, actually it appear on wift//includes/custom-styles.css

  31. Im trying out some new themes and this one looks nice. I noticed that my images which I set with width=20 initially load as 20 but then directly get resized to their original size. Is there anything I can do about this?

  32. Hi Satish,
    I’ve been using for a while swift theme v. 3.11 i think, wich i loved and i managed to customize it to fit my personal taste. however recently i have update to the latest version. and i’m having some problems: 1. The head logo is not centered and is floating outside the header. 2. I can’t get the body bg image to be fixed . 3. The header bg to be the same as the body bg. 4. Some thumbnails for excerpts and for the  slide are not showing. instead i get the pencils. 5. The date for the posts it’s all messed up.  http://www.dianeraeshin.com
    Thank You so much,
    Diane

    1. add this css code in custom css field
      #header-container{background:none}
      #logo{margin-left:-10px}

      4. Some thumbnails for excerpts and for the slide are not showing. instead i get the pencils.
      You have to add the thumbnail url manually in custom fields to those posts.

      5. Check the date options in wordpress general settings.

  33. Hi Satish,
    Thanks a lot for your theme…This theme is working fine but only problem is I am not able to see any thumbnail image on home page…I tried everything but it is not working out….Please help….

  34. Hi there, what is the name of the homepage file. I ask this as I want to remove my feedburner ID and it doesnt work through the theme interface . So I have to manually do this. Please advise
     
    thanks

  35. Hello, I am trying to change the order that the navigation categories appear in under the logo. Is there a way to do this? They appear to load alphabetically? Thank you.

  36. this themes very good and I’ve use it in dodyekaputra.com. I have a problem when installing banner 125×125. the banner does not appear in the sidebar. whether there is any other setting than in the ad management

    1. I am also facing same problem. I don’t know how to configure and set up ad code for 125*125 ad banner. It tried to search a solution but couldn’t find yet
       
       

  37. got this error and am not able to my options page, how can change what I need to in order to make it work?
    Warning: require_once(/home3/xxxxxxx/public_html/xxxxxxx/wp-includes/class-simplepie.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home3/xxxxx/public_html/xxxxxxxx/wp-includes/class-feed.php on line 4

  38. Hello! Thanks so much for your hard work!
    Is there a way, on the home page, for me to make the boxes a little less vertically large? Basically what I mean is I’m trying to fit two horizontal rows of three ‘content’ boxes in the main/home section. Like on all our homepages, a little picture above, and the description. I only need a very little bit of room for the text description after the picture that is posted above the story, and I would like to reduce the downward length of the rest of the box which is all empty space since the text is rather short, before the next lower line of boxes. Know what I mean?

  39. Great theme, thank you!
    How does one REMOVE the “categories” widget that ppears by default in what appears to be a Wide-Right sidebar?
    With the category drop-downs at the top of the page, it seems redundant to have it also on the right and I can’t figure out how to remove it?

  40. Hi Satish,
    thanks for a great theme!
    We are using at the LBW trust in Australia, an NGO that raises funds to pay for students’ tertiary education in developing countries. http://www.lbwtrust.org.au
    We are having a problem with the banner height in explorer – basically the banner height is 150 but it is being cut short in explorer.
    Could you offer some advice – many thanks,
    Ji

      1. Hi Satish,
        thank you so much for the custom code. I’ve just uploaded it and unfortunately the banner is reduced in height to maybe 50 pixels. I’ve reinstalled the original custom-styles.css file so you won’t be able to see it in action.
        Many thanks,
        Ji
         

    1. I guess you are using internet explorer. Use firefox.

      If this doesn’t solve the problem
      wp-content\themes\swift\includes\admin-fucntions\admin-interface.php

      and remove this code
      <div class=”info-widget”>
      <span class=”title”>Latest news about Swift</span>               
      <?php require_once(ABSPATH . WPINC . ‘/rss.php’); wp_widget_rss_output(‘http://swiftthemes.com/category/swift/feed/’, array(‘items’ => 4, ‘show_author’ => 0, ‘show_date’ => 1));
      ?>
      </div>

       

      You have a very nice header and colour scheme, keep up the good work.

  41. I Only need a couple more tweaks now…in all the screenshots of the theme there are 3 columns for posts on the main front page, I’m only getting 2? Where can I change this setting? And finally I’m including a paypal button in each post which seems to have acquired a blue border around each one. How can I remove this border from around the buttons?

  42. Thanks for all the help with this..but just wondering now if the image thumbnails can sampled from the top of the image rather than the middle or can the thumbnails be resized to include the whole image, just smaller like a traditional thumbnail?

  43. Hi Satish,
    Love the theme! I don’t know my way around CSS very well, and I wonder if you could tell me if it’s possible to make the following modifications:
    – Can I change the content of sidebars depending on the page/post? Sidebar Widgets isn’t compatible with 2.8.6. I’d rather not have DONATE all over every page 🙂
    – Can I scale the size of images in the sidebar? If you look at my site (www.sarahchauncey.com), the square icons I’ve inserted are tiny (around 20×20), but when published, they’re much bigger. Same with the rectangles.
    Also, how do I increase the font size of 1) the blog tag line and 2) the post text? I know it’s in style.css, but I’m not sure which code refers to those two elements.
    (If I could afford it, I would hire you for a customization, btw… maybe someday I can)
    Cheers, and thanks again for doing a great job!
    Sarah
     

    1. ps if it can be done, can anyone tell me how to remove the catagory navigation under the logo and also how to remove author info in each post? I dont want my gravatar showing.

  44. I’m working on setting up my site with your theme with I think is great.
    Question though, when I’m setting up the pages – how can I remove the
    “Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.” on the bottom of pages. I don’t wish to have any comments on these.
    Thanks again for creating such a useful and functional theme.
     

    1. Go into your theme editor and pull up comments.php
      Find the line that says
      [code]<p><?php _e(‘Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.’); ?></p>[/code]
      and change it to
      [code]<p><?/*php _e(‘Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.’); */?></p>[/code]

      That will remove it from both posts and pages where you have comments closed.  Alternatively, if you’d just prefer it to say something else, versus being gone all together, then just change the words.
       

      1. PS don’t look for the [code][/code] words. That’s something I thought I might need to do for the rest to show up in the comment. LOL Sorry about that.

  45. Hi Satish,
    We have this theme installed on our blog.  I am just wondering how we go about increasing the number of posts from 3 to 10 on the slider though?
    I have been through the Swift Theme Options and couldn’t find anything there specifically for this….
    Thanks in advance!
    Mignon

  46. I am using 4.07.  When I clicked on “display exerpts” in the home page options, all my thumbnails disappeared on my home page.  When I disable exerpts, the thumbnails display again.  How can I get to enable excerpts with thumbnails to show on the home page?

  47. Here is my website. http://www.geomalik.com

    Bellow coding is use for page number.  Like
    « Older Entries                     Newer Entries>>

     
    1 = where i will Replace the this  codeing  for page numbers     <?php if(function_exists(’wp_page_numbers’)) { wp_page_numbers(); } ?>

    This Plugins  downlaod from this url. and u can see how can its work and how can use.        http://www.jenst.se/2008/03/29/wp-page-numbers/

    Here is my 2nd qustion

    2 = In The  slider  Pictures are not showing  only last post picture and text is showing. any 1 guide me how can i will fix it? 
    Thnx

      1. yes now i see page number on main page.. but if when clcik on Category then again i can seee

        « Older Entries                     Newer Entries>>   

      2. yes now i see page number on main page.. but if when clcik on anyCategory then again i can seee

        « Older Entries                     Newer Entries>>   

      3. yes now i see page number on main page.. but if when clcik on anyCategory then again i can seee
        « Older Entries                     Newer Entries>> 

        Here is link  one from Category.     http://www.geomalik.com/?cat=5

        How can i will add page number also here in Category

    1. hey how did you add all these buttons like “bollywood review” “mobile review” “videos” “visa embassy” below the header? in your site.?

  48. Nice Theme. i like it. GOOD work

    i have 2 qustion

    1 = where i will Replace the this  codeing  for page numbers     <?php if(function_exists(‘wp_page_numbers’)) { wp_page_numbers(); } ?>

    2 = In The  slider  Pictures are not showing  only last post picture and text is showing. any 1 guide me how can i will fix it? 

    Thnx

  49. I have a quick question. I am trying this theme for me new site. On my other site (www.fastharry.com, Atahaupal)), when I paste a post to the front page the hyperlinks work. When I do it on Swift on this site, they come through as solid text, non clickable. And yes, I am enabling them through links…Thanks!

  50. First I must say this Swift Theme is great.
    I’ve been using it about a week now.
    However, I’ve not been able to figure out how
    to change the font style and size. How do you do that?

    Regards,
    Peter

  51. This theme is amazing, very tweakable, nice looking and its the only thing that runs well on my awful godaddy hosting. Best WP theme ever… Many thanks!

  52. Hi Satish,
     
    you are doign a well done job. Recently I used “shift” theme for my new blog http://SagarRai.com
    Everything is fine on my blog but except one thing. I want to increase my “homepage post”.. Right now it shows only 4 post. So i want it to be 6 0r 7. And also the “popular post” i set it to 10 but it shows only 5. Whats the matter here.
     
    Please mail by here or reply to my inbox mail@sagarrai.com
    Your help will be really appreciated friend. Thank you

  53. Thanks, the theme is looking great so far.  One problem I am having is that when I add my logo to the header, the title of the blog disappears.  Is there a way to get it back as my logo is only a picture and doesn’t have the title in it?  Thanks!

      1. I am having problem , I add my logo to the header, following instructions that was given  but nothing is happening! What is the problem?
        P.S.
        Excuse  my spelling!

      2. Thanks for the reply.  I can add the text to the logo, but am afraid that the search engines will miss it.  There isn’t any way to have a logo and text?

  54. Satish,
    One of the best free themes I have ever encountered! – Keep up the fantastic work ! –    Question – the pic in the slider is too big compared with the post – is there a setting somewhere other than the wordpress media settings ? I set the media settings to what you suggested above but the slider pic is still too large – any help is appreciated THANKS AGAIN http://www.cretedirectsolutions.com

    1. These media settings work only if they are set before the thumbnail are created, once they are created these new media settings won’t apply to them.
      Use custom fields.

      Im adding automatic cropping feature in v4.0, that should takecare of issues like this.

      1. Satish,
        Thank you very much !  I deleted the pic and added a similar one back into the post and the slider shows it correctly ! yeeha… keep up the awesome work and thank you for such a quick reply.

  55. How do I ensure that Header has image as well as text. I do not know how to use Alt text as given in the guide. Please could you elaborate?  Thanks a tonne…Regards

      1. Satish..many thanks for your reply. Text is not appearing as intended/automatically. Only the image appears. Is it to do with height of image? I have set height to 120px. Many thanks..Ramesh

  56. My first blog will be with your theme. Congratulations.
    Just a question. I see slider is limited to 184 characters.
    How can increase it??

    Thank you very much.

  57. Hello Pete
    In the latest version of version of SWIFT i reduced the slider speed to 6 Seconds form 3.
    If you want to reduce it further
    open js-functions.js in swift/includes folder

    there will be a number either 3000 or 6000, change it to one of your choice. Thats slide duration in mill seconds.

  58. tried the forums but it won’t send me e-mails to log in so I’ll post my question here:

    Is there a simple way to adjust slider speed in the latest swift template ? Love the feature, but my guests cannot read that quick 🙂

    1. OK I spoke too soon. I already saw the option above to edit the js_functions.js file but that looked scary to me 🙂
      turns out I can edit it like any other file in notepad. Not so scary after all ..

      works like a charm,

      don’t know if you can change this setting into a variable to set in admin panel but may be a future feature request. (only showing pictures may require different settings than text, quick setting in admin would then be cool).

  59. I have installed Swift (twice, two different sites), and have the same problem:

    Have selected category for “Featured Category” and set the “Number of Featured Posts.” BUT the selected category does not appear on the home page slider.

    What can be the problem?

    Thanks.

      1. Thank you, but tried it and that is even further from what I want! Will go back to the original.

        Isn’t there a way to adjust the timing?

        A slider that holds an excerpt, must allow people time to read it. Even if they are only looking at the pictures, it should not be too fast. A nice classy fade effect, nothing harsh or fast, is preferred.

        BTW, my test site is at: http://alabuzz.org/example2/

        Thank you so much for all your help and your quick replies!

        1. Solved the slider timing problem. Set the interval to “6000” (from “3000”) in js-functions.js like this:

          timer = setInterval(function() {
          $(opts.next).click();
          }, 6000);

  60. Hi Satish,
    I just installed Swift from wordpress and am trying to figure out how to have it show the whole post on the home page instead of just the first sentence or two. Can you clarify for me how to do that?
    This template is beautiful btw!
    Thank you so much,
    Jenn

      1. Hi Satish, Still puzzled because when I went to follow your instructions, the box was already unchecked. Any other thoughts?
        Thank you so much for your help!
        Jenn

  61. How can we remove about me page from home page? Instead of this if we put vertical slider bar for different post or advert then this is more beneficial in terms of revenue and page views.

    1. I’m replacing the about section with tabs, and featured post with a clean content slider in the next version of SWIFT. It should be out this monday.

      You will have the option to disable the slider if you dont want it.

  62. There is a problem in Feature post.. it doesn’t show the image if its not uploaded via WordPress itself. Lets say i uploaded an image on tinypic and put the direct url of it, it doesn’t show up in Feature post. Is there any way to fix that?

    1. first image of the gallery associated with that post is shown as thumbnail. I doesnt take images uploaded outside.

      next version of SWIFT will support this feature. I will try to releaase that asap.

  63. @Satish
    Sorry there was a silly mistake from my side. I think I didn’t install the theme properly. After reinstallation it is working like a charm. Sorry for the trouble.
    The theme looks sexy. Keep up the good work 😉

  64. There is no problem with SWIFT, you are having some unclosed HTML tag, that’s creating the problem.
    Check the posts on the home page for any unclosed tags.
    there should not be any conflict between atahualpha and SWIFT, it might be due to some plugins you installed recently.

    -Satish Gandham

  65. Yes it was working fine. I have sent u an email as well. What is the solution for it? Sinle page or post is working normal only home page is throwing that error.
    Strangly atahualpha 3.4.2 stopped working after installing this theme. Only version 3.4.1 is working well that is with some difficulty.

  66. I cant really say, without it being live.
    Most probably, that might be due to a div which you forgot closing in your post.
    Are the pages containing the previous posts fine??
    Most probably they should be.

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