Views 2.5 and Layouts 2.1 Offer Tight Integration with Popular Themes

   Amir

Announcements

October 19, 2017
82

We’re very happy to release today Views 2.5 and Layouts 2.1, which offer revolutionary integration with popular themes.

Different themes offer different features. When you want something, it’s a welcome “feature”. When you cannot control it, it’s often “bloat”. This release of Toolset plugins aims to allow you to enjoy advanced features of your themes instead battling with them.

Now, when you design templates and archives, you can control each of the theme’s features specifically for that template or archive.

For example, this is how it works with OceanWP theme:

You will find similar integration with GeneratePress, Astra, and Genesis.

For Divi and Avada, we have something even better for you.

Divi and Avada fans love these themes for two good reasons. They come with their own page builders and their own workflow for designing templates.

This release of Toolset plugins lets you use the native builders that come with Divi and Avada and follow their workflow.

It’s a lot more convenient to use just the Views plugin and the theme’s builder than bending everything for Layouts. So, we added a convenient way to use Divi’s and Avada’s builders when designing Content Templates. We even created a complete guide for Getting Started with Toolset and Divi, which shows how to design templates, lists and archives with Toolset and Divi.

Important Changes Since the Last Beta

We moved the storage for theme options to theme-specific keys. This way, if you ever change a theme, your settings are not lost. This is new to the last beta. If you built sites with the last beta, please update the theme options for templates and archives, as they have changed.

Download

As always, you will find the new versions of all Toolset plugins in your account. Register your sites to receive automatic updates.

As with any major update, you should back-up your sites before upgrading. We tested this release heavily, but there’s always a chance for a problem in a configuration that we’re not covering in QA and in our automated tests.

Coming Soon

In a couple of weeks, we’re going to be ready with a nice update for Toolset Maps. This update will include geo-search and filtering, as well as another frequently asked features.

We’re also making good progress in the post-relationship project. The next beta with Views will be ready in a few weeks. CRED will follow.

Feedback?

We want to know how this release is working for you. Please tell us by leaving your comments. We’ll get back to you.

 

Comments 82 Responses

  4. Looks great. Are there plans for integrating with X and Pro from theme.co? If not, what’s the best way to get that discussion started?

    • We can easily do this now, but it requires that Theme.co be interested in this integration. If you’re their client, can you check if they’re interested? If so, we’ll handle it together quickly.

      • Just to mention that I’m also very interested in this integration. I seem to remember some discussion about it on a Theme.co group somewhere. Can’t remember whether it was the Facebook group (not official Theme.co), or from a Theme.co newsletter.

        Anyway, integration would be great!!

        Regards,

        Doug
        ====

        • Hi Doug,

          I’m Marine, from Toolset Team. I’ve contacted Jack today, a developer at Theme.co that I know well. X is using Cornerstone builder and has a lot of theme options, an integration with Toolset would be really powerful, you are definitely right. The integration can be done in one day, maybe a tiny bit more if the theme is complex.
          Feel free to contact them on your side too, a user point of view is always valuable. Let’s keep in touch, Doug!

  5. The Divi integration looks really promising. I’m reading through the Getting Started With Toolset and Divi tutorial to get a better idea of how far the integration goes and found that on this page…

    https://toolset.com/documentation/recommended-themes/toolset-divi-integration/create-templates-for-custom-post-types-with-divi-builder-and-toolset/

    … there is a link in the sentence “Learn how to display fields and content-lists in templates.”. This link points to a Google doc which can’t be accessed due to permissions. 🙁

    Thanks

  7. Okay, so after reading the Getting Started with Toolset and Divi tutorial I have to say the integration looks pretty great! (It should be noted I haven’t actually used it yet) I wasn’t expecting this type of integration for Divi in this release and am surprised you guys found a feasible way to make building templates, layouts, views etc using Divi a reality so quickly. I was thinking Toolset would need its own custom Divi modules with field-insert buttons next to each text field (plus custom Loop modules etc) but the shortcode creator is a very acceptable solution. I look forward to trying all this on my next project.

    One problem though is that this method seems to prevent the use of Conditional Output. I use Conditional Output regularly to control what page content is displayed based on the contents of fields so this is a real concern. Can Conditional Output still be used in some way that I’m not seeing in the video or tutorial?

    Thanks

    • Sure. This version of Views and Layouts makes it possible to integrate with any theme. We’ll be very happy to work with Thrive. If you’re their client, can you check if they are interested? If so, we can get Views and their themes integrated in a day.

      • Hi Amir.

        Thrive Architect is a page builder, not a theme. And it is actually a really nice page builder.

        I use Beaver Builder, after toolset got integrated with that. Before that I did not even now it existed.

        But I also used Thrive Content Builder, because it was needed by the other thrive plugins.

        But it did not work well with Toolset, so I barely used it. In August Thrive Themes released Architect, and it is WAY better than the old Thrive Content Builder.

        In many ways it is even better than Beaver Builder, but it lacks the third party integrations which Beaver Builder has. It has no community around it nor are there any third party plugins / modules etc available for it.

        Now it is a fairly new product, so they may open it up for third party integrations in time, but they never did for Thrive Content Builder.

        Thrive Architect is more true to html+Css than Beaver builder is. You have more control of the elements in Architect than you have in Beaver Builder, without it becomes to difficult to handle.

        It also produces “cleaner/shorter” html code than beaver builder does. But because it is not third party friendly, I still use Beaver Builder. Nothing really beats Beaver Builder when it comes to third party support and community.

        I have requested thrive themes for third party integrations many times. Even integrations with toolset, before Architect was released. So I don’t believe this will happen. But I hope it will.

      • I’m using the Astra Theme with Thrive Architect Page Builder. What I’d LOVE, is the ability to style my views and create the front end of custom templates using Thrive Architect (which currently has the most versatile, elegant page-builder IMHO.) What would you need Thrive to ‘agree to’ or DO in order to create an integration…? (As Henrik mentioned below, they are not traditionally very ‘Third-Party oriented’) The more specific I can make my request to them, the better. And, optionally, if they say no, is there any possibility of me adding some custom code in my child theme, or working with a ‘some bridging kind of plugin’ to achieve this functionality. I love to not have to have Thrive Architect AND beaver build both going on the same site! 😉 Thanks…

        • Sorry for the slow reply to your comment. We’ll be happy to integrate Toolset with Thrive Themes and with their page builder. If they are interested in doing this project with us, we can have it ready in a matter of weeks.

          Unfortunately, there’s nothing specific to ask. Until we actually do the integration, we’re not going to know everything that’s needed for it. One of our developers will need to start the integration. Like with anything else, he’s going to run into issues – some bigger and some small. If we have their cooperation, we’ll be able to resolve everything. Without cooperation (and interest), every little thing becomes a show-stopper.

          If you get an indication from them that they’re interested, let me know again (I’ll contact with Thrive CEO to coordinate this) and we’ll take it from there.

          • Thank you, Amir, for the response. I will reach out to them and let you know what response I get. Just a quick additional question: In my case, I’m not using a Thrive Theme, just their page builder – Thrive Architect. (I use the Astra Theme). If you guys embark on an integration, am I correct in assuming you’ll need to integrate with both their Themes AND their page builder? (They currently have about 8 Themes, which all use the same underlying structure & core functionality). And could people using a Toolset-integrated theme, such as Astra, then use the Thrive Architect page builder, if you guys are able to integrate with it, even if you’re NOT also able to integrate with their Themes as well? How does that work?

            • Let’s see if they’re interested in working with us first. We’re open to all possibilities, but everything we do requires their cooperation too.

          • Hi Amir – Good News! I just heard back from the head of product development at Thrive, Paul McCarthy. He responded to my support request as such:

            I’m happy to work with the guys at WP-Types – would you mind introducing me over email? If you could copy in me with the email address “paul @ paulmccarthy . co . uk”, that would be great.

            We can then set up a Slack channel and take it from there.

            Best regards,
            Paul McCarthy
            ———————
            Which email should I use to for you to make the introduction? My own email is “dylan . newcomb @ uzazu . org”

            Yay! The thought that I could maybe build my whole membership site using Thrive Architect and stay integrated with thier great plugins makes me very happy indeed, as I’m sure it will quite a few other people…

            • Hi 🙂 – I’m Partnership Manager for Toolset.

              Thanks for your kind help on this, an introduction would be amazing. I also like their builder and find it really conversion-oriented.

              Sending you an email right now!

            • We’re talking with Thrive Themes and we hope they will be interested in this integration.

  9. Please add Themify integration – all my sites are Themify these days, so that would be a game-changer for me in terms of finally really using my Toolset license. 🙂

    Thanks!

  10. Will the maps update include this frequesntly requested feature: Multiple posts with same location:

    https://toolset.com/forums/topic/multiple-posts-on-map-using-same-location/

    https://toolset.com/forums/topic/google-map-with-multiple-markers-using-same-location-citystate/

    https://toolset.com/forums/topic/cluster-doesnt-open-to-individual-markers-when-markers-have-the-same-address/

    https://toolset.com/forums/topic/address-field-w-multiple-addresses-within-single-post-multiple-markers/

    • I did some reading on your support tickets and the related development tickets. It’s not as simple as it appears. There’s a mixture of issues related to how Google handles close and overlapping markers. Certainly it’s solvable, but it’s a lot less straight-forward than it appears.

      We’re going to handle this, but I don’t know if it will be in this update of Toolset Maps. I prefer not to delay the release of the update with the geo-searching. Improvements to the clustering is important, but I wouldn’t delay other features (that are almost complete) which we handle it.

    • Hi Charles

      This is Juan, Toolset team leader. Thanks for the feedback.

      I have been working on those issues myself for some time, and I did not find a completely OK solution yet. Yes, I know that there might be workarounds that consist basically in moving markers slightly offset when they fall in the same spot, but this also needs to play nicely with the cluster functionality, and that makes it a little more complex.

      As Amir mentions, we are almost done with some very nice geo-location features that I will not spoil. I just wanted to highlight that this is still high in our list but not resolved yet.

      Hope it helps.

  11. Looking forward to the Maps update. Is there any way to get a beta now because I’m working on a site that needs these features?

    Thanks!

  12. This is fantastic!

    I’m using Divi I the very latest version. Likewise with WordPress, types and views. In order to utilize a layout I brought, I wanted to bring in stuff from the Divi Library. To my surprise nothing shows up? Can’t a saved section be loaded via the library when building a template for a cpt.

    Best regards – and thanks once again. This I wonderful news!!!

  13. Great Release team !
    Now i wonder if its Divi + Builder is the best to use compare to Elementor Editor + GP 🙂

      • Hi Amir,

        As always thank you for this update and the first class support, I assume this integration update NOW compatible with GP Premium also with this update we can use Views in GP Page Header (section) Template Tags and Taxonomies:
        https://docs.generatepress.com/article/adding-page-headers-taxonomies/
        https://docs.generatepress.com/article/page-header-template-tags/

        My vote also go for GP + Elementor Editor FULL integration like divi with Toolset this definitely will make the best of both tools.

        As for the page builders please see a comprehensive comparison with the following URL:
        https://www.imagely.com/page-builder-plugin-comparison/

        Thanks,

        • We wanted to include support for GP Premium (very much), but GP author appears to be a little busy these days, so we’re not getting replies to our emails. If you can remind Tom that he has clients waiting for this, it may help. I know that you asked Tom to work on this with us and I’ve seen the replies. Interestingly, there’s no response when we contact and try to coordinate this work. Again, it’s about 1 hour work from his side and maybe 4 hours for us. It’s a pity that this isn’t moving.

          We did build the mechanism for including theme addons and we implemented it for OceanWP addons. Astra is going to release a number of paid addons and we’ll add support for them very quickly. It takes us minutes to add this support, but we need cooperation from the other author.

          We’re working with Elementor team to iron our integration details and it’s going fine. I believe that soon we’ll be able to offer full support for Elementor, similarly to how our Layouts plugin is integrated. I know that this is a popular request and we’re on it.

          • You have my respect for you and your team not only for the instant support but also walking the extra mile for your clients,Thanks

            As for the GP Premium integration I already remind TOM in the support thread HERE.

            Thanks for Elementor integration good news I hope will see this happening very soon.

          • This is great news, and a game changer for me. Ever since I started using Toolset I’ve been able to do the things I always struggled with in WP. And now with page builder support, things just keep getting better.

            I’m exploring which page builder I’m going to go forward with and I’m a little unclear about where Layouts fits as more support comes in. I’ve been trying to work with Layouts as much as possible because I like how robust it is in terms of adding various pieces of content. It takes a like effort to get the CSS worked out, but its a really good system. So, how are the various ‘starter themes’ and page builders fit in in the future? You seem to have done a lot of work with Divi, and, because its a theme it appears to work more seamlessly.

            I’ve been using BB, and I’m also considering Elementor. These two work well with GeneratePress and they don’t leave shortcodes in your page if you unplug them. Since you are working with Elementor it has definitely risen on my list.

            As for Layouts and page builders, how central are page builders going to become? Do you see the integration becoming more like Divi, or will they continue to work with Layouts more like BB? Making Layouts and Templates from the dashboard means BB ‘fits in’. Making a page and starting with BB means I don’t get the robust options available via Layouts.

            I recognize you can’t give one answer for all strategies, but can you clarify where Layouts will continue to sit with the starter themes and the page builders?

            Thanks Amir. This is all great stuff. Toolset has put me on a new path.

  14. Hi 🙂

    – I am new here and I use Divi theme.
    – I already have Types installed and I want to buy the rest of Toolset plugins from the WordPress admin (in this way I can have the automatic installation).

    My question: can I download the rest of Toolset plugins with “Views 2.5” from the WordPress admin today?

    Regards,
    Tom

    • Hi Tom. This integration is available right now and you can use it to build sites with Divi and Toolset. You can buy from wp-types.com, as well as from within Types plugin. It’s the same.

      If you buy directly from our site, you can still enjoy automatic installation and updates in WordPress. After you buy, register Toolset and you can install automatically. The registration instructions are here:
      https://toolset.com/faq/how-to-install-and-register-toolset/

      Let me know if you need any help.

  15. Hi Amir,

    Great work. Glad to see the first step towards sensible integration between Divi and Toolset CPTs. I had a test run with the views update and it works really well. I tested conditional output and repeating fields and they function properly.

    From what I can see Elegant Themes need to step up to the plate to finish this off. I noticed straight away in your video the alignment issue, where what is happening in the Divi template layout is indented from the post title.

    Of course this is to do how the content area is cramped into a column as opposed to given the fullwidth canvas of the browser. I have a post, with screenshots demonstrating this and how I partially resolved the issue:

    http://portfolio.vaughanprint.com/toolset-types-divi-integration/

    As you will see the option not to display the title is not really working (I still see thre meta) but this is something that Divi needs to sort out as all regular page furniture and styling needs to be removed to let their visual breath and do its work properly. I am hoping that Elegant Themes can do this easily and that we will see this done properly soon.

    Looking forward to going through the rest of the DIvi how-to regarding archives and CRED etc..

    • Sorry for the late reply. We actually asked ElegantThemes folks to add features for that, but they didn’t see the urgency. How about asking them also in Divi support? If they see more people asking, there’s a better chance that it will happen.

      • Hi Amir,

        I have been very much doing what you are suggesting, right at this moment. Disappointed that Elegant themes don’t seem to see the urgency on this matter but I guess they have a backlog of issues they are working through that they consider a priority for users who would never have a need for CPTs on their sites.

        From previous posts and replies on their forums they have indicated that they are working on something that would cater for CPTs. On what, I don’t know.

        In the meantime I will get by with my Divi child theme that includes some CSS hackery to get things to work. I am sure, in fact I know there are some bad code smell in my work as I have a lot of !importants happening, but it gets the job done.

        You are welcome to examine my work and suggests improvement. I can do a Duplicator export of the site I have been testing on and send it via Dropbox or some other means.

        • I can’t remember where I saw it, but copying the single-projects.php to your child theme folder and renaming it single-YOUR_CPT.php did the trick for me. It does away with the need for custom css.

        • Hello Stephen,

          Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation and screenshots, this helps a lot.
          We are testing this today and we’ll write to Divi developers in order to fix this CSS consistency issue. Once I get a reply, I’ll keep you updated here, all good?
          Marine.

          • Hi Marine,

            Cheers for having a look at this.

            I had a look at Rasmus’s suggestion but it does still require adding custom styling. The one advantage is that you can edit the single-YOUR_CPT.php to remove the furniture you don’t need, such as the title and featured image, reducing the amount css changes.

            For full styling through all viewports here is what I have done so far:

            /* Style for custom podt types using Divi Builder */
            .single-print #main-content .container {
            padding-top: 0 !important;
            width: 100%;
            max-width: initial;
            }

            .single-print #main-content .container #left-area {
            width: 100%;
            padding-bottom: 0;
            }

            .single-print .et_post_meta_wrapper {
            display: none;
            }

            .single-print .et_pb_row {
            width: 100%;
            }

            .single-print .et_pb_post {
            margin-bottom: 0;
            }
            @media all and (min-width: 1081px) and (max-width: 1280px) {
            .container {
            width: 90% !important;
            }

            .single-print #main-content .container {
            width: 100% !important;
            }

            .single-print #main-content .container .et_pb_row {
            width: 100% !important;
            }
            }
            @media all and (max-width: 1080px) {
            .container {
            width: 90% !important;
            }

            .single-print #main-content .container {
            width: 100% !important;
            }

            .single-print #main-content .container .et_pb_row {
            padding-right: 5%;
            padding-left: 5%;
            width: 100% !important;
            }
            }

            You will need to change as per your CPT name. Also if you use a different content width than the Divi default of 1080px you will have to do some extra customisation around the laptop size. For example, on these sites, for artists I use 1300px to give more space for artworks:

            http://www.vaughanprint.com/print/archive/
            http://vincentsheridan.com/print/road-rooks/

            I have my all this in a Divi child theme. I also have to add the following to remove some padding that the Bootstrap that I enqueue in my functions.php:
            .container {
            padding-left: 0 !important;
            padding-right: 0 !important;
            }

            As I said, I would prefer if I did not need to do this as I trust that Elegant Themes would have a more “elegant” solution.

            • Hi Stephen, thanks for the update.

              Our first thought is to include the title and featured image in the integration (just like the rest of the theme options you can already control thanks to Toolset.)
              At least, in one single click, you could choose if you want to display those elements or not.

              Regarding the full styling, we are still looking into this and I’ll update you with a better solution.
              I’m forwarding your CSS code to our developers so they can investigate further.

              Thanks a lot Stephen for your cooperation.
              Marine

        • Good idea Tom.
          Our positioning is really different from Divi’s one. Our clients are mainly developers so Elegant Theme should consider Toolset as a premium development tool for their most advanced users. Please let me know if you hear back from them 🙂

  16. thank you so much for this great work. Do you have an integration with any pure Bootstrap-Theme on your schedule? Just, because Toolset uses Bootstrap too and to reduce used libraries/resources.

  17. This is great news, I am now as happy as I was when I discovered Toolset and then divi.
    That opens up a world of possibilities. I am already writing my affiliate page having seen this.

  18. I am going to have a threesome with Divi and Toolset. Unbelievably cool update team! And, a great example of ‘give and take’ for product integration. Well done.

  19. Hi Amir!

    In Layouts the option to set a 404-Layout is gone. On purpose or by mistake?

    Do you plan to integrate the Divi Builder in Layouts too or only for designing Content Templates?
    I’m thinking of rows built with Divi (or other Page Builders) instead of Bootstrap. Then there would be possibly no need to load BS.
    Also the Divi-Elements you introduced in a earlier version of the Divi-Integration are gone. Once again: on purpose or by mistake?

    Could you be more specific on the Integration of Elementor?

    And what about Gutenberg?

    Greetings!

    mb

    • Layouts should work on 404 pages. Can you show us (in a support ticket), where it’s not available for you?

      We’re not planning to integrate Divi and Layouts. We understand that most Divi users prefer to use Divi Builder (for good reasons) and not Layouts.

      We’re working with Elementor team about how to integrate. So far, there are a few problems that we’re looking for solutions for.

      We’ll have Gutenberg integrated in the next Views version.

      • But Layouts is capable of building Layouts for Post Types while Divi is not.
        A lot of Divi Users would like to build the entire site with Divi including Header and Footer assign different Header and Footers to specific pages. That’s why these Layout Injector Plugins exist and are successful.

        To bei clear, I’m thinking of making a Layout for specific pages with specific Headers and footers consisting of a row for the Header built with Divi, a row for the Post content (which loads the Page which is also built with Divi) and a row for the footer also desgined with Divi.
        At the moment I could make a Workaround with Content Templates for Header and Footer and load these via Layouts.

        So, the Divi modules in Layouts are gone on purpose?

        • These Divi modules were part of the integration plugin that we created for Layout. It’s still available. However, the folks from ElegantThemes explained to us that they would much rather see this integration moving towards Divi Builder. We understand the reasoning behind this. So, new developments that we’re doing for Divi assumes using Divi Builder, rather than Layouts.

          In order for this integration to be successful, the theme author needs to be involved and interested. It’s better for the project to limit the scope and work on a mode that fits the strategic direction of our partners. This ensures a long life for the project and active cooperation on the details.

          I hope it makes sense.

    • Hello,

      Jupiter is totally on our list!
      Can you check about their interest on this? I was going to contact them very soon, but if you drop them a little message too, it should be even more impactful. The integration can be done only in a one day. Thanks Dave 🙂

  21. Hi Marine,

    it sounds great that Jupiter is on your list 🙂

    I have send them a message about integration.

  22. Hello Amir,

    Did I get it right that the only Genesis child theme with integrated with Toolset is the Sample child theme? Is that possible to extend the integration to all StudioPress themes not including third parties?

    I was reading above about Thrive Architect, I watched few videos and I must say it looks awesome. Really hope to see this amzing builder very soon integrated with Toolset and if that happen I will buy it for sure.

  23. Hi Marine & Amir,

    Having worked a bit with the new Views implementation to integrate with Divi, It works well when some of my CSS is customisation is applied to present the layout fullwidth to the browser window.

    The current Vies solution works well, similar to how Sean Barton’s Divi Layout Injector plugin works, but it seems that Divi can’t detect that we are going to use its layout framework.

    It strikes me though, that to correct how the Divi Builder should present the layouts (without a CSS hack on the users part) that the Divi team need to be responsible for loading default layouts for a custom post type so that the correct styling can be applied. In fact Elegant Themes needs to introduce some form of uniformity across their Divi theme in terms of layout, content/sidebar ratios etc. even when presenting pages and posts, not using the Divi builder, beside those that do. And this doesn’t take into account using custom content widths other than then standard default of 1080px.

    I expect there would be a bot of work involved in getting to this stage, sow we will need to be patient and continue with our workarounds till then.

  24. This is great! Finally moving in the right direction with this integration. It seems to me that the next logical step is some types, views and cred divi modules, with integrated divi option pages…. that’s a big leap, I know, but the possibilities!

    • Hi James!
      What do you mean by “some CRED divi modules integrated Divi options pages”? Can you give me an example of what you mean, please? Thanks a lot 🙂

  25. I don’t know why, but on my custom post type template doesn’t appear the Divi button, I think is showed like previous version, but I just installed the new one 🙁

    • Hi Daniel! I’m sending you an email to follow-up on this.
      You should be able to see the Divi Builder button, let me help you.
      Did you get my email?

    • We’re working with Elementor team. Right now, there are a few issues that are waiting for their feedback. I think that if more clients will remind them about integration with Toolset, this integration will happen faster.