Upgrading from Mai Theme v1 to v2
If you're current website is running Mai Theme v1, don't worry, nothing is broken and things should still work as expected for a long while! WordPress itself has ended support for the Classic editor, which our v1 themes (and all WordPress themes from that time) were built for. WordPress has gone "all in" on the newer block editor, and we love it too! It's so much easier to use, design, and build your pages. It didn't make sense for us to continue building and supporting a theme engine built for an editor that WordPress no longer supported. All that being said, there are a ton of other amazing reasons why you should consider upgrading to one of our block-based, super powerful, and blazing fast Mai Theme v2 templates. Mai Theme v2 is a completely new theme and is a paid upgrade for all users, including StudioPress customers.
It's almost always recommended to set up a staging site when changing themes. This way you can take your time to make sure everything is just right before taking it live. Talk to your host about getting a dev/staging site set up.
Here is a short list of things that have changed from v1 to v2
- v1 runs on Mai Theme Engine plugin, which is no longer needed.
- Mai Theme v2 runs on our new Mai Engine plugin. It's the same concept but a better/stronger/faster engine. :)
- Mai Theme has been rebuilt from the ground up to use blocks to their full potential.
- Core Web Vitals were a major focus when we wrote every line of code. Everything is blazing fast.
- We've removed the reliance on jQuery and made a ton of other performance improvements as well.
- Shortcodes have been replaced with blocks. Our [grid] shortcode is now available as two super-easy-to-use Mai Grid blocks.
The internal code and data structure is almost completely new, which means there is no 1-click update to migrate from v1 to v2. We think it's pretty fast, but there are still some manual steps involved.
What to expect
- Your internal post/page content won't get lost! If you've built your regular posts/pages with the built-in editor (not a page builder or our Sections Template), nothing will need to change with those pages.
- v2 is fully block-based, so any pages you've built with the Sections Template will need to be rebuilt with blocks. "Sections" are now even easier with the Group block (solid background colors) and the Cover block (background images) and our custom spacing and content width settings. Super easy and even more flexible.
- Menus will need to get re-assigned. Your menus themselves will still remain the same, but you'll need to assign them to the appropriate menu location.
- Widget areas are now "Content Areas", which means you can use the power of blocks (Group/Cover/Columns/etc) to lay out your global content areas any way that you'd like.
- v1 shortcodes like [grid] and [columns][col] are now replaced with Mai Post/Term Grid, Mai Columns, and the built in Columns block in WP. These will need to be set again.
- Custom settings like v1's "Visibility Settings" per-post/page will need to be set again via our new "Hide Elements" metabox settings.
- Customizer settings will need to be set (if you don't use the theme defaults) for colors, fonts/typography, site header, content archives, single content, etc. If you use the theme defaults, you won't need to do anything here.
Additional notes
- When updating to v2, it is beneficial to first set Genesis as the active theme, then install/activate your v2 Mai Theme. Setting Genesis as the active theme first allows Mai Theme Engine to fully deactivate, before the new Mai Engine plugin is auto-installed and activated when Mai Theme v2 is set as the active theme.
- Any time you change themes you will likely lose any any custom CSS in Customizer > Additional CSS. This custom CSS may not apply or be necessary in the new theme, but it's worth being aware that custom CSS in this panel is saved per-theme, it's not global on the site.
The new customization options, speed/performance improvements, and overall ease of use make this process totally worth it in our opinion. The flexibility of building with blocks in Mai Theme v2 unlocks amazing power! Also, global content areas like our Content Areas and Reusable Blocks are game-changers for managing your content and CTA's throughout your site!