Vendrest 1.4.1

Customer setup and customization — Vendrest package 1.4.1

This package contains Vendrest theme 1.4.0 and Vendrest Companion 1.4.1. The maintenance release fixes interrupted starter imports; the theme design and its installable ZIP are unchanged.

Your first setup

Back up an existing site before any theme change. Install and activate the theme. The companion plugin is optional for ordinary Pages and Posts, and required for the Placement inquiry block and one-click starter setup. A fresh site gives the closest match to the demo.

1. In Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme, upload vendrest-1.4.0.zip and activate Vendrest.
2. In Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, upload vendrest-companion-1.4.1.zip and activate Vendrest Companion.
3. Open Appearance → Vendrest starter content, choose the reading-settings and sample-title options if you want the complete sample composition, and click Import.
4. Set a real recipient under Settings → Vendrest, configure your host's mail transport, and verify delivery to that inbox. The form cannot send until a recipient is set.
5. Select and finalize your real privacy page under Settings → Privacy. Replace the fictional business copy before publishing.

The starter importer creates 21 Pages, including hierarchical services, machines, and industries; nine ordinary journal Posts; local Media Library images; and a native Navigation menu. It uses generated IDs and installation permalinks. Imported pages and articles remain editable and survive theme switching. It preserves content with matching slugs rather than overwriting it. After a failed media upload, correct upload permissions and retry. Companion 1.4.1 keeps unfinished new items as drafts and resumes them on retry when they still match the importer's checkpoint. If you edit an unfinished item, your changes are preserved and setup reports a review warning. Check all warnings before continuing. Empty items left by an interrupted 1.4.0 import have no recovery checkpoint; restore your backup or review and repair those items manually before repeating setup.

Select the explicit reading-settings option to set Home as the front page, Journal as the posts page, and six posts per archive page. The separate title option changes the site name to the fictional Vendrest sample. Existing customized headers are preserved; choose the imported menu manually if an existing header prevents automatic attachment. Set a suitable permalink structure in Settings → Permalinks.

The imported Home page has the Vendrest: full-width composition template assigned. For a posts front or the Journal posts page, WordPress uses the Home template (home.html). Version 1.1 has eight templates and removes front-page.html, allowing the native static-page and posts-front settings to choose their intended templates. An ordinary static page can use the default Page template.

Change branding and design

Open Appearance → Editor → Styles to use the default cobalt-and-citron style, Fresh, or Coastal, or edit colors and typography yourself. The seven named palette roles are pine, mint, paper, white, ink, muted, and accent; they also drive component and form colors. Edit their values while retaining the slugs. The default accent is #304AC8. Gradients and additional native editor options remain available. Space Grotesk and DM Sans are self-hosted with system fallbacks; upload or select another font in the native Font Library if desired.

Explicit global Typography edits for headings, buttons, Site Title, and Navigation reach the composed sections as well as ordinary blocks. An individual block's explicit typography remains more specific. The medium, large, and x-large font-size presets from 1.0 remain as compatibility aliases, alongside the current Body, Lead, Section title, Small, and Display choices.

Change Settings → General → Site Title, then open the Header template part to add your Site Logo, adjust the Site Title block, and edit Navigation. Footer content is also editable in the Site Editor. The compact header stays visible while scrolling and uses WordPress's native responsive overlay and nested navigation controls. Very long branding is visually shortened with an ellipsis; its full accessible name and title tooltip remain available.

To change menu structure, edit the Navigation block in the Header template part, choose the imported menu, and add or remove Page links and submenus. The sample placement button is a Navigation link with the vr-nav-cta additional CSS class. Change its label and destination through the editor.

Edit pages and sections

Use Pages → Edit for imported page copy, images, buttons, and optional sections. All section content uses core blocks. The Vendrest: full-width composition page template presents composed landing pages without a duplicate title. The default Page template supplies the page's title and a readable content width; use it for policies and general information pages.

Open List View to see each top-level section Group. Move or remove the entire Group to rearrange sections. Insert any of the 16 patterns from Patterns → Vendrest sections. Patterns are independent editable copies; editing one inserted copy does not change others. Shared Header and Footer template parts apply across pages. Use the Site Editor to modify the templates themselves.

Replace images using the Media Library. The 1.4 images show porcelain-white AI vending, a silver smart cooler, an oak and white smart market, a white cabinet placement and two fictional colleagues using a market. Supply descriptive alt text for informative images, or blank alt text for purely decorative imagery. Optional featured images can be removed from articles; the title and content remain usable. When removing a split-layout image, remove the Image block or its whole Column and review the resulting desktop and mobile layout. Empty equipment stages and supported empty image columns collapse. Keep headings logical: one H1 per page, H2 for sections, H3 for subsections. Changing a page title does not automatically change a separate landing-page H1; edit both.

A product card or industry row with one destination can make its full surface clickable. Adding another link, button, media control, or other interactive control keeps those targets independent. With JavaScript disabled, links retain their normal local hit areas.

Machine models and example specification values are fictional. Replace their names, dimensions, requirements, capacities, and images with data you can substantiate. Confirm accessibility and installation suitability for the actual equipment; the theme does not determine compliance or site eligibility.

Motion and native controls

The theme uses local GSAP/ScrollTrigger for heading arrivals, product sequences, expanding placement photography and process progress. CSS and the Web Animations API handle quick control feedback and reversible native menu/FAQ transitions. Supporting copy and actions remain available during arrival. Native Navigation retains dialog, keyboard, Escape and focus behavior. FAQs remain native Details blocks. Interrupted animations settle; reduced motion removes decorative movement and desktop stacking. See the experience guide for timings, fallbacks and editable component structure.

Without JavaScript, mobile navigation becomes an expanded native link list and FAQ disclosures still open normally. Inquiry forms use their separate review-and-send fallback. You can continue editing the underlying core blocks; no animation builder or frontend framework is needed.

The three-step shopper pattern

Insert Smart Shopping from Patterns → Vendrest sections. Its three numbered Groups contain ordinary Paragraph and Heading blocks: edit the number, heading and supporting copy in List View. The illustration and controls are a presentation enhancement; the three instructions and destination link stay readable without JavaScript. Keep exactly three step Groups to retain the illustrated three-stage behavior. If the structure is changed or the stage removed, native content remains readable.

The starter includes this section on Home, AI snack & drink vending, and Everyday Combo. It explains a glass-door AI cabinet purchase, separate from the placement consultation process. The illustration is original presentation artwork, not a functional checkout. Edit the flow for your actual equipment and payment system before launch. Open-shelf markets may have a different checkout process.

Visitors can choose any numbered step or use Next step / Start again. Native buttons support touch, Tab, Enter and Space; arrows, Home and End move between steps. Repeated actions cancel the previous short animation. Reduced motion switches directly to the selected illustrated state. No looping or scroll hijacking is used.

The About photograph uses the vr-people-grid Columns class to place text beside the scene, keeping the people visible. The image stays editable. Use this class for similar people-focused story compositions.

Journal, search, and general pages

Publish Posts and assign Categories to build the journal. Archives inherit the site's posts-per-page setting, offer pagination when needed, and tolerate missing featured images. Search covers published WordPress content and includes a useful no-results state. Category, tag, author, and date archives use the shared Archive template. Individual articles use a constrained reading layout and previous/next article links.

The Page template accommodates long titles and short copy. The Search and 404 templates are editable in the Site Editor. Remove sample Posts and any default WordPress content you do not want. Replace the English starter copy before launch; content is edited in WordPress, while interface strings use standard gettext text domains vendrest and vendrest-companion.

Inquiries

Add the Placement inquiry block from the block inserter. Its inspector allows the form heading to change. The form itself uses required fields, consent, server validation, a honeypot, short-lived signed tokens, a minimum preparation time, replay protection, and per-connection limits. Business name, phone, actual coverage, and recipient are available under Settings → Vendrest.

The form distinguishes preparing, ready, sending, error, and accepted states. Errors retain the entered values for correction. After mail transport acceptance, submitted details remain visible and read-only, and the send action is locked to prevent accidental resubmission. Acceptance is not proof that the message reached the recipient's inbox; test delivery on your own hosting.

The plugin continues working under another theme. If it is deactivated while this theme is active, inquiry pages display an unavailable-form message. Re-enable the plugin or remove the block and provide a real contact alternative. Deactivation does not delete imported customer content. The theme can be used without the plugin by building ordinary Pages and navigation yourself.

Updates and launch

Get support and maintenance updates

For a direct $59 purchase, support and available maintenance updates are included for 12 months from the purchase date. The support response target is within two business days; a response is not a promise that every issue will be resolved within that time. Maintenance updates are supplied when available, without a promised release schedule. Direct purchases have a 14-day refund period from purchase.

For direct support, a maintenance update, or a refund request, reply to your purchase or receipt email using the email address used for the order. Include the order reference, installed theme and Companion versions, WordPress/PHP versions, and a short description of the issue. Request the latest verified download if your original download access is unavailable. Request a direct-purchase refund within the 14-day period. Never send administrator passwords, API keys, or customer inquiry details in an ordinary support message.

For a marketplace purchase, use that marketplace's order support, download/update, and refund request channels. The purchase and support terms shown by that marketplace apply; the direct-purchase offer above is separate. Keep your order reference available.

Vendrest does not include an automatic update service. Obtain the verified release ZIPs through your purchase channel and use the manual steps below.

Install an available update

1. Make a recoverable backup of the WordPress database and site files, including uploads, plugins, themes, and any custom code. Keep the previous working theme and Companion ZIPs. Try the update on a staging copy when available.
2. Extract the customer download. Check its component versions and changelog. Package 1.4.1 includes theme 1.4.0 and Companion 1.4.1; an existing theme 1.4.0 installation needs no theme replacement for this patch.
3. To update a newer theme, go to Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme, choose the enclosed vendrest-[theme-version].zip, and confirm WordPress's Replace current with uploaded action after checking the versions. Keep code customizations in a child theme or preserve them separately before replacing theme files.
4. To update Companion, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose vendrest-companion-[plugin-version].zip, and confirm Replace current with uploaded. Keep the plugin active after the update. Use the upload-and-replace flow; uninstalling is unnecessary.
5. Clear your site's caches, check the homepage and navigation, and test a placement inquiry through your configured mail transport. Confirm the message reaches your inbox. If the update causes a problem, restore the backup or replace the affected component with your previous working ZIP, then contact your purchase channel.

Updating files does not require rerunning starter setup. An earlier failed import should be reviewed using the recovery guidance above; a normal update keeps imported content and editor customizations.

Editor customizations are stored in WordPress. Updating source templates does not overwrite a customized template; use the Site Editor's reset option only if you intentionally want to replace your customization with the updated theme default. Preserve a backup before resets.

For an earlier installation, updating the theme changes its default presentation but does not replace already imported Pages, Posts, featured images, or a saved customer Header. Repeating starter import preserves those edits; it does not apply the latest demo compositions. To adopt the updated demo, insert the new patterns into your existing pages or revise their core blocks manually. Review saved template parts separately and reset only the parts you intentionally want to replace. The original 1.0 archives and changelog remain available.

Before publishing, replace the demo disclosure, validate every business claim, set real contact/coverage information, finalize your privacy page, test a delivered inquiry on your own hosting, and review desktop/mobile navigation and content. Keep WordPress and PHP on maintained versions. The minimum historical versions are test targets, not a recommendation to remain on unsupported software.

Inquiry delivery and privacy

The product never reports a message as delivered. The successful state means wp_mail() accepted it through the configured transport. A receiving server, spam filter, or mailbox rule may still prevent inbox delivery. Transport failure returns an error and preserves the visitor's entered fields. A network interruption reports that acceptance could not be confirmed.

Set one monitored recipient address under Settings → Vendrest. Configure your hosting mail service or a suitable WordPress SMTP/API transport plugin using your own credentials. Configure the sender identity and required domain authentication with that provider. Vendrest does not provide a sending domain, account, credentials, or mail service. Send a real test from the public form and confirm its arrival and reply-to behavior before launch. No external email was sent during product tests.

The form remains usable without JavaScript through a review-and-send page. Fresh tokens avoid embedding cached nonces in public page HTML. Tokens expire after 30 minutes and require three seconds before submission. Attempts are limited to five per network address per minute. The plugin uses REMOTE_ADDR; a trusted reverse proxy must supply the actual client address at the server layer. It deliberately does not trust arbitrary forwarded headers. Shared networks may share the limit.

Inquiry names, emails, locations, and message bodies are not stored in the WordPress database by Vendrest. Short-lived hashed anti-abuse keys and expiration times are stored in the options table and cleaned through WordPress cron. Keep WP-Cron or a real cron replacement operational. Hosting, security, SMTP plugins, and mail providers may log or retain their own records.

Set your privacy page in Settings → Privacy. The starter policy is an editable outline that needs your operator identity, contact information, actual retention practices, hosting/mail services, applicable rights, and any analytics/cookies you add. The form links the WordPress-selected privacy policy. The sample footer policy link points to the imported policy Page; update it if you select another policy.

Development runtimes include a local-only must-use interception which prevents all external mail. A separate test fixture can make the interception return transport acceptance to exercise the success branch. These fixtures are excluded from the installable theme/plugin archives. Production uses your actual wp_mail() transport; no test success mode exists in the products.

Licenses, source and demo images

The editable source and original art are in source/. Original theme and companion code uses GPL-2.0-or-later. Font files retain OFL 1.1. GSAP and ScrollTrigger retain the separate GSAP Standard License. Full notices are included with the corresponding files. The entire bundle is not represented as 100% GPL.

Raster demo images show AI-generated fictional equipment, locations and people. Development used AI assistance. No actual manufacturer, installation or hardware integration is included. See source/assets/source/ and source/docs/ for originals and provenance.

Support and updates

Use the direct-purchase or marketplace procedure in the setup guide above. Direct support and update requests go through your purchase email; marketplace purchases use the marketplace order channel. Keep the order reference and installed component versions available.

Verification scope

The unchanged theme 1.4.0 retains its prior Chromium/editor checks on WordPress 6.6/PHP 8.0 and WordPress 7.1.3/PHP 8.3. Companion 1.4.1 adds fresh offline WordPress ZIP installation, inquiry/import integration and interrupted-import recovery checks on those versions using SQLite/PHP WASM. This patch was not newly browser-tested. Physical devices, Safari/Firefox, production hosting and actual inbox delivery remain unverified. Configure and test your own deployment before publishing.