ThemeFlood.

Introduction

Inspired by the old "Japanese Fantasies" RapidWeaver theme, Zen is completely redeveloped for RapidWeaver 8 and above; with support for drag-and-drop banner images, an HTML5 codebase, modern CSS flexbox layouts and full smartphone/tablet compatibility. Plus Bootstrap 5, Font Awesome 5 icons and a choice of ten ExtraContent containers have been added too. Zen is perfect proof that older RapidWeaver theme designs can still be rejuvenated and used in new websites!

Zen is a great entry-level theme for novice RapidWeaver users. This theme is perfect for small websites, e-commerce or blogs. Zen supports all the main RapidWeaver page types and some third-party plugins like RapidCart Pro, FormsPlus, and Stacks (not included). A couple dozen style and colour settings allow you to modify all the basics in just a couple of clicks. Within a short timeframe, Zen will give you a beautiful website to be proud of.

"I always liked the Japanese Fantasy theme. I have used Zen to remake a website for a garden maintenance company. The new website now looks and functions better than it has anytime in the past 10 years! Being able to add our own header images is amazingly simple. I was scared we would have to switch to different software. We noticed the website has now gone to the top of Google search results and we are getting many more enquiries. I wish to extend my appreciation and gratitude towards Will for spending the time making this theme and answering all my questions." - Alfie

Navigation

Parent page links are displayed at the top of the webpage and subpage links are listed within the sidebar. Traditionally this style of navigation layout was always referred to as "split navigation". Taking into account of mobile and tablet devices, a mobile-optimised menu is revealed from the left, when the "menu" button is pressed or clicked. Inside the mobile menu, the parent page links are listed, and any subpages relating to that parent page link are listed immediately underneath. On mobile devices, subpages continue to be displayed within the sidebar.

ExtraContent

Despite being a free theme, Zen has ten ExtraContent containers built-in. These are located in various parts of the page. ExtraContent is ideal for breaking-away from a traditional two-column layout and being able to get content, social media icons, alert banners and other elements successfully setup. ExtraContent is fully documented in the ThemeFlood knowledge base. The 'Preview ExtraContent Containers' checkbox in the theme settings allows you to see where each of the numbered containers is located. ExtraContent11 and ExtraContent12 are located top and bottom of the mobile menu, and these are good to use for search boxes, extra links or social media buttons.

Banners

The banner image in Zen is easily switchable for your own. A custom banner image goes a long way towards personalising your website. Simply prepare one or more suitable banner images in your favourite image editor. Save the images as JPG, 72 DPI. The recommended size for banner images in this theme is 1000px wide and 500px tall. To apply the same banner image across multiple pages, add the desired image in Settings > Banner. Alternatively if you want to use different banners on different pages, you can add your banner image in the RapidWeaver Page Inspector.

Customising text strings

The labels applied on the mobile menu button and the page last updated / breadcrumb links are changeable with this custom CSS code, if you need them displayed in a different language:

#mobile_menu_btn:before {
  content: 'Menu';
}

#last-published:before {
  content: 'Updated ';
}

#breadcrumb ul:before {
  content: 'Viewing ';
}

Enter this CSS code within Settings > Code > CSS in your RapidWeaver side panel. Change the words as required.

Accents

Along with the default red colour scheme, Zen has green and blue accents built in too. Think of these as "sub themes" or "child themes" that allow you to change the colour of the menu block in just a single click.