Narratium - WordPress Theme for Authors

I played around with Narratium on a test site and was impressed by how it mixes imagery and text in a way that remains reader-friendly. It’s especially good if you have categories or series, because it presents content in a very organized yet creative grid.- HeroThemes

Narratium is a modern responsive WordPress theme designed and built for writers and bloggers. Created with simplicity in mind.

All Narratium configuration options are integrated and use native WordPress functions for ease the managing, avoiding struggle in dealing with third complex configuration panels that become obsolete over time. This makes it a perfect theme for both advanced and beginners WordPress users.

Features Resume

Dynamic Navigation (AJAX): AJAX Navigation can be activated with just one click to accelerate and approach the navigation throughout the website. Come with various transition effects.

Text Format Tags for Titles: Narratium introduces titles (and subtitles) with text format tags. This allows you to give text format tags (bold, italic, color) to your post’s titles and subtitles.

Extended Template System: Narratium implement a system of templates que permite que dichas templates puedan ser intercambiables. Así por ejemplo puedes.

Focused in the future: Narratium is compatible with WordPress Gutenberg and follows closely its development.

Custom author avatar: Every author can upload an avatar to display on their profile page from the administration site.

Featured images for every category: You can link an image with every category of the site. This image is displayed on the top of the category site.

Color Schemes: Narratium come with a serie of predefined color schemes that can be selected for the entire theme and also individually for any post. You can set the theme with a color scheme but configure any post to display with others colors, adding a plus of customization for your posts.

Post Co-authors: In some magazines you can find articles written by various authors in conjunction. In Narratium you can indicate co-authors for your posts. These co-authors appears in the theme next to the post’s author.

Video covers for posts: You can upload a video file to display it in the place of the featured image of the post.

Category templates: You can easily set up the design you want to display the items in every different category of the site.

Read time: Narratium can automatically count how many words has every article to give to the reader an idea of its length and time it will take to read it.

Interview support: You can convert every article in an interview by adding questions and answers through interview buttons that come with the theme and appear in the content editor.

Word Count Tool: Literatum can automatically count how many words has every article to give to the reader an idea of its length and time it will take to read it.

Icons: Narratium imports a custom typeface that display icons anywhere on the page and let you manipulate them easily as if they were a text. You can easily accompany the site menus and content of the articles with any of these over 400 icons by adding them as it is explained in the documentation. See image.

Designed for social networks: Every Narratium item contains the corresponding metadata to ease the sharing on the major social networks like Facebook or Twitter. Fully prepared for Twitter Cards.

AND MORE

Translatable into any language (includes English and Spanish).

Author’s contact field included. Every author can add their Twitter and Facebook username and will appear on the profile. Besides, these contact data will be also used when any visitor shares an article on the social networks.

Online Documentation.

Responsive, to adapt articles to any device and to be read from anywhere without losing legibility.

CHANGELOG:

Version 1.2.69 - 22 February 2026
- Fixed Gutenberg formatted title/subtitle editor bootstrap by restoring block-editor script enqueue and settings initialization.
- Restored formatted editor visibility in post editing when block editor is active.

Version 1.2.68
- Restored inline formatted title/subtitle editing in the editor canvas and prevented duplicate classic metabox rendering in block-editor context.
- Kept formatting toolbar actions stable across environments.

Version 1.2.67
- Improved formatted title/subtitle editing reliability in the block editor.
- Improved cross-environment compatibility to keep editing behavior consistent.
- Improved rich-text color formatting stability.

Version 1.2.66
- Restored the stable formatted-title/subtitle/credits editing flow in the block editor.
- Unified editor behavior to avoid interface differences between editing contexts.
- Preserved save compatibility for existing formatted fields.

Version 1.2.65
- Hardened AJAX navigation link handling by expanding skip rules ([noajax], [data-noajax], .noajax, non-HTTP schemes, non-_self targets, and download links).
- Added safe URL parsing for relative and malformed links before AJAX evaluation to avoid runtime errors.
- Improved link validation rules to reduce unintended AJAX navigation attempts.

Version 1.2.64 - 20 February 2026
- Tuned sideheader featured-video startup transition to further hide transient player loading states: increased video reveal delay and added a temporary soft dark mask that fades out as video becomes visible.

Version 1.2.63
- Improved featured/header video transition UX in sideheaders by keeping the image background visible until the video is ready, then fading smoothly from image to video to avoid the initial black/loading flash.

Version 1.2.62
- Fixed WP 6.7+ `_load_textdomain_just_in_time` notice by moving Kohette framework initialization from immediate file-load time to `after_setup_theme` (early hook) to avoid triggering translations too early while preserving widget/sidebar hook registration timing.

Version 1.2.61
- Finalized framework hook-hardening pass by replacing legacy `add_filter('admin_init', ...)` usage with `add_action('admin_init', ...)` in taxonomy/settings modules for clearer intent and safer maintenance.

Version 1.2.60
- Fixed Kohette framework legacy constructor wrapper to correctly forward `$theme_config` into `__construct()`, avoiding malformed initialization paths in PHP legacy-style constructor calls.

Version 1.2.59
- Fixed widget areas bootstrap timing: Kohette framework now initializes early (instead of on `init`) so sidebar registration hooks are attached before `widgets_init`.
- Restored compatibility with `Appearance > Widgets` by ensuring registered sidebars are available in admin widget screens.

Version 1.2.58
- Extended Social Media module with new built-in networks using existing theme icons: `youtube`, `github`, `rss`, and `xing`.
- Added defaults for new network profile/feed URL patterns and admin option labels/descriptions.
- Kept compatibility with existing social rendering pipeline so new networks can be enabled from the same display selector.

Version 1.2.57
- Updated Social Media branding from Twitter to X in admin labels and generated profile URL template (`https://x.com/%value%`) while keeping backward-compatible internal option key (`twitter`).
- Updated frontpage sideheader social icon rendering so legacy `twitter` entries display a new `icon-x` visual class.
- Added `icon-x` style in icon stylesheet for X branding display.

Version 1.2.56
- Improved Social Media settings parsing to support both usernames and full profile URLs.
- Added normalization for username inputs (removes leading `@` and surrounding slashes).
- Normalized mail social field as sanitized email and always generates a valid `mailto:` link.

Version 1.2.55
- Fixed Social Media module Pinterest URL template typo (`%value%0` -> `%value%`) so generated profile links are valid.
- Fixed Social Media settings registration priority sequence by moving the priority counter initialization outside the options loop.

Version 1.2.54
- Reduced Theme Check warnings by sanitizing oEmbed fallback output in sideheader featured-video renderer (`wp_kses` + allowed iframe attributes) and removing raw `echo $variable` output pattern.
- Replaced direct `$_SERVER['QUERY_STRING']` access in URL catcher with `filter_input(INPUT_SERVER, ...)` plus sanitization for safer superglobal handling.

Version 1.2.53
- Improved PHP 8.2/WP compatibility in framework constructors by fixing legacy constructor wrappers (`KTT_*`) to delegate correctly to `__construct()`.
- Hardened admin/settings request handling: sanitized submenu tab request key, sanitized bulk-action request parameters, and added guard checks for unknown actions.
- Added null-safe handling in co-authors query parser when resolving `author_name` to user IDs, avoiding potential notices/fatal errors for invalid slugs.
- Minor framework hardening: store submenu `hook_suffix` explicitly and guard taxonomy-meta save path when POST key is missing.

Version 1.2.52
- Fixed featured sideheader video rendering compatibility in single posts by restoring `#wp-custom-header` wrapper markup expected by theme AJAX/template refresh logic.
- Improved frontend video source handling with robust YouTube ID fallback parsing plus direct-file detection and oEmbed fallback for non-file video URLs.
- Updated sideheader video iframe permissions/query args to maximize autoplay/muted loop behavior for background playback.

Version 1.2.51
- Fixed Featured Video `Use URL` flow reliability in editor:
- Read persisted featured-video meta directly from DB in metabox callback (instead of relying on hydrated post object fields).
- Improved YouTube URL detection/parsing (supports `watch`, `embed`, `shorts`, `youtu.be`) and stabilized preview replacement cleanup.
- Prevented `Use URL` from clearing existing value on mode switch and added input/blur/change validation sync for consistent save behavior.

Version 1.2.50
- Restored `Post Credits` editing to the Gutenberg sidebar (Document panel) instead of inline content canvas, matching previous placement expectations while keeping the custom formatting toolbar.

Version 1.2.49
- Adjusted inline Gutenberg `Post Credits` placement: now renders as a smaller right-aligned editor box (instead of full content-width flow) to keep title/subtitle area visually clean.

Version 1.2.48
- Added inline Gutenberg `Post Credits` editor with the same formatting toolbar workflow used for formatted title/subtitle.
- Added REST meta registration for `ktt_post_credits` and synchronized credits persistence in Gutenberg save pipeline.
- Hid legacy credits metabox in block editor when credits feature is enabled to avoid duplicate editors.
- Updated frontend single template credits rendering to read persisted post meta and respect `post_credits` feature toggle.

Version 1.2.47
- UI refinement: removed bottom padding/margin from inline headline formatting toolbar so controls visually connect more clearly with the edited title/subtitle text area.

Version 1.2.46
- Aligned frontend behavior with subtitles feature toggle: when `post_subtitle_formated` is disabled, subtitle helper functions now return empty output, preventing subtitle rendering on site templates.

Version 1.2.45
- Fixed WP 6.4+/PHP 8.2 deprecation in Theme Features table by declaring `found_data` property in `PluginsManagerTable` (avoids dynamic property creation on `WP_List_Table` extension).

Version 1.2.44
- Moved formatted subtitle editing into the inline Gutenberg header editor (below formatted title) using the same toolbar/markup workflow.
- Removed duplicate subtitle editing surface from sidebar plugin panel to keep title/subtitle editing consolidated in the main editor canvas.

Version 1.2.43
- UI tweak: added top spacing above inline formatted-title toolbar in Gutenberg for improved separation from core editor top controls.

Version 1.2.42
- Aligned frontend behavior with Theme Features state: when `post_title_formated` is disabled, theme title helpers now return the native post title and ignore stored formatted-title meta.

Version 1.2.41
- Made Gutenberg custom title/subtitle UI feature-aware: inline formatted-title editor now mounts only when `post_title_formated` is enabled, and subtitle sidebar panel only appears when `post_subtitle_formated` is enabled.
- Added editor-side settings bootstrap from PHP to keep Gutenberg UI synchronized with Theme Features enable/disable state.

Version 1.2.40
- Fixed Theme Features toggle navigation bug causing `Cannot load ktt_plugins-manager` by correcting feature action URLs to use the registered admin page base (`themes.php`) instead of `options-general.php`.

Version 1.2.39
- Fixed custom Gutenberg headline editor formatting-state UX: toolbar buttons now reflect current selection state (bold/italic/underline/strikethrough) using command-state sync.
- Improved command reliability by preventing toolbar clicks from dropping editor selection before format actions.
- Adjusted inline title editor base font weight to avoid false "always bold" visual feedback when text is not actually wrapped in bold tags.

Version 1.2.38
- Adjusted custom Gutenberg headline color command to store color markup using legacy-compatible `foreColor` output without forcing CSS-inline span conversion, improving persistence in environments where inline `style` attributes are filtered on save.

Version 1.2.37
- Fixed formatted title/subtitle color persistence in custom Gutenberg editors by normalizing legacy `<font color="">` markup to `<span style="\"color:...\"">` before save.
- Added backend compatibility for `font[color]` in headline HTML sanitizer to avoid color loss from browser-specific `foreColor` output.

Version 1.2.36
- Improved inline formatted-title editor alignment in Gutenberg by inheriting content-width layout constraints and adjusting host placement/padding to match the main editor canvas.
- Refined toolbar/editor box styles for cleaner visual integration with core editor spacing and borders.

Version 1.2.35
- Fixed inline formatted-title editor (Option  in Gutenberg: replaced fragile inline `RichText` mount with stable custom contenteditable editor, expanded native-title hide selectors to prevent duplicate titles, and mounted custom title host at the top of writing flow.

Version 1.2.34
- Implemented inline formatted-title editing in Gutenberg at the native title area (Option : hides default title input, mounts a custom `RichText` title editor in-place, and synchronizes plain `post_title` for core WP flows.
- Moved formatted-title editing out of sidebar; sidebar now keeps the formatted-subtitle panel.

Version 1.2.33
- Refined formatted title/subtitle Gutenberg toolbar by removing list actions (bulleted/numbered) to keep headline editing focused on inline text formatting only.

Version 1.2.32
- Fixed formatted title/subtitle color persistence/rendering by replacing `strip_tags` output filtering with controlled `wp_kses` sanitization that preserves allowed inline attributes (including `style` for color on `<span>`).
- Unified Gutenberg/classic meta sanitization for formatted title/subtitle fields using the same headline-safe sanitizer callback.

Version 1.2.31
- Fixed frontend formatted title/subtitle rendering to prioritize persisted post meta (`ktt_post_title_formated`, `ktt_post_subtitle_formated`) over stale in-memory post object properties, preventing old values from showing after Gutenberg saves.

Version 1.2.30
- Refined Gutenberg formatted title/subtitle toolbar: removed link/unlink/quote actions (not suitable for headline fields) and integrated text-color picker directly into the main toolbar.

Version 1.2.29
- Improved Gutenberg formatted title/subtitle sidebar editor toolbar to better match TinyMCE capabilities: added underline, unlink, bullet/numbered lists, quote block and clear-format actions, plus minor editor readability tweaks.

Version 1.2.28
- Fixed loader warnings after feature removal by deleting stale empty feature directory and hardening framework plugin loader to skip missing source files.
- Adjusted Gutenberg meta initialization order: `post` now enables `custom-fields` support earlier, and formatted title/subtitle meta registration runs later to ensure REST meta availability in editor reloads.

Version 1.2.27
- Hardened Gutenberg formatted title/subtitle persistence by ensuring `post` supports `custom-fields` and adding explicit REST-save sync on `rest_after_insert_post` for both meta keys.

Version 1.2.26
- Fixed block editor meta persistence regression in framework metabox saver: it no longer overwrites post meta with empty values when a metabox field is absent from `$_POST` (common when legacy metabox UI is hidden in Gutenberg).

Version 1.2.25
- Improved Gutenberg formatted title/subtitle UX by adding visible formatting toolbar controls (bold, italic, strikethrough, link, color) in sidebar panels.
- Hid legacy `Title` and `Subtitle` metaboxes in block editor context to avoid duplicate/empty UI sections.

Version 1.2.24
- Reverted temporary "Classic Editor for Posts" forcing and restored Gutenberg for posts.
- Added Gutenberg native sidebar panels for `Formatted Title` and `Formatted Subtitle` (`assets/js/editor-post-meta.js`) using the same existing meta keys.
- Registered `ktt_post_title_formated` and `ktt_post_subtitle_formated` post meta with REST support for block editor persistence.
- Updated legacy title/subtitle metaboxes to show guidance in block editor and keep TinyMCE behavior only in classic editor context.

Version 1.2.23
- Added `Classic Editor for Posts` feature to force classic editor only for `post` post type, preserving legacy TinyMCE metabox UX (formatted title/subtitle/credits) while avoiding Gutenberg metabox incompatibilities.

Version 1.2.22
- Fixed Gutenberg custom metabox editing/saving regression by disabling legacy `edit_form_after_title` advanced-metabox relocation when block editor is active (prevents duplicated metabox fields/IDs).
- Improved custom meta editors (title/subtitle/credits) compatibility in block editor by using fallback textarea/quicktags mode instead of TinyMCE-in-metabox, preventing non-editable editor states.
- Fixed empty-content regression in custom meta editors by reading title/subtitle values directly from post meta and reverting block-editor metabox editors to stable quicktags mode.

Version 1.2.21
- Improved metabox save compatibility for block editor by adding `update-post` nonce fallback in framework metabox saver.
- Added autosave/revision guards (`wp_is_post_autosave`/`wp_is_post_revision`) and normalized unslashed metabox value handling.

Version 1.2.20
- Fixed featured video URL persistence in block editor by posting URL field with a real meta name and adding a backend save fallback/normalization on `save_post`.

Version 1.2.19
- Fixed featured video metabox save reliability in block editor by forcing URL validation/sync on post submit (covers cases where field `onchange` is not triggered before save).
- Updated YouTube preview embed URL to HTTPS.

Version 1.2.18
- Fixed single post featured-video header behavior by reading featured video source from post meta directly (instead of relying on hydrated post object properties during header video checks).

Version 1.2.17
- Hardened URL catcher request handling by sanitizing `QUERY_STRING` and request payload before processing and dispatching to URL hooks.

Version 1.2.16
- Updated CSSGram Sass filters to use module-safe list functions (`sass:list` and `list.length`) replacing deprecated global `length()`.
- Removed temporary Dart Sass deprecation-silencing flags from build/watch scripts now that import/global-builtin warnings were addressed in migrated sources.

Version 1.2.15
- Fixed gradient overlays in sideheaders/single headers after Compass removal by updating legacy gradient syntax (`linear-gradient(top, ...)`) to modern CSS syntax (`linear-gradient(to bottom, ...)`).

Version 1.2.14
- Migrated theme Sass sources from legacy `@import` to `@use ... as *` across `assets/sass` for Dart Sass compatibility.
- Updated Dart Sass scripts to stop silencing `import` deprecation warnings (kept temporary silence for `global-builtin` warnings only).

Version 1.2.13
- Improved AJAX navigation resilience: fixed link selector for `[noajax]`, added safe URL parsing with relative URLs support, and skipped special links (`mailto:`, `tel:`, `_blank`, `download`).
- Added guards to avoid JS errors when dynamic footer wrapper is not present.
- Improved AJAX parts update safety checks to avoid runtime errors with empty/non-object content values.

Version 1.2.12
- Added Dart Sass build tooling (`package.json`) with build/watch scripts for `assets/sass` -> `assets/stylesheets`.
- Added Compass compatibility shims for legacy imports (`_compass.scss`, `compass/_css3.scss`, `compass/_reset.scss`) to support gradual migration away from Compass.

Version 1.2.11
- Fixed Sass compatibility issue with legacy Compass/Sass parser by replacing :where(:not(...)) selector with equivalent compatible selector.

Version 1.2.10
- Improved asset registration for scripts and stylesheets by adding explicit dependencies and filemtime-based versions.
- Improved block editor integration by moving editor styles support to after_setup_theme and enqueue_block_editor_assets.
- Security: Added nonce verification to custom user profile settings forms (avatar, profile background, user template).
- Compatibility: Removed legacy media-upload enqueue where wp_enqueue_media already handles media frame dependencies.

Version 1.2.9
- Security: Added nonce and capability checks for Theme Features enable/disable actions in admin.
- Security: Sanitized and validated profile-related user meta saves (avatar, profile background, user template).
- Improved compatibility with PHP 8+ by hardening widget update handling and feature options fallback loading.
- Fixed minor rendering bug in Posts Column widget date output.

Version 1.2.8
- Fixed: _load_textdomain_just_in_time notice caused by premature translation function calls.
- Resolved: Translation system notice by deferring textdomain-dependent code to init.

Version 1.2.7 - 25 August 2022
- Updated custom internal framework version
- Fixed issues with the post share media headers feature
- Improved AJAX Navigation and fixed some related bugs.
- Fixed bug with format titles and subtitles colors not displaying correctly on single pages.
Version 1.2.6 - 06 January 2022
- Fixed some bugs related with the latest version of WordPress 5.8+
- Added theme.json file
Version 1.2.5 - 08 April 2021
- Fix bug in Format for Titles feature in WP version 5.7+
Version 1.2.4 - 01 January 2021
- Added "Featured Image" column to posts table in Admin pages.
- Added option to show/hide the "Go back to home" button in the main sidebar (option in Appearance -> customize -> Homepage settings)
- Experimental: AJAX navigation is now using URL object (https://developer.mozilla.org/es/docs/Web/API/URL)
- Updated demo data file.
- Improved style for new Social Buttons Block.
- Improved style for content image captions.
- Improved style for <code> elements.
- Improved helper classes for content elements.
- Fixed Bug with integrated textarea's editors in custom options in latests WP versions.
- Fixed bug with custom image field uploads.
Version 1.2.3 - 10 December 2019
- Fixed style issues with Columns block.
- Fixed style issues with Video block.
- Improved compatibility with Gutenberg.
- Improved style aspects related with margins and paddings for Gutenberg blocks layout.
- Fixed text align issues by default in Gutenberg blocks (now the text is aligned to left by default instead of center).
- Fixed minor bugs.
Version 1.2.2 - 13 December  2018
- Fixed author profile image bug.
- Fixed Post lists widget date bug.
- Added option to disable social media SEO metadata in theme features page.
- Fix RTL text in post titles when format for titles is enabled.
Version 1.2.1 - 10 December 2018
- Adapted format in title feature to Gutenberg/Wordpress 5.
- Adapted subtitles for posts feature to Gutenberg/Wordpress 5.
- Fixed user profile social media buttons.
- Improved internal framework.
Version 1.2.0 - 9 September 2018
- Fixed featured image for pages bug.
- Fixed some responsive issues.
- Fixed author profile image bug.
Version 1.1.9 - 4 August 2018
- Improved Format for post title feature
- Improved post subtitles feature
- Now some special features can be enabled/disabled in Appearance/Themes features
- Fixed logo bug with image sizes and PHP7+
- Improved internal framework.
Version 1.1.8 - 4 June 2018
- Fixed crop logo bug.
- Fixed "read time" bug.
Version 1.1.7 - 25 May 2018
- Added pagination in author profiles.
- Fix custom author templates bug.
- Improved internal framework.
- Fixed minor bugs.
Version 1.1.6 - 23 May 2018
- Added option to filter posts by category in templates
- Added option to filter posts by tags in templates
- Added option to change posts order in templates
- Added option to change the posts per page displayed in every template
- Improved templates system
- Added special classes for images and elements (.full-width and .wild-element)
- Added 2 new color schemes, Radar and Violet.
Version 1.1.5 - 10 April 2018
- Fix autosave bug with post's titles bug.
Version 1.1.4 - 29 March 2018
- Added back-to-top button feature for mobile.
- Added "Featured post" widget.
- Added "Posts column" widget
- Added "Posts list" widget.
- Added "Extra JS" field in the AJAX navigation to execute custom code at the end of every AJAX request.
- Fixed "go back" bug in AJAX navigation.
- Spanish translation revised.
- Fixed minor bugs.
Version 1.1.3 - 12 March 2018
- Fix scroll bug in Firefox.
- Added CSSGram effects for images in masonry template.
Version 1.1.2 - 6 March 2018
- Fixed responsive related bugs.
- Added demo content xml included in the download.
- Added extra navigation controls to Masonry template.
Version 1.1.1 - 6 February 2018
- Added german translation (thanks Volker!). 
- Added post credits feature to single post template and featured image + content template. 
- Added new template for search results. 
- Added initial support for CSS Hero (WIP). 
- Added display/hide options for masonry template. 
- Fixed hardcoded strings for location. 
- Fixed minor bugs.
Version 1.1.0 - 29 January 2018
- Fixed bug related with cover images 
- Fixed bug related with some versions of PHP.
Version 1.0.9 - 24 January 2018
- Added more customize options to photo grid template
    Display/hide meta info (post author, read time, comments count)
    Overlay styles (high dark, light dark, flat dark, etc)
    CSSGram effects integrated! https://una.im/CSSgram/
- Improved navigation controls.
- Improved spanish translation.
- Fix bug with video covers in dynamic single template
- Fix bug with AJAX controls
Version 1.0.8 - 11 January 2018
- Fixed minor bugs related with old PHP versions
Version 1.0.7
- Release!
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