News – Newspaper & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

An Arabic or Hebrew outlet does not need a translated theme, it needs one that reads the other way

People who set up an outlet in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian or Urdu tend to find out late: translating the theme's text is not enough. The whole page reads in the other direction, so menus, columns and news blocks have to follow it.

On a right-to-left outlet, RTL support is not a detail on the feature list: it is the first condition of purchase. This product is the Kolyoum theme by Bdaia, published under the name News Newspaper. It is a magazine and news theme for politics, sport, gaming, technology or travel, with full RTL support for Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Urdu, and an Arabic demo.

If you publish only in Spanish or English, it is still a valid news theme, but that advantage stops counting and it is worth comparing with the rest on its other features.

Demos, headers and blocks for the front page

• More than six demos with one-click installation.
• Headers, footers and news blocks with unlimited layouts.
• Page builder, with Elementor and Visual Composer among the included plugins.
• Other included plugins: JetElements, JetPopup, LayerSlider, Revolution Slider and Master Slider.
• Categories with their own identity: logo, colors and background per category.
• More than 800 Google Fonts and unlimited sidebars.

For the reader, the advertiser and the search engine

Reading and navigation. Ajax live search, mega menus, sticky menu, customizable off-canvas mobile menu, jumps to a point in the content, breadcrumbs, GIF support, dark skin and web notifications.

Revenue. Responsive Google AdSense ads and monetization options. With the WooCommerce integration, the outlet can also run a store.

Search and mobile. AMP integration, rich snippets and Schema microdata, plus responsive design.

Community. It is compatible with bbPress for opening forums, and brings its own widgets, including an Instagram one.

Translation, store, subscriptions and builder: your part

No content translation. Its features include no automatic translation: RTL support handles the direction of the page, not the content. And to publish in two languages at once you need a plugin such as WPML, which it is compatible with.

WooCommerce is separate. Despite the name it is listed under, Kolyoum is a news theme that integrates with WooCommerce, not a store theme. The store requires that plugin.

No paywall. Its features include no paid reader subscriptions. If that is your model, look at the alternatives.

You have to decide on the builder. With Elementor and Visual Composer at once, pick one at the start and use it across the site.

Compatible versions and the setup order for an RTL outlet

It is compatible with WordPress 5.6 to 7.1, Gutenberg, Elementor, WPML and bbPress 2.5. Before going live, try it on a staging install with your PHP version.

For a right-to-left outlet, this order avoids redoing work:

1. Set WordPress to the publishing language before installing the theme.
2. Install and activate the theme, along with the plugins you will use.
3. Import with one click the demo closest to your outlet.
4. Review the front page, article and mobile menu in the real language, with real headlines.
5. Configure categories, ads and AMP once the structure is settled.

If you need more demos, a paywall or several languages

If the criterion is the same, Jannah also has full RTL support for Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Urdu, plus AMP compatibility and more than 20 demos.

If your model is charging readers, JNews includes a paywall and content subscriptions. And do not confuse this product with Newspaper, which is another theme with a very similar name. For content in several languages, WPML.

Kolyoum, RTL and WooCommerce in six answers

Is this product Kolyoum?

Yes. It is the Kolyoum theme by Bdaia, even though it is listed here as News Newspaper.

Which right-to-left languages does it support?

Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Urdu.

Does it work for a store?

It integrates with WooCommerce, but it is a news theme. It suits an outlet that also sells.

Is it compatible with Gutenberg?

Yes, and also with Elementor and WPML.

Can I publish in Arabic and English at once?

Yes, with a multilingual plugin such as WPML, which it is compatible with.

Does it include built-in ads?

It supports responsive Google AdSense. The account and ad code are yours.