Satellite

Three pages, three headers and no identity

The services page debuts a tall header with a slider. The team page gets a dark photo and another typeface. Contact changes color because it looked better with the map. Each decision makes sense on its own, and the result looks like three different sites stitched together by a menu.

When a theme lets you change everything on every page, consistency becomes your job. Satellite7, a multipurpose theme by QODE, gives you plenty of room for that: each page takes its own header, there are unlimited colors and sizes, more than 500 Google fonts and sidebars per page. It pays to set a few rules before opening the panel and to use that freedom where it adds something.

Where its room to maneuver lies

• Headers per page: each one can have its own height and a background with an image or slider.
• Portfolio: six layouts for the single project and four for the list, with different column counts, and unlimited images or videos in each item.
• Parallax: unlimited sections on any page, and parallax pages meant for presentations, microsites or a new home page.
• Transitions: four AJAX animations between pages, plus smooth scrolling you can turn on or off.
• Blog: Standard, Gallery, Link, Quote, Video and Audio formats, and a masonry listing.
• Interactive elements: counters, pie charts, progress bars and elements with animation or fade-in.
• Menus: customization of the standard and mobile menus, with wide or normal submenus, and a side menu widget area.

A half-page style guide

Before building, write down these decisions and treat them as house rules. The list is a working proposal:

• Two typefaces and a short palette. Having more than 500 fonts available does not oblige you to use several.
• Two header heights. One for main pages and another for inner ones.
• One portfolio layout per project type. That way visitors learn how to read your work.
• A single AJAX transition. Choose it and test it with your real pages on several devices.
• Parallax with a purpose. Keep it for presentations and microsites, and check how it looks on mobile.

Shortcodes instead of a builder

Pages are put together by combining modular shortcodes. Tabs and accordions, for example, are made that way. Visual Composer is not among its features, so anyone looking for a drag-and-drop builder should plan for this way of working.

The store and multilingual features rely on other plugins: WooCommerce to add the shop module and WPML to create sites in several languages. The contact page combines Google Maps, a form and regular content.

Getting going with Satellite Core and the child theme

The theme includes the Satellite Core plugin and LayerSlider, which creates responsive or full-width sliders. It also comes with a dummy child theme as a base for your changes. After installing it:

1. Install Satellite7 along with Satellite Core and LayerSlider.
2. Activate the included child theme before customizing.
3. Set colors, fonts and menus according to your style guide.
4. Create the sidebars you need, globally or per page.
5. Build your standard header and your home page, then the inner pages.
6. Fill in the meta keywords and description for each page.
7. If you sell or publish in several languages, add WooCommerce or WPML last.

If you would rather work with a builder

Bridge, also by QODE, lets you choose among WPBakery, Gutenberg and Elementor, and its catalog exceeds 630 demos. It also includes Qode Slider, LayerSlider and Slider Revolution.

Divi combines theme and builder and is edited directly on the page, with global templates for header and footer: a different way of keeping things consistent, because you change those pieces in one place.

Satellite7 in practice

Can each page have a different header?

Yes. You can set the height and a background image or slider per page.

Does it work for a store?

It can have one: WooCommerce adds the shop module to the site.

Does it integrate with Visual Composer?

That integration is not among its features. Layouts are handled with its shortcodes.

Does it allow a site in several languages?

Yes. It is compatible with WPML and prepared for translation with .po and .mo files.

Can I set keywords and descriptions for search engines?

Yes, you can set meta keywords and a description on each page.