UnderStrap Basics
UnderStrap is in constant development, and now uses Bootstrap 4. It was created as an open-source project by Holger Koenemann — a front-end designer and developer from Germany — and is currently being hosted on Github. The theme supports essential plugins such as Jetpack and WooCommerce. The newer version has also been updated to support npm and Gulp, allowing you to easily share and manage your work.
Some selected UnderStrap features include an options panel — which lets you add custom code from the WordPress customizer and a built-in slider based on Owl Carousel 2. The theme is translation-ready and child theme-ready, and is released under the GPLv2 license making it free for personal and commercial use.
Working With Npm and Gulp
Npm and Gulp are two important additions to UnderStrap that make your workflow easier. Npm takes care of all the required dependencies for Bootstrap and Underscores. Gulp can be used to compile everything for distribution (deployment).
Before you start , you need to have Node.js installed in your environment. To install the theme’s dependencies, simply open your terminal or command prompt and browse to the location of UnderStrap, then type $ npm install. To compile your code on-the-fly, type $ gulp watch.
Using the Widget Slider
Sliders are becoming increasingly popular on websites today. Not only do they highlight popular content, they can also showcase media such as photos or videos. UnderStrap comes with a built-in widget slider to simplify the slider-building process. Simply click on the ‘Appearance’ category in WordPress and open the ‘Widgets’ page. Then add your desired widgets to the area ‘hero’ and you will be all set to go!
