Lay Theme Forum

We are building a travel/tour website for a client using Lay Theme, but we’ve reached limitations with its native header and layout options. We now need custom development to replicate features commonly found in dedicated WordPress travel/tour themes.

Project Requirements

1. Custom Homepage Header Section
   We would like to implement a bespoke header hero area on the homepage to replace/extend the standard Lay Theme header. The goal is to create:
   • A full-width slider/hero header showcasing tour categories or featured tours.
   • The ability to display tour titles, subtitles, and call-to-action buttons directly on top of each slide.
   • Smooth transitions and mobile responsiveness consistent with Lay Theme styling.

2. Custom Tour Search Bar / Filter Module
   We need a search and filter bar positioned either within the header slider or directly below it.
   This should include:
   • Dropdown filters (e.g., Destination, Tour Type, Duration, Difficulty, etc.)
   • A search field for keywords
   • A “Find Tours” or similar CTA button
   • Integration with the site’s existing custom post types and taxonomies (we can adapt taxonomies if needed to support your structure)

The functionality should mirror the style and behaviour seen here:
https://peter-roden.com/gomo/
This is a visual reference only; we need a custom-coded version that fits within Lay Theme.

3. Compatibility with Lay Theme
   Lay Theme is quite minimal and doesn’t natively support complex header layouts or search modules. We therefore need:
   • A custom HTML/CSS/JS block or custom plugin that works within Lay Theme’s framework
   • Clean, maintainable code that does not break Lay Theme updates
   • Optional: A simple backend UI to edit the slider content and filter options

4. Performance Considerations
   All custom features should:
   • Load quickly
   • Be fully responsive
   • Keep requests lightweight
   • Follow best practices for Core Web Vitals

Deliverables
• Custom homepage hero slider (HTML, CSS, JS) integrated with Lay Theme
• Customisable tour search/filter bar
• Backend fields for easy content updates
• Documentation for managing the slider and search module

I am working on a new site with Laytheme and I cannot find the way to add tags or place projects into categories on project pages.
I know there is normally a box on the right underneath the publish tab, but nothing is there.
I'm very confused.

Please help as I need to categorise projects so I can organise them into thumbnail grids.

@arminunruh
Ok I will do that but it still leave me with a few problems that were working better in the thumbnail grid option.

1. I have added a border to the grid elements using CSS however this seems to have broken the grid columns. You can see that if there is not a multiple of 3, the last image in the grid scales across all 3 columns instead of keeping the same size. https://leightonspace.co.uk/brainmarrow/test/

2. The element grid is not scaling in the same way responsively as the thumbnail grid.

3. I cannot get my text animation on the artist name hoverstate to work. On the project thumbnail version I have a cool hoverstate animation that changes the font. I cant get that to work on the element grid.

4. I like the hoverimage effect on the project thumbnails where it scales up a bit on hover. How do I add that to the element grid?

Can you help with any of these issues?

I have a question on another site I am designing.

The client wants a grid of images displaying the artists he works with, with each image linking away to their social media page.

I have had best results creating a project thumbnail grid but the client does not want a whole project page for each artist. Is there away to override the link in the project thumbnail so it opens a different link and not a project?

When I try to create this with the element grid it is not behaving correctly and I think I have messed up the CSS.

Please see the comparison between the two options here:
https://leightonspace.co.uk/brainmarrow/test/

What do you suggest doing?

Hello I have been making vector animations using Cavalry App and would like to export them as a Lottie / JSON file and upload them as looping background video animations to page rows.
Does anyone know how to do this?

Thanks

Hi Armin and richard,
Thanks for gettig back to me and for your nice comments.
Unfortunately the theme update and changing the filter tab has not worked.

Hello,
I'm not sure whats happened but today I was making changes to my CSS and all of a sudden the new project grid tag buttons that I set up have broken.

When you click on them they dissapear.

Please can you advise on how to fix?

the staging site is here on /test2/
https://www.leightonspace.co.uk/test2/all-projects/

Thanks

Is it possible to use the imagehover addon to start an MP4 rather than a JPG?
I just want short videos of graphics, nothing too long.
Thanks

Thanks Marius.
I've tried changing some settings in the hostings but still can't work it out.
If you are able to have a look around and advise to what is causing this issue?
I'm happy to email you with my login details.
Thanks again

Hi Marius,
Thanks for reply.
I dont think SSL is the issue. I don't have it but don't want or need it for the purpose of this site.
Yes the website looks fine now, but when you visit the address http://www.kaiblamey.com/ (in Safari and chrome) you cannot click the links on the page or on the menu.
However if you visit http://kaiblamey.com/ (without www.) then all the menu links on the homepage work.
I've tried everything but cannot understand how to fix it.
I've also been alerted to these bugs im not sure if they're related https://www.screencast.com/t/bA7bVN9ZwC

Any ideas? My client is very angry with me now :(
Thanks

This seems to be the address that bugs:
https://kaiblamey.com

if you type in www.kaiblamey.com it seems to work.
Not sure why this is.
Any ideas how to fix?

Still struggling with this.
does anyone have any ideas whats going wrong?
Thanks for your help

Hello, there seems to be a bug on the site im building that messes up the home page. It happens most frequently on Safari but i've also noticed it on chrome once.
It's really inconsistent and happens sometimes and not others. Have no idea whats going on.
Sometimes the fonts all revert to default Times or something and the video background fails. Other times its fine.
Any ideas whats causing the problems?!

Broken:

Normal:

Thanks for your help!

Hello,
I have a client who wants a portfolio site for his videos.
He would like to use 3 thumbnails per project to show as many scenes as possible on the hompage.
Here is an example of someone else who uses 3 thumbnails:
https://www.davidwrightdop.com/commercial/#/staropramen

Is there a way to do this on laytheme?

Thanks

Hey Marius
A newsletter signup,
a contact form,
An enter page
A way to insert JSON animations from https://lottiefiles.com/

Thanks

Could anyone who has used any external plugins post their experiences and their compatibility with Laytheme?
@mariusjopen Do you have a list of plugins you know are working well with Laytheme?

I have used Yellow Pencil with some success, but not 100% of the time.

Anyone else have suggestions for time saving or cool plugins?

Thanks Armin!

Please let me know when you have fixed the bug.

I'm slightly confused about the smiled icon you mentioned. I cant see it?
Should i make any changes?

Thanks!

i have set up a background image to be seen on every page, However on pages with the new cover feature it disappears after scrolling. Please see: http://www.icekitchen.co.uk/our-range/

Im clueless as to whats gone wrong. Can you help?

Thank you!

Hi Armin, @arminunruh
I also cannot update my wordpress from 1.053.
I created two different sites last year but now cannot update either of them to version 6.
Could you please send me the new file?

Armin, you are an absolute legend!
Life saver!

For some reason I didnt think to put the code in 'misc options' I was putting the code in the editor...

Great now I can continue with the design!

thanks so much!