Reference

Changelog

April 28, 2026 docsadmin 3 min read

The release history for the Legal WordPress Theme (free) and Legal Pro (paid). Both follow semantic versioning — major.minor.patch.

3.0.0 — May 4, 2026

Version-number bump to supersede the legacy 2.x Legal theme on WordPress.org. No 2.x release will ship from this rebuild — we skipped from 1.0 to 3.0 to avoid version confusion with the older theme.

  • Practice tile arrows: replaced the Unicode ↗ glyph (which Safari and Chrome on macOS/iOS render as a blue emoji square) with a clean inline SVG. Arrows now render in gold across all browsers and operating systems.
  • Footer credit line: switched from JetBrains Mono to Fraunces serif. Color softened to bone-white with explicit link styling.
  • No functional or template changes — CSS and markup polish only. Direct upgrade from 1.0.0 is safe.

1.0.0 — May 4, 2026

Initial release.

  • Editorial design system: bone canvas (#fafaf7), oxblood ink accent (#5C1A1B), gold leaf details (#B8923D), Fraunces + Inter + JetBrains Mono.
  • Firm Home page template with hero, folio strip, marquee, practice tiles (6), counsel cards (4), ledger (recent posts), testimony block, engage section with retainer card.
  • 110+ Customizer settings covering every aspect of the firm page.
  • Three menu locations: Primary, Mobile bottom-bar, Footer.
  • Four footer widget areas.
  • Full block-editor support for posts and pages outside the Firm template.
  • Filter hooks: legal_dynamic_css, legal_fonts_url, legal_pro_active, legal_schema_org.
  • LegalService schema.org markup on the front page.
  • Mobile-first responsive design from 360px up.
  • WCAG AA contrast on body text, AAA on headlines.

1.0.0 — May 4, 2026

Initial release of the Pro companion plugin.

  • Premium editorial skins — Chambers (Ink & Gold) ships in v1.0; new skins arrive with each release.
  • One-click Lex & Co. demo importer — 3 pages, 5 posts with featured images, 3 menus, ~110 Customizer values. Idempotent.
  • Light/dark mode controls — auto / manual / system, with no-flash inline detection. Visitor preference persists in localStorage.
  • Dual logo support — separate uploads for light and dark contexts.
  • 15 curated Google Font pairings — Fraunces+Inter (default), Playfair+Source Sans (Chambers), Cormorant+Inter (Counsel), Libre Caslon, EB Garamond, Crimson Pro, Lora, Spectral, Italiana, Cardo, DM Serif, Cinzel, Bodoni Moda, Old Standard TT, Marcellus.
  • Mega-menu walker for the primary nav with 2–4 column panels and per-item “Featured” slot.
  • Schema.org Pro — Attorney structured data (per counsel), FAQPage (6 Q&A pairs), Review (from testimony).
  • WOW Effects pack — eight visual upgrades, each individually toggleable in Customizer → Legal Pro → WOW Effects:
    • Page-load reveal sequence
    • Hero watermark (oversized italic site name)
    • Hero ornament (§ glyph)
    • Animated credentials marquee
    • Wax seal on retainer card
    • Editorial Letterhead footer
    • Counsel — Direct Lines column (footer 3rd slot)
    • Custom cursor
  • WPDigiPro license activation — daily verification, auto-updates, priority email support.

How to upgrade

For the free theme, WordPress will notify you of updates under Dashboard → Updates. Click “Update Now” — your customizer settings, content, and menus are preserved.

For Legal Pro, the same flow applies — but only if your license is active. License-active sites see automatic update notices alongside core WordPress updates. License-inactive installations do not auto-update; you’d need to manually upload a fresh zip.

Migration notes

From 1.0.0 to 3.0.0: safe direct upgrade, no migration needed.

From legacy 2.x Legal (the older WP.org theme): not a direct migration. The legacy 2.x theme is structurally different and uses a different design system. We recommend migrating content manually rather than expecting in-place upgrade.

Looking ahead

The roadmap (subject to change) includes:

  • Additional skins (Mid-Market, Boutique, Tribunal)
  • WP-CLI commands for headless content seeding
  • Deeper analytics for Pro license-holders
  • WPML / Polylang deep integration for translatable customizer values
  • Block patterns for frequently-used legal-content layouts (case studies, attorney profile pages, jurisdiction comparison tables)

Got a feature request? Email support@fasterthemes.com. We read every one.

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