The Issue WordPress Theme
by fuelthemes
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Setup · Customization · Bug fixes · WooCommerce integration
About The Issue WP Theme
The Issue is a magazine-style WordPress theme from FuelThemes, built for editorial teams, online publications, and independent journalists who want a content-first layout without fighting the theme to get there. It ships with a clean grid system, multiple homepage layouts, and a post format library that handles standard articles, video posts, and galleries without extra plugins.
Typography is handled well out of the box. The Issue supports Google Fonts and gives editors real control over font pairing without touching code. Dark mode is included natively. For publications that run high volumes of content, the built-in ad placement system and sticky sidebar support are practical additions that save development time. It runs on the standard WordPress Customizer, so onboarding a non-technical editorial team is straightforward.
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FuelThemes provides documentation, but The Issue has enough moving parts that real customization work benefits from someone who knows the theme well. Through Codeable, you get matched with a vetted The Issue developer who has reviewed your project before sending an estimate. There’s no bidding war and no junior developers learning on your project. You describe what you need, get a fixed estimate, and decide whether to move forward. No payment until you’re ready to start.
Pros
- Multiple homepage layouts included — no page builder required for standard editorial grids
- Native dark mode toggle that works without a plugin
- Built-in post formats cover video, gallery, audio, and quote without extra setup
- Ad placement zones are coded into the template, not bolted on with shortcodes
- Breaking news ticker and sticky sidebar are included features, not premium add-ons
Cons
- Customizer options are numerous but not always logically grouped, which slows down initial setup
- No full block editor (Gutenberg) support — works better with the Classic Editor plugin
- Mobile menu behavior on deeply nested category structures needs CSS adjustment
- FuelThemes update frequency has slowed, so some WooCommerce compatibility requires manual testing
- The built-in SEO meta fields can conflict with Yoast or Rank Math if both are active simultaneously
Who is The Issue for?
Online News Magazine
The Issue was designed for high-volume editorial publishing. Category-based homepage modules let editors surface content from different desks without developer involvement. The ad zone system supports standard IAB sizes, which matters when you’re running a real ad stack through Google Ad Manager or a direct sales team.
Technology Blog
The clean grid and strong typography make The Issue a practical choice for tech blogs that publish long-form reviews and how-to content. The reading progress bar and estimated read time features fit how tech readers consume content. A The Issue developer can extend the review post format with structured data for rich snippets in search results.
Entertainment & Pop Culture Site
Entertainment sites benefit from The Issue’s image-heavy layout options and gallery post format. The breaking news ticker is useful for live coverage of award shows or events. With some customization, the homepage can be split into entertainment verticals like film, music, and television with separate feed logic for each section.
Sports Publication
Sports publications need fast load times and the ability to handle traffic spikes around major events. The Issue’s lightweight core is a good base when paired with proper caching. Live blog functionality can be added via a plugin like WP ULike or Liveblog, and a developer can integrate it into The Issue’s single post template without breaking the layout.
Independent Journalism Project
For independent journalists building an audience, The Issue provides a credible editorial look without requiring a large budget. The author bio system, social sharing integration, and newsletter signup placement areas are all in place. A The Issue specialist can add a membership layer so readers can support your work directly through the site.
Customizing The Issue
The Issue gives you a solid starting point, but most publication teams need customization before it fits their exact workflow. A dedicated The Issue expert can restructure the homepage grid, build custom category templates for vertical-specific content, and wire up the ad zones to match your actual ad stack.
Common customization work includes modifying the reading progress bar behavior, adjusting the breaking news ticker logic, creating custom author archive layouts, and integrating paywall or membership plugins like MemberPress or Restrict Content Pro. Child theme development is the right approach here so FuelThemes updates don’t overwrite your changes. If you need custom post types for reviews, podcasts, or structured data, that work is best handled by a developer who knows The Issue’s template hierarchy and hook system well enough to avoid layout conflicts.
Recommended plugins for The Issue
The Issue pairs well with several plugin categories. For speed, a caching layer like WP Rocket combined with image optimization and a CDN makes a measurable difference on content-heavy sites. See our WordPress performance service for specifics on what that setup involves.
On the SEO side, Rank Math or Yoast integrates cleanly with The Issue’s schema output, but you’ll want to audit for duplicate meta tags if FuelThemes’ built-in SEO options are also active. Our WordPress SEO service covers that kind of technical audit. WooCommerce and bbPress both work alongside The Issue if you’re running a shop or community forum as part of your publication.
Not sure which plugins to use? This WordPress plugins directory covers the most popular options with reviews and setup guides.
The Issue common issues
The Issue theme homepage not showing latest posts
This usually happens when the homepage is set to a static page in Settings > Reading instead of the latest posts template. Check that the correct homepage template is assigned in the Customizer under Homepage Settings. If The Issue’s module layout is active, each module needs a category assigned to it. Empty modules display nothing. Reassign or republish posts to the relevant categories and clear your cache before testing again.
The Issue theme breaking news ticker not working
The breaking news ticker in The Issue pulls from a custom post type or a designated category depending on theme version. First check that the ticker is enabled in the Customizer and that there are published posts in the source category. JavaScript conflicts with caching plugins are a common cause. Disable your cache temporarily and test. If the ticker still fails, a plugin conflict is likely. Disable plugins one by one to isolate the source.
The Issue WordPress theme slow to load on mobile
The Issue loads several scripts and stylesheets that add up on mobile connections. Run the site through PageSpeed Insights to identify the largest offenders. Common fixes include deferring non-critical JavaScript, enabling lazy loading for images, and serving next-gen image formats. If you’re not already on a caching plugin, WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache make a significant difference. For deeper performance work, see our WordPress bug fixing service.
The Issue theme dark mode not saving between sessions
The Issue stores the dark mode preference in localStorage. If users clear browser data or use private browsing, the preference resets. This is expected behavior. However, if dark mode resets even in normal browsing, check whether a caching plugin is serving a cached version of the page that overrides the JS toggle state. Excluding the dark mode cookie from caching rules usually resolves this.
The Issue theme sidebar disappearing on single post pages
The sidebar visibility in The Issue is controlled per post through a meta box in the post editor. Open the post and look for the Layout Options or Sidebar meta box below the editor. If it’s set to full-width, no sidebar appears. Changing it to the default layout restores the sidebar. You can also set a global default in the Customizer. If the meta box is missing, a plugin may have disabled it.
The Issue theme not compatible with Gutenberg block editor
The Issue was built before full Gutenberg support was standard. It works in a compatibility mode with the block editor, but some layout blocks may render inconsistently in the frontend. Installing the Classic Editor plugin restores the original editing experience and removes the compatibility layer. If you need Gutenberg support, a The Issue developer can add theme.json configuration and block template support to make it work properly. See our WordPress bug fixing service for this kind of work.
The Issue theme featured image not displaying in grid
Featured images missing from the grid usually trace back to the image not meeting the minimum dimensions expected by The Issue’s thumbnail crop settings. Go to Settings > Media and check the registered image sizes. If images were uploaded before those sizes were set, run the Regenerate Thumbnails plugin to create the correct crops. Also verify that the featured image is set on each post and not just inserted into the content body.
The Issue theme ad zones showing blank space
Blank ad zones in The Issue typically mean the ad code hasn’t been entered in the Customizer, the ad blocker is stripping the content, or the zone dimensions don’t match what the ad network is serving. Check the Customizer ad settings first and confirm the code is saved. Test in a browser without an ad blocker. If the zone shows in the source but renders blank, the ad network itself may not have a matching creative for that size.
The Issue theme menu not working on mobile
Mobile menu failures in The Issue are almost always caused by a JavaScript conflict. Open the browser console on mobile or using DevTools in responsive mode and look for JS errors. A common culprit is a slider or lightbox plugin that loads its own jQuery version. Also check that your WordPress jQuery version hasn’t been deferred or removed by a performance plugin, as The Issue’s mobile menu depends on it. Our WordPress bug fixing service can isolate the conflict quickly.
The Issue theme update broke site layout
If a FuelThemes update broke your layout, the most likely cause is a customization made in the parent theme files rather than a child theme. The update overwrote those changes. Restore from a backup, move your custom CSS and template changes into a child theme, then re-apply the update. If you don’t have a backup, check your hosting control panel for automated backups. Going forward, all customizations should live in a child theme only.
The Issue FAQ
FuelThemes has slowed down update frequency on The Issue compared to its early release cycle. The theme still functions correctly on current WordPress versions, but some newer WordPress features like full site editing are not supported. Test updates on a staging site before applying them to production, and check the FuelThemes changelog for compatibility notes before each WordPress core update.
The Issue is not built around a page builder and works best without one. Elementor can be used for custom page layouts, but it won’t affect the core article templates, which are controlled by The Issue’s own template files. WPBakery integration is similarly limited. If you need page builder functionality alongside The Issue’s editorial templates, a developer can set that up cleanly with targeted template overrides.
Yes. The Issue works alongside membership plugins like MemberPress, Restrict Content Pro, and Paid Memberships Pro. The theme itself doesn’t include paywall logic, so a plugin handles the access control. A The Issue developer can integrate the membership plugin’s shortcodes and content restriction into the theme’s post templates so the experience stays consistent with your editorial design.
Go to Appearance > Customize > Site Identity. Upload your logo file there. The Issue recommends a transparent PNG for best results across both light and dark mode. If you have separate logos for light and dark backgrounds, The Issue’s Customizer includes a field for a dark mode logo variant depending on the theme version you’re running.
The Issue produces clean HTML output and supports meta fields for titles and descriptions, which gives it a reasonable SEO baseline. However, having both The Issue’s built-in SEO fields and a dedicated SEO plugin active at the same time can cause duplicate meta tags. Disable the theme’s SEO output if you’re using Yoast or Rank Math. Structured data for articles and authors may also need manual additions for full schema compliance.
Create a new folder in wp-content/themes with a name like the-issue-child. Inside it, create a style.css file with the required header including Template: the-issue and a functions.php file that enqueues both the parent and child stylesheets. Activate the child theme from Appearance > Themes. All custom CSS and template file overrides go into the child theme folder from that point on.
The Issue’s core is light enough to handle traffic spikes when the server and caching are configured correctly. The theme itself is not the bottleneck in most cases. Pair it with a caching plugin, a CDN, and adequate server resources. For publications expecting consistent high traffic, a managed WordPress host like Kinsta or WP Engine handles the infrastructure side so the theme can focus on rendering content fast.
Fonts in The Issue are managed through the Customizer under Typography settings. The theme connects to Google Fonts and lets you assign different fonts to headings, body text, and UI elements. Select your preferred font from the dropdown and save. If you need a font that isn’t in the Google Fonts list, a developer can enqueue it manually and add it to the Customizer font options through a small code addition in the child theme.
The Issue does not have a dedicated WooCommerce integration, but WooCommerce works alongside it. The shop pages will inherit basic styling from the theme, but the checkout, cart, and product templates will use WooCommerce defaults with some styling gaps. A The Issue developer can style the WooCommerce templates to match your publication’s design so the shop experience doesn’t feel disconnected from the rest of the site.
Rates for a The Issue developer vary based on project scope. Small fixes like layout adjustments or plugin conflicts typically run a few hundred dollars. Larger projects like full custom templates, membership integration, or performance overhauls are priced higher. Through Codeable, you get a fixed estimate before any work starts so there are no surprises. Estimates are free and there’s no obligation to hire.
Hire a The Issue Developer
Whether you need a layout rebuilt, a plugin integrated, or performance tuned, a specialist who knows The Issue theme will get it done without guesswork. Projects are handled through Codeable, where every developer is vetted and estimates are free with no obligation. Get a free estimate and describe what you need. You’ll hear back within 24 hours.
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