Locate the install file

The install file have a name something like layersliderwp-x.x.x.installable.zip. The installable part is the keyword that you should look for.

A recently downloaded version will be the install file itself and you can skip right to the actual installation process.

Older versions, on the other hand, was packaged differently and you may have to first unpack the main ZIP file, then find the install file inside. This was because the main plugin package contained other useful assets besides the install file like the documentation, examples and source files. These are now accessible from our website and new downloads will get you a combined package that can be uploaded to WordPress right away.

Installation through the WP admin interface

1. Locate the installable file described in the above section.
2. On your WordPress admin area navigate to Plugins → Add new, then press the Upload Plugin button on the top of the page.
3. Choose the installable ZIP file mentioned previously, then hit the Install Now button.
4. WordPress might ask you to enter your FTP login credentials. Click on Proceed when you've finished.
5. The plugin is now installed, click on the Activate Plugin button.
6. A new menu entry called LayerSlider WP should appear on your WordPress admin sidebar.

How-to: Installing LayerSlider on a WordPress site

If you're unsure how to install the plugin,
just watch our short tutorial video.

Installation via FTP

1. Locate the installable ZIP file described at the top of this page, then unpack it.
2. Open your favorite FTP application and connect to your server. Navigate to the "/wp-content/plugins/" folder.
3. Copy over the "LayerSlider" folder extracted from the installable ZIP file.
4. Navigate to the Plugins page on your WordPress admin area and click the Activate button below LayerSlider WP.
5. A menu entry called LayerSlider WP should appear on your WordPress admin sidebar.

Troubleshooting

• Please be aware that you must use the "layersliderwp-x.x.x.installable.zip" file when you try to install the plugin on the WP admin area. The main package that you've downloaded contains a lot of other assets. You must unpack it first, then find the above mentioned file inside for installation.
• If you receive a No valid plugins were found error message, you've almost certainly uploaded the wrong ZIP file. Please read the previous point and the installation instructions again.
• The Destination folder already exists error message means that you already have another copy of LayerSlider installed and you can't use multiple versions simultaneously. Make sure to deactivate and delete the previous copy or check your theme settings to disable bundled versions (if any) before attempting to install the new release. This will not affect your sliders and settings, they will remain still and be available after you've finished installing the new version.
• In some very rare cases, certain server settings (e.g. upload size limit, memory limit) could prevent you to install the plugin from your WordPress admin area. If you're experiencing any issue, please contact your server host and ask them to change the relevant settings. Alternatively, you can also revert to the FTP installation method, so you don't have to wait in the meantime.
• If you receive an error message that says "Are you sure you want to do this?", it's most likely the same server configuration issue explained in the previous point. WordPress displays this as a generic type of error message, so there could be other reasons as well.
• Your web hosting service provider might offer other methods to install plugins such as web-based FTP clients or 3rd party solutions made explicitly for WordPress. Although these should be fine, it's possible that in some cases they might not work as expected and you will need to revert to one of the conventional methods.
• If you're experiencing any issue after installing LayerSlider, please try to temporarily disable other plugins and switch to one of the default WordPress themes to see if it helps. LayerSlider should play along nicely with any plugin/theme you use, but incompatibility issues could occur due to several other reasons.

ACTIVATING THE PLUGIN

Why activating?

In addition to your purchase, you're entitled to the following exclusive features and services by activating your site with a license key:

• Enjoy our priority support services to get help quickly and easily.
• Receive 1-Click plugin updates, including early access releases.
• Unlock premium features in the plugin providing new and interesting ways to extend the capabilities of your sliders.
• Import premium slider templates, which you can use as a starting point for your projects. We're releasing and updating premium content regularly.

I received LayerSlider bundled in my theme

We take plugin development very seriously and we're dedicated to offer the best product we can produce. Even if you're using a non-activated copy, it still has great features with almost unlimited capabilities to be a premium experience. Nevertheless, some additional features and services are only available for our direct buyers who have supported the plugin development by purchasing LayerSlider.

If LayerSlider came bundled in your theme, please keep in mind that it is a bonus item that you essentially received for free. While we are providing a premium experience for everyone, it's important to know that we do not receive any share from theme sales.

Theme bundles is a great way to increase our popularity by offering our unique and useful products to the crowd. However, product development and customer support require a lot of resources thus we can only offer our services to our direct buyers. By offering some exclusive features we're encouraging users to support the development of future versions of LayerSlider.

How do I activate LayerSlider?

You just need to enter your license key received after purchasing LayerSlider into the PRODUCT ACTIVATION section and press the Activate Now button.

Where is my license key?

You can find your license key in the email received upon the purchase. You can also find and manage all your licenses by logging in on account.kreaturamedia.com to manage your account.

Can I activate multiple sites?

You can use LayerSlider on as many sites as your licenses allow. A Regular or Personal license can be used for a single website only. However, by deactivating your installation, you can freely migrate your license to another server/domain if you're moving your site. Your license covers additional development mirrors as well. Development installation are counted differently than live production sites. You can use LayerSlider on 3 additional development installations per site covered by your licenses.

Subdomains and individual sites in a WP Multisite environment are considered different domains/sites and you need to purchase separate licenses for each domain/site where you use LayerSlider. The only exception is when you are not running different sites and purely use subdomains for localization or special landing pages within the same installation.

Why was my activation canceled?

Despite the impression you may have, this banner only shows when your site wasn't actually activated in the first place. What's likely is that you've previously deactivated your site, but it was stuck in an activated state. This message is displayed for the sake of consistency as "stuck" activations could result all sorts of strange symptoms like issues with updating LayerSlider or downloading templates. This is an automated error checking mechanism intended to notify you about changes in the product activation state.

If you received a "LayerSlider product activation was canceled on this site" notification, please review all the potential issues that could cause this:

• you've moved your site or your domain name has changed;
• you've remotely deactivated your site using our online tools or asked us to do the same on your behalf;
• you're using a non-genuine copy of LayerSlider
• your purchase have been refunded or the transaction disputed;

If none of the above mentioned reasons can explain your case and you feel it happened mistakenly, please let us know by opening a support ticket or contacting us via our Contact Form, so we can help you uncovering potential issues and restoring product activation.

IMPORTANT: Please make sure that you're using the latest version of LayerSlider and try to re-activate your license with that version. Newer releases always include lots of bug fixes, so you can eliminate potential issues that might be relevant.

How can I transfer licenses or deactivate past sites?

If you still have access for the site

Just click on the deactivate button in the Product Activation box and you are all set. The license key that you've used for that site will be available to activate other installations.

If you no longer have access for the site

We've made an account management utility where you can log in and list all your licenses and sites where you've activated LayerSlider. From there, you will be able to remotely deactivate any site you wish. Please visit: account.kreaturamedia.com

If you cannot access your account or someone else purchased LayerSlider on your behalf

In cases like these, please open a support ticket or contact us via our Contact Form and ask for help in order to restore your account or transfer licenses to another account. Please also provide any proof you can in order to confirm your identity as we handle data security and personal information very seriously.

Limitations on license migration

To fight against piracy and other forms of misuse, our systems are monitoring for suspicious activities. Our ultimate goal is to have a great user experience, thus we've tuned our systems to only flag suspicious activities with a good reason.

In case when our systems detect such activities associated with a license key, LayerSlider might prompt you for an activation approval. This does not mean that your license is no longer valid or you won't be able to use it for future activations. The approval process is mostly automated and a staff member from our Support Team will review your case as soon as possible with high priority.

The usual patterns we're monitoring for include:

• Unusually high number of activation attempts within a short time frame;
• Consistently reoccurring activation attempts on the same sites

Troubleshooting

• You can't use your theme's purchase code / license key in case if you've received LayerSlider bundled in a theme. For more information, please read the Theme bundles section above.
• Please double check that you've entered your license key correctly if product activation doesn't accept it. Verify that you haven't accidentally included spaces or other surrounding text and characters.
• In some edge cases, servers might be configured in a way that prevents your installation from connecting to our server. Usual symptoms include An unexpected error occurred error messages. It's worth asking your web hosting company about this if you've ruled out other possibilities. Also, check the LayerSlider → Options → System Status screen to identify potential issues you might have on your site.
• If your activation was canceled, please refer to the Why was my activation canceled? section.

UPDATING THE PLUGIN

Updating via Auto-Updates on activated sites

After performing Product activation, LayerSlider updates will automatically appear on your site in the same way as any other WordPress update. You can check if there is a new version available on the Plugins or Dashboard → Updates pages. A notification will also appear on the LayerSlider WP admin pages about new releases.

To access early-access versions, select the beta release channel in the PRODUCT ACTIVATION box.

Updating the plugin manually

Once you've downloaded the most recent version from account.kreaturamedia.com you can deactivate and remove the old version, then install the new one. Your sliders and settings are in the database, removing the plugin won't touch them. You don't have to worry about losing your work, as keeping LayerSlider backward compatible is one of our top priorities, even for really old releases.

Updating the bundled version in themes

If you've received LayerSlider as a bundled item in your theme, new releases will be provided by the theme author through theme updates, since Auto-Updates won't work without activating your copy of LayerSlider. However, if you choose the purchase a license for LayerSlider, theme bundled versions can also be activated and updated without reinstalling the plugin.

Troubleshooting

• Please note, WordPress checks for new updates periodically at certain times and caches the results. Even if there is a new version available, it might not appear immediately after activation.
• Our auto-update solution requires product activation and is only available for our direct customers as described in the Updating the plugin section.
  
  If you receive an Update package not available or similar error message during the update process it might a symptom of an interfering 3rd party theme/plugin. We are constantly notifying and working together with various authors whenever we notice such issue. Unfortunately, these issues cannot be fixed from our end and a temporary solution is updating manually or temporarily disabling other plugins and switching to the default WP theme.
  
  Another possibility might be a stuck activation. If you've used our online tools to remotely deactivate a site (or asked us to do the same on your behalf) your site might no longer be activated. The same can be true if your license key has been revoked due to a refund or another reason. In cases like this deactivating your site and then immediately re-activating it can help.
• Keeping LayerSlider backwards compatible is one of our top priorities. However, there are times when major updates introduce new features and new settings, which depending on their defaults might alter your sliders a bit. If you experience any unwanted change, it's always a good idea to check the settings of your sliders, there are probably new options to control these changes.