2026年11月12日
This article is a localized edition of the Japanese original. Read the Japanese original
JIN is a paid WordPress theme made for blogs and affiliate sites in Japan. It is sold on its official website (jin-theme.com) and is not in the wordpress.org theme directory, so you won't find it by searching under "Appearance" → "Themes" → "Add Theme" in the admin.
This article explains the first settings to make after installing JIN, following the official manual (the "Manual" section of jin-theme.com) as of November 2026. JIN's own screens and their details can change between versions, so check the matching page of the official manual for each item as well. The theme's own settings screens are in Japanese; the labels below are English descriptions of them.
The official site also introduces "JIN:R", a successor theme built for the block editor (Gutenberg). If you are starting a new site, compare the two on the official site before you buy. This article is about JIN.
1. Install JIN
- Download
jin.zipwith the download URL and password in the email you receive after purchase. The official manual recommends downloading with Chrome, because some browsers unzip the file automatically. If it was unzipped, get the file again as a ZIP. - In the admin, open "Appearance" → "Themes" and click "Add Theme" → "Upload Theme".
- Choose
jin.zipwith "Choose File" and click "Install Now". - When the installation finishes, click "Activate".
If the upload fails with an error that the file exceeds the size limit, unzip jin.zip on your computer, upload the resulting jin folder to wp-content/themes/ with FTP or your hosting file manager, and then activate it under "Appearance" → "Themes".
2. Decide whether to use a child theme
A child theme lets you customize without editing the parent theme's (JIN's) files directly. JIN's child theme is available on the "Download the JIN child theme" page of the official site.
According to the official update page, whether you need a child theme depends on how you customize.
| How you customize | Child theme |
|---|---|
| Only with Customizer settings and "Additional CSS" | Not needed ("Additional CSS" is not overwritten by updates) |
By editing theme files (style.css or PHP files) |
Needed (direct edits to the parent theme are reverted by updates) |
To use the child theme, install the parent theme JIN first, install the child theme ZIP the same way ("Upload Theme"), and activate the child theme. Don't delete the parent theme; leave it installed.
How child themes work is also explained in "How to create a WordPress child theme".
3. Initial settings in the Customizer
JIN's appearance is mainly configured in "Appearance" → "Customize" (the Customizer). Make changes while watching the preview on the right, and click "Publish" to apply them.
The official manual's "JIN installation and recommended settings" page asks you to set these items first.
| Item | What it does and where to set it |
|---|---|
| Site title, subtitle and description | The site name and description. Up to 120 characters is suggested for the description |
| Pick-up | Highlights important posts on the home page. Create a menu with the posts in "Appearance" → "Menus" and assign it to the home page pick-up content location. Choose its look in the Customizer's top page settings |
| Content magazine | Lists posts from chosen categories on the home page. Enter category IDs separated by commas in the field for categories shown in the home page post list, under the Customizer's top page settings (the latest posts slot is fixed, so you can add up to three) |
| Information bar | A bar that shows announcement text and a link. Enter the text and link URL in the Customizer's header settings |
| Smartphone slide menu and smartphone footer menu | Menus shown on smartphones |
| Table of contents | Displays a table of contents in posts |
| OGP settings | The image and description used when the page is shared on social media |
To find a category ID, hover over the category name in "Posts" → "Categories" and look at the number after tag_ID= in the link.
To choose colors and layout yourself, change the Customizer's site design settings and color settings.
4. Import a demo site’s design (“dress-up”)
JIN has a "dress-up" procedure that imports the colors and layout of an official demo site in one go. The steps in the official manual are as follows.
- Pick a design on the JIN demo site list on the official site and click its style download button. A
.datfile whose name starts withjin-demois saved. - Under "Plugins" → "Add Plugin", search for "Customizer Export/Import", install it and activate it.
- Open "Appearance" → "Customize" and select "Export/Import".
- Under import, use "Choose File" to select the
.datfile, tick "Download and import image files?", and click "Import".
Before importing, check the following.
- "Additional CSS" is overwritten and lost. If you have already written some, copy it to a text file first.
- Settings tied to posts or categories are not imported. Set the menus, pick-up, content magazine and OGP settings again yourself after importing.
- It can stop on a timeout. The import can stop with a
Maximum execution timeerror. The official manual says the connection speed or computer performance can be a cause, and suggests contacting your hosting company if it doesn't improve.
Once the import is done and you no longer need the plugin, you can deactivate it. The imported settings are stored in the Customizer.
5. Set up menus and widgets
JIN's menus and sidebar are set up on the standard WordPress screens.
- Global menu (header menu): Create a menu in "Appearance" → "Menus", tick the global navigation display location, and click "Save Menu". You can change the font size and design in the Customizer's global menu settings.
- Sidebar: Add widgets to the sidebar in "Appearance" → "Widgets". JIN has its own widgets for a profile and recommended posts.
- Footer: Place widgets in the footer areas (left, center-left, center-right and right) in "Appearance" → "Widgets". The two center areas are for the "Archives", "Categories" and "Navigation Menu" widgets; other widgets placed there won't get the theme's design.
Each of these is explained with screenshots in the official manual's pages on the global menu, the profile widget and building the footer.
6. Choose the editor for writing posts
Many of JIN's post decorations, such as speech bubbles, boxes and buttons, are designed for the older editor (Classic Editor), and the official manual's recommended settings also suggest using Classic Editor. To use it, install "Classic Editor" from "Plugins" → "Add Plugin".
If you want to write in the block editor, see the official manual's page on using Gutenberg with JIN. If you plan to work mainly in the block editor, the successor JIN:R is also an option.
7. How to update
JIN is updated from the admin, like other themes.
- Back up the site (files and database) before updating.
- Open "Dashboard" → "Updates", select JIN in the themes section, and click "Update Themes".
- After updating, open the home page and a post page and check that the layout isn't broken.
If no update notice appears, the official site's page on how to update JIN describes a manual update method.
If you edited the parent theme's files directly, updating reverts those changes. Move any code you added to the child theme before updating.
When things go wrong
- Customizer changes aren't saved: See What to do when Customizer changes aren't saved.
- The layout broke after an update: Narrow down the cause with the steps in What to do when your site breaks after a theme update.
- Don't install too many plugins: The official manual also warns that installing many plugins can cause problems. Deactivate and delete plugins you no longer need, such as the one used for the dress-up import.
Questions about WordPress? The publisher of this site is based in Japan and replies in Japanese. Contact (Japanese)