Canvas Docs

How To Install Canvas Core

Canvas Core is the plugin half of Canvas: it supplies the block library, the options system, the demo library, forms and the Canvas content types. Without it the theme renders only core WordPress blocks, so installing it is not optional in any practical sense. This page explains where the plugin comes from and the one click that installs it.

Why There Is No Plugin ZIP

Canvas Core is never distributed as a separate download. Your site fetches it directly from the Canvas service once a license is active, which removes the two classic failure modes of a two piece product: hunting for a second file, and running mismatched versions. It also means the install offer appears only where it can succeed; a site without an activated license is not offered the plugin at all.

So the order is fixed: theme first, license second, plugin third. If you have not activated yet, do How To Activate Your License now and come back.

How To Install It

Starting screenany WordPress admin page, with the theme active and your license activated.

A notice reads: "Install Canvas Core plugin for Premium Features and importing Demo Sites." Select Install Canvas Core and wait. Canvas requests the plugin package over your license, installs it through the standard WordPress installer and activates it, then reloads the page. On a multisite network the plugin is activated network wide, since one plugin serves every site.

When the page returns you can confirm the result in two places: the Canvas menu is now complete (Dashboard, Theme Options, the builders, Setup Wizard and the rest), and Canvas > Health Check shows the Canvas Core check as passed with the plugin's version.

Dismissing the notice instead of installing snoozes it for fourteen days for your user only, so it returns later and never hides from other administrators.

Pitfalls

The notice never appears. Three conditions gate it, and each is checkable. Your license must be active on this site, your user must be allowed to install plugins (administrators are), and the notice must not be inside a fourteen day snooze from an earlier dismissal.

"Activate your Canvas license first." The install ran without an active license, usually because the license was deactivated in between. Activate on Canvas > License and try again.

"Could not reach the Canvas updates server." Your server could not make the outgoing connection. It is usually temporary; if it persists, ask your host whether outgoing HTTPS requests are blocked.

"Your license is not entitled to the Canvas Core package." The license the site holds has lapsed or was refused for the package. Check its state on Canvas > License, renew if it has expired, or contact support with the Instance ID shown on that screen.

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