Starting a new website with Identity? This is your guide. Identity 2.0 is built natively for Divi 5: install the child theme, activate your license and import the demo, then make it yours with global colors, variables and presets.
Not sure which Divi version you have? Go to Appearance → Themes in your WordPress dashboard and check the version number of the Divi theme.
Getting started
Identity 2.0 is built natively for Divi 5, using global variables for colors, fonts and spacing, plus native Flexbox and Grid layouts. It’s the version we recommend for every new Identity website.
Before you start, you need the Divi theme installed and updated to the Divi 5 update path. Go to Divi ➞ Dashboard and check that Divi is up to date under Divi Overview. If you’re still on Divi 4, click Enable Divi 5 Updates, then update Divi under Dashboard ➞ Updates.
Already have an Identity website on Divi 4? Don’t install Identity 2.0 on top of it – see Migrating to Divi 5 instead, which updates your existing site safely.
Downloading and installing Identity
Step 1: Download Identity 2.0
Download the latest identity-child-theme-2.0.zip from your account or from the Elegant Themes Marketplace, depending on where you bought it.
Step 2: Upload and install Identity
In your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance ➞ Themes ➞ Add Theme ➞ Upload Theme. Choose the identity-child-theme-2.0.zip file and click Install Now.
WordPress checks that the Divi parent theme is installed and detects its version automatically.
Step 3: Activate Identity
Click Activate. Once active, you’ll see two notices: one to activate your license, and one letting you know your demo content is ready to import.
Activating your license
Go to Divi ➞ Identity License, paste your license key and click Activate License. You’ll find your key in your account, in the Licenses tab.
The license also enables automatic Identity updates. One license key works on one site at a time – to move it, deactivate it in Divi ➞ Identity License first.
Bought Identity on the Elegant Themes Marketplace? Skip this step – your updates come through your Elegant Themes API key in Divi Theme Options instead.
Importing the demo content
Go to Identity Installer in the sidebar. The demo import needs an active license, so make sure you’ve completed the previous step first.
Click Start Import. The import brings in everything: Customizer settings, Divi Library layouts, navigation menus, Divi presets, media files, content, Theme Builder templates and site settings. Keep the page open until it finishes – it’s best run on a fresh WordPress installation, since it configures your homepage, menus and Theme Builder templates.
When every item shows a green checkmark, the import is complete and your site matches the Identity demo.
Theme Builder templates
The import sets up 13 Theme Builder templates – headers, footers and body layouts for the homepage, blog, archives, 404 page and more. Go to Divi ➞ Theme Builder to see them and check which template is assigned where.
Templates shown in green are your global header and footer, used across the site by default. The others are assigned to specific pages or post types – open any card’s Template Settings to change what it applies to.
Colors and Global Variables
Identity 2.0 uses Divi 5’s global Variables instead of theme options, so every color lives in one place and updates everywhere it’s used. Open any page in the Divi Builder, then open the Variables panel and expand Colors.
Changing a color here – Primary, Secondary, Heading Text, Body Text, Light and Dark variants – updates it across the whole website immediately. You can add your own global colors with Add Global Color.
Typography and fluid sizing
Fonts are global variables too. In the same Variables panel, expand Fonts to change the Heading and Body fonts used across the demo.
Text sizes use fluid, clamp()-based values under Numbers, so headings and body text scale smoothly between phone and desktop instead of jumping at breakpoints. You won’t normally need to touch these, but you can fine-tune them here if you want a different scale.
Light and dark layouts
Many Identity sections and pages come in both a light and a dark version – for example, Home Page Light and Home Page Dark, or a light and dark footer. They use the same global colors, just arranged differently, so swapping one for the other keeps your site consistent.
To use a dark variant, load it from the Divi Library the same way as any other layout – see Divi Library and Presets below.
Divi Library and Presets
Every page, template and section from the demo is saved in your Divi Library, including light/dark pairs. When building a page, open Load From Library ➞ Your Saved Layouts to browse and insert a full page layout.
You don’t have to insert a whole page at once – most of these layouts are individual sections (a hero, a footer, a pricing table and so on), so you can mix and match them to build your own page. To add one, click + New Section where you want it, then choose Add From Library instead of building a section from scratch.
Every module in the demo uses Divi’s global Presets, so new modules you add pick up the same styling automatically – no need to copy settings from the demo by hand. Some modules have more than one preset (for example a light and a dark variant); pick the one you need when you add the module.
Preloader and Theme Options
Identity’s global preloader is managed under Divi ➞ Theme Options ➞ Identity ➞ Preloader.
Available settings:
- Enable Global Preloader – shows a preloader while the page content is loading.
- Preloader Animation – choose the animated element.
- Preloader Width – choose the size of the preloader icon.
- Preloader Color – choose the color of the preloader icon.
- Preloader Background – choose the color of the preloader background.
The Options sub-tab has one more setting: Hide Divi Library Thumbnails In Media Library. Every saved layout and preset generates a thumbnail image in your Media Library – with hundreds of them from the Identity demo, this keeps your actual uploads easy to find. It’s enabled by default; turn it off if you want to see those thumbnails too.
Already have an Identity website on Divi 4? This guide shows you how to update Identity to version 2.0 and move your website to Divi 5 safely, step by step. Your existing design stays the same after the update.
Before you start
If your Identity website still runs on Divi 4, you don’t have to migrate right away. Divi 4 keeps receiving security and bug-fix updates for at least 12 months after the official Divi 5 release (February 26, 2026), so staying on Divi 4 a little longer is a safe, valid choice – especially if your site relies on third-party Divi modules or plugins that aren’t Divi 5 compatible yet.
When you’re ready to switch, the move is handled automatically by Divi’s built-in Divi 5 Migrator: it converts your Divi 4 content to the new Divi 5 format and keeps anything that isn’t supported yet running exactly as before, through a backward-compatibility mode. You don’t need to rebuild any pages by hand.
Prefer to stay on Divi 4 for now? There’s nothing you need to do – see Using Divi 4 for how your current setup keeps working.
Back up your website and use a staging site
Before migrating, back up your entire website – the database, the uploads folder, and your theme and plugin files. Most hosting providers offer one-click backups; if yours doesn’t, a backup plugin works just as well.
We also recommend running the migration on a staging copy of your site first, rather than directly on your live website. If your host offers one-click staging, use that. Once everything looks right on staging, repeat the same steps on your live site.
The Divi 5 Migrator is reliable, but every website is different – testing first means you can take your time and check everything calmly, without visitors seeing a half-migrated page.
Updating Identity to version 2.0
Identity 2.0 is the Divi 5-ready version of the child theme. Update to it the same way you update any WordPress theme:
Automatic update (if your license is active)
Go to Dashboard ➞ Updates. If Identity 2.0 is available, you’ll see it listed under Themes – check it and click Update Themes.
Manual update
You can also download the latest identity-child-theme-2.0.zip from your account and upload it from Appearance ➞ Themes ➞ Add Theme ➞ Upload Theme, the same way you installed Identity the first time.
Updating the child theme only replaces its files – your pages, content and Theme Builder templates stay exactly as they are.
Activating your license
If you already have an active Identity license, there’s nothing to do here – it stays active through the update.
If your license has lapsed or you’re not sure it’s active, go to Divi ➞ Identity License, paste your license key and activate it. You’ll find your key in your account, in the Licenses tab.
Bought Identity on the Elegant Themes Marketplace? Skip this step – your updates come through your Elegant Themes API key in Divi Theme Options instead.
Migrating your website to Divi 5
Once Identity is updated and your backup is in place, you’re ready to move the website itself to Divi 5. This part is handled by Divi’s built-in Migrator and takes just a few clicks.
Step 1: Switch to the Divi 5 update path
Go to Divi ➞ Dashboard and click Enable Divi 5 Updates in the Upgrade to Divi 5 card.
Step 2: Update Divi
Go to Dashboard ➞ Updates, select Divi, and click Update Themes. This installs Divi 5 itself – your site still looks and works exactly as before at this point.
Once the update finishes, the Divi menu shows a new Migrate To Divi 5 card on the Overview page.
Step 3: Run the compatibility check
Go to Divi ➞ Divi 5 Migrator. It automatically scans your pages, posts, Theme Builder templates, Divi Library items and widgets, and shows which ones are fully compatible with Divi 5 and which contain modules that will run in backward-compatibility mode. Use this report as a quick map before migrating – it’s worth noting any items flagged with a warning so you know what to check afterwards.
Step 4: Migrate
Click Migrate This Site to Divi 5, then Confirm in the dialog that appears. Migrating converts all compatible Divi 4 modules to the new Divi 5 format and wraps anything unsupported in a backward-compatibility layer, so it keeps working as before. This usually takes a few seconds, up to a couple of minutes on larger sites.
When it’s done, you’ll see a confirmation card – your site is now running on Divi 5.
What changes and what stays the same
Your design doesn’t change. The migration converts how Divi stores your content behind the scenes – from the old shortcode format to Divi 5’s new storage format – not how your website looks. Colors, layouts, text and images all stay exactly as they were.
What’s different
- Pages and templates built only with Divi 5-supported modules get the full Divi 5 performance boost right away.
- Any page that still uses a module Divi 5 doesn’t support yet keeps working through a backward-compatibility layer – it loads the Divi 4 framework just for that page, so you may see a small Backward Compatibility Mode Enabled notice on the front end. This is expected and not an error.
- You can keep editing both kinds of pages normally in the Divi Builder.
If you’re not using any third-party Divi modules outside of what Identity includes, most sites migrate with little or nothing running in compatibility mode.
Checking your website after migration
Once the migration finishes, take a few minutes to check that everything looks right:
- Visit your most important pages on the front end and check the layout.
- Open a few pages in the Divi Builder and confirm you can still edit sections, rows and modules as expected.
- Check your Theme Builder templates (header, footer, any custom templates) under Divi ➞ Theme Builder.
- If you use WooCommerce, spot-check your shop and product pages.
- Test any third-party plugins you rely on.
If something looks off, it’s almost always caused by a plugin that isn’t Divi 5 compatible yet – check its product page for a Divi 5 Compatibility tag. Clearing your browser cache, the Divi cache, and any caching-plugin cache also resolves most builder glitches.
Not happy with the result? Right after migrating, you can click Restore Divi 4 Content on the Divi 5 Migrator page, then reinstall Divi 4. The longer you keep editing on Divi 5, the harder a clean rollback becomes, so it’s best to check everything soon after migrating.
This guide is for Identity websites that already run on Divi 4. If you’re starting a new website, we strongly recommend building it on Divi 5 instead. The latest Identity demo is designed specifically for Divi 5, with global variables for colors, fonts and spacing, plus native Flexbox and Grid layouts.
The Divi 4 version of Identity is a legacy version. It still works and you can upgrade to Divi 5 later, but layouts imported on Divi 4 keep their Divi 4 structure and won’t automatically gain the new Divi 5 features.
Starting a new website? Upgrade first: go to Divi → Dashboard, click Enable Divi 5 Updates, update Divi under Dashboard → Updates, then follow Using Divi 5. Already have an Identity website on Divi 4? See Migrating to Divi 5.
Getting started
In order to install this child theme, you must first purchase a membership to Elegant Themes and download the Divi Theme package. The Divi Theme is NOT included with this child theme.
We keep Identity fully compatible with the latest Divi and WordPress version. Please ensure that you’ve downloaded and installed the latest version of Divi.
Please note: Ensure you have the Divi Theme installed and activated prior to installing the Identity Child Theme. To avoid any issues during installation, it is highly recommended that you use this child theme on a fresh installation of WordPress.
Downloading child theme
Step 1: Download child theme file
After purchase, download the Identity.zip (Identity-reg.zip for Regular license, or Identity-ext.zip for Extended license) file from your account page on our website or from the Elegant Themes Marketplace, depending on where you made the purchase.
Optional: Download additional files
You can also download the additional Unzip_This_First_Identity.zip file, which contains the following files:
- Identity.zip – the installable Identity child theme file,
- ReadMe.pdf – a PDF document with links to support and this documentation page,
- Import Files folder containing files useful for manual demo import. Only needed if you’re experiencing issues with the automatic, one-click import.
Installing child theme
Step 1: Install Divi Theme (if not installed yet)
Once you’ve downloaded the Divi Theme package, log in to your WordPress website and go to Appearance ➞ Themes. Find and upload the Divi parent theme. Next, click on the Add New Theme.
Step 2: Upload and install Identity
Click on Upload Theme and then Choose file. Locate the Identity.zip file on your computer, then click the Install Now button.
Step 3: Activate the child theme
After completing the upload, you will need to activate the theme by clicking the Activate button.
License activation
Bought Identity on the Elegant Themes Marketplace? Skip this step. Your child theme updates come through your Elegant Themes account, as long as your Elegant Themes API key is active in Divi Theme Options.
If you bought Identity on divilover.com, activate your license to receive automatic child theme updates. Go to Divi ➞ Identity License, paste your license key and activate it.
You’ll find your license key in your account, in the Licenses tab. Once the license is active, Identity updates will appear in your WordPress dashboard.
Importing demo content
Step 1: Back up your site
Imports work best on a fresh installation of WordPress with the Divi Theme installed. It is always recommended that you verify that you have a good backup prior to importing new content.
Step 2: Choose Demo Import Options
To import the child theme demo data, please navigate to the Identity ➞ Demo Import dashboard panel. You’ll see the list of all elements ready to import, including: Posts (and that includes Blog Posts, Pages, Projects, Divi Theme Builder templates and Divi Library Layouts), Media files, Menus, Home and Posts Page settings, Divi Theme Options and WP Options (which include custom permalink structure).
For non-experienced users, we recommend keeping all elements selected.
Step 3: Import Identity Demo
Click the Import Demo Content button. Please note: the import process may take even several minutes, depending on your internet connection speed. You’ll see a progress bar with detailed information about the current import status. Please wait patiently for the import process to finish.
Optional: Remove Importer Files
Once the import process is completed, you’ll be able to delete the importer files and remove the import functionality from the Dashboard by clicking the Remove the Demo Import Panel from the Dashboard button.
Theme Builder templates
Step 1: Check Theme Builder Templates
The Identity Child Theme includes 13 Theme Builder templates. Depending on your setup, some of the template assignments used on the Demo page may not transfer automatically. Navigate to Divi ➞ Theme Builder to check the template structure. You can choose which header and footer template you want to use as global (Default Website Template), and what pages should use different header and footer templates.
Step 2: Manage Template Assignments
Templates marked with the red font are Unassigned, which means they are not used on any page. You can manage template assignments using the Template Settings panel.
Identity Theme Options
The Identity Child Theme features quick and simple customization options, which you can access in the Divi ➞ Theme Options ➞ Identity tab. Its settings are split into two sub-tabs:
Tab 1: Colors
You can globally change the colors of all elements across every page on the website by navigating to Divi ➞ Theme Options ➞ Identity ➞ Colors.
You can set five different colors:
- Dark Color #1 (lighter shade) – this color is for text on light background and as main dark background.
- Dark Color #2 (darker shade) – for best results, choose a color similar to Dark Color #1 but darker in shade.
- Light Color #1 (lighter shade) – this is the main background color used across all light-themed sections. We recommend using a light color value.
- Light Color #2 (darker shade) – this is a secondary light background color. We recommend using a color slightly darker than Light Color #1.
- Accent Color – this is the main accent color used across the site for accents and CTA elements.
After updating the global colors using the Identity Theme Options, you can further edit the color of any individual element using the Divi Builder.
Tab 2: Preloader
You can manage the global preloader functionality by navigating to Divi ➞ Theme Options ➞ Identity ➞ Preloader.
Available settings:
- Enable Global Preloader – check this setting to show a preloader while the page content is loading.
- Preloader Animation – choose the animated element.
- Preloader Width – choose the size of the preloader icon.
- Preloader Color – choose the color of the preloader icon.
- Preloader Background – choose the color of the preloader background.
Typography
You can edit the default font used in the demo by navigating to Divi ➞ Theme Customizer ➞ General Settings ➞ Typography.
Divi Library
Option #1: Page layouts and Theme Builder templates
We included an extensive layout library inside the Identity Child Theme. We assigned a featured image to each layout, making it extremely easy to preview a layout when importing inside the Builder.
Option #2: Section layouts
Identity comes with 30+ section layouts, which you can import from the Divi Library while creating new page designs in the Builder. When adding a new section, choose the Add From Library tab and select a pre-styled Demo section.
Global Presets
Every module used in the Identity demo uses Global Presets, which means that it is already styled as on the Identity Demo page and there is no need to load it from the Library. Every time you add a new module in the Divi Builder, it will use custom Design settings. Some modules have multiple design variations – for light and dark theme, each saved as a separate Preset. When adding a new module, you can select which Preset this module should use.
You can edit the Design settings inside every Preset, but keep in mind that updating a preset will globally modify the appearance of all modules which are using this preset across the entire website.
Useful CSS classes
We added a few helpful CSS Classes which you can use with Identity. Please see the list below for details on how and when to use each class.
- dlov-dark-color – changes element’s text color to global Dark Color #1.
- dlov-dark-bg – changes element’s background color to global Dark Color #1.
- dlov-dark-bg-alpha – changes element’s background color to global Dark Color #1 with 20% opacity.
- dlov-dark-color2 – changes element’s text color to global Dark Color #2.
- dlov-dark-bg2 – changes element’s background color to global Dark Color #2.
- dlov-dark-bg2-alpha – changes element’s background color to global Dark Color #1 with 40% opacity.
- dlov-light-color – changes element’s text color to global Light Color #1.
- dlov-light-bg – changes element’s background color to global Light Color #1.
- dlov-light-bg-alpha – changes element’s background color to global Light Color #1 with 80% opacity.
- dlov-light-color2 – changes element’s text color to global Light Color #2.
- dlov-light-bg2 – changes element’s background color to global Light Color #2.
- dlov-light-bg2-alpha – changes element’s background color to global Light Color #6 with 60% opacity.
- dlov-light-border – changes element’s border color to global Light Color #6 with 60% opacity.
- dlov-accent-color – changes element’s text color to global Accent Color.
- dlov-accent-bg – changes element’s background color to global Accent Color.
- dlov-accent-border – changes element’s border color to global Accent Color.
- dlov-mobile-2col – add this class to Row settings. It maintains the Desktop column structure of a 2-column Row on Phones.
- dlov-reverse-col-mobile – add this class to Row settings. It reverses the order of columns inside the row on both Tablet and Phone.
