Newspaper 8.5 to 9.6.1 theme activation

See the NEW post for versions 9.7 and 11.

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Theme is great, support is even better. But then again, on a lovely rainy day, I decided to make another staging area on my Google compute instance. So I installed Ubuntu, edited files to make it ready connecting to Server Pilot, installed it, and finally added WordPress app. I decided to start the staging area with the latest version of my Newspaper theme. I logged in to Envato and downloaded the theme.

I tweaked the files according to my previous article on version 8 activation.
I uploaded and applied the theme. The surprise I got for this Christmas was just what I needed: The theme activation did not work! Oh, man… but after thorough investigation through the td_ajax.php I found a couple solutions. The easiest one is to:

  1. navigate to /wp-content/themes/Newspaper/includes/wp_booster/td_ajax.php
  2. find this: if (self::self_check($id, $ec, $ad) === true) {
    (which should be located on line 926)
  3. And change it to: if (self::self_check($id, $ec, $ad) === false) {

Save the file and that’s it.

After:

To activate the theme use MANUAL activation link:

Go to admin dashboard > Newspaper > Activate theme > click Activate the theme manually (which is located all the way down in the footer)
You can put anything you like. Here’s mine:
Envato purchase code: onlyonekenobi.com
TagDiv activation key: onlyonekenobi.com

Click Button ACTIVATE => Done

Theme activation
Theme successfully activated using manual activation. Thanks for buying our product.

Update:

I received a lot of help requests in last few months. All of them came from people with the theme version acquired from who knows where. I do not support this theme nor do I have time to do so, especially for non-original versions. Most of those theme versions are changed somehow, and this activation workaround might not work. Please do not ask me to fix things (who knows what) for you. Debugging is time consuming and some things require admin access to your website or even hosting access.

However, I am available for hire.
Click here to Contact me

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140 COMMENTS

  3. You saved me a lot of money. Bought this theme today, downloaded, got my code in mail and.. didn’t work. Wanted to check it twice, tried to log into my account – “you got locked out of your acc”. I still wonder why, bought it with site credit which was there for 2 months, or even longer 🙂 Too bad you can’t buy straight from tagDiv.

    • Great. I had similar problem long time ago but with other theme, but I was not locked out from my account, so it was easy to get the new code.
      I’m glad this got it solved for you.
      I would also recommend you to fix that “account” problem, if you can, just to be safe.

  4. Oh Thanks Mr Ken Obi,, I’ve been working all nite to get this never thought it would be this easy…. Their harassment is just too much

  6. Using v8.7 , the tricks is not working. anything else bro?
    Let me explain what happens, I put the envato purchase code: onlyonekenobi.com (or any)
    TagDiv activation key: onlyonekenobi.com (or any)

    And clicked Activate
    It’s just loading …loading…loading…& nothing for 10 minutes

    • Hi.
      Make sure to save the changes to td-ajax.php file. Sometimes it happenes to me to forget to save changes.

      The license keys can be anything, but without space.
      For example : superninja.xyz
      superninja.xyz

      If it doesn’t work, try to use older theme version, activate it and then just update to new version. This will work.

      I am currently in Cambodia on a short vacation and if I get the chance I will inspect and see what might be the problem.
      Cheers

    • Hey Stanely,

      I just checked this method with the latest version (8.7.2). It works fine.
      I will update my post, maybe it is not clear enough on what to do. Therefore I’ll include a picture or two more.
      Cheers

  10. Thanx A lot.. It works 100%… Spent the whole night trying to figure out the solution but couldn’t find it till i landed on this article..

    • Hello Mei,
      Please tell me which theme version are you using?
      Maybe you missed something…
      Did you use manual activation link from the bottom of the page ?
      Did check if the file changes are saved?

    • This got nothing to do with updates, nor the theme has a built-in update system.
      This trick turns off the “activation nag” by allowing you to activate the theme manually using a license key of your choice..
      If you like the theme please buy it to support the authors and to acquire author’s support.
      Cheers

  28. Plz help me out in this ..i am using newspaper 8.5 theme i did ur trick and many tricks but my problem is different .. my activation button is not working whenever i type something there , the activation button below the code is just loading .. it is loading for hours but didn’t showing any reason or anything . It is just loading , does not showing activated or nt activate just loading . Plz help me

    • Hi, sorry for late reply.
      Your issue might be related to the wrong activation step. You should use manual activation, as described in my post. Also it is a good idea to double-check on the file you made changes to.
      If nothing works then the problem is not with the “trick”, it is with the theme you are using, or the hosting maybe.
      Cheers

  29. I’m using 8.5. I don’t know why it’s not working for me? It shows This message “Theme successfully activated using manual activation. Thanks for buying our product.”. But in the dashboard, it shows same message “Theme is not activated”. Please help me to solve this problem.

  30. Hi Good morning please am using version 8.7.2 and I tried the steps above but when activating, it keeps loading please help me out. Thanks here is a picture

    • If you followed my steps, exactly, then you shouldn’t have any problems. If it is not working then check your theme source. If you got the theme from a shady source, then I’m afraid I can’t help you.

  31. It activated through manual means but it’s still showing activate theme. Secondly, I can’t find the tagdiv or newsletter after installing any ideas?

    • Hi, this works with the latest theme version 8.7.5., which means that something is wrong at your end.

      cheers

  33. hy sir, I have 8.6 version i want to update but we
    hen i click update it redicate to themeforest and not show any download option so please help me how i update ???

    • The recommended way to update the theme is to delete the version you are using now, and after that to upload new version and activate.
      So if you want (for any reason) the newest theme version, then first download it from your Envato account or wherever you acquired it.

  35. Ohh, it’s very nice trick!
    I had version 8.7 and updated it without any problem. Is it possible to update always with this way or not?
    Thanks a million!

    • Hi, yes of course, I have already mentioned that once you activate the old version you can replace it with any new version when it comes out. So in the future you will never need to activate again.

      Cheers

  36. Hello, This works on latest version 8.8.1
    I have licenses that we bought and we use for production sites. We use this theme as a deployment for our clients. sometimes this takes a month or more to get approved from the client, meanwhile the site would nag-nag-nag until we bought a license, however many times the client wants a different layout or template so we would be at a loss buying the theme if it wasnt to be used, and also the developers edition is $1200 which is too much for us. Tagdiv offers no help in just resetting the counter for us. So this work around is great and gives us the time we need to finalize the project and if the client approves then we buy the license. We LOVE supporting plugin and theme developers because with funding they can continue to improve their product. but sometimes you need the things to work without a hassle.

    • Hello, Yes I agree. I deploy websites for my friends and sometimes clients,.. and when the ‘nag’ appeared this workaround was the first next thing I did.
      If you need help with anything feel free to read my blog or ask, I’ll be glad to write an article on issues regarding web development.

  38. thank you man. I had version 8.8 and this method doesn’t work for this. I installed version 8.7.3 and this work

  39. Muito bom funcionou, e foi a unica solução que encontrei pesquisando no google.
    parabéns e obrigado

  40. Im a complete newbie, please how do i navigate to “/wp-content/themes/Newspaper/includes/wp_booster/td_ajax.php” in the theme

  42. Thanks much sir for your great work.i have uploaded my theme via ftp and after registering, i cant edit the demo logos to my own logos nor edit the theme using tagdiv composer. What could be the problem?

    • There could be many problems. Try with the clean WordPress installation with only plugins bundled with the theme (eg. composer and social media counter).

  43. I uninstalled wordpress and install it again back but i encounted the same problem. The theme can’t be uploaded wp-admin only via ftp or uploading to the file manager via cpanel

    • This scenario looks like a hosting problem. Make sure your hosting meets all the theme’s requirements.
      I remember there’s an official Newspaper documentation saying that if you do not meet certain requirements you might not be able to change theme options within the theme panel.

  44. Thank much sir for your aasistance. i configured my .htaccess file in the file manager to
    “php_value upload_max_filesize 1000M
    php_value post_max_size 2000M
    php_value memory_limit 3000M
    php_value max_execution_time 180
    php_value max_input_time 180”

    But now when i try to place google adsense codes to the theme panel ads section, the codes fail to be saved. Please reccomend a way to solve this and will be glad.

  49. When I try this trick with newspaper 8.8.1 it displayed **Manual activation failed, check each field and try again.**
    Please help me…

    • You can find all your answers in the post or comments. Other than that I can’t provide any free help.
      If you want you can hire me 🙂

  50. Thanks a lot, Mr. Kenobi!!! I tried a lot with td_cake and other stuff, but this is the only one what really worked!

    • Hi, I just checked and it works perfectly when writing a post.
      Either you are using non-original theme which was tempered with, or you didn’t follow instructions properly.
      Cherry-o

  55. Hi mine worked but here is what i observe

    after checking myajax.php i found it already True, i was confused, so all i did was use manual activation, enter http://localhost/temica and boom activated thanks bro you saved me $58 OH SO THANKS BROTHER

  66. wow .. it amazing
    i had purchased newspaper theme .. but that theme is general public licensed but it doesnt work..
    but after your process its work for me …
    thank you bro

  79. Tell me how to activate amp + mobile theme of newspaper theme. In my site not activate. Please help me !

  82. Sir, the 9.7 version is out but the said td_ajax.php where the change is supposed to be made is not there.

    Please cross check and help me out.

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