i have tried different d1 minis and different WLED versions and none light up the LEDs. I am connecting the LED strip direct to the d1 mini. I soldered on a connecter that has a female end and i connecting that to the light strip. tried 2 different light strips. one fairy light and a 2812 LED strip
Not much info here.
How are you powering the LEDs?
How many LEDs?
Did you enter the correct GPIO in LED Preferences?
Are you sure you are connected to the Input side of the LED strip? -Data only flows 1 direction
I have it set for 5 LEDs now and im connected to D2 in the software and on the board. i soldered a female header on my D1 mini and it only fits on the first LED.
There is no such GPIO called D2. If you have your data wired to D2 on your d1 mini the GPIO setting in LED Preferences likely needs to be set to 4. Also it is recommended to only use GPIO 2, 1 and 3 on an Esp8266 (d1 mini). So if you want GPIO 2 you likely need to connect your data on the board to D4 
LED strips are not all wired the same from different sources Look on your strip and make sure that side of the strip is it’s input. Most strips show the data direction with an arrow at the cut points.
is that new i used to set it to 2 and it would work. Preciate it greatly. Thank you so Mutch bud.
No. It has always been that way. Glad you got it working. 2 would be correct for LED Preferences, but gpio 2 on most Esp8266’s is d4. Maybe you have the two confused 