Good morning everybody -
The longer I’m involved in blogging, the more I love Wordpress. It’s absolutely brilliant. Wordpress makes the internet available to the people – and gets it out of the hands of the web development elite.
Okay, I’m making that up. I don’t think the “web development elite” mind Wordpress. I think they love it. I just wanted to make a dramatic statement.
I’m on a quest to learn everything about Wordpress – I want to become a Wordpress guru…a Wordpress Ninja, if you will.
So I have a question for all of you:
What are some things you wish you knew how to do in Wordpress?
I’m talking about everything from posting articles on your site to rearranging layouts to changing font sizes and colors…anything at all.
Put all your Wordpress desires in the comments of this post, and then over the course of a few weeks or months (depending on how many questions we all generate), I’ll go about getting them answered. They could make for some cool video posts.
Tags: wordpress how to
I would like to see some advance PHP integration. For example developing something with PHP to run in your site using Wordpress. Take Wordpress a step further.
Hi Mac Tips -
Are you talking about creating a Wordpress plugin? Can you give an example of what you mean?
There is already a plugin for wordpress that allows you to execute PHP in the post.
Funny I was just thinking that…
How to add the”add your keyword here” thing to any template.
How to take the side bar widgets and place it in the footer and look good.
How to change or adjust the header size
How to adjust the width of the body or post section
How to widetize a non widgetized theme
How to adjust a theme for optimal adsense ctr
Thanks- Matt
All great ones Matt. Can you clarify the question about the widgets? Are you saying you’d like to have a section in the footer that takes the place of the sidebar where you’d have the blogroll etc?
yes Mark,
all widgets in footer section so that they are not distracting in the sidebar for adsense niches… at courtneytuttle.com you have pages, readers, and links at the bottom, what if we want everything on the bottom?
Just one simple thing. How to place an ad block the width of 2 columns on top of that two columns (e.g.: I have 2 columns 125 pixel each, I want to put an AdSense block 250×250 on top of the columns, 125×2=250.
Thanks, great idea.
Good one Fabio. Should be relatively easy to show you.
Im just looking into how to upload posts from a CSV file, learning how to do that should be a great help for the ultra efficient types and people like me who can’t stand clicking the mouse more times than is really necessary to do the job
I’d like to know how to change the pics on top of the wordpress theme.
Ex. I am supposed to get our church website up and running. I am used to blogger, but not wordpress. I’d like to use wordpress and have a couple themes in mind. However, the graphics for the themes are generic and I’d like to place a picture of our church at the top of the page, kind of like grizz has the cabin on his wp site.
Probably easy to do, but like I said, I’m a wp noob.
You can change the photo pretty easily by a couple of different ways.
Your template should contain an image file. Just open it, find the header image and open in an editor. This will let you see the size of the photo, something like 790 X 120 or whatever it is.
Just create/find/photo your new header that you want to the same size, save it as the same name into the same folder, and upload. I have done this quite often and it works great.
You can also look at the CSS and sometimes find other photo settings that are called as CSS vs. being called into the html itself.
I’d be interested in hearing what plugins are recommended for niche sites as well as any specific settings for those plugins. All-in-one seo is a given, but any others? Maybe sitemaps or related posts?
Also, any steps recommended to improve a wordpress site’s security, if needed.
Thanks.
Looking for wordpress and magneto e-commerce integration at the moment. Wordpress is really needing a good e-commerce partner and I think Magneto could be the one. Wordpress manages content so amazingly well ans is so simple and intuitive that resolving this one issue would be amazing. I have a guy working on a mash up as we speak. I might post a link when it is done in a couple of months.
I’d really like to know how to put links into image captions as I’d like to be able to give credit to the owners of images I use. Every time I put a link in at present it strips it out when I save it.
Ok ok – totally not SEO related, but I’m working on a personal blog as well. So check out this guy’s blog:
Isn’t that custom twitter plugin awesome?? How do you create that?
Another thing I’d like is an easy plugin to only show certain pic feeds from Flickr – like not every single crappy shot you may have uploaded.
Since everyone’s here – what’s a good price for a custom theme? All the travel themes out there kinda suck. This is what I’ll be using my MMO bucks for. Travel and blogging.
^^OK, so just click the massive block of text for the link. This’ll show up weird on his analytics!
I bought Expert WordPress a while ago. It is supposedly SEO optimized out of the “box”. It comes with over a dozen plug-ins pre-installed. While I love the other suggestions, I’d like to know if suitable for the type of material discuused here. You can see my personal blog that I made with EWP by clicking my name.
Buddy
Magazines-A cluster of more than one article(post)for those of use who have multiple authors. This to me means more than archiving by month or tagging. This is creating some sort of uniformity within those posts (a banner across each post that link to the cover), on each post links to other articles on that issue.
I’d like WordPress to make coffee for me at 9am and 2pm everyday.
I’m with Tom, a more comprehensive e-comm solution/tie-in would be great to learn how to do.
I have been struggling for a long time trying to fit my custom header image on my theme while hiding the title text behind it for SEO purposes. I am using a modified version of the free UDP money maker theme. It has been so frustrating. I can get the image to display but I just don’t know how to add the right code to center it in the space and cover the title and tagline text.
Can you please help?
hiding the title text will not do you any favours. hiding stuff is strictly against googles guidelines.
i would suggest replacing the title and tagline with your image, then putting your title in the alt text and linking that image to your site.
Not completely true. You can “hide” your title, etc. using CSS in order to allow for accessibilty issues (ie. a user that uses a screen reader, or text browser).
You can do so pretty easily with a negative margin on the block or div you use.
Hiding text is not allowed if you are using it for keyword stuffing, etc. like that for SEO purposes and will get you banned.
Let me know if I can help further with the accessiblity issue.
how to back-up my blog easily. Maybe a list of the top ten widgets each month.
there is a plugin called wp-backup i think
I am pretty sure there is a plugin that emails you a backup however often you tell it to.
http://css-tricks.com/video-screencasts/25-designing-for-wordpress-part-one/
Thats more about css edits on the template to make things pretty.
I would love to know how to make Wordpress look like an html site. I build landing pages and squeeze pages…and the look of a wordpress blog can be too distracting for my visitors.
If I understand what your asking correctly, surely it is just a case of simplifying the templates to a very basic level?
I would love to know how to keep my WordPress blogs safe from hacking and how to detect/debug after a hacking incident. I used to use the AskApache plugin but it caused more problems than it solved, so I don’t use it anymore.
How to block all the comments coming from one site or email service. For example block all comments from xx[at]anydomain.com, and xx being any kind or name or combined characters.
Similar to Dale above, I’m interested in how Wordpress can be used as a CMS for a traditional website (as opposed to a blog).
Try just using pages and not posts then.
If you want the categorization or tags use posts but change the permalink structure to /category/postname/
To not have a blog style front page go to the settings tab, then select reading. There you have the option to set a static page as the frontpage.
Oh yeah, how would you go about creating a blog, but having the main index appear to be a mini site landing page?
You can set a page to be the home page in Wordpress.
All of the posts still exist in the background, but when the person lands on your homepage, they get shown the static page content rather than the list of posts.
That is the best way to make wordpress into a “website” design or landing page style.
I’m just learning a little bit about wordrpess. I’m kind of confused on how to host it on my own server. Well, it would be great for me to hire a wordpress installation person.
You can use “Fantastico” on your server. It will install wordpress with just a few clicks and save you the time of having to set the database, etc. yourself.
Like Fabio, I would like to know how to add an adsense block, a subscription form (or any ad block) into the top of the sidebars on templates that don’t have them.
I would also like to learn how to add drop down menus, and add your main keyword to the top of any Wordpress template like the keyword sniper templates.
To add an adsense block, a subscription form (or any ad block) into the top of the sidebars on templates that don’t have them, you have to edit your theme. Go to theme editor and click on sidebar.php. Then play around with it by putting the html syntax. Remember to have a copy of the sidebar.php file first before playing with it.
I want a simple way to show a long list of posts and thei publication date, past and future. the existing interface only shows a few posts at a time, and instead of dates and times of publication shows ‘three days from now’ or ’so many hours ago’. The info is obviously in the database but currently requires you to open the post for edit to see. Also you apparently can’t schedule a post for future publication from the ‘Quick edit’ function.
What about a little calendar view with dates that have posts scheduled highlighted, or ones with no posts scheduled highlighted? This would let the blogger schedule in advance quickly and with confidence.
I want to create landing pages in wordpress.
Set the blog to show pages or static as the homepage. Go to your settings, I think it is in reading. Make front page to be static and not your latest post.
There is an actual landing page theme someplace floating around in the Googlesphere…I have seen it, just can’t remember where!
Here is my list.
1. I want to be able to upload new themes myself without the need to consult a techie. Even my contracted web design guy had trouble uploading One-theme and I am still working on it.
2. How to manipulate the info in the side bar. I guess I have to learn enough code to get by.
3. Understand why some plug-in install like a charm and others just don’t work.
I don’t necessarily feel the need to know everything, just to feel comfortable with most aspect of wordpress. I think code is really the single biggest issue.
Nick
- making something dateless or dated (how)
- understanding where in the script the no follow is, and how to modify that
- how to change a photo in the header, like on Chris Pearson’s themes (personified .com)
- security
- how to make million$ blogging
To upload your theme, use this plugin Wp easy uploader
A great site for learning how to convert a design for WordPress is Chris Coyier’s css-tricks.com.
He has a 3 part series (a little over 2 hours of instruction) where he demonstrates how to convert a design for WordPress.
He has more than 40 videos in all. Everything from xhtml and css, to using WordPress as a CMS, to Photoshop tips and tricks, to PHP and jQuery, etc.
My recent challenge in wordpress is to get higher rated than 90 in http://website.grader.com
I could start teaching us wordpress users how to get there
Cheers
Why are you asking people what they want? Would it be more beneficial if you created a video that showed you how to create the ultimate blog? You could show people why you should change the colours of the site (branding) and how to do it. You could tell people which plugins they need, how they work, what they do and how to install/optimise them. I think you will get loads of ideas, but not ones which are relevant to making money online. You’re the experts, you tell us!
Wordpress as it stands is the best publishing software available at the moment. From management to SEO to integration with self coded modules, it’s just brilliant. The plugins and themes let you change things up into creating a fantastic CMS and if that’s not enough, you can use a flagship product such as Wordpress MU or buddypress, etc.
I would love to know how it is possible to automatically create a post based on someones search criteria.
Wordpress would check to see if the post existed already and then create one if not. I bet you could get it to automatically add tags and stuff using various plugins too.
That would be great for making a blog that generates posts based on peoples keywords and then shows relevant external content based on that keyword.
Think Dynamic sites…
In addition to my post and be sent to a different site. This would work for CPA above, I’d like to know how to make a poll or something where a choice can be checked and entered for CPA stuff.
Buddy
Sorry, not everything got typed in on the above post…
In addition to my first post about the Expert Word Press product I bought, I’d like to know how to make a poll that can be checked and entered and sent to a CPA site.
B
I didn’t have time to read what others have said, but I’ve seen tutorials on how to add extra widgets to a theme, but they are written too advanced for me. I’m not a php coder, but I can forage around a bit and figure out how to do the specific task I am trying to do, even though I don’t know the code language as a whole. I would love a tutorial that is just a little bit more in depth for a non-coder but fast learner like me.
I am very new to wordpress. I am having a blog in blogger but recently created another in wordpress.
The entire structure is different and I am feeling kinda lost.
Out of the many things I want to know is how to
:
1.Change my header image.
2.Insert an Html of javascript in the sidebar(like entrecard or statcounter).
I’m with Matt and Dale and others. How to setup WP as a good affiliate site with squeeze page, etc., including how to add a widget and/or an Aweber form to the header, things like that.
Would love to know how to imbed audio in a WP blog, for listening online and as an mp3 download.
I would be happy with just knowing how to really use wordpress well for SEO!!
Keep up the good work guys!
You are obviously getting some good feedback here. Here are my pet peeves.
Two things I’ve noticed with the 2.7 version:
1. Although the captions work, they are not centered.
2. I can’t click on the thumbnail and see the full-sized image anymore.
Oh, and something happened to all my links to digg, technorati, etc. when I put the RSS feed button at the bottom of all my posts (thanks for that tip). I can’t remember how I got them there. Was that a feedburner setting or a WP setting or plugin???
I would like to put a paypal buy now button in my page or post and there is no way to do this. I have to put it in a text widget in the sidebar.
Mark, if you want to put it on every page or post, just modify the singlepage.php or index.php files and add the script/text to the code.
If you want to add it only to certain pages or posts, just keep the text handy and copy the html into the post/page before publishing, and remember to switch to html view.
Hi Mark,
I’d like step-by-step instructions on how to upgrade to the latest edition of Wordpress and how to back up my installation and my sites. I see a lot around the web about the importance of doing this, but I don’t know how.
I would also like to know how to go about changing my blog post order after the posts have been published on the blog.
Thanks.
I’d love to learn how to install new header images and images on the actual pages of a wordpress (not only in posts).
How to convert the right sidebar of a theme to the left.
I would love to see a wordpress user management to JV Manager2 (Fantasos) integration, even if it is via a paid plugin like newmedias or wp-wishlist.
Getting PHP to work in pages and posts for WP is easy however there is a security block somewhere in WP Mu
Another wishlist: How about a 1 click, upgrade all plugins?
An app that will upgrade and re-activate fall plugins, skipping and rolling back any that give problems.
Also in WP Mu, a plugin validation, so I don’t try to get plugins to work that just won’t work with WP Mu…
I do everything now in wordpress: blogs, sites, portals, membership sites, e-commerce, anything I need.
WP 2.7 is a great improvement on 2.6, Blogger watch out…
Regards
Mark
Another one just occurred to me from a comment above.
How about a drag and drop sidebar management, ie. move the sidebar to the left, right, bottom, 2 together, duplicate 1 to make it into 2 etc.. Some sort of Page layour mashing tool?
Since I am on a roll, how about a tool to change the header graphic and make it fit or blend into the theme?
I would also love to have a system where I can create a vanilla install with a standard theme, plugins, pages, links and configuration then be able to do a rapid deploy to a hosted account with it implementing the vanilla setup, creating the database etc.. I know you can do this using an ftp of the whole directory structure and export/import the database after the initial basic WP install, but I would like a system I can deploy from an online site to a hosted account using built in ftp and a script db creation and connect. Lets take this further and allow WP installs to backup their MySQL db to another site for safekeeping and easy restore?
-mark
Hi,
I am willing to setup a network of blogs on the free wordpress platform (not self hosted) for the purpose of building links to my money sites. But i have no idea about how to setup plugins on free wp platform and how to auto-link the keywords in my post.
Kindly also tell me what other useful setting i should include for on a good blog network.
Regards,
Roshan Prasad.
I have been following your info with interest – I signed up through Hostgator with you – thanks – but I still am not sure of my ideal structure i.e. page or posts + different people recommend different versions of the custom permalink structure so I’m not sure which one is best!
Im having trouble editing text and adding to the text that is a part of the theme. for example in the headed it still says mydomainname.com and i can’t figure out how to change it and there are other things about the theme i want to change.
Anyone who’s used Wordpress for a while has to admit, a reasonable amount of tweaking the underlying PHP code is required to achieve the desired results
Also, there’s a dependency on pre-defined free/premium WP templates out there on the web.
From some of the questions i see above, for example – how to add a custom banner/image at the top of the page? The only way to achieve this is to look at the Header.php code and figure out where the logo.png file is placed
For a newbie, i believe blogger is more easier/friendlier/faster to learn than wordpress! It’s all in the GUI
For example, moving widget bars, sidebars and other stuff that’s built in to blogger is easier and the CSS files get updated automatically.
Of course, folks who are comfortable with coding will do this in either CSS or PHP… Blogger just has a GUI with movable components which keeps things easier.
These are just “my thoughts”. Not a blogger vs. wordpress writeup!