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October 6, 2020 at 8:21 am in reply to: How to remove spacing in testimonials and a line near the footer in Academy Pro #501354copiousParticipant
Very neat! The way to access the Inspect Element is a bit different on my computer than how it looked in the video, as well as the way to access it, but all of the features are there. Maybe it's due to a newer version of the browser or Mac/Windows differences.
Coding can be a bit overwhelming for me, so what might seem like a quick and simple fix to many, could take me a lot longer to figure out. Sometimes I give up in frustration. I'm ok with basic things, or once I've done them a few times, but figuring things out for the first time is often a challenge for me when it involves working with code.
I haven't used FTP in a long time. I've been getting away with the built-in code editor in WordPress, or in the case of non-Wordpress websites, using File Manager in Cpanel. But I know that's not the best way to do this. I do as much as I can in the WordPress dashboard, but it has its limitations for sure.
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
October 6, 2020 at 6:17 am in reply to: How to remove spacing in testimonials and a line near the footer in Academy Pro #501352copiousParticipantThat worked great, thank you! With the line-height at 20px it looks good, and doesn't seem to affect anything else.
I need to figure out how to read the code like that. It looks simple enough when someone points it out to me - both the code and where to look. I'm more of a designer and a copywriter than a coder.
But, I know it's best not to edit the actual CSS file, so I added that bit of code to:
Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS
Thanks again! Now I just need to figure out where that short red line is coming from near the footer.
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
October 3, 2020 at 6:07 am in reply to: How to modify Pricing Tables in Academy Pro theme for different purposes #501304copiousParticipantI should have included a link to the demo theme for quick reference, it's the Academy Pro theme, here's the direct link to the Pricing Tables page:
https://demo.studiopress.com/academy/sample-page/pricing-table/
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
October 3, 2020 at 6:05 am in reply to: How to modify Pricing Tables in Academy Pro theme for different purposes #501303copiousParticipantI'm not sure if I should create another topic or just add to this - since it's related to the pricing tables, but are more minor glitches I wanted to take care of, and I'm not sure how. The instructions were great, I learned a lot from them, but they don't cover the following:
- Add red line around all boxes used as pricing tables (currently only the right side box has it, when I tried to copy the code
<div class="one-half featured">
instead of
<div class="one-half first">
it made the two tables stack vertically with no spacing between them. There must be a way to keep the same spacing but just add the red line around the left side boxes (pricing tables).
- Within the pricing table boxes, how can I left justify everything inside boxes except titles and descriptions (first two lines, for example "Phase 2
Guided Driving" should stay centered), but all other content should be left justified.- Can the bullets be made visible? Possibly red to match the lines around the boxes). Most of the content within the boxes is actually an unordered list, but the bullets do not appear but I would like them to.
- How to have a space between paragraphs. I tried and it worked if I added it in the unordered list, but not elsewhere. I removed it since it's probably bad practice, there must a better way to add a blank line before or after something. For example, in the Phase 1 box "Phase 1 is a minimum..." should be a new paragraph, but it's stuck right beside the end of the previous sentence. I didn't want to start messing with the HTML as it's usually preferable to fix with CSS.
- Could the horizontal gap between the pricing boxes be the same as the vertical gap?
Once again, thank you in advance for any suggestions or help you may be able to offer.
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
May 28, 2017 at 10:27 pm in reply to: Enterprise Pro: Read More button with Featured Page widget not working #207114copiousParticipantOk, I think I figured it out. For the benefit of others who may run into this problem: It seems that there must be a "home" page but the content can actually be a totally blank page. As long as there is a "home" page in Reading>Static Page (select the home page from the drop down menu). The little blurb at the side is actually the REAL home page. But, it has a longer page name because that displays as the title for that blurb on the right.
When set up this way, by default the home page shows up as it should with the featured image and the short blurb on the right with the "Read More" button. When that button is clicked, it loads the full version of that page.
Now, if someone clicks "Home" OR the website name in the header, they both bring you to the pseudo home page, which is really the featured page with the short blurb and the "Read More" button. This is the way the Enterprise Pro demo theme is set up, and probably should be, for consistency. That way if a site visitor is on another page and wants to return to the home page, he or she would probably expect clicking on the site title in the header and the "home" button to bring him/her there. If the "home" button showed the full page instead of the abbreviated version with "Read More" it could be confusing and disorienting to the site visitor. I think.
Does this make sense? Before I mark this as resolved, I wouldn't mind hearing from someone more experienced if this is intended way it should work.
Side note: I understand there is another more robust widget available called "Featured Pages Extras" that has a lot more functionality. I opted to stick with the basic one since this is the first time I'm using this theme, and I'm still sharpening my WordPress and Genesis skills, so I figured it would be best to follow the demo theme tutorial. Only it would have been nice if they could have warned us, or better explained the trick to making it work on the home page!
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
May 28, 2017 at 9:56 pm in reply to: Enterprise Pro: Read More button with Featured Page widget not working #207112copiousParticipantI just wanted to add... I tried using a different page (like the contact page) instead of the home page, and it worked! For some reason, it will not work with the home page. The three widgets at the bottom also use the Featured Page and work flawlessly. No idea why the one at the top of the page is not working.
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
March 8, 2016 at 2:54 pm in reply to: Can I have a logo AND text based site title with tagline? Magazine Pro theme #180937copiousParticipantThanks! I found the CSS you mentioned and removed the
text-indent: -9999px;
It made the tagline appear centered, under the logo, and on two lines due to its length. It's not quite where I wanted it, so I added back that code. It's been a while since I did any coding, and I never was that proficient at it, so maybe I'll add this to my list of things to do, and may need to outsource it, so I don't mess things up. I was hoping it was easy, like adjusting some settings in the WordPress dashboard, or making a simple modification to the CSS, but there's a bit more to it than that.
For now, I'll make due with the text widget. The placement is good - right about where I want it anyways. The font style and size for the tagline is good - in fact it's the same as what the Magazine Pro theme used when made it display by removing the above text indent code. But I'd really like the title to be bigger and bolder, and if possible, in the same font as the demo theme has here: http://demo.studiopress.com/magazine/
If I could just change the font for the title in the text widget, I could live with that, but if it's changed in that spot, it will change on all of the titles in the sidebar too, from what I can tell.
Are there are any SEO benefits to doing it the other way, having the title display the regular with without a logo? Anyone know?
Thanks! 🙂
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 27, 2014 at 8:28 am in reply to: First Genesis site, a bit plain? For a driving school #121325copiousParticipantThe Internet Marketers I've been studying are into both, acquiring the visitor (more SEO) and the lead (more Internet marketing for the lead generation aspect of it). I agree, there's a difference. I'm still learning, but I can usually identify a website where it's been optimized for lead generation. I'm trying to find the balance between all of these things right now. Thanks! 🙂
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 26, 2014 at 12:52 pm in reply to: First Genesis site, a bit plain? For a driving school #121175copiousParticipantGreat, thanks Tom! I'm kind of stuck between making a website with as many Internet Marketing techniques as possible, and a clean, aesthetically pleasing appearance. Unfortunately, I'm finding, the two are not always compatible. Being that the driving school industry in the Montreal area is quite competitive, we need all of the help we can get. So, I may have to give up a more stylish site for one that's more geared towards direct response advertising.
It's OK, some of the Internet marketers have similar website layouts and still make a fortune selling their wares. Within reason, I think my friend would rather have a website that gets her more customers rather than one which looks nice, lol. Of course, it still has to look clean and professional. Believe me, a few of her competitors have websites that look like a 5 year old made them as a first attempt at web design! And some of her competitors have beautiful looking websites that could probably win a graphic design award, but the content is not strong, and they lack calls to action.
10 years ago when she started with one location, having a website was a novelty. She was one of the few driving schools with a website. Back then, it was still all about good Yellow Page ads. How times have changed! 😉 And I'm still, always happy to get tips and suggestions. I've implemented most of them, and I think it makes the website better. I'm not that fond of the body background color, but my friend likes it, and it's her website in the end. I'm not sure if I'll redesign the site any time soon, or use any of the themes from the Pro Pack. We'll see. Thanks again for all of the great tips! They help me with this site and with future sites!
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 25, 2014 at 2:35 pm in reply to: First Genesis site, a bit plain? For a driving school #120989copiousParticipantSorry if I came across as trying to justify too many things. I really do appreciate the feedback on the design aspect. I'm still learning and want to be sure to find the right balance between an attractive looking website and one that converts well. Experience is the best teacher, and I have a bit of it, but I'm still learning!
Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions. I've implemented several of them and I think it makes the website look a lot better already!
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 25, 2014 at 2:27 pm in reply to: First Genesis site, a bit plain? For a driving school #120987copiousParticipantTom, that's a great looking design. It definitely looks cleaner and more upscale that mine. You know about the importance of a call to action, etc. I'm trying to find the balance between an attractive website and one that has maximum impact and converts website visitors to callers (or to fill in the contact form) and eventually become customers.
There are a few reasons I did some of the things I did, which you may or may not know about. I've also been learning about Internet marketing for a while, and direct response marketing with websites and direct response copywriting. Some of the techniques result in a less aesthetically pleasing appearance, but are proven to have higher conversions, according to some of the successful Internet marketers I've been following. My friend's driving school is in a very competitive area, in her local area, so she needs as many advantages as possible.
- In the driving school industry (and many other local service based businesses), some people just want the phone number to call, so I make it as easy as possible by putting the phone numbers right there in the header. It's worked well on the previous html website. And now with the Genesis website, the phone numbers can be clicked to call when viewed on a mobile phone, which many people view the site on. In this industry, getting people to call is a big thing, because (depending on who answers the phone at the office), they have a pretty good chance of selling them the course if they just call. And some current customers just want the phone number quickly, so it's there, easy to find on every page.
- I'd like to keep a bit of extra space in the navigation open in case we add another page later. Not essential but nice to have if possible.
- I like the way you highlighted the Easy Payment Plan. The refresher lessons aren't a big seller, so I probably wouldn't put them up front, but something else could go in that spot.
- The orange "Register Now" button with the red dotted line around the box like a coupon looks a bit tacky. I know. But it's a variation on the "Belcher Box" developed by successful Internet marketer Perry Belcher. He found the right combination of graphics, colors, etc for maximum conversion. It may look tacky, but it works well! And my friend wants to get as many people as possible to register online, as it's been quite successful so far, with just a simple text link on the current html website.
- I agree a slider probably isn't necessary. I'm going to take some better pictures in a few weeks. But my goal is to put a video in that spot where the slider is right now, taking up about the same amount of space. From an SEO standpoint, the longer people stay on a website, the better Google likes it, as we all know. Having a short video will help increase the chances of that. So I'm hoping to have a video there. If not, then a smaller static image will probably go there.
- I'm not sure if the contact form on your version of the website is moved further down the page, or reserved for the contact page, but from a marketing standpoint, I want to have it on all pages, including the home page. I need a stronger call to action to entice people to use the form, but that's the general gist of why I wanted it there.
- The "as seen in the Montreal Gazette" and "as heard on CBC Radio One" are important to establish credibility. Again, I'm not sure if they would appeared further down the page with your design, or if you removed them. I got that tip from a guy who runs a business making websites for carpet cleaners, and many of his tips I've found can be applied to other service based local businesses. It's hard to quantify or prove if this works, but I've had it on the html website for a while too.
I took a look at the Stay Sleepy theme - looks good. I also just bought the complete set of Studiopress themes during the sale they had last week. With $100 off and the returning customer 25% discount, I couldn't resist. So future sites can look a bit more visually appealing. I am kind of considering using a new theme for this website. The navigation is good now, and the content has been rearranged in a better way, so using a new theme would be easy to do now.
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 23, 2014 at 9:54 pm in reply to: First Genesis site, a bit plain? For a driving school #120722copiousParticipantThat's strange how your reply didn't get posted right away... oh well! In any case, thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it.
I kind of liked the minimalist look, but am open to the idea of some color in the body. I'm not sure if I like the pewter I currently have there, so the color might change, but I don't think my friend will like it with plain white or pale gray as it originally was. I still haven't got the extra image next to the logo, but that should help too as it will fill in that white space when viewed on non-mobile devices (computers as opposed to phones or tablets).
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 21, 2014 at 7:35 am in reply to: Is it possible to show header graphic for computers & hide for mobile devices? #120202copiousParticipantI happened to mention this in another post, on a different topic and Anita suggested this tutorial:
http://wpsites.net/web-design/add-header-left-widget-genesis/When I get back tonight, I'll go through it and try it out, as well as any other suggestions. Thanks! 🙂
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 21, 2014 at 7:33 am in reply to: First Genesis site, a bit plain? For a driving school #120201copiousParticipantGreat, thanks! I'll take a look at that tonight. I want to try it now, but I have to go out for the day. I just posted a question on this in the CSS part of the forum. Not sure if I can delete that post now, but I'll add to it.
I just moved those widgets to the footer, and that cleans it up quite a bit. I took your suggestion of color for the background, though I used a different color. And I took my friend's suggestion to make the navigation bar (and to match, the footer and "send" button) in navy blue, same as her cars. So now the website is at least consistent with the colors she's branded her cars with, red, white and blue! And the background color for the body is a pewter kind of gray with a bit of beige. Personally I liked the #333333 gray navigation bar better, but it's all about compromises and making sure everyone is happy.
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 21, 2014 at 6:10 am in reply to: First Genesis site, a bit plain? For a driving school #120186copiousParticipantThanks Anita, those are great ideas! I spoke with my friend, and she wants to make the navigation bar navy blue (same color as her cars). And then a different color for the body background sounds good. It's a business website, so I think it's OK for it to be a bit plain. Many business websites are quite minimalist and plain. But a bit of color as you suggest would be fine. I didn't quite like the pale gray it currently has, anyways.
I like the idea of moving the three widgets for Follow Us, Search and Recent Posts to the footer to balance it out a bit.
One thing I personally don't like, and my friend and her son also mentioned it, was the large white space in the header. On her current website, there's a picture of a car in between the logo and the phone numbers, which fills in the space nicely. I tried doing this with the Genesis same theme, but it was getting cut off on iPhones (and I think iPads). They way it's set up now, is foolproof for any mobile device or computer, but the trade-off is the large white space. I need to figure out how to add a graphic there which could either disappear when viewed on mobile devices, or go below the logo.
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 19, 2014 at 11:26 am in reply to: Print only a small portion of page using CSS? Using Sample theme #119801copiousParticipantYes, for sure the next one will be easier. That's why I try my best to get things to work, even if time consuming and challenging, especially if I think I will use them later - which will be faster once I have experience. But I have to admit, I was almost ready to give up on the "print coupon" challenge! Thanks again for your help.
So far I've heard back from my friend's son that the new site is too plain. After all of the time I spent on it, I was hoping to hear something positive about it. But that's OK. I'm sure there are many things they will like about it. I put it up in the feedback forum here to get some feedback from other people too.
Yeah, home in YVR, working from YYZ on a YUL site. Makes me sound like someone really important, haha!
Nice to see there's a big WordPress community in the offline world in major cities! Looks like quite an active group in Vancouver. I'll have to check them out when I get back. Thanks for letting me know about it.
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 19, 2014 at 10:10 am in reply to: Replaced logo in sample theme, same size as original but mine is cut off #119790copiousParticipantI finally got around to making the larger version of the logo for retina and high resolution screens, as you suggested. My original logo was based off a .ai vector file, so it was nice and clean to begin with. I brought it into Photoshop in a larger size so there would be no loss of quality. When I went to upload it, I noticed there was a file called [email protected] - so it seems like the theme I'm using (the Genesis Sample Theme) might already have a provision for a high resolution retina logo. So, that code you gave me might not even need to be used with this theme? If so, I'll save it so I can use it on another theme that doesn't have this feature.
The computer I'm using (a recent model 15" Macbook with retina) was displaying the logo nicely before, and I honestly didn't see any change with the new logo. Maybe because I had the original vector file, so it was crisp and clean to being with. I've tried on my iPhone 5S and iPad 2 and it still looks good. I guess it can't hurt to have the larger logo just in case - you never know when it will be used.
Thanks again for your help! The site looks great now! Almost done, and I can launch it on the live domain name.
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 19, 2014 at 9:26 am in reply to: Print only a small portion of page using CSS? Using Sample theme #119782copiousParticipantI forgot to mention, now that this website is finished, I get to do it all over again, in French! The content is already made (I will take it from the current HTML website), but we're getting a professional proofreader to go over it, as my French grammar is not perfect, although that content has been up for almost 10 years! But, we're moving up to a classier looking website now with the mobile responsive Genesis theme, so we want the grammar and spelling to be perfect on the French pages too. At least with making the website in French, it will be easier as I've already gone through the learning curve with getting the English version to work.
Once they let me know if everything is OK with the English version, I will use the WordPress Multilingual plugin to set it up for English navigation on the English pages, and French navigation on the French pages, and a language selector. I might replace the slider on the home page with a video, once the video is made.
I cringe looking at the 2006-era HTML website at http://wendysdrivingschool.com/ which is soon to be replaced by this modern looking Genesis website. Even back in 2006, the patterned wallpaper was dated, but my friend loves it. In fact, I know she'll be upset that I didn't use it in this redesign...
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 19, 2014 at 9:14 am in reply to: Print only a small portion of page using CSS? Using Sample theme #119778copiousParticipantTom, thank you so much! That code worked perfectly! I added back the link to print the page, to make it even easier for site visitors to print, and it also seems to be working. Thanks again!
When I see the correct code in front of me, it all makes perfect sense. But unless I've encountered that issue before, I just can't seem to figure it out on my own. I've been able to figure out a lot of things by finding free tutorials online, or in this case, a premium theme's support forum. Occasionally, I've outsourced it someone on Fiverr. I've been working with WordPress for a few years now, but only on a part time basis. I started out with the default themes, then free themes. Then I tried *cough* the Thesis theme, and got the hang of it, until they changed to version 2.x. It was so totally different, I never got used to it. I took a paid WordPress course online, on Udemy, and the instructor was using Genesis with the sample theme. In fact, the basis of this website was done in that course, as my first ever Genesis site. After the course, I made some changes and additions to make it work for this project. I'd like to get back into making websites (all with Genesis), even if part time, (ideally full time) but so that I can generate a measurable income from it. I think I need to make a few more websites, then hopefully I will be comfortable enough with it.
This website I'm working on is actually for a friend of mine. I originally designed her current HTML website and have been maintaining it since 2006 (actually, 2004 was the original site, but it was awful). She hired a programmer to make a registration and scheduling back end, since that's way out of my skill level.
And yes, it's a Montreal area website! I used to live there for many years, and loved it, except for the long winters. So I moved back to BC, in the Vancouver area. But at the moment, I'm in the Toronto area due to my mother's health and hospitalization. I've been here for two months already, and am going to Montreal for a week or two in early September, but by the end of September, I have to get back to Vancouver. If I had known about Wordcamp in Montreal, I would have gone for sure! It's not too far to drive and I'd have a place to stay. Too bad I missed it, and I'll miss the one in Toronto in November. Hopefully they come to Vancouver.
As for plugins, that's good to hear that it's not so much the quantity, but the quality. Now that I have a bit more WordPress experience, I avoid "brand new" plugins that might be of questionable quality, and abandoned by the time the next WordPress update comes along. Two of the plugins I have are paid plugins from respected people on Code Canyon. I figure those plugins should be reliable and updated when needed. The others are free plugins, but from trustworthy sources (like Akismet, Contact Form 7, W3 Total Cache, etc. I try to pick plugins that have been around for a while and have a history of being maintained, and a large number of downloads. So, I guess I was on the right track after all! I still try to keep the number of plugins to a minimum, if anything, for simplicity.
Thanks again! I really appreciate the help and persistence in getting me to not give up on this! 🙂
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
August 18, 2014 at 3:33 pm in reply to: Print only a small portion of page using CSS? Using Sample theme #119605copiousParticipantThanks for your perseverance. I re-installed the plugin and uploaded that print-additions.css file. The good news is that the navigation, phone numbers, etc, are not showing up anymore. The bad news is that the page content is still being pushed down the page, and still results in two pages being printed (when viewed in print preview). The second page just shows the date and and h1 name. Still, I don't want people to end up with two sheets of paper coming out of their printer for something that should fit on half a sheet.
I've spent the last hour or so scouring Google and found many good tutorials. Again, many that are similar but none that are quite like my situation. I've tried all sorts of css tricks, padding, collapse, hidden, etc. You have no idea how frustrating it is when every single thing you try ends up have no effect! I am seriously ready to give up on this and pay someone on Fiverr $5 to fix this. It's probably a simple thing, but I don't have the patience for it anymore. I'd actually rather have the code than another plugin, as there already 7 (soon to be 9) plugins. I hear the more plugins, the slower the site runs. Since programming is not my strength, I need to stop relying on plugins and just outsource the programming/coding/css to someone who's proficient at it. I'm sure it would be done in less than 10 minutes. Maybe even 2 minutes. I've spent a few hours on this crazy print page thing!
Occasional WordPress designer, learning more with each website!
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