Tag: WordPress

Categories
web design

Custom Post Type + Custom Menu

Screen Options tab
Here's where you find the damn thing already.

For those of you WordPress users wondering how to find your Custom Post Types in the Appearance >> Menus page (for your Custom Menus), look no further than your handy Screen Options dropdown panel, up at the top right of the page. No, your other right. Up further. Look – right there! See where my finger is pointing? Where it says “Howdy, [yourname] | Log Out”? Yeah, just below that. No, you’re looking at “Help.” I said it was Screen Options and i MEAN it was Screen Options, goddammit.

Menu options dropdown
Menu page options dropdown

I looked and looked and had a hard time finding these options (ok, actually i found it not long after i started looking, but i figured there’s got to be a whole slew of people out there having a hard time figuring this one out). So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

(Also note that until we get a decent UI, plugins such as Custom Post Type UI will have to do, unless you just want to code away your evening. Additionally, your theme must support Custom Menus in order to use them.)

Incidentally, if you have no idea what the hell i’m on about, and for some reason refuse to mind your own damn bidness, here’s the deal: In the recent WordPress 3.0 release, users now have the ability to create not only custom navigation menus (those things you click on to get to other areas of the site you’re on), but can also create something called a Custom Post Type. (Oh god i wish i could explain this really well.) Basically, instead of only being able to create blog posts (which are generally chronologically ordered) or generic Pages (which are the same thing, without the emphasis on time), WordPress administrators can also create types of content specifically geared toward a given theme… say, a real estate listing, a movie review, or a section of used musical instruments for sale. This also lets you enable or disable certain options. You know what? You don’t get it, do you? Mind your own beezwax if you’re gonna give me that look. Hey – hey! Why don’t ya try running a WordPress site yourself? Seriously. Give me a breeeeeaaaaaak!

Categories
uncategorized

Custom Post Type + Custom Menu

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

Screen Options tab

Here's where you find the damn thing already.

For those of you WordPress users wondering how to find your Custom Post Types in the Appearance >> Menus page (for your Custom Menus), look no further than your handy Screen Options dropdown panel, up at the top right of the page. No, your other right. Up further. Look – right there! See where my finger is pointing? Where it says “Howdy, [yourname] | Log Out”? Yeah, just below that. No, you’re looking at “Help.” I said it was Screen Options and i MEAN it was Screen Options, goddammit.

Menu options dropdown

Menu page options dropdown

I looked and looked and had a hard time finding these options (ok, actually i found it not long after i started looking, but i figured there’s got to be a whole slew of people out there having a hard time figuring this one out). So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

(Also note that until we get a decent UI, plugins such as Custom Post Type UI will have to do, unless you just want to code away your evening. Additionally, your theme must support Custom Menus in order to use them.)

Incidentally, if you have no idea what the hell i’m on about, and for some reason refuse to mind your own damn bidness, here’s the deal: In the recent WordPress 3.0 release, users now have the ability to create not only custom navigation menus (those things you click on to get to other areas of the site you’re on), but can also create something called a Custom Post Type. (Oh god i wish i could explain this really well.) Basically, instead of only being able to create blog posts (which are generally chronologically ordered) or generic Pages (which are the same thing, without the emphasis on time), WordPress administrators can also create types of content specifically geared toward a given theme… say, a real estate listing, a movie review, or a section of used musical instruments for sale. This also lets you enable or disable certain options. You know what? You don’t get it, do you? Mind your own beezwax if you’re gonna give me that look. Hey – hey! Why don’t ya try running a WordPress site yourself? Seriously. Give me a breeeeeaaaaaak!

Categories
uncategorized

comments

Comments are generally closed here due to the WordPress plugin that i use (ljxp), which, when connecting to LJ to update a post, basically deletes the entire post and recreates it as an entirely new post. I’ve known about this for a while, and i’m not real happy about it, but either the LJ API is not well understood over there, or it’s not easy or possible to update a post without destroying it.

So if you’ve commented on anything i’ve crossposted here from my blog, and i’ve updated that post and lost your comment(s), sorry.

That is all.

Categories
internets

Accessibility rules!

Want an argument for accessibility?

Here you go! (via Ma.tt)

 

Uber-cool Glenda Watson Hyatt, aka the Left Thumb Blogger, shares her perspective on how WordPress has improved her ability to communicate effectively on the internets.

Whether you are 100% able-bodied or not, accessibility is important. Because no matter who you are, the future is coming. Some day many of us may have devices assisting us, whether we need them or not, and completely removing all barriers between humans and machines will be an important first step in enabling us to proliferate on the digital grid – on a truly level playing field.

I’ve committed to making my upcoming theme be as accessible as possible. You should too, especially if you want to meet the Future head-on. Keeping all variants of humanity and machinery in mind when designing user interfaces of any kind will be important there.

Categories
uncategorized

Accessibility rules!

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

Want an argument for accessibility?

Here you go! (via Ma.tt)

Uber-cool Glenda Watson Hyatt, aka the Left Thumb Blogger, shares her perspective on how WordPress has improved her ability to communicate effectively on the internets.

Whether you are 100% able-bodied or not, accessibility is important. Because no matter who you are, the future is coming. Some day many of us may have devices assisting us, whether we need them or not, and completely removing all barriers between humans and machines will be an important first step in enabling us to proliferate on the digital grid – on a truly level playing field.

I’ve committed to making my upcoming theme be as accessible as possible. You should too, especially if you want to meet the Future head-on. Keeping all variants of humanity and machinery in mind when designing user interfaces of any kind will be important there.

Categories
life local web design work

business as unusual

I have never been so busy in all my life – I’m currently writing code for (in no particular order) 1) myself, 2) a client, and 3) a prospective employer, and 4) may be starting with a new client soon. Of course, i’ve put everything else off this past week for projects i was doing for the prospective employer. So why am i completely, utterly broke? At least i know i’ll get a week’s pay for the two projects i did for the P.E. That won’t go far, since i have so much debt right now.

Unfortunately, one of the projects i did for the P.E. didn’t get finished on time, so i (more or less) owe them my time for free. It’s a Drupal theme. It’s terribly difficult to make a Drupal theme in one week, especially when that’s only one of two projects they assigned to me! So now i have to finish that – even though i will probably not be hired now because i wasn’t able to complete it on time.

The upshot of this is that i learned a lot about Drupal in a short time, and reacquainted myself with Flash (actually Swish) and actionscripting.

I have decided that, even though i am impressed by Drupal’s extreme versatility, extensibility, and scalability, and really like the Zen theme base, i do not like the theming system much (at least not in 5.x, which is what i had to use for this project – though maybe the problem is a Zen-theme thing). The problem is that the theme code does not appear to be separated by admin and frontend, at least not obviously. So when i change a page, i also change the admin section, too. Obviously, that’s not great, and has been my stumbling block, keeping me from delivering on time. Thankfully, you can easily separate the homepage from the inner pages, but it seems like you have to code for every single inner page if you want to separate it from the admin section. Maybe i’ll figure out a better way around this, as it just doesn’t seem right. Not by a longshot.

Oh, how i wish i could be working with WordPress instead! WordPress has such a better theming system, though perhaps not as robust as Drupal. (Holly actually found me a two-week-old job listing on Craigslist for a job working with WordPress and Joomla!, but i fear i am much too late for that omg perfect gig. I need to keep up with Craigslist more!) 

One thing’s for sure: i am pushing myself way beyond my physical limits. I’m apparently sick now, my throat feeling like phlegmy gravel and a nasty cough wracking my body every so often. In my over-the-counter coma induced earlier this evening i think i overheard Holly talking to someone about the bags under my eyes. I can almost feel my hair turning gray right now.

So, to sum up: i am putting myself through hell. I need less projects and more pay.

(It seems like right now in Dayton, nobody’s hiring, and everyone wants a massive discount on services, if not an outright free pass. What businesses remain here have that leverage, too, since damn near 8% of the city is now unemployed. An unemployed web designer has gotta do what an unemployed web designer’s gotta do.)

Categories
uncategorized

business as unusual

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

I have never been so busy in all my life – I’m currently writing code for (in no particular order) 1) myself, 2) a client, and 3) a prospective employer, and 4) may be starting with a new client soon. Of course, i’ve put everything else off this past week for projects i was doing for the prospective employer. So why am i completely, utterly broke? At least i know i’ll get a week’s pay for the two projects i did for the P.E. That won’t go far, since i have so much debt right now.

Unfortunately, one of the projects i did for the P.E. didn’t get finished on time, so i (more or less) owe them my time for free. It’s a Drupal theme. It’s terribly difficult to make a Drupal theme in one week, especially when that’s only one of two projects they assigned to me! So now i have to finish that – even though i will probably not be hired now because i wasn’t able to complete it on time.

The upshot of this is that i learned a lot about Drupal in a short time, and reacquainted myself with Flash (actually Swish) and actionscripting.

I have decided that, even though i am impressed by Drupal’s extreme versatility, extensibility, and scalability, and really like the Zen theme base, i do not like the theming system much (at least not in 5.x, which is what i had to use for this project – though maybe the problem is a Zen-theme thing). The problem is that the theme code does not appear to be separated by admin and frontend, at least not obviously. So when i change a page, i also change the admin section, too. Obviously, that’s not great, and has been my stumbling block, keeping me from delivering on time. Thankfully, you can easily separate the homepage from the inner pages, but it seems like you have to code for every single inner page if you want to separate it from the admin section. Maybe i’ll figure out a better way around this, as it just doesn’t seem right. Not by a longshot.

Oh, how i wish i could be working with WordPress instead! WordPress has such a better theming system, though perhaps not as robust as Drupal. (Holly actually found me a two-week-old job listing on Craigslist for a job working with WordPress and Joomla!, but i fear i am much too late for that omg perfect gig. I need to keep up with Craigslist more!)

One thing’s for sure: i am pushing myself way beyond my physical limits. I’m apparently sick now, my throat feeling like phlegmy gravel and a nasty cough wracking my body every so often. In my over-the-counter coma induced earlier this evening i think i overheard Holly talking to someone about the bags under my eyes. I can almost feel my hair turning gray right now.

So, to sum up: i am putting myself through hell. I need less projects and more pay.

(It seems like right now in Dayton, nobody’s hiring, and everyone wants a massive discount on services, if not an outright free pass. What businesses remain here have that leverage, too, since damn near 8% of the city is now unemployed. An unemployed web designer has gotta do what an unemployed web designer’s gotta do.)

Categories
creative uncategorized web design

new wp-theme preview: “transitory”

I’ve been hard at work the past couple of weeks on a new WordPress theme i’m calling “transitory.” It’s not as cool of a name as Big Urgent Wish, but i tried it on and it stuck.

My goal with this theme was to have a much, much cleaner page, without too much extraneous information clogging up eyeballs. Here is how i’ve decided it will eventually be layed out:

"transitory" Layout
"transitory" layout (click to enlarge)

Note that the colors are arbitrary in the above layout and will change. 

And now here is a screenshot of it in action. Note the final layout has not yet been 100% applied. Also note the cool city background, which is blacked out underneath content boxes. Trust me, it looks much cooler than this. The menu to the side is being rewritten with jQuery, and will fold out when needed, and collapse when not needed.

transitory screenshot
"transitory" screenshot (click to enlarge)

At a guess, i’d have to say that it should be completed in about another week or two. So… a month, maybe? I dunno. You’ll see it soon enough.

All comments (good or bad) welcome!

Categories
uncategorized

new wp-theme preview: “transitory”

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been hard at work the past couple of weeks on a new WordPress theme i’m calling “transitory.” It’s not as cool of a name as Big Urgent Wish, but i tried it on and it stuck.

My goal with this theme was to have a much, much cleaner page, without too much extraneous information clogging up eyeballs. Here is how i’ve decided it will eventually be layed out:

"transitory" Layout

"transitory" layout (click to enlarge)

Note that the colors are arbitrary in the above layout and will change.

And now here is a screenshot of it in action. Note the final layout has not yet been 100% applied. Also note the cool city background, which is blacked out underneath content boxes. Trust me, it looks much cooler than this. The menu to the side is being rewritten with jQuery, and will fold out when needed, and collapse when not needed.

transitory screenshot

"transitory" screenshot (click to enlarge)

At a guess, i’d have to say that it should be completed in about another week or two. So… a month, maybe? I dunno. You’ll see it soon enough.

All comments (good or bad) welcome!

Categories
creative internets uncategorized web design

back to the drawing board!

I’m working on a project for a friend right now involving WordPress, which has got me excited enough to go ahead and overhaul this site once again.

So i will FINALLY be upgrading my WP installation and fixing my ACTUAL theme once and for all! I hope to have this completed by the end of the summer.

I promise to make it a whole lot cleaner, too, in layout if not in language.

That is all.

Categories
creative internets uncategorized web design

Big Urgent Tweak Test

Look out for my B.U.T.T.! I’ve just finished uploading some tweaks to make the Big Urgent Wish theme a little nicer. Please, as always, wear your helmets, and let me know if anything falls on your head. I could always use a good laugh.

I hope to have a sanitized version available soon.

Categories
creative internets uncategorized web design

Big Urgent Garbage Hunt

The B.U.G. hunt is on! See if you can find all the problems with my new layout… I’ve already identified the ugly 3rd-tier dropdown menu thing on the navbar at the top, but I haven’t had much time yet to test everything out. fixed Later tonight I’ll tweak it and try to get it to behave itself a little better. Please post your comments here (be sure to include your OS/browser). And thanks!

(Things are bound to be a little on the messy side for a few days while I convert this thing over to the new theme.)

EDIT: Yikes! Single posts & pages are also totally unstyled! fixed

Categories
creative internets uncategorized web design

Big Urgent Wish coming together

Big Urgent Wish 3.0 is nearing readiness! The third subtheme has been completed.

Done:

To do:

  • Set CSS as PHP so can sniff browser/platform and deliver either semi-transparent PNG or GIF format backgrounds as User Agent supports
  • Download, install and support additional plugins
  • Test for bugs
  • Figure out which additional files are needed outside the normal Themes folder
  • Make sure I’m conforming to WordPress standards as much as possible!
  • Upload to server, test more
  • Fresh install on fresh, live WordPress test installation
  • Fix any and all bugs!
  • Write installation notes
  • Create ZIP archive of necessary files
  • Upload and tell folks!

Additionally, I’ve decided that it’ll probably launch with just three subthemes, due to time constraints; however, more subthemes will be available later.

Screenshots:
Big Urgent Wish, subtheme threeBig Urgent Wish, subtheme twoBig Urgent Wish 3.0

Categories
internets life uncategorized web design

Big Urgent Wish

Still working on the new theme. Actually, the theme’s done, it’s the subthemes that are killing me. I’ve got the first one about 90% done, and almost as much on the second. The main thing is separating the stylesheets into usable, selectable chunks.

Boy, is this gonna be purty!

I’m also gearing up for some podcasting for the nearish future. Should be interesting. More details to come….
Big Urgent Wish, subtheme twoBig Urgent Wish 3.0

Categories
CDs internets life local media

writing reviews and code

I think I’m getting carpal tunnel syndrome. Nevertheless, I’ve been doing a lot of typing lately. I just submitted my first batch of CD reviews for the Chickenfish Speaks, a terrific local entertainment zine run by Grog, the former bass player for local rock legends the ¡Oxymorons!.

Big Urgent Wish 3.0
Also, I’m still hard at work on Big Urgent Wish 3.0, my first real WordPress theme. (My current theme is based largely on the Ice theme.) It’s coming along nicely. I’ve completed the first of three subthemes. But first, a To Do: separate stylesheets into color/layout (possibly separating these further), font size, and font type (serif or sans-serif). Then I need to clean up what I’ve got and then I can finally start to work on the other two subthemes.

Categories
creative internets uncategorized web design

Big Urgent Wish 3.0

Haven’t been feeling 100%, so I’m working on making my own WordPress theme from scratch (though I’ll admit to scraping a little code from other themes). My current theme is called “Big Urgent Wish 2.0”, and it’s based on another theme, but i’ve decided to reuse the name and call it 3.0. This one will be a three column layout.

It’s coming along flamingly so far. It looks beautiful and has tons of really tasty hover effects. Works very well in Firefox, Opera, and IE. It’s a plush, spacey theme, with burnt oranges, ambery peaches, and velvety browns.

I’m also planning on having it support style switching, Widgets, and all of the plugins I currently use. AJAX is under consideration as well.

This will most likely end up being my first public WordPress theme.

Big Urgent Wish 3.0