wordpress tips

Inserting Picasa slideshows

Panos — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:17:00 +0000

If you have a Google account and create albums in Picasaweb, you can insert them as slideshows in your blog, by turning the original embed code into the appropriate shortcode (for more on this, see The gigya shortcode: inserting Flash).

Full-width header image in Imbalance 2

Panos — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:19:34 +0000

The newly added Imbalance 2 is an unusual and interesting theme. Its main posts page normally displays post excerpts in four columns. The header area of the theme is also unusual: instead of displaying a full-width image and a horizontal menu, it conforms to the four-column concept of the main page. You can change that via coding in a Text widget or if you have the Custom Design upgrade. Continue reading »

Inserting Webshots slideshows

Panos — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:35:16 +0000

You can insert your own or other users' Webshots slideshows, by turning the original embed code into the appropriate shortcode (for more on this, see The gigya shortcode – inserting Flash).

WordPress.com themes – from most to least popular (January 2012)

Panos — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:41:37 +0000

Stats: January 2, 2012. Compare with Dec. 2010 & Jan. 2011 ranking, July 2011 ranking.

Widgets for wp.com blogs: 13 – some games

Panos — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 23:05:12 +0000

Some users occasionally ask for games you can add to your blog. You can add any game if it's flash, by turning the embed code into the right shortcode. So here are a few. Happy holidays!

Custom menus

Panos — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:22:49 +0000

A. Common mistakes and misconceptions B. Why custom menus C. How to

Category descriptions

Panos — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:00:13 +0000

Users sometimes ask if you can add an introduction to each one of your category pages. The answer is no, if one means rich content of the type you can add in a post or a static page. But some of the newer themes, as well as a few older ones, display the category description when you view a category page.

Image captions with no dash in Twenty Eleven

Panos — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:49:58 +0000

Image captions in Twenty Eleven are adorned with a strange dash some users don't like. Using the workarounds described in this post you can get rid of the dash and center the caption text. The same technique can be used to modify the styling of image captions in any theme.

Blockquote style

Panos — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 03:34:19 +0000

When you quote a passage from another source, you can mark it as a blockquote. Doing so will automatically result in some differentiation, to make the quote stand out. The styling varies from theme to theme - see complete survey in the post. The default styling of blockquotes can be modified in the HTML editor or if you have the Custom Design upgrade. Continue reading »

On the recent featured image issues

Panos — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:38:18 +0000

Two days ago users started complaining that their featured images stopped showing up. This post explains why this is happening, as well as what you need to observe from now on.

Positions absolute, relative, stable(d), unstable(d) and others

Panos — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:07:51 +0000

Or, what can happen when you try to justify the unjustified... A possibly edifying dialogue in a recent forum thread. Your opinions welcome.

WordPress.com themes – from most to least popular

Panos — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 04:04:13 +0000

• December 2010 & January 2011 • July 2011 • January 2012 Continue reading »

Inserting Prezi docs

Panos — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 06:49:33 +0000

Prezi is a zooming presentation editor that allows you to create elaborate presentations (more interesting than slideshows). This post explains how you can embed a Prezi doc in a WordPress.com blog.

Gallery attachment pages: navigation links and image links

Panos — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 01:26:54 +0000

In almost all WordPress.com themes, gallery attachment pages feature previous/next navigation links; their style varies (thumbnails, text, or icons). What happens when you click the image on a gallery attachment page also varies (link to real-size original, link to next attachment page, or no link at all). Continue reading »

Clickable header image in Clean Home

Panos — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:33:20 +0000

In all wp.com themes, the header image or the blog title works as a link back to your homepage. In Clean Home, the header image doesn't work s a home link (as a rule, this happens only when the regular blog title is inside the image area). If you wish to make the header image clickable, there are two solutions. Continue reading »

The Gallery format as custom excerpt

Panos — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 02:07:50 +0000

Some themes support custom excerpts on index pages - see The Excerpt function. A new group of themes can now be added to the list: the themes that support custom excerpts when you use the Gallery post format.

Customizing the blog title in Blogum

Panos — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:39:41 +0000

The blog title in Blogum is black, and it comes with a decorative dash. If you don't like the dash, you can use HTML in a text widget to hide it. Using a similar technique, you can also color the title, if you wish, or you can reposition the tagline.

Alternative post formats

Panos — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 06:33:49 +0000

In most wordpress.com themes, posts have the same standard format on the main posts page (title, content, plus metadata & comment tab), and all the posts in a theme have the same styling. Usual exception: sticky posts or other "featured" posts. But in some of the newer themes, you can select alternative formats for a post, in order to distinguish or highlight particular types of content. Continue reading »

Changing the formatting of image captions

Panos — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 22:02:36 +0000

Users sometimes ask if and how you can change the formatting of the caption in a captioned image. If you confine yourself to the initial result you'll get in the Visual or the HTML editor, you cannot. But you can, if you replace the image shortcode with its actual sourcecode. Continue reading »

Youtube videos starting at a specific point

Panos — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:36:24 +0000

YouTube videos are embedded via a WP-specific shortcode (or by simply pasting the video URL, if you have enabled auto-embeds in Settings > Media). The shortcode allows you to add extra options too - see Support doc on YouTube. But there's an option missing from that doc: making the video start at a specific point. Continue reading »