Background image

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  dalecooper57 · Member · Sep 17, 2015 at 10:03 am

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  Can I use a tiled background image under all my posts on the free “Intergalactic” theme? It says it’s possible, but I can’t work out how to add an image to anything but the header.
  Any help would be most appreciated, thanks.

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  dalecooper57 · Member · Sep 17, 2015 at 11:05 am

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  When I try uploading an image to use as a post background (centre, tiled) it appears in the header, over the top of the header image.
  Does this mean I can’t use a header image AND a tiled background, or is there something I’m missing here?

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  kokkieh · Staff · Sep 17, 2015 at 11:29 am

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  Hi there. I had a look on my test site and it does appear that the custom background appears in the same space as the header, but it also appears as if Custom Design is required to add the background. I’m going to tag this for the themes staff to follow up for you for a more definite answer.

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  dalecooper57 · Member · Sep 17, 2015 at 11:32 am

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  Thanks.
  Do you know if there is a free theme that this feature does actually work properly on, is it a general problem, or is it always only available on paid themes?

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  kokkieh · Staff · Sep 17, 2015 at 11:35 am

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  Many themes have custom backgrounds as a free feature. I know specifically my previous and current themes support it: Twenty-Eleven and Franklin. But I don’t have a comprehensive list. Staff will be able to give you more clarity on that.

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  dalecooper57 · Member · Sep 17, 2015 at 11:38 am

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  Cheers, I’ll check those two out. To be honest, I only went for Intergalactic because I’m starting a sci-fi blog and it seemed appropriate, hahaha.

  Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

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  fstat · Staff · Sep 17, 2015 at 11:40 am

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  The Intergalactic theme is a full-width theme. I don’t think you can put a background anywhere but in the header.
  You can add a featured image in every post and it will act as the background to your text.

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  dalecooper57 · Member · Sep 17, 2015 at 11:42 am

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  Oh really? Didn’t know that. If I add a featured image to my other blog, it just appears at the top of the post, as well as in the body of the text.

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  fstat · Staff · Sep 17, 2015 at 11:47 am

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  Yes. Have a look at the Intergalactic theme demo. The featured image acts as the post’s background. When you click to read the post, the featured image is displayed at the top in full-width.

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  dalecooper57 · Member · Sep 17, 2015 at 11:50 am

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  Yep, just tried that.
  Not quite what I had in mind.
  I’m trying for an actual image in the post’s text field (in this case, a starfield actually behind the writing) am I hoping for too much here for a free theme?

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  kokkieh · Staff · Sep 17, 2015 at 11:54 am

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  I’m trying for an actual image in the post’s text field (in this case, a starfield actually behind the writing) am I hoping for too much here for a free theme?

  With any theme you’ll still have the content area’s own background as well that will appear in front of the site background. In most themes the content area background is opaque, so you wont see your starfield behind the text in any case. The only way to remove the content area background is via CSS if you have a premium or business upgrade.

  @fstat
  Thanks for explaining about Intergalactic.

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  dalecooper57 · Member · Sep 17, 2015 at 11:57 am

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  Yes, sorry, that’s what I meant, so you can see the image around the outside of the text field.
  I doubt you’d be able to read the text over a starfield anyway.

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  kokkieh · Staff · Sep 17, 2015 at 12:32 pm

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  I just tested this on a few themes, including 2011 where I definitely had a custom background without an upgrade, and I can’t get the custom background to stick on any theme, so here might be something else afoot. I suggest you go ahead looking for themes that might work for you, while we wait to hear back from staff on the custom background issue.

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  dalecooper57 · Member · Sep 17, 2015 at 12:37 pm

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  I have changed the theme to Independent Publisher, which I like. But now I’ve got my Gravatar image smack in the middle of my lovely new header image! I just can’t win today.

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  kokkieh · Staff · Sep 17, 2015 at 12:39 pm

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  I’m afraid that’s a design feature of that theme. You can only remove it using CSS.

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  dalecooper57 · Member · Sep 17, 2015 at 12:42 pm

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  *sigh* Right then, another new theme then…

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  kathrynwp · Staff · Sep 18, 2015 at 3:16 pm

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  Hi dalecooper57! Are you all set here or did you still need help finding a theme? Let me know, I’m happy to help.

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  kokkieh · Staff · Sep 18, 2015 at 3:26 pm

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  @kathrynwp
  Can you perhaps advise re the custom backgrounds? It appears to be working now, but yesterday I couldn’t get it to stick on any theme in my test site, no matter what I tried. Is this the same problem that cropped up with the last customizer update?

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  dalecooper57 · Member · Sep 18, 2015 at 3:30 pm

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  Umm, I think I’ve given up on trying to get a background image, it seemed to be a problem to use it with the combination of themes and colours I wanted, so I just went with featured images for each post instead. That will have to do I think, but thank you for your help.

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  kathrynwp · Staff · Sep 18, 2015 at 3:38 pm

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  Feel free to post again if you need help with anything else!