Best way to have custom header and background
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I would like to be able to have a custom header and background on my new blog. How do I go about doing this? Do I need to switch to a self-hosted blog or is there a simpler way? I will be having a Etsy shop owner design these two elements for me.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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There are many themes here at WordPress.com that do allow for custom headers and custom backgrounds as well. No upgrades are required to use them.
http://theme.wordpress.com/themes/features/custom-header/
http://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/custom-header-image/
http://theme.wordpress.com/themes/features/custom-background/
There’s also a workaround for post an etsy widget.
http://wpbtips.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/etsy-widget/However, to make a fully informed decsion I recommend reading WordPress.com vs WordPress.org: The Differences
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I would like to have my custom headers/banners on each page, inotherwords, one for my main page and the other one for my About page. This doesnt work? I tried random, and still I cant get the one I want on the correct page. They dont stick.
Thanks in advance, Im new to this, and I must say its FUN! -
@lillycapecod
In some themes when we create featured images they take over the header image on the page/post we create them on. Twenty Eleven is one of the themes we can do that on. The featured images must be as large as the header size required by the theme.
http://en.support.wordpress.com/featured-images/#featured-header-images
Twenty Eleven
Twenty Eleven has a special Showcase template which takes advantage of Featured Images when used on sticky posts:
An image with a minimum height of 300 pixels and a maximum width of 500 pixels will display next to the post.
Header > An image that is at least 1000 x 288 pixels will be displayed instead of the post with a title over the image.
More on that theme here.It’s good to hear you are having fun. :)
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Thank you!
I think I will try to have them rotate, will make a few more banners from my vast load of photos in iPhoto today.Can I choose another theme for a separate page, for my About page? I like Ocean Mist. Or once you choose a theme, it is for the entire blog?
Thank you again,
Jane -
No rotation of banners with javascript, just they show a different one that you upload when you reload the browser.
And the theme must remain the same thru your entire blog. My instructor said that is the way it is,
Jane -
Thank you. I am trying to decide between twenty ten and twenty eleven. I have only worked with twenty ten before, but it seems there are more options with twenty eleven.
What are the main differances between the two?
If I am having a custom header made, would it have to be made specifically for one of those two themes, since the header size is different?
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Im new at this, but I would stick with the dimensions of the original banner/headers.
I just snagged a bunch of my iPhoto pictures and cropped them to proper size and whatever they needed with PS.
Then just upload all of them, and they will all show up when you reload the pages.
Take out the ones you dont really like, you can upload all you want and also you can use your own background image too.
Im having a ball following the instructions, but its taking me time, as I dont want to get ahead of what I understand.
This is wicked fun!
Jane -
Can I choose another theme for a separate page, for my About page? I like Ocean Mist. Or once you choose a theme, it is for the entire blog?
No you cannot. The theme you choose is for the whole blog. One theme per blog.
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I am trying to decide between twenty ten and twenty eleven.
See here:
http://theme.wordpress.com/themes/twentyten/
Note all the features are listed in the right sidebar.
http://twentytendemo.wordpress.com/And here to compare the two:
http://theme.wordpress.com/themes/twentyeleven/
Note all the features are listed in the right sidebar.
To fully understand how Twenty Eleven is designed click here.
http://twentyelevendemo.wordpress.com/ -
@hadleykaden
@lillycapecod
It’s important to understand that if you do not optimize and presize every image to fit into the specifications for the header, maximum displayed image width, sidebar widths, and featured image dimensions specified by the theme then you will not get the best results. If you don’t pre-size images to the correct dimensions prior to uploading them, and the cropper comes into play there is a loss of image quality. In addition you are simply wasting your space allocation.
troubleshooting images -
Thank you for this, as I havent really started to upload my pictures yet.
The banner and background are fine, but I want to start to add more individual pictures, and I love the way WP handles them and makes a page pop up to look like a slide show. Will have more time to use this later, its really really nice!
Wonder if I could make my ancient old WP blog treat its pictures like this?
Jane -
Wonder if I could make my ancient old WP blog treat its pictures like this?
Hi aging. Please note that “WP” is meaningless to us Volunteers answering questions as there are two very different “flavors” of WordPress software. WordPress.com (free hosted blogs) vs WordPress.org : The Differences
I can’t answer you unless you are specfic. Are you reffering to a free hosted WordPress.com blog? Are you referring to a WordPress.org install being web hosted by any host other than WordPress.com? -
Sorry, I thought this one was for wp.com.
Im not good enough at coding yet to go for the .org one.
When I paid for the WP hosting, then my URL doesnt have wordpress word in it any more, and I now realize that this could be confusing.My old blog is the com one too.
I have made many banners and they all show up fine, I made them all with the correct dimensions.
And my custom background shows OK too.
Thank you,
Jane -
When I paid for the WP hosting, then my URL doesnt have wordpress word in it any more, and I now realize that this could be confusing.
This is the support forum for WordPress.com but you do not pay for hosting here at WordPress.com. What you just described is purchasing an annually renewable domain mapping upgrade. Your blog is still being free hosted by WordPress.com as it always was and all that changed was the domain URLs.
Ihave made many banners and they all show up fine, I made them all with the correct dimensions. And my custom background shows OK too.
I’m happy to see you have mastered this. Best wishes with your blog. :)
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Oh, I thought that this hosting domain option belonged to WordPress.
So the change of the URL is all that happened? Thinking that it was on the WP page when I was signing up, I figured it was part of their package.You actually have answered 2 of my questions. With my own web host, I can upload any html/css page or anything up to my site, but with lillycapecod.com there is no FTP, so its not a real web site?
Its technically a wordpress site by itself.
Thats fine by me, I just didnt really understand how this worked.Thank you for explaining this all, some of my classmates were wondering too.
And the link you gave us is great, it explains the domain mapping, which I didnt know about.
I am sure learning a lot here!
Jane -
Hello again,
I’m glad what I posted helped you.A blog is a website. The fact that free hosted WordPress.com blogs do not have FTP access does not render them as not being websites. See here to learn the 5 main Blog and Website Differences
See here to comprehend the SEO ramifications of creating a website (ie. a page structured blog) and especially one with a static front page. -
This will be fun!
I have to grab some free time to work on this!
I should never try to take more than one class at a time, as the information always is so good and a bit overwhelming per class.
Thank you again, I will run thru this tomorrow. And will save your links.
Jane -
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Hi Lilly – just answering the question you asked about matching specific images to specific posts: there’s a video that walks you through exactly how to do that:
http://wordpressquests.com/?page_id=2271
Personally I don’t mind using the random header option that you talked about earlier though (I know you didn’t like it), saves me when I can’t choose between images :)
I take issue with timethief’s second last post though – mostly because she’s telling you the truth – it’s just that I hate hearing WordPress.com referred to as a “blog”, because it was that very association that kept me for trying it for so long. (Years of Dreamweaver and yelling at code that I didn’t have to put up with *sigh*, all because I didn’t want a “blog”…who knew you could make entire websites with WordPress??)
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