How to add menu items beyond 'about' and 'help' to bar under header picture?
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Help! I’m just starting. How can I build a website with one general theme, and multiple sub-topics, e.g. books, essays, useful websites, questions to discuss, and of course the current blog. The ‘classic dashboard’ on my 2010 theme is incomprehensible. Are there any step-by-step How To manuals for page development? What I find are endless chains of link that interrelate and go in circles.
Finally, can I use the 2010 them I started with, and u’pgrade it, or should I start fresh with a new theme? I don’t mind paying for a ‘premium’ page, if necessary. Thanks.The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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How can I build a website with one general theme, and multiple sub-topics, e.g. books, essays, useful websites, questions to discuss, and of course the current blog.
It sounds like categories would fit what you’re looking for:
This way, you can separate out your posts however you like (essays, books, etc). If those items aren’t going to be posts, you could set them up on pages instead. The difference is broken down here:
Can you read over that and let me know if it helps to answer your question?
Are there any step-by-step How To manuals for page development?
Yep! We have a great one here:
Finally, can I use the 2010 them I started with, and u’pgrade it, or should I start fresh with a new theme?
The Twenty Ten theme is awesome! Let’s figure out exactly what you’re looking for and start creating. We can always upgrade the theme later on!
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Dear Jeremey Duvall
What a clear, helpful and prompt answer. I’ll look at the materials you suggest, and let you know when I have more questions. Thank you very much – well-titled ‘happiness engineer.’ -
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Jeremey, Hello 12/31/14
Thank you. I think I understand “categories” now; they just refer to blog posts. That’s fine. But I have a bunch more questions, having gone round and round in the sites you recommend.
First, how can I add menu items (some of them drop-down) to the ‘header bar’ underneath the header? As here:
[Home About] MyEssays MyBooks Poetry Reads Websites etc
Second, in a drop-down (e.g. “Essays” or “Websites”), how do I connect each item (title) in the menu with its web location?
Third, in case of a single page (e.g. RecommendedReads), how to get the menu to open that page?
Fourth, I’d like to copy parts of my first trial blog (on Home page) to the About page, and expand it. Is it possible to delete all or parts of a blog, or edit it? I really don’t know how much of what’s on my site was actually published to the web, if anything, and what is still ‘work in progress’ draft before publication
Relatedly, I’d like to delete all the false starts and stops up until now, and begin fresh. E.g. my post of yesterday “Hello World. It’s a Lovely Day …” was said to be posted in March, 2011! Wrong! So-called comments, stats, etc. belong to an earlier era. I don’t want to publish to the web until I have some of these other documents and references in place. How to proceed?
Fifth, can I change the font size (or bold) the tag line following the blog title over the header? And how do I manage fonts and other details?
Sixth, under ‘Manage Locations’ I read “Your theme supports 1 menu.” What does this mean? And what does “primary navigation” refer to? Also, I keep coming across the phrase “classic dashboard.” Does this mean I should be using an upgraded dashboard, or upgraded 2010 theme?
I already paid for a particular domain name (justinswebsite.org). I’d like to upgrade to avoid ads, and to have easier access to direct help, such as yours, rather than searching the forums. Please advise.
Happy New Year
Yours truly, Justin
PS I thought I had sent this to you a week ago, by replying to the 1st email you sent me at Yahoo.com. Apparently that doesn’t reach you.
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First, how can I add menu items (some of them drop-down) to the ‘header bar’ underneath the header? As here:
[Home About] MyEssays MyBooks Poetry Reads Websites etcYou’ll need to create a custom menu as described here:
Second, in a drop-down (e.g. “Essays” or “Websites”), how do I connect each item (title) in the menu with its web location?
Are “Essays” and “Websites” going to point to other pages on your site or external links (not parts of your site)? If it’s the former, we’ll create the link automatically when you add a page as explained here:
If it’s the latter, you’ll want to follow these steps:
Third, in case of a single page (e.g. RecommendedReads), how to get the menu to open that page?
The menu link mentioned above should cover this!
Fourth, I’d like to copy parts of my first trial blog (on Home page) to the About page, and expand it. Is it possible to delete all or parts of a blog, or edit it? I really don’t know how much of what’s on my site was actually published to the web, if anything, and what is still ‘work in progress’ draft before publication
The post titled “Hello world! It’s a lovely day for a long walk. Won’t you join me?” is published and fully available on the web. You can see this where it says “Published” here:
Anything “Published” is available on the web. Otherwise, it would say “Draft.” You can edit or delete that post following the steps here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/posts/edit-posts-screen/
Relatedly, I’d like to delete all the false starts and stops up until now, and begin fresh. E.g. my post of yesterday “Hello World. It’s a Lovely Day …” was said to be posted in March, 2011! Wrong! So-called comments, stats, etc. belong to an earlier era. I don’t want to publish to the web until I have some of these other documents and references in place. How to proceed?
You can delete the post following the steps described above. I believe what you’re looking for is to make your site private while you put everything in place, meaning it won’t be available to the public. You can do that following the steps here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/settings/privacy-settings/#site-visibility-options
Fifth, can I change the font size (or bold) the tag line following the blog title over the header? And how do I manage fonts and other details?
To do this, you would need the Custom Design upgrade mentioned here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/
Sixth, under ‘Manage Locations’ I read “Your theme supports 1 menu.” What does this mean? And what does “primary navigation” refer to? Also, I keep coming across the phrase “classic dashboard.” Does this mean I should be using an upgraded dashboard, or upgraded 2010 theme?
The menu bit is described above. Regarding the term “classic,” we’ve recently made some adjustments to WordPress.com including introducing an all new My Sites page. You can read a bit more about that here:
The term “Classic” just applies to the older interface that some users may be more accustom to. Both have similar functionalities. You can test out the new interface here:
Give it a whirl and see what you think!
I already paid for a particular domain name (justinswebsite.org). I’d like to upgrade to avoid ads, and to have easier access to direct help, such as yours, rather than searching the forums. Please advise.
For these upgrades and more, you’ll want to purchase the Premium bundle mentioned here:
It includes the No Ads upgrade, Custom Design (mentioned above), and private support access.
Let me know if you have any trouble!
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Jeremey, hi,
How can I link essays stored on my PC with a ‘pages’ dropdown menu item on the website?
How can I link other websites to ‘pages’ dropdown menu?
Justin -
How to add pages as separate ‘tabs’ under header image – NOT as part of sidebar?
You can do that by creating a custom menu and adding the pages there:
How can I link essays stored on my PC with a ‘pages’ dropdown menu item on the website?
Just to be clear, you’re trying to link to documents that are stored on your PC. Is that correct?
You won’t be able to link to local documents. You would first need to upload them to your site following the instructions here:
Can you do that? Then, I’ll be able to provide further instruction!
How can I link other websites to ‘pages’ dropdown menu?
You can add custom links to your menu following the steps here:
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Jeremey, Looking at the support page on ‘menus’, over and over, and still feel lost. It keeps taking me in circles, and still no new tabs appear. Now I’ve been looking at the ‘custom menus’ page. http://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/#adding-custom-links It tells me some themes only support one menu. I’m thinking I need to change themes. What I’m asking for seems typical, in many, if not most, of the sample themes I’ve looked at.
I want my menu to appear in the header area, not on some side menu. More specifically, I want a series of tabs, or ‘folders’ (in drop-down form), labeled with generic terms. Each drop-down tab will have a subcategory, or a named ‘page.’
The tabs across the page, under the header image, will look something like this:
HOME ABOUT-US MY-ESSAYS GOOD-READS HELPFUL-SITES BOOKS etc
Each tab will have subcategories as drop down items, which are either custom links, or items in my media library (which I uploaded successfully). In addition, I expect the usual extras on side bars, such as a biography (About Justin), Archives (of blogs), Blogs I follow, etc.
The HOME tab will remain the blog page of this site, i.e. LetsDiscussIt. Blogs will be of two forms. First will be my own blogs (or guest blogs), of several pages length. Second will be short, where I pose questions and ask for thoughtful answers. Both will invite comments and discussion
This shouldn’t be too difficult. I taught philosophy went to engineering school, have taught philosophy all my career, and just published a book! So what’s keeping me from getting set up properly? Thanks.
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Jeremey,
I don’t know how long I’m permitted to ask you questions directly.
A further question: in any of my blog posts, is it possible to ’embed’ a link that refers to an article or other blog post on the web? And how do I do that in my text with a highlighted word or phrase (e.g.” John Doe has discussed this point”) where ‘this point’ is highlighted and opens the desired link?
Thanks, Justin
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Hi Justin!
We’ll continue going back and forth in this thread until the issue is resolved!
Regarding the menus, the appearance you want is definitely possible in the Twenty Ten theme you’re using. Could you elaborate on what specific part of the custom menu doc is causing trouble?
It looks like you’ve created several different menus on your site:
Instead, we’ll want to create one menu and add all of the elements to it. So, I suggest we create a new menu (Titled “New Menu”) using the “Create New Menu” link at the top of this page:
https://justinswebsite.wordpress.com/wp-admin/nav-menus.php?action=edit&menu=9974
Then, I can help you to add whatever items you like!
in any of my blog posts, is it possible to ’embed’ a link that refers to an article or other blog post on the web? And how do I do that in my text with a highlighted word or phrase (e.g.” John Doe has discussed this point”) where ‘this point’ is highlighted and opens the desired link?
Yep! Definitely possible. You can add a link by following the instructions here:
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Jeremey, Hi.
I’m getting there, oh so slowly.
First, when you go to appearances/menu structure, you see what I want to display across the page, under the header (with the exception of ‘about’ which for some reason appears twice). But when I go to ‘pages’ the order is different. The latter is what displays on the blog site. I still apparently don’t know how to distinguish page from menu.
Second, how to make the tabs under the header into drop down form, instead of opening in a separate side bar.
Third, how can I format paragraph and line spacing, indenting, font size color and character, etc on blog posts and essays; and relatedly, can I enlarge and embolden the tag line in the 2010 header text, namely, ‘once a thinker, always a thinker …’?
Fourth, looking at my site, you’ll see I linked a webpage to the ‘great blogs’ tab and it opens directly; but when I linked an essay from my media page to the ‘essays’ tab, it downloads to the bottom of the page, and doesn’t open. And when I tried to link a website to one of the books in the book tab, I got all kinds of messages of warning.
Fifth, what is the difference between ‘linking’ and ’embedding’?
Thanks, Justin
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Oh, and one more point of web info. What do the letters “en.” signify at the beginning of your webpage – en.forums.wordpress.com? The same letters occur in en.wikipedia.org. Google search was useless here. :(
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First, when you go to appearances/menu structure, you see what I want to display across the page, under the header (with the exception of ‘about’ which for some reason appears twice). But when I go to ‘pages’ the order is different. The latter is what displays on the blog site. I still apparently don’t know how to distinguish page from menu.
To get the menu to display on your site, you will need to activate it under the Locations tab here:
https://justinswebsite.wordpress.com/wp-admin/nav-menus.php?action=locations
Can you give that a try?
Second, how to make the tabs under the header into drop down form, instead of opening in a separate side bar.
You will need to drag and drop the menu item into a sub-menu position as described here:
Here’s a GIF of this in action!
Third, how can I format paragraph and line spacing, indenting, font size color and character, etc on blog posts and essays; and relatedly, can I enlarge and embolden the tag line in the 2010 header text, namely, ‘once a thinker, always a thinker …’?
Let’s address each one of those individually.
For basic formatting within a post, you can use the visual editor toolbar shown here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/visual-editor/
For font-sizing, the best method is to use the option under Appearance -> Customize -> Fonts shown here:
More on this here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/custom-fonts/
I would also recommend using that method to enlarge the tag line.
Fourth, looking at my site, you’ll see I linked a webpage to the ‘great blogs’ tab and it opens directly; but when I linked an essay from my media page to the ‘essays’ tab, it downloads to the bottom of the page, and doesn’t open. And when I tried to link a website to one of the books in the book tab, I got all kinds of messages of warning.
For the media page, that’s the expected outcome. Basically, you’re linking straight to a media file. If it’s a PDF, it will normally download straight to your computer. Instead, I would recommend embedding it in a page as described here:
Then, link to that individual page instead.
Regarding the book, are you referring to this one?
Fifth, what is the difference between ‘linking’ and ’embedding’?
It really depends on the context. Embeds generally refer to files or items that are hosted right on your site. For example, you could embed a tweet directly into your text like this:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/twitter/twitter-embeds/
Instead, linking would mean you link to Twitter instead of embedding the post directly into your site. That way, readers will need to visit Twitter to see the actual tweet.
Each one has its benefits!
What do the letters “en.” signify at the beginning of your webpage – en.forums.wordpress.com?
It stands for English. We have various support forums in other languages. For example:
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Hello, Jeremey,
As the general approach becomes more familiar, I can focus on more particular topics. Today, two issues are bugging me. They both have been mentioned in previous queries.
First, about appearance. The appearance/customize/fonts app doesn’t allow me to change the style/size/boldness of the tag line on my Header title – namely, “once a thinker, always a thinker.” Could you show me how to highlight and edit that piece of text?
Second, about links: to email, media items, outside websites, and blogs.
a. Email is referred to in several places (About, About Justin, Contacts). I don’t know how to activate a connection.
b. I’ve linked to various media items in the Essay page. They download to the bottom of my screen, but they won’t open.
c. I’ve linked to the Amazon site for my book, on the Books page, and Economonitor on the Good Sites page. I get the message “href.li: hide your referrer …” What to do with that?
d. I’ve linked to a blog post, “Rising Tide …” on the Star Posts page, and that one opens fine.
Please advise.
Yours, Justin -
Hi Justin!
Please see below regarding the questions. Also, I’m happy to follow-up on these questions here. However, for additional, new questions, please open a new thread. Normally, we want the original thread title (about menu items) to relate to the content of the thread so other users can reference the information.
The appearance/customize/fonts app doesn’t allow me to change the style/size/boldness of the tag line on my Header title – namely, “once a thinker, always a thinker.” Could you show me how to highlight and edit that piece of text?
The tagline font mimics changes you make to the body font. However, it’s on a slightly different scale. If you would like to target it directly, you can use the following CSS:
#site-description { font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; }Email is referred to in several places (About, About Justin, Contacts). I don’t know how to activate a connection.
Just to be clear, you’re looking at hyperlinking “Email” so that when a user clicks on the text, it opens a new email in their email client directed to you. Is that correct?
If so, you’ll need to turn that text into a link following the instructions here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/links/#creating-links
Instead of a URL, use this format:
mailto:help@wordpress.comJust change out the help address to your email.
I’ve linked to various media items in the Essay page. They download to the bottom of my screen, but they won’t open.
You’ll need to find wherever the file downloaded on your computer and open it from there. The files are opening correctly for me. Are you able to find out where the browser is sending the files? It should be a Downloads folder or something similar.
I’ve linked to the Amazon site for my book, on the Books page, and Economonitor on the Good Sites page. I get the message “href.li: hide your referrer …” What to do with that?
The issue here is the double http’s at the front of the URL shown here:
If you navigate to the Text Editor, you’ll see this:
http://http://www.amazon.com/inequity-iniquity-debt-money-making-macro-economics/dp/1496175840/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421357038&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=justin+synnestvedtYou’ll want to change that to this:
http://www.amazon.com/inequity-iniquity-debt-money-making-macro-economics/dp/1496175840/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421357038&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=justin+synnestvedt
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