Need a Good Combo Business/Blog Theme
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Newbie here, so please be kind.
I want new visitors (and some return ones) to see that I have information about my business and services in the buttons at the top, so I’d like a static box on the front page that says a quick blurb about me and a reminder that the buttons have pages that give more info.
I’d also like to have a column on the home page of a few of the most recent blog entries (2-3). Most of the return people will just want to see my blog, but I don’t want to de-emphasize one over the other.
Can someone recommend a good theme or two? Thanks.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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A few themes that come to mind are:
Edin – https://edindemo.wordpress.com/
Goran – https://gorandemo.wordpress.com/
Gateway – https://gatewaydemo.wordpress.com/ -
Kathryn,
Thanks for the reply. I’ve already been working with Edin and I like it. But I can’t figure out how to have a static text blurb about my business AND a rolling list of my most recent blog entries on the SAME front page.
Is that possible with Edin or Gateway? If so, I can’t figure it out. Any help to use Edin or Gateway that combines a static “about us” text box somewhere on top of the header photo or below it, AND a list of recent blog entries is what I’m looking to use on my front page.
Thanks.
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You can use a Recent Posts widget to display your latest posts on the front page in both Edin and Goran. Here’s what it looks like on the Edin demo, in the Front Page Three widget area: https://cloudup.com/cjVix3be8cr
Other options include:
– Display WordPress Posts widget, which allows you to have an excerpt and featured image in addition to the post title and date.
– Display Posts Shortcode – lets you display posts either in a widget, or within page or post content -
I just had a look at your site and your front page is still set to display your latest posts. To get your site looking more like the Edin demo, you’ll need to do a few more things:
– assign your front page to a static page
– assign the Front Page template to it
– start adding widgets to the Front Page widget areas.For complete instructions on how to do that, check out Edin’s setup guide here:
https://theme.wordpress.com/themes/edin/Just et us know if you get stuck at any step.
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Kathryn,
Thanks for responding on Xmas eve. I’m usually not an idiot, but I can’t figure out what you mean by “assign the Front Page template to it”. I can’t find the Front Page template, let alone how to assign it to my blog.
Any help you can provide would be great. Also, since most of my blog posts will have embedded YT videos, will any of the widgets be able to show a screenshot of the video (I would prefer not to insert a static pic of the video).
Thanks.
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Sure – when you’re in the page editor, look for the box in the left sidebar that says
After creating assigning your front page to a static page in the Customizer, go back to to the page editor.
Open the Page Options panel, and from the dropdown menu in the Page Templates section, choose Front Page. Here’s a screenshot:
Let me know how it goes!
Also, since most of my blog posts will have embedded YT videos, will any of the widgets be able to show a screenshot of the video (I would prefer not to insert a static pic of the video).
I’m afraid not.
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Kathryn,
I think I kind of understand. So I need to create a NEW page, go to Page Options, and then use the Front Page template?
Can you look at my site? That’s what I did, but the blurb is BELOW the header image. How do I get it on top of the image like in the Edin demo?
Also, where do I add the widgets to the Front Page? I can’t figure out how to insert widgets except in the sidebars and footers. Thanks.
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Ok. Can you look at my page now? I think I figure it out. I need to remove the front page header icon and just at a featured image to my front page that I created, right?
If that’s correct, how do I add in the widgets? Thanks.
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Looks like you’re on your way.
You can add widgets either in the Customizer’s Widgets panel or in the WP Admin dashboard, here:
https://leelaxtv.wordpress.com/wp-admin/widgets.php
To add widgets via the Customizer, you need to launch the Customizer from a page which displays those specific widgets. For example, you won’t see the Sidebar widget area if you open the Customizer from the front page, since the sidebar isn’t displayed there. If you’d like to set up all your widgets from one place, the link above will let you do that.
Edin comes with seven widget areas, one sidebar area for single posts and pages, three for the footer, and three for the front page.
I need to remove the front page header icon and just at a featured image to my front page that I created, right?
Right, to overlay your page’s text on the image the graphic needs to be added as a featured image, which you’ve done. It’s quite hard to read your text on top the image you’ve chosen; you might want to find a different image that allows your text to be more legible: https://cloudup.com/cqLf7EAY2bk
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Sorry for being a spazz. Can you look at my site again? I think I have it right now.
Questions:
I now have the Front Page with a featured image behind it. But how do I get rid of the “Share This” buttons that I want to keep using with my normal blog posts.
Since I now have a static front page, is there any way of regaining my 2 column format (I like having a sidebar throughout my site), or is that not possible?
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I now have the Front Page with a featured image behind it. But how do I get rid of the “Share This” buttons that I want to keep using with my normal blog posts.
Sure – in the page editor, open the Sharing panel and uncheck the two boxes under “Sharing Buttons and Likes”:
Since I now have a static front page, is there any way of regaining my 2 column format (I like having a sidebar throughout my site), or is that not possible?
It’s not possible, since a page can only be assigned to one page template at a time.
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It’s not possible, since a page can only be assigned to one page template at a time.
…but you can add the same widgets to any of the three Front page widget areas that you have added to your Sidebar widget area.
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Last one, Kathryn. Are there any other themes that will allow a combination of a static “about us” text box and a rolling list of recent blog entries?
I understand that I can come close using the widgets, but I’d really prefer something like Odin with the two column format, but an ability to have a text book header about it. Thanks.
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How about Antenna?
https://antennademo.wordpress.com/
You could put your About content into a featured post and it would be displayed above a traditional two-column format. Premium themes are refundable for up to 30 days, in case you tried it and decided it didn’t quite work.
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Thanks for all the help. I want to stick with a free theme for now because I’m evaluating whether or not to go with my own selfhosted wordpress.org site in the near future.
So I’m going with Edin at the present. I solved my dilemma about the “about us blurb” vs recent posts on the blog thing by simply creating a header with some static text while maintaining a recent blog entries list.
I like everything EXCEPT I really like the post “markers” that you can find on Newsworthy, Esquire, Bouquet, etc.
Is there anyway to customize Edin to have a similar type of marker for every post? I didn’t see it under Theme -> Customize. Is there some type of code I can use with a free wordpress.com plan?
Or is there a theme that would accomplish what I’m looking for? Thanks in advance for any help you have.
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Hi, without the WordPress.com Premium Plan upgrade, you cannot make this sort of change to Edin, and due to the way the theme is structured, it may not work too well even if you had the upgrade. I can’t think of a theme, other than the ones you mention, that have the date pulled out to the left.
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