Sela Theme Customization
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I downloaded the Sela theme for my self-hosted website with WP.org. I am having difficulty finding information about the theme that would be detailed enough to make sense for me – a website creator w/o experience. I am trying to customize Sela so that it looks exactly as its demo (especially its front page). I was able to create the featured image and add the widgets to display the three titles below it. I did that by adding the 1st,2nd and 3rd front page sidebar widgets. Unfortunately this is where I got stuck. How do I add text here, or link the headline (titles) of the sidebars to respective pages?
Also, I created another static page for the About section of my website. For this page I also chose the front page template in page attributes. Can I eliminate the 3 sidebar widgets from this page? OR is it possible to have the sidebars below my featured image here as well, BUT with different titles/links, etc?
In terms of menus… the pages I created do not show up in the menu bar:(
Another complicated element is the testimonials part… I cannot find anything about testimonials on my dashboard.
Please please please please please please please HELP!!!
Thank you!
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Please see below! Also, in your reply, could you link me to your self-hosted site so I can take a look?
How do I add text here, or link the headline (titles) of the sidebars to respective pages?
In order to link those widget areas to the specific pages, you’ll need to manually input the images and links. For example, the “Full Width Page” on the theme demo has the following code:
<a href="http://selademo.wordpress.com/page-templates/full-width-page/"><img src="https://selademo.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/mg_9371-1.jpg" /></a> <p>This is a full width page template. It’s great for embedding a map, a large video or a contact form. <a href="http://selademo.wordpress.com/page-templates/full-width-page/">Read more</a></p>You can copy and use that exact same template replacing the href element, img src, and paragraph text to match what you would like. Can you give that a try?
Also, I created another static page for the About section of my website. For this page I also chose the front page template in page attributes. Can I eliminate the 3 sidebar widgets from this page? OR is it possible to have the sidebars below my featured image here as well, BUT with different titles/links, etc?
Either is possible! The easiest way to eliminate the widgets or to only display them on the front page and show different ones on the About page would be to use the Widget Visibility option:
So, if you set the widget to only show on the home page, it wouldn’t display on the About page.
In terms of menus… the pages I created do not show up in the menu bar:(
Have you created a custom menu?
Another complicated element is the testimonials part… I cannot find anything about testimonials on my dashboard.
The testimonials are only included in the WordPress.com version of the theme, not the self-hosted version.
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Thank you so much!! Although, you got me lost at the code part:) Would you be able to tell me specifically where to go to insert that code? Also, at what point do I insert an image? Do I do it within the page text window?
My website currently has the landing page active, but I will remove it for a bit, here’s the link: http://www.pittsburghrealestatetalk.com
Again, thank you so much!
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I cannot seem to find the Visibility option for widgets. Is it possible that it is missing for the self-hosted sites? I went to appearance-widgets-first front page sidebar… there’s only the save option here.
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I rewrote the code, but I have no idea where to place it…. So right now the sidebar widget area shows: testing/top neighborhoods/staging
I would like to know how to either link the titles to particular pages with images, and how to leave the titles unlinked with a simple paragraph and a small image. I have two static pages set up to front page template: home and about. For the home page I will probably want to make the sidebars to link to pages, on my about page I may want to leave them simply as 3 paragraphs of text and images, so I would like to ask you to help me with both customizations. PLEASE:)
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Sorry… so many questions… I just added a featured image for my blog page, but it does not show. What could be the reason for that?
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Hi!
Let’s address the front page widgets on your homepage first. Once you get the structure of the text widgets down, I think customizing the About page will be much easier.
When you navigate to your widgets page (Appearance -> Widgets), you should see the following options:
We want to put a blank text widget in each of the following:
– First front page sidebar
– Second front page sidebar
– Third front page sidebar
Then, within the text widgets, we need to put some text. Here’s the full example again (we’ll break it down):
<a href="http://selademo.wordpress.com/page-templates/full-width-page/"><img src="https://selademo.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/mg_9371-1.jpg" /></a> <p>This is a full width page template. It’s great for embedding a map, a large video or a contact form. <a href="http://selademo.wordpress.com/page-templates/full-width-page/">Read more</a></p>This can be thought of as three distinct chunks:
First, we need an image to show up. That’s this part:
<a href="http://selademo.wordpress.com/page-templates/full-width-page/"><img src="https://selademo.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/mg_9371-1.jpg" /></a>The link after href= is where you want people to be taken once the click on the image. So, you might want to change that to your About page link.
The bit after img src= tells the widget where it can find the photo we want to use. You’ll want to swap that out for one of your own images. To do that, upload the widget you want to use to your site (Media LIbrary -> Add New). Then, from your Media Library, click on the image. You should see something like this:
That “URL” field is what we want.
Next, between the two “p” tags (with the <> brackets) is the text you want to show up. So, in our About example, you might switch it out to a little blurb about you.
Finally, we want the “Read More” link to point people to the full page (similar to the image). So, we’ll need to swap out the link there.
Here’s an example of how this might look for you:
<a href="http://www.pittsburghrealestatetalk.com/about"><img src="IMAGE LINK" /></a> <p>Welcome to my site! I'm awesome. This site is going to look amazing when I'm finished.<a href="http://www.pittsburghrealestatetalk.com/about">Read more</a></p>Can you give this a try on one of your front page text widgets to see if we can get this thing working?
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Thank you so much! This has been incredibly helpful!!
Would you also be so kind and help me with the About page? I would like to customize the widgets here with different images and text, just not sure how to separate them from the front Home page widgets?
How to add the Contact me widget? I don’t see on in my Widgets tab?
Also, is there a way to remove the WordPress/Theme name from the bottom of the page?
Thank you so much!!!
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Would you also be so kind and help me with the About page? I would like to customize the widgets here with different images and text, just not sure how to separate them from the front Home page widgets?
Certainly! You’ll want to use the Widget Visibility settings we discussed. Did you find that setting? If not, can you do the following?
1. Navigate to Jetpack -> Jetpack from your Dashboard.
2. Search for “widget” underneath the “Jetpack Features” like this:
3. Click on “Widget Visibility” and make sure it’s active.
Once that’s active, you’ll want to setup the Text Widgets exactly the same as you did on your home page. However, under the Visibility settings, you’ll want to specify the widget to only open on your About page like this:
More here:
How to add the Contact me widget? I don’t see on in my Widgets tab?
We have a Contact Info widget at WordPress.com:
https://en.support.wordpress.com/widgets/contact-info/
However, that widget isn’t included in self-hosted sites. You could use a text widget to display the information you want. The easiest way to do this is to first type the information into a post and format it how you would like. Then, click over to the Text tab within the post editor and copy the code. If you paste that code into a Text Widget, it should look exactly the same.
Also, is there a way to remove the WordPress/Theme name from the bottom of the page?
Since your site is self-hosted, you can remove that text. Just put this code under Appearance -> Edit CSS:
.site-info { display: none; }Also, just for future notice, we normally don’t support self-hosted sites through this forum, only WordPress.com. Since your theme was Sela (also on WordPress.com), I’m happy to help since the customizations would be similar. However, for additional support requests, the WordPress.org forums will be the best place going forward!
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You have been an amazing help! Thank you very much.
I will be using the Sela theme on a wordpress-hosted site shortly, too, so I really appreciate you taking the time to answer all my questions! -
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Hi Jeremey,
Since our last exchange, I was not going to bother you with questions anymore, however, I am experiencing an issue I cannot resolve anywhere else. My Sela website, (since the new wordpress version upgrade) is displaying the following message: Warning: printf() [function.printf]: Too few arguments in /home/polaje5/public_html/pittsburghrealestatetalk.com/wp-content/themes/sela-wpcom/inc/template-tags.php on line 343
This appears after I publish or update a post.Also, I cannot figure out how to get rid of the comment section, even though I have tried to turn the comments off.
Additionally, the META links show up on my website. How do I get rid of them?
Is there a way to display some text in the bottom stripe of the website (where “this is a wordpress website” used to be). I wanted to say something like: pittsburgh real estate talk, llc. all rights reseved.
Last but not least, HOW DO I SET UP THE SOCIAL MEDIA ICONS TO SHOW UP AND LINK TO MY FB AND INSTAGRAM?
I truly hope that you will be able to help me here. It is not easy to receive the support I need on the wordpress.org page.
I will be forever grateful!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!
Joanna Saykiewiczwww.pittsburghrealestatetalk.com
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Hi Joanna.
I am experiencing an issue I cannot resolve anywhere else. My Sela website, (since the new wordpress version upgrade) is displaying the following message: Warning: printf() [function.printf]: Too few arguments in /home/polaje5/public_html/pittsburghrealestatetalk.com/wp-content/themes/sela-wpcom/inc/template-tags.php on line 343 This appears after I publish or update a post.
Could you try disabling all of your plugins? If the error disappears after that, try enabling each plugin one by one to find which is problematic.
If that doesn’t help, it’s worth moving this over to the official forums for Sela at WordPress.org. I checked those forums and found there’s a recent thread where people are experiencing a similar issue to you:
https://wordpress.org/support/topic/printf-functionprintf-error
My colleague, Kathryn Presner, is helping to troubleshoot this issue there and so I’d definitely recommend subscribing to that thread.
Also, I cannot figure out how to get rid of the comment section, even though I have tried to turn the comments off.
Disabling comments is a two part process. You’ll firstly need to disable them for all future posts/pages, and then turn them off for each pre-existing post/page. This support guide in the WordPress.org Codex will help you out with further guidance:
https://codex.wordpress.org/Comments_in_WordPress#Enabling_Comments_on_Your_Site
Is there a way to display some text in the bottom stripe of the website (where “this is a wordpress website” used to be). I wanted to say something like: pittsburgh real estate talk, llc. all rights reseved.
Absolutely. :) With self-hosted sites you’re able to change the underlying code as you wish. The first step to this would be to create a child theme. Information about child themes and how to set one up can be found here:
https://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes
Once you’ve set up your child theme, I recommend posting over in the WordPress.org forums for extra guidance on the needed code for what you want to achieve.
I truly hope that you will be able to help me here. It is not easy to receive the support I need on the wordpress.org page.
These forums are for sites hosted here at WordPress.com and we’re limited in the support we can provide for your self-hosted site. Our staff do monitor the Sela sub forum on WordPress.org, and this would be the absolute best place for you to get help with your questions:
https://wordpress.org/support/theme/sela
Hope that helps out.
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