Shifting a blog to Rowling Magazine Theme
-
I currently have static pages with fixed info as well as a regular daily blog. I would like to add the ability to provide links to external media stories with commentary, much like could be done on say, facebook. That being the case:
1) If I transfer from Plane to Rowling, does it just load all of my blog posts into one long stream on the homepage?
2) If those older posts are divided into a series of categories, are those and the tags transferred over?
2a) And if so, is there one ‘blog listing’ that would have all of the blogs listed chronologically or can they only be listed by category?3) Could I run two streams, one with my blog posts and a separate one for photos?
3a) Could the second stream of posts be distinct from the blog, handled more like the facebook timeline with a status introduction and a link to an external media post?
3b) If so, how would these two content streams be divided or designated on the homepage, or are they merely chronological with categories?
3c) And does that mean I need to create a special category for a newsfeed?
3d) And does that in turn mean that there is no way for people to read a lot of blogs in order (which is sometimes important for the content) without also encountering the daily link posts?It seems like one basic question to me, but I’ve tried to divide it up to make it easier to answer, and I tried to define the borders of the question. If I forgot anything, feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to answer. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
-
Hi @relaxandsucceed,
1) I double checked your site; right now you have it set up to display the latest posts. If you switched to Rowling, it would look much like this:
https://rowlingdemo.wordpress.com/2) Category and tag organization will stay intact through theme switches. Menus links sometimes don’t (depending on if the themes have different menu locations) but if you need help adding menu links back, we can help with that.
2a) Yes there is always an “every latest blog post” listing — with the way you have things set now, that will be your front page.
3) Yes, with categories, but remember all of the latest posts will show on the front page with your current configuration. You could also consider using a portfolio for your photos if that fits your purposes, or use a static front page (this is not what you have currently)
3a) I’m not sure I fully understand this question, but you could structure posts how you’d like. If you put all similarly structured posts in a single category, that would work. Also note some themes have different post formats (such as “asides”) that could work better for a “timeline” type page.
3b) When the home page is set to show all latest posts, they aren’t separated. Let us know if you’re hoping to not display a certain category of posts on the front page, and we can recommend a solution.
3c) If you want certain types of posts separate from other posts, you would need a separate category for that.
3d) Not sure I follow here. If you’ll let us know more specifics of your goal (for example: “show daily photos and weekly articles on the front page, but put daily links on a side page”) we’ll help you sort out how to do it.
I’m sure this brings up more questions, so ask away. If you want to reach out privately and let us know your goals, that’s fine too, you can do that here: http://wordpress.com/help/contact
Cheers!
-
Thank you very much. Yes, it was in noting that the front page would be setup that way that I started wondering about a wish I’ve had for a while, which relates to your valid questions regarding 3a and 3d.
Essentially, I would like two separate blog streams that would each feed onto the homepage. One would be traditional blogs and the other would be statements or links with preambles of various lengths, to establish context, so it would function much like a facebook timeline.
I do want both available when merged into that homepage, but what I don’t want is them both to be contained in one continuous stream as individual single blog entries. Many page readers will use both approaches to learning, but many would find not being able to separate the writing from the link-posting as being cumbersome, while still others wish they didn’t have to go to facebook to get the link posting content I otherwise am forced to share there. For wordpress it would be stealing some business from facebook. At least you guys have real service. :-)
Was that re-describing helpful?
Thanks in advance.
-
Hi there,
So you want all posts to be on the front page, but still separate?
The only way I can think of to do that is to set a static page as your front page instead. Then in the new block editor, you split that page into two columns using the Columns block.
Next, you add a Shortcode block to each column, and use the Display Posts shortcode (you’d need a plugin to use that shortcode) to show the two different streams each in their own column.
Else you can set a static page as the front page, and add only your blog posts to it using the Display Posts shortcode, and have your link-posts using the same shortcode in a text widget in the sidebar.
Either way, this is a bit of a hack, and the page using the Display Posts shortcode will not use the thumbnail grid layout that Rowling uses by default for the posts page.
But if you have the front page set to display latest posts, it will display all posts, in reverse order of publication. There is no way to separate posts on the main posts feed itself – this is core to the design of the WordPress software, and I’m not aware of any way one could change that.
-
Thank you. I found that very helpful. I didn’t need the two streams separated, and I had imagined them interspersed on the front page but separated elsewhere, but this idea intrigues me, except a text widget is pretty limiting:
“Else you can set a static page as the front page, and add only your blog posts to it using the Display Posts shortcode, and have your link-posts using the same shortcode in a text widget in the sidebar.”
I’m thinking about this in various ways. So using say something like Medium as an example, it could be set up as one big continuous blog with no portal to the total list. Instead it would all be divided by both author and subject so that they could be grouped more like a magazine on that cover page. So it appears like a bunch of newspaper styled columnists on separate feeds when really they’re on the same feed but you can only link to them through categories that leave you with a listing of only that writer or subject. Or, in my case, the writer (the blog) and the newsfeed category (external links etc.).
That all appears fine, except I want the newsfeed category to be separated because I want the blog readers to get the daily blog, but I don’t want blog followers inundated with emails from the timeline, which could have several posts per day. Is there a way to achieve that that you’re aware of?
Thanks again in advance for the thought you put into helping me.
-
I just wanted to note that since you can upload themes and plugins, you’ve got quite a few other options available.
There are “magazine” themes that will let you divide the layout up as you’d like, so you might want to check out a few of those to see if any might suit you. Be sure to look at their demos to see if they’re doing what you aim to do.
That all appears fine, except I want the newsfeed category to be separated because I want the blog readers to get the daily blog, but I don’t want blog followers inundated with emails from the timeline, which could have several posts per day. Is there a way to achieve that that you’re aware of?
If your theme has a “custom post type” (rather than a post format) for this type of thing, I believe those would not necessarily go out as new email notifications or show up in feeds. Again, that would depend on your theme.
Also, where will the news articles be coming from? Will they just be links to other sites or will you be writing about them? Are you also tweeting them / posting them somewhere? Curious, as that could open other options.
- The topic ‘Shifting a blog to Rowling Magazine Theme’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 