Support

Web Site Upgrades and Services

Although all of the sites that we build are made to be managed by our clients and you can do all of this stuff below by yourself, we understand that sometimes you would just rather have us do it for you.  No problem….  here are some additional services that we offer.  Please call us at (903) 771-2030 to talk about or order any of... Read More

Making Word Press More Secure

UPDATED:  There is a new hacking effort taking place using bots to access Word Press sites.  Read more about it here.  Follow the below instructions and you’ll be fine… There are several ways to make your Word Press site more secure and this is always a good idea.  Proper security can be a pain in the tush but also can save... Read More

How to Use Next Gen Gallery

I install the plugin Next Gen Gallery on most of my sites. It’s a great photo gallery plugin and simple to use. Here’s the basics… This photo gallery uses a two step process. 1. Upload your photos to the gallery. 2. Insert the Gallery into whichever post of page you want it to how up in. Uploading Photos: Take some pictures... Read More

How to insert an email address

1.  Create the email address. 2.  Go to your post or page  and type the words you want linked to the email address (like: email us HERE.) 3.  Highlight the words and click on the “Insert hyperlink” icon. 4.  Insert the email address like this: mailto:john@aol.com 5.  Click insert and save your post or page.  Read More →

How to insert a PDF document into your site

This is a question we get a lot and is very straighforward.  Here’s how it’s done. 1.  Save your document to your desktop. 2.  Go into the post or page you want it in 3.  Click on the “add an image” icon next to Upload/Insert. 4.  Upload the pdf document. 5.  Scroll down to where it says “file url”... Read More

Gravity Forms

We always install cForms Contact Form Plugin to our sites because it’s free and works reasonably well.  However, if you really need something more robust we have recently found out about Gravity Forms, which is a commercial plugin for Word Press.  This plugin is completely rockin and if you use contact forms a lot it is well worth... Read More

CForms won’t work!

“I have the plugin set up correctly and it still won’t work!  Help!” This happens a lot and here is the most likely fix.  Log into your dashboard and go to cForms and go to the “Form Settings” area.  There is a little box at the top that is checked and says “Ajax Enabled.”  Uncheck the box and... Read More

Dashboard Options Are Gone!

When you update to the latest version of WordPress you may have some issues in your posts and pages.  The new dashboard has some cool new features but they can look a little bit confusing… Here’s the biggest problem that we’re running into… “I’ve upgraded to the latest version of Word Press and now when... Read More

Using the Word Press Featured Image

If you have one of our sites that is built after March 2011 then we have more than likely incorporated Post Thumbnails into your theme.  This feature will allow you to choose pictures from your media library and designate them as “featured images” to be used throughout the site.  These featured images will automatically be cropped... Read More

Putting in Content

For the most part this is pretty self explanatory however if you need a good run through on knowing what the different icons are and what they do then Simple WP Guide has an old yet excellent tutorial on this here: http://www.simplewpguide.com/working-with-content/formatting-text-content-in-wp/  Read More →

How to Write Pages

Pages are primarily static information on your site.  They will not change a lot and will contain information that is relevant to your site but always needs to be there.  They are generally also written with a lot more care and significantly longer in scope and depth than your posts which are more like “updates.” To write a page... Read More

How to Write Posts

Posts are different than pages and are what makes up the part of your site which changes often.  These posts are put on pages in time and date stamped order and so when a new one is created it simply appears above the old ones pushing those farther down the page. To write posts simply log into your admin panel and on the left side menus click... Read More

Word Press Basics

New to Word Press?  We give all of our clients an in depth walk through of their specific theme in person or over the phone and then a ton of tutorials as well on this site.  However, if you need a primer on the basics of how Word Press works here is a great resource for you!  As always, you are free to take advantage of our lifetime free... Read More

Adding New Plugins to Your Site

As your site evolves you may want to add new plugins to it thereby increases the functionality.  This is a simple and painless process.  First, be sure and check out the ratings of the plugins you are considering adding.  If you add a plugin that is not well supported you take your chances on whether that plugin will continue to work well... Read More

Creating Unique Page Sidebars

If you would like to create unique sidebars for some or all of your pages luckily there is an easy way to do it.  Here’s how you make that happen: 1.  Go to “Plugins” then go to “Add New.” 2.  Search the available plugins for “Per Page Sidebars.” 3.  Install and activate the plugin. 4.  Go to... Read More

How to Add a Facebook Fan Page

Now that we’ve created a great website for you it may be time to move on and get on the Facebook bandwagon!  I get a lot of requests on how to get your business or organization on facebook and so here’s a quick step by step tutorial on how to do it. First of all you need to realize the difference between a Facebook profile and... Read More

Weird Spacing When I Hit Enter…

Here’s a question I get a lot from folks who are new at entering info into their content management systems.  “When I am editing the page and I hit the ‘enter ‘ key I get large spaces and can’t get things lined up correctly.” Luckily this is an easy fix.  On the web the “enter key” gives us... Read More

Creating Drop Down Menus

To create drop down menus on your site navigation you will use the sub page feature of Word Press. To do so simply go to the page you want in the drop down menu and look on the right hand side under “Page Attributes.” Look for the drop down menu at the top and choose the page that you want as the “Parent Page,” or... Read More

Ordering Pages in Your Navigation

To customize the order of how the pages appear in your navigation bar simply do the following: Go to each page and look for the section on the right that says “Page Attributes.” Look underneath it for the subsection that says “Order.” Place a number in there for each page. Lower numbers will show first on the navigation... Read More

How to Edit Your Post Order

In Word Press posts are time and date stamped and are ordered most commonly by latest date first and then older posts following.  To reorder these posts for any reason you need to simply change the published date.  Here’s how we do that… 1. Log into your WordPress account and go to your dashboard. 2. Click on “Posts”... Read More

WordPress 3.0 Menu Addition

With the release of Word Press 3.0 you know have the option for custom menus added to the software. This will allow you to create custom menus of pages, categories or any other links you want and put them in your sidebar widget area.  Here’s a brief tutorial on how you access and use this new feature. 1.  Go to “Appearance”... Read More

Changing Your Passwords

To change your site admin password simply log in and go to “Users..”  Select the user that you want to modify and click on the name. Scroll to the bottom and enter your new password twice and hit “update.”  Read More →

Backing Up Your Content

The easiest way to back your content up from your site is to download the XML file.  You should do this anytime you have made major changes and probably once a month anyway at the least.  To do so, login to your site, go to “Tools” and then to “Export.”  Download the file and save it in a safe place.  If you ever... Read More

Embeding a Video

To embed a video into your site simply go to Youtube or Vimeo and copy the embed code from there.  Come back to your site and embed it.  To do so, if you want it in the sidebar go to Appearances>Widgets and drag a Text Widget to the appropriate sidebar.  Insert your video code into the widget and save.  If you would like the video to... Read More

Creating Online Forms

We use the cforms plugin in our sites to create contact forms, online registrations and more.  Here’s a tutorial on how to use it:  Read More →

How to Use the Dynamic Content Gallery

I have started using this plugin in my sites as opposed to the Featured Content Gallery.  If you have a newer site from me, chances are this is your gallery plugin. The DCG is normally found on the home page of my designs and is the part of the site that scrolls photos in and out.  It’s a very powerful plugin and well supported and... Read More

Updating Your Word Press Software

Updating your Word Press site is simple and quick.  There are two components to a successful update.  The first is your Word Press software and the second is your plugins.  If you update one and not the other you will oftentimes run into issues so do both of these things at once. We have found that it is best to update to the newest version... Read More

Integrating Google Calendar

We use the WordPress Google calendar plugin a lot which allows you to  integrate your Google calendar into your new website.  Here are directions for setting that up. The first thing you want to do is go to Google and create an account.  This is free and simple and will let you access the calendar program. Secondly,you must request a Google... Read More

Reisizing Images With PhotoPlus

Having a website designed is only the first part of the process.  Managing it and adding content, pictures and video can be a daunting, but necessary task in taking your website to the next level.  Oftentimes, adding pictures can be the hardest part of this task.  I recommend a simple, yet effective software program called PhotoPlus for... Read More

Email Lists and Marketing

We get a lot of questions about marketing through email, and integrating sign up forms on your website.  Here’s the basic scoop. Email marketing has nothing to do with your website and is completely separate from the website we have designed for you.  That being said, you can easily integrate in a sign-up form so people can register... Read More

Understanding Tags

In many of the themes that we have built we utilize the Word Press tagging feature.  Here’s a brief explanation of what that is and how to use it in our themes. All of your “posts” give you the option of  adding “tags.”  This option is located in the right hand side of the editing screen directly underneath... Read More

How to Add an Image to a Text Widget

You can easily add an image to a text widget in your sidebar.  Here’s how you do it: -Create your image: It is best to create this to the dimensions that you want the picture.  A sidebar is typically 300px wide so you do not want it to be bigger than that. -Go to any post or page and open it up.   At the top of the content area you... Read More

Setting Up Your Search Engine Settings

I regularly use the plugin “All in One SEO” for my themes. You can manage this by going to “Settings” and then “All in One SEO.” Click the top box that says “enable” and then fill out the top three boxes that are currently empty. Home Title: This is the title of your site. Home Description:... Read More

Adding Thumbnails to the Homepage

***UPDATE:  If you have a theme built after March 2011 then we are using Post Thumbnails to create the thumbnails on your homepage.  Please view that tutorial here. Your homepage is set up to pull different “pieces” of posts onto it and display a thumbnail image next to it. The image will display only on the homepage and not... Read More

Using Sidebar Widgets

Widgets are used to manage your sidebar. You have two sidebars- one for the homepage and one for all the other pages. You manage widgets by going to appearances>widgets and dragging widgets form the left side to the right side. You have two choices with sidebar widgets. You can put widgets in the sidebar and it will effect all pages or you... Read More

Excluding Pages from the Navbar

There are lots of reasons why you might want to exclude pages from the navbar. You can do so if you want to clean your navigation up and put subpages on the sidebar instead, or maybe you just want a “hidden” page on your website to send staff members or family to or whatever. I always add the Exclude Pages Plugin into my themes... Read More

How to Use the Featured Content Scroller Plugin

I use the Featured Content Scroller Plugin in a lot of my themes. This is the large scroller at the top of your homepage that moves several photos in and out and optionally has text that comes up over the picture. The Featured Content Gallery Plugin settings are available if you look under Settings>Featured Content Gallery. You can decide... Read More