Archive for Builder
Back to working on the Geezer n Geek Small business guides site
Posted by: | CommentsWhile I am still doing some testing and experimenting with the SANDBOX just to see how things work with iThemes Builder – I am now starting to put together the actual SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE site. The first page has no navigation so I added a form which will take you inside the site.
iThemes Builder – Home Page
Posted by: | CommentsThe first thing I want is a home or welcome page – it has an image – a couple of widgets on the sides of the image. A place for content – So that is what I built with the Layout editor. This page will have no navigation – just an opt in box – at least for now. This is a SQUEEZE PAGE
Finally an hour or so to Learn more about iThemes Builder
Posted by: | CommentsIt has been awhile, I had hoped to get some of the initial learning done in the SandBox and then move on to starting to create the actual site where I will have the small business guides available.
The main thing to know is you can build you own website with WordPress and by using themes, plugins and widgets you can make you site look and act exactly how you want it to look and act. You do not need a webmaster to do this. As I experiment in the Sandbox, I am learning the Theme and starting to have some idea of what the Small Business Guide site will look like. At the moment it is really primitive – I have not done much with the actual site yet.
iThemes Builder – break though – Rotating Image at top
Posted by: | CommentsThis really kool – You can get a rotating images at the top – like in Flex – instead of putting an image there – I put in an HTML box – put in the shortcode from the rotating images plug in and added two sidebars. ROTATING IMAGE AT TOP Plus I think I am beginning to understand how to set up the menu, and pages
iThemes Builder – working on the top and learning Layout Tool
Posted by: | CommentsI have been working on the top image and sidebars of iThemes Builder. Tried several cropped photos for the image and did not like them. So I made my own (how?? Power Point ) Everything is still being done in the SANDBOX – Also I added a weather feed and twitter feed.
How to activate a premium theme in Word Press
Posted by: | CommentsMost premium themes in Word Press work like this – here is a quick install guide. First download the premium theme files. With Builder they will be in your members area. When you log onto builder from your confirmation email you will be taken directly to the download area.
Create a file that you can find and remember – I use themes as a file name
Download all of the files under Builder
Next login and go to your dashboard Click on Appearance and then Themes
Go to Install themes (at the top) and click on Upload
Browse to where you have your Builder files and upload them one at a time. Might as well upload everything that way you will be able to switch back and forth between the child themes
I am using the Astro Child theme – just activate what ever Child theme you want. Do not activate the main Builder parent theme.
And when I go to my site Astro the way it was before I went to the default WP theme Twenty 10 where I showed you how to install Word Press. Only upload the child themes
Next you will need to upload the plugins that come with builder – to do that go to the plug-ins menu and click on Add New
This will take you to install Plugins click on upload – upload the included plugins and activate each one before you upload the next one
Go to Plugins and you should see this – Akismet and Hello Dolly came with Word Press – the rest are the Builder Plug ins (you will be adding many more plugins later from other sources that have different functions. This is just to get you where you can start learning Builder.
OK so now you have a Word Press install done, a Premium theme has been added and the associated plugins for the premium theme have been added. That is it you are done – now just follow the intro videos on the iThemes site and start to “play” with the theme. Start with layouts – then your views and finally do your styles last.
Builder – Page Layout and Style
Posted by: | CommentsThis is what the Builder and Astro Style looked like “out of the box”
What Builder lets me do is design a layout and to create a style- I can make every page the same or I can make every page different or any combination.
A really important note – this is all done in menus – I am not messing with the code – I am not a programmer – what I like to see in Premium Word Press themes is the ability to change things and never have to look at or mess with the code.
What I have done is designed a page – I put in an image – put areas on the left and right of the image that I can add things, I added a navigation bar, put in a place for content – added a right side bar – a widget area below and a footer.
Next I played with the style creator and changed some of the colors and so now this is what I have
So here we go – I am “playing” in my Sandbox
Posted by: | Commentsthe very first thing to know about DIY web sites is you need a place to put your site. This is called Web Hosting. I use Blue Host and on the Resource page is a link to Blue Host.
You also need to have a domain name. In this case I am using a domain name in my name. If you go to ronaldheadley.com you will not find anything – I do not have a site there. I do have some information on the Geezer n Geek site about domain names. For now all you need to know is a domain name is an address that the internet can find. You can get domain names from Blue Host – you have to renew your domain names every year and a good practice is to set up you domains so that they automatically renew. Blue host charges $10 for a new domain name and the renewal is $10 a year.
If your domain name is costing more than $10-$12 a year or less you are getting ripped off!!! There are lots of places that will charge you a lot more. Do not use these places.
So in the case of the Sandbox it is an add on to my domain ronaldheadley.com – I pay $10 a year for the domain. I have two add ons at the moment to that domain. ronaldheadley.com/oxford is a community site and the new one ronaldheadley.com/sandbox are addons, they are separate site, Blue Host does not charge extra for doing this and I pay only for the one domain.
The same thing is true for geezerngeek.com the Small business guides are an add on at geezerngeek.com which is this site and geezerngeek.com/sbg is the add on that I am working on.
Remember if you are following this just go to where I am working and be sure to refresh your screen to see the changes. Right now as I learn Builder I will be working in the Sandbox so bring it up and hit the refresh and you will if I am making any progress.
What I have done so far is put Word Press on my domain, uploaded the Builder Theme and a Child theme to make it look like it does.
Next I will be using Builder to set up some pages and layouts.
iThemes Builder
Posted by: | CommentsPrior to the webinar, I was beginning to learn to use iThemes – Builder. I did not have the time to get back to it until today.
First problem, it is Sunday, I am at home, the computer I was using is at the store. I had been going over a tutorial on internet security where they recommended you use something other than “admin” to log into a Word Press site. So on the new Small Business Guides site – I set it up with something different, this setup happens when you set up a new Word Press site and the login user name is something that cannot be changed.
Problem was I could not remember what I had put in for a user name, that information is at the store, rather than go to the store today to get my new site login information I decided to put up another new Word Press site – someplace where I can just play around with things, see what works and what it looks like and so on. It is actually a lot faster to put up a new site, add a theme, so the basic site set up and so on than it is to drive a few miles to get the login and pass word information. The new site is RonaldHeadley.com/sandbox and you are welcome to come over there and see what type of stuff I am learning, playing around with or experimenting with.
Right after I put up the new site I got an email from my host with the new sites log in information. And then I remembered that I would have gotten a similar email when I set up the Small Business Guides site – so I now have the login information for there too.
I will be trying things on the sandbox site and then doing the same thing on the real site.
Something to know is when you start doing lots of different things on line you really need to have something that remembers logins and passwords for your sites – I use Robo Form – which is synched to my office computers, and one laptop – that means if I change login info or get new login information or a new password it comes up on my other computers. Why did it not work for the Small Business Guide site I am not certain – it does now. Robo Form is a really great way to keep track of logins, passwords and other things that can be set up to be shared on several computers. Change it here and it updates there.
Building a new site with Word Press – Builder – Astro Child theme
Posted by: | CommentsBuilder is new to me. So as you see me doing this site what you are really seeing me learning a new to me theme. There are a number of child themes – I think the Astro theme is pretty kool so that is what I will start with. The neat thing with Word Press is if I get so I do not like the theme I can change it without changing my content – IE my pages and my posts. So here we go with Astro.
The first thing to know is you must have a place to put your site. This is called web hosting. I use and recommend Blue Host – next you have to have a domain name = in this case I am using geezerngeek.com and I have added the new site as an add on to that site.
Here is the Child theme
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