CSS Style–Skip The Header Image & Create A Text Logo For Your WordPress Site

My WordPress Website Needs A New Logo

CSS 3 Makes Everything Possible

I’ve written a fair amount about developing my Minimatica themed WordPress website, GregAitkenheadPhotography (if you’re building your own website, don’t forget to check out the Unofficial Users Guide). Like many photographers, I find that the Minimatica theme works great for my portfolio–its easy to set up (once you get used to a few quirks), it has a great slider for showcasing photography, and its minimal style keeps visitors focused on the art work, not on ads.

One of the issues I wanted to fix, but didn’t feel like I had the tools to tackle, was the website’s flat header title. I didn’t want to clutter up the front page with an image or a banner, but I also wasn’t happy with the ultra minimal logo or the default font. Luckily, I found a free Tuts+ Premium video tutorial called 30 Days To Learn HTML and CSS by Jeffrey Way. Day 19′s episode, The Basics of Typography, gave me all of the information I needed to add flare to my website’s text logo in the form of a new open source Google web font and a drop shadow effect. Continue reading →

Online HTML School–The Best HTML and CSS Tutorials For Beginners

Learn HTML and CSS: A Review of Four Free Online Courses

And The Winner Is...Tuts+ Premium: 30 Days To Learn HTML and CSS

Everything Just Seemed To Click

My path to HTML CSS proficiency probably mirrors the path taken by the majority of PhotoHow2′s visitors. I’m a photographer, and I wanted to find an inexpensive way to represent my photography online. Basically, I needed a virtual business card, I was interested in developing websites, and I figured the time was right to jump in.

Finding an online HTML school and learning HTML code wasn’t my first priority–my journey started with a Blogger/Blogspot website–Google’s free content management system (if you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between the two, check Isasc Yassar’s blogpost). I wanted my introduction to website development to run as smoothly as possible, but what I found was that Blogger, as the name implies, isn’t really set up for photographers looking to post photos online. Continue reading →

WordPress Child Themes–Safeguard Your Website’s Style In Three Easy Steps

Create A Child Theme Before You Modify Your Blog Or Website

Cyberduck For Mac

I love the Graphene WordPress theme, and have written a series of posts on easy ways to modify the theme to better suite your website’s needs (like this article on how to create a simple “static” front page).

I’ve been messing with PhotoHow2′s WordPress theme lately, and decided that it would be a shame if a theme update erased all of the work that I’d been putting into getting my website to look just the way I wanted it. Creating a child theme allows you to modify your website’s style without actually modifying the theme’s core codes, and according to the WordPress Codex page on child themes, using them is the recommended way of making modifications to a theme. Continue reading →

WordPress–Adding Users

At PhotoHow2 I’ve published a number of tutorials showing photographers how to set up an online portfolio using WordPress, but what if you’re site has morphed into something more–a business or a blog–and now you’re at the point where adding users to your site makes sense? It could be time to add users.

There a scores of reasons for adding a user to your WordPress blog or website. Have you been trying to provide content to your blog on a daily basis and the workload is starting to drag you down? It might be time to add an author (an author can edit, publish and delete their own posts, as well as upload files and images) or a contributor (basically the same as an author, but they don’t have the ability to publish their own works, and, once a contributor’s post is approved by an administrator and published, the contributor can no longer access or edit that post). Continue reading →

How To WordPress–Create A Simple “Static” Front Page For Graphene Themed WP Website

PhotoHow2 With The Graphene Theme "Static" Front Page

For more information on creating a true static page for your WordPress website, please see this article on the WordPress Codex wiki site.

“Virtual” static front pages allow WordPress site builders to create a traditional look, but creating one for PhotoHow2 seemed too complicated. I’m more concerned with creating and posting content on a regular basis, and I just needed the ability to push my most popular content to the top and to control what shows up on my website’s front page.

This “How To WordPress” tutorial covers the semi-static front page setup I’m using for PhotoHow2–it has the look of a a static front page, but still gives me the ability to include new posts–at least the posts that I want to highlight. PhotoHow2 uses the Graphene WordPress theme, a stylish, neat, and tight theme supporting configurable columns layout options and 4 widget areas, an adjustable footer widget area. I like the theme’s front page slider and the fact that its free and easy to configure. Continue reading →