DISQUS

Lee · 1 year ago

Good explanation, BB. I might just reiterate the part about making changes in small increments. Despite past experience that tells me otherwise, I tend to get over confident and make big changes. Almost every time, that leads to problems.

The other part of that is to ALWAYS back up anything that you're getting ready to make changes to. Trust me when I say that if you don't you'll be sorry.

Blog Bloke · 1 year ago

Been there! Done that! ;-)

Amanda · 1 year ago

Thanks for this post, Blog Bloke! After making a transition from Blogger to Wordpress, I can really empathize with your hints here. Small baby steps, that's so right when tweaking your template!

Glad to see you've found a way to change all those backlinks now :)

James Mann · 1 year ago

I have been messing around with a few templates on some of my WordPress blogs and it's a real learning experience.

I worked on a blog and had it doing and viewing just the way I wanted it but I had not even looked at it in Internet Explorer as I use FireFox almost exclusively. What a huge mess and I mean huge, all the fonts were huge and out of place. That put me into a talespin for a few days fixing that mess. :)

So it's good advice 'not to forget' using more than one browser to view your work results.

One of the first things I modify when I have a new template is the 'Home' link. I immediately change it to a keyword phrase such as 'Make Money Online Home'.

Thanks for the great post. It made me think of more things I want to do and learn about templates because eventually it would be fun to create one from scratch.

BLOGBloke · 1 year ago

Amanda, when I wrote that I couldn't help but think of the movie "What About Bob" with Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss.

BLOGBloke · 1 year ago

That's a good point and something I forget myself James. Just when I think I got it right, days later I happen to look at it in another browser and it's embarrassing. What a mess, and so it's back to the drawing board again.

I guess I'd better fire up that other browser while I think of it...

Kathy · 1 year ago

Bloke! I found out where to change the word "comments" that appears at the bottom of my posts, following the number of readers who left a comment.

I viewed the page source information and saw right where the code needed to be changed. Actually I found other information that surrounded the word "comments", so when I poked around my other php files, I could identify which one needed changing.

Turns out it wasn't comments.php that held the code. It was index.php.

Kathy's a happy camper! So this article is true. Backup your file before working on it. Make small changes. Test. Undo if you need to. And there'll be no crying.

Mike · 1 year ago

James and Lee both make very good observations especially regarding cross browser compatibility. I only ever fire up IE these days just to see how something looks. I can't remember the last time I actively used IE to browse.

I've got tons of WP themes on my computer. The vast majority of them I'll never use but I've kept them because the author has done one thing in the theme that I really like. It might be the way they format their comments. It could be a dynamic navigation system. There's something in there which I might consider using in later themes.

As you suggest, BB. Why reinvent the wheel?

BLOGBloke · 1 year ago

That's great Kathy. Every theme of course will be designed differently. In mine it's in the comments file. That's why it's very difficult for someone else to offer help without actually seeing your code. Sometimes it can take a little snooping around amongst the various theme files to find what you're looking for, and that handy ctrl-f key can be your best friend.

BLOGBloke · 1 year ago

Hi Mike. I'm starting to do the same thing. There will always be design features in other themes that you might like, and you can easily deconstruct the code and incorporate the various parts into your own theme. I'm sure theme designers do it all the time.

Curtis · 1 year ago

Thanks for the helpful hints,

If I mess with the code, I copy and paste the unchanged code to notepad. Just in case I mess up!

Speaking of backing up wordpress, may I request a post of the Blog Bloke's way of backing up database and files. I did a Dbase and core back up but still don't know if what I did was right.

Sueblimely · 1 year ago

Great advice as always but having to be careful about the amount of plugins is something I will find hard to do. I have progressed from being a Blogger widget junkie to Wordpress plugin junkie - I can't resist trying things out.

BLOGBloke · 1 year ago

Ditto. Now if only I could get myself follow my own advice ;-)

Sue, you haven't yet responded to my offer to write for Blog Bloke dot com.

gofree · 1 year ago

Hello,

What can I do to make this 100% width with 1024x768 screen?

Thx

gofree's last blog post..Flash Banner Creator

BLOGBloke · 1 year ago

I took a look at your blog and it fits 1024×768 perfectly. I see your Custom Domain is working fine as well.

gofree · 1 year ago

Wow, I didn't expect that quick respond!!! Yes, now the domain works, but still I can see bar; and if you have a closer look at the button that I put mouse over, it is wrong.

Here is the image: img390.imageshack.us/img390/1275/clipboardimage1qd6.jpg

Thx

gofree's last blog post..Dezzain Free WordPress Theme - Box Tube

BLOGBloke · 1 year ago

The image you refer to didn't work for me. So it looks like it is an issue with HTML and your image host. But at least your URL is working now. One step at a time ;-)

Benbego Rizki · 1 year ago

nice job.

Benbego Rizki's last blog post..Kwikcontent VS Adsense Money Maker

BLOGBloke · 1 year ago

Thanks Benbego Rizki

fwboodol · 1 year ago

I am new here and looking to have a great time and learning experience
within your community.

BLOGBloke · 1 year ago

Welcome fwboodol

Blog Walker · 1 year ago

Baby steps is how its done indeed. Or as I like to call it, proper trouble shooting ! People tend to change too many things at once and then wonder where they went wrong. If you go that route, it will take you longer to find the problem then the time you saved by slamming everything on there in a 5 minute rush !
Keep blogging bloke :)

Blog Walkers last blog post...http://www.mypageofmanythings.com/content/view/82/

BLOGBloke · 1 year ago

I just went through it again this evening. I published a post and my template blew apart! So I backtracked a little bit. Baby steps...

Daveman · 10 months ago

I want more technics for my blog, this step is good for me. Thanks

BLOGBloke · 10 months ago

You are most welcome.

Nancy · 10 months ago

Thanks for great information.

BLOGBloke · 10 months ago

You're welcome Nancy and thanks for saying so. Please drop by again.

Joey · 10 months ago

I wouldn't see it ever anyways thanks

wanson · 10 months ago

very informative and useful!

BLOGBloke · 10 months ago

Thanks.

Bob · 10 months ago

Thanx a lot! This is very useful.

BLOGBloke · 10 months ago

Thanks Bob.

Robert · 9 months ago

great post. i’ll try it now.

Black · 9 months ago

Thank you for your information.

Polly · 9 months ago

This is a great post. Thanks for sharing.

Betty · 2 months ago

loved the article great job