How to Change the Page / Menu Order in WordPress Sites
Another AriesGDIM WordPress Tutorial
Recently a client of mine asked that the pages on her WordPress Website be in a specific order in the site menu. Sometimes this function is already built into the Theme you have chosen but when it isn’t… by default, WordPress will set your pages in alphabetical order and will do the same for your default menu. Alphabetical order just isn’t enough for your sites navigation menu when you need your pages in a specific order. When you do, you will need to incorporate a plugin to help you get things straight.
I decided to try Drew Gourley’s “Order Up” plugin “Custom Page Order” and it works great. You can download the plugin directly from this site, upload the zipped file to your site via the WordPress dashboard and activate it.
Once activated you can view the plugin right in the Dashboard menu. Once there you can automatically click on each page and drag drop each page putting them in the order you need.
Changing the Navigational Page / Menu Order from the Dashboard
After you have set the pages in the order you need to check the “Enable Automatic Sorting or Queries” at the bottom and then “save” your changes.
All done… I hope this helps you… I know it has helped me when customizing the menu order on my client’s websites.
Drew Gourley also has a “Custom Post Order” plugin as well… just incase you need it. By the way these plugins are FREE…
If you have any questions about basic WordPress tips… please email me Tami@ariesgdim.com and I will try to help you out.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIM
857 Edgemont Ave Indianapolis, IN, 46208 USA
tami@ariesgraphicdesign.com • 3173454182
How to Upload & Link Documents in WordPress
AriesGDIM WordPress Tutorial
Normally we bloggers like to just insert pictures into our blogs and call it a day… but sometimes images aren’t enough and we want to give followers a white paper, eBook, PDF or Word document that users might find useful. Even if you don’t have a blog many have found WordPress to be a highly functional platform to use for static websites as well.
Beginners using WordPress may have been able to figure out how to add pictures to their pages and blog post but are still trying to understand how to upload docs and then link them into your content. For instance, just recently I was working on a clients webpage and he wanted a downloadable version of his employment application on his employment page.
I’m going to show you just how to upload documents to WordPress and then link the documents to content on your site, allowing your users to download those documents for use. Surprisingly, it is very simple.
How to upload and link documents
- Go to your WordPress Dashboard
- Click “Add New” under “Media”
Add to the media library
- Upload the document you want to link in your text
Upload New Media
- Once done, click the “show” link
After you upload click "Show"
- Look for and copy the URL
Click and copy the URL
- Now go to your page or post that has the content you want to link this document to for download
- Click edit
Click Edit
- Find the text you want to link and highlight it
- Once you have highlighted click the “insert/edit link” button (see image below)
Insert edit/link button
- The “insert/edit link” window will open, paste (or ctrl – v) the link you copied above in step 5
Insert URL in the "Edit/Link Window"
- Click “add link” then update your post or page and your done
- After you have finished go test your blog post or page to ensure your downloadable link will work
I hope this short tutorial on how to link content to a downloadable document using the WordPress platform is helpful.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIM
5 Simple tips for building traffic to your WordPress Blog
- Use effective blog titles
- Write blogs that include useful information
- Use an automatic blog tweeting plugin
- Make your blog easy to share
- Make your content easy to scan
Increase your Blog Traffic
I like to get straight to the point… Yes a little intro story is nice but most of the time you guys don’t care anyway… so here we go.
Use Effective Blog Titles
Using effective blog titles can often be your #1 source of increased blog traffic. Usually users searching the net have a question and are searching for the answer. Make sure your blog titles either give/hint at the fact that you can provide the answer users are looking for.
Your blog title can also be the “question” users might ask when looking for an answer. For instance a good blog title might be, “How do I register a new business?”. A few months back I wrote a blog about how Facebook determines the “friends you may know”. I was researching the answer for a friend who couldn’t understand how people were being suggested to her. I thought others might be interested in knowing how Facebook comes up with the friend’s suggestions you frequently see in your sidebar. Due to the fact that the blog title is, How Does Facebook Determine Friend Suggestions or “Friends You May Know?”, you will naturally assume the blog will provide the answer. This has been one of my highest trafficked blogs.
Using keywords in your blog titles is also very effective. When writing your blog do some keyword research, then implement keywords naturally in your blog title. Make sure the keyword or keyword phrase you use is one you want your blog to be found with. Basically if you are writing a blog about Facebook you want to use the word Facebook in your blog title. Words that are placed at the beginning of the title are more influential than those placed at the end. Keep this in mind when placing keywords in your titles.
Write blogs that include Useful Information
Now I would assume everyone knows that if you write a blog it should be useful to your users… If not… well you know now. Blogs should provide information your readers can actually use. Remember… readers do not want to be sold to.
Research Your Target Audience
It is important to determine your target audience, figure out what they like, do in their free time, and what they find important. After you have determined and researched your Target Audience begin writing beneficial blogs on their topics of interest. For instance, if your target audience is mostly small to medium sized business owners you may want to write blogs on how to increase their revenue, new innovative ways to market their businesses, or how to more effectively increase their brand recognition.
Of course you want to stay relevant to your own brand (services, products & overall company persona). What is the use of building traffic to your site if you are not writing blogs that add value to your brand? If I come to your blog because you write great posts on new Apple products and your company sells shoes. Well… let’s just say… I won’t be buying your shoes.
Use an Automatic Blog Tweeting Plugin
Tweet your Blog Posts Automatically
Something I love about Twitter, that you can’t do with Facebook, is you can Tweet posts several times a day, within certain time parameters and chances are someone NEW will see it each time it posts. I use an automatic blog post tweeting plugin to tweet random blogs from my website every 3 to 4 hours. By doing this I share a good mix of my blog content along with other relevant blogs written by other authors. Everyday I see my blogs being retweeted by my followers, which means more traffic to my site.
Make your Blog Easy to Share
If you write quality content posts your users will want to share what they have read with their colleagues, friends, and social media buddies. Be sure to add “share buttons” on your blog for the big 4 social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, & Google+). There are several social media sharing plugins to choose from. Search the most popular blogs and see which ones they are using. Test the “share buttons” to ensure they aren’t slowing your blog down. There’s nothing worse than a slow loading website.
One good social media “sharing” plugin is “Really simple Facebook Twitter share buttons”. It’s very simple to set up. You just check the social buttons you want visible for sharing on your blogs and go from there.
Make your Content Easy to Scan
Add Social Media Share Buttons
Making content easy to scan is done by using number lists, bullet points, headers, and bolded text. This helps users know quickly if the content in your blog is going to be useful to them. I have found that the blogs I write with a number list at the very beginning are shared more often and get a great deal more traffic than those for which I didn’t use that strategy. Use headers to separate your thoughts and bolded text to emphasize certain keywords or points you know your readers will be looking for.
In conclusion
This is not an all-inclusive list of SEO tips. Search Engine Optimized posts need a good keyword strategy, in depth target audience research, website usability testing and a good understanding of web analytics. You will need a professional to assist you in implementing a solid Internet Marketing Strategy. AriesGDIM can help you with this (yes I did a little selling… I know, shame on me).
These 5 tips are a simple way to help you start building traffic to your blog site. It is important to remember that with any organic SEO it takes time and patience but you will see results.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIM
Having Trouble Updating Your WordPress Elegant Themes?
Today I received a notice in my WordPress Control Panel (cPanel) that I needed to update several of my themes. I often test themes, so I may have 20 or more themes on a specific site to play with and manipulate for use with my clients as needed.
Blog Updates Due Today!
So today when I received the notice to update every Elegant Theme I was using I attempted to update them from the WordPress cPanel like you would any other update. Unfortunately this was not working and I was unable to update the themes via the cPanel.
How to update your Elegant Themes
Now I’m sure all seasoned WordPress users know how to correct this issue but for those of us who are new to WordPress this is what you need to do:
- Delete all previous versions of Elegant Themes from your computer
- Log into the Elegant Themes website and download the newest versions of all the themes you are using
- Remember to unzip the files you need to replace on your WordPress site
- Using an FTP program delete all unused WordPress Themes on all of your blogs (I use FileZilla)
- Leave the Theme you have active alone we will fix that in a second
- Back up your blog!!!!!!
- Using an FTP program, upload the newest version of the Elegant Theme you have active on each of your blogs
- Be sure to change your FTP settings to overwrite the old files.
- Now you are all done… check your website to ensure it is running properly
Why you should NOT ignore this update
It is important to delete all the old Elegant Themes on your website as well as on your computer for security reasons. Often updates are done to improve the usability of a theme… this time though, there was also an issue with WordPress Websites being hacked via a timthumb.php file included in most of the Elegant Themes. This file renders your website vulnerable even if it isn’t being used. This means that even themes you are not using and are inactive, could still pose a threat to your WordPress site.
It may also help to read what Elegant Themes has to say about this timthump.php issue as well as their security update. Elegant Themes were not the only Themes affected by this timthumb.php issue. You should do a thorough search of all your websites for this timthumb.php file. Most people have just renamed the file “thumbs.php”. I decided it was best to just delete all inactive themes until I had time to update them all with the most recent updated file.
I hope this helps any of you wondering why you couldn’t update your theme. I also hope this helps you understand why you can’t afford to ignore any of your Elegant Theme Updates.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIMWarning! Do Not Update Your Tweet Old Posts Plugin Just Yet!
Today while updating one of my blogs I received a notice via the WordPress Dashboard that it was time to update a plugin. The notice was for the “Tweet Old Posts” plugin, which made me cringe a bit. The last time this plugin was triggered for an update, those of us who didn’t check our settings were sending out tweets with just the URL, which made it look as though you were spamming our followers. Luckily Ileane Smith, of Basic Blog Tips sent me a Tweet about this update error, with a link to her blog that explained what needed to be done to correct it. Problem solved…
Tweet Old Posts Error
Now forward to today, with me being fully aware that I might have to check the settings again, I began the “Tweet Old Posts” update. When it was done, I froze with terror; I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My control panel was gone; all I had now was a white screen with some verbiage about a fatal error. Not only was the error affecting my control panel, it was also appearing on the homepage and any other link to my website… OMG, I panicked and thought…. My website is gone! I remembered Anderson Curry’s words, “You know you need to back up your blog girl, because some of the WordPress updates can jack your website up.” Anderson is always full of advice and even though I think I am a know it all (Cause I am) I hadn’t backed up my site so I was pissed and Anderson was right… I should have backed up my site.
How to fix the “Tweet Old Posts” Fatal Error? Well….
Fortunately I didn’t let myself get too crazy before I noticed the path that was given in the error. It was simple, all I had to do was use an FTP program, follow the path and delete the Plugin which is exactly what I did, problem solved right?… except…. I need the plugin… So, I tried to reinstall the plugin via download because “tweeting old posts” is an important tool for building traffic to my website. It also serves as reminder to my followers about tips they may have forgotten. I again got the same error but this time the error was only in control panel and this time the control panel didn’t disappear…. I know… not good… but Hey… My website was still in tact so I am happy about that.
So for those of you who use the “Tweet Old Posts” plugin I suggest you wait a few days before you do the update and let Ajay Matharu, the creator of this wonderful plugin, give us the all clear to ensure this doesn’t happen to you.
Update August 16th: The power of the Internet and Social Media is a wonderful thing. If you have already updated your “Tweet Old Posts” plugin and do not have the previous version saved somewhere. Guorilla Media has found a website that will allow you to download the previous working version of the plugin. For people like us who just can’t live without this plugin, you can download the previous version of the the “Tweet Old Posts” plugin here. Thanks so much Guorilla Media to finding this solution.
Update August 25th: The “Tweet Old Posts” Plugin has been updated and is now functional. I updated the plugin just yesterday and and suffered no crashes and it is Tweeting my posts perfectly.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIM
