mbaldw

Thanks Graham. I went for the quicker option of installing and previewing a couple of themes, but it didn't really work. When I preview all I get is the home page with a "fatal error" code (presumably because of the menus/widgets). The main link at the top works, but despite implying that it's previewing in the chosen theme seems to re-load the site in the existing theme - the page looks identical to the current theme (including the menus), so I suspect it isn't previewing properly. I will try installing a theme when I get home, but need to spend some time working out how the menus are configured (the web designer did that when she set the current theme up) to ensure I can reconfigure them after the install. Out of interest, forgive my perpetual ignorance, but if the [caption] tag in the code sets the caption width at 501 and the image width at 501 (as in the example above), isn't it going to display the same in any theme? Or does changing the theme re-write the code on all the pages to account for the padding when displaying the caption? The full caption section of the CSS shows: /***************** Caption ******************/ .cmsms_img { display: inline-block; max-width: 100%; } .cmsms_img.cmsms_image_l { float: left; margin-right: 20px; } .cmsms_img.cmsms_image_r { float: right; margin-left: 20px; } .cmsms_img.with_caption { padding: 20px 20px 0 20px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; } .cmsms_img .cmsms_img_caption { text-align: center; padding: 15px 0; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; } .aligncenter { text-align: center; } .wp-caption { -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; padding: 20px 20px 0; margin-bottom: 20px; } .wp-caption.aligncenter { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } .wp-caption.alignleft { margin-right: 20px; } .wp-caption.alignright { margin-left: 20px; } .wp-caption a { display: block; } .wp-caption .wp-caption-text { padding: 15px 0; text-align: center; } If we assume 20px padding is being added to the image, I would've thought the caption width should be set at 550 to accommodate 20 either side of an image that's 510 wide. Or doesn't it work like that? Cheers, Marc.

Thanks. As you point out, the editor is there and the caption section shows: .wp-caption { -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; padding: 20px 20px 0; margin-bottom: 20px; Is there anything in there that might explain the theme's behaviour? Presumably I should find a back-up widget and back the existing content up before I switch themes?

Thanks Graham. I did wonder if it was the theme again. I've been through all the settings in the wp-admin console and there's no option to edit the CSS that I can see, so presumably that's not an option in this particular theme. I can see Appearance > Custom CSS, but this will presumably cause a conflict if I add the code here and it's already mentioned somewhere behind the scenes too? The size issue happens with or without the span, but it would be handy if I could set this centrally so I didn't have to change it each time. For the time being, I'll just leave the caption formatting empty and carry on with the content. I'll then look at updating the theme and CSS. ​Cheers, Marc.

Morning guys, as I'm slowly making progress migrating my content to WordPress I've noticed a curious (read: annoying) "feature" whereby images are resized when captions are used. For example, I have an image that's 501x369 that I've inserted into an article. Without a caption it displays at full size. When I add a caption, however, WP makes the caption 501 wide and therefore resizes the image. In the code I see: [caption id=attachment_4298" align="alignleft" width="501]<img class="size-full wp-image-4298" src="http://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/wlol_wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/sarcoptes_mite_scraping.jpg" alt="Sarcoptes scabei mite." width="501" height="369" /> <span style="color: #0000ff;">Scabies mite (<i>Sarcoptes scabiei</i>) in skin scraping.</span>[/caption] If I try manually increasing the caption width, WP simply puts it back to 501. I can't find any obvious way of changing this in the "Add Media" settings, so I presume this is managed somewhere else. Any thoughts? Cheers, Marc.

Thanks Graham. That's a relief!

Hi folks, as some of you know I've recently been trying to migrate my old site to a WordPress platform and it's progressing much more smoothly now thanks to the advice I've received on here. I do, however, have a question about what happens when it finally comes to making it live. Currently I've created a subdirectory and am building the site in that, which I'm led to understand is fairly common practice so as not to interfere with the existing site. Within my pages there are a good many back-links to other articles/pages that currently contain a subdirectory that won't exist when the site is moved to the main domain directory. Am I right in thinking that I will need to go back through all the pages and correct those links before I migrate the site? Cheers, ​Marc.

Thanks dap (for the help and comments on my content). At the moment I'm working on getting all the content up, then I'll go back to the formatting. I'll have a go with Verdana and Georgia as fonts. Cheers, MB.

Thanks Grant. I suspect you're right about the colours. The menu has also started screwing up (hanging at the top all of a sudden), so at the moment I'm just working on uploading the content and will then sort out the theme. While I'm at it, does anyone know why the table about one-third of the way down this page isn't central, despite the code suggesting it should be? QA on Deer Antlers Cheers, Marc.

Works for me. It'll be during the (hopefully early, depending on the traffic home) afternoon, so let me know if any time in particular works better for you. I've had a look on your profile and can't see a number. Not sure if it's because I'm new so have some restrictions on my account until I've made 25 posts. Cheers, Marc.

Thanks fisicx, will do. I'm about to head out so it would either need to be late this evening (i.e. ~21:30) or Sunday. Does either work better for you? Cheers, Marc.

Thanks for that BrowserBugs - very helpful. Since doing this I've found myself noticing text size and spacing on website I visit, never having apparently paid attention before! Do you have an opinion on a structure for the very long articles? Single page, or structured more like you proposed for the QAs? The accordion idea has been binned Cheers, ​Marc.

Thanks fisicx. I didn't notice an option for rem/em in the theme settings, but will have a look once the content's up. Two more questions, though: 1. Is the word spacing along the line (i.e. max 14 words) something I should be able to set within the theme config? I've yet to find anything that looks right for doing this, but that could be a reflection of the chosen theme as much as my lack of knowledge. 2. Do you have any recommendations for the long natural history articles in terms of their formatting? The red fox article, for example, is 155 pages without images. Do you think I'm best keeping this as a single (long) page? Or should this be split into its respective sections as I'm doing with the QAs? Many thanks....again! p.s. You'll be pleased to know that I'm away for a few days from Thursday, offering you guys some respite

Thanks dap. It turned out to be a cache issue. Clearing the browsing data resolved it. I'm changing the font size in the theme editor, fisicx, so it is being applied across all the pages. Thanks of the additional suggestions, I'll have a look at those. Cheers, Marc.

Thanks. I did wonder about the font size. I changed it to 16px, because that's what I'd read most web browsers default to. This isn't well replicated between browsers, though. In Chrome changing the font size in the theme config makes little appreciable difference to how the page renders, while it is significantly different in edge: Chrome: Edge: Page: Q: Do foxes and badgers bury their dead? A font size of 16px looks comfortable to me, but I notice it's still well above the requirement you suggest. Making it any larger would look odd, I think, so presumably the only option is to reduce the width, thereby lengthening the pages? Cheers, Marc.

Yes, that makes sense. I was hoping there might be a way to add a background colour to the footer as was done with the widget in the main page code, but it doesn't seem to be an option in the theme's menu configuration. I guess that could be theme-specific, though. Anyway, I'll persevere with the content upload and structure now and worry about tweaking the appearance later. Cheers, ​Marc.

Okay, so when I create a new page (without selecting the template my designer created) with only the default WP editor active, I get this: Test Page The same menu appears at the bottom, just without the background colour/image. The footer now appears to be being managed by the "theme options" section. Is this the correct approach? (I like the idea of having that section at the bottom to hold the blog posts, search, etc., freeing up space in the menu at the top.) ​Cheers, Marc.

Great, thanks fiscix. I spent most of yesterday evening sorting out the structure and have done the first QA following BrowserBug's suggestion: Why do badgers have striped faces? The only thing I'm struggling with at the moment is not using the Content Composer (as sucky as it generally is) because my designer created templates containing the header and footer (sidebar) configuration so the pages look consistent. Assuming I actually need to use these, as these were built using the CC, using the default editor means I have to work between blocks of code: Cheers, Marc.

I particularly like the layout of the test image site - much cleaner and simpler. I have removed the animation from the three 'pick box' pages. Is it simple enough to change themes once the content is up? Cheers, Marc.

Some sage advice, fiscix - thanks. I agree largely with what you're saying, although as a photographer I do care about the general appearance of the site, even if my audience is less interested. I take your point, though, and will put the next few days into adding the content as simply as possible rather than wrestling with the design. I've already mapped out the structure based on the previous advice on this thread, so will work to that. I appreciate your time. Cheers, Marc.

Thanks again fisicx, and for the offer of additional phone help. I'm making slow progress but will keep your number to hand, particularly when it comes to trying to disable some of this stuff. I've been using the content composer mainly because I want the site to have some visual appeal and that's the only way I seem able to achieve it. It is a bit of a nightmare though, so I will have a look at the default WP editor. The designer installed the theme and created some of the initial structure, albeit that I've redesigned several of the pages to get rid of the toggle/tab components. She also did some modifications at my request, such as adding the search box and turning off comments on the main pages, although I have a feeling you're going to say they're not particularly complicated things to do.

Thanks for the reassurance, fisicx. I've been making a start today restructuring the pages as you and BrowserBugs have suggested, but it's really slow going because the CMS editor doesn't seem to work properly, so I can't modify the size or colour of the fonts without going into the code (which I'm very uncomfortable doing being a novice at all this). Whenever I click on the option for font or colour (indeed any of the editor options with a dropdown) I can't see anything. The arrow against the button just changes from up to down, but no list is displayed (see below). I've not heard back from the web designer, but I suspect it's an issue with the editor (CMSMasters Content Composer) because the same thing happens in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and IE11 on three different computers (two different networks). Regarding the speed of the site, my web designer mentioned before she handed it over that she'd disabled everything she could and that was as fast as she could get it. The suggestion was that I need to upgrade my hosting package once I go live. Cheers, Marc.

Thanks BrowserBugs; for the welcome and the excellent suggestion. I'm glad I asked now, before I started copying over the text! When I was first looking at moving the site to WordPress I did contemplate splitting the QAs into individual pages (without having really given any thought to a structure); but wondered whether increasing the page count significantly (from 8 or 9 to 70) would be an issue. From what you say it sounds like it's actually the better approach and it's certainly a more logical way to progress. My web designer suggested the accordion layout for the sections of my main articles too (e.g. for Red fox). If I do this for all the articles, along with the QAs, it pushes the page number above 200. Many thanks again for your help. Cheers, Marc.

Hi guys, I'm new here, so first and foremost: hello! Since 2003 I have been running my hobby site, called Wildlife Online, which contains natural history info about British wildlife (where I'm based). Over the years the content has grown significantly and last year I decided it was about time to upgrade my site to a compliant (WordPress) platform. The previous versions of the site were built (by me) in FrontPage (>cringe<) and later in Expression Web. It's been years since I've done any web building and have never been particularly competent at it (hence the use of the aforementioned software), so I hired a web designer to build the framework so I could work on the content. Now she's handed the site over and I've finished revising the content I've started migrating it to the new site. Most of it's straightforward(ish), even for me, but I'm after some advice on using accordion layouts. As my main articles are pretty long, I've split out some further subjects that warrant more detailed discussion into a series of questions and answers. At the moment, the structure on the new site uses an accordion element, clicking each question to drop down the answer. I'm wondering, though, whether there's a better way of doing this, or splitting it up? Here's what I mean: Currently my QA section on foxes is split across two different pages, each pretty long: Fox QA 1 Fox QA 2 The content is going into the following structure on the WordPress site: WordPress Fox QA I'm worried the amount of content on here might be too great for the accordion to manage. Any thoughts on the best approach? Should I try and split the pages? Thanks for your time. Cheers, Marc.