Need help? Check out our Support site, then


WordPress.com Forums » Support

Do all themes support slideshows?Can postformat, slideshow,etc, be done in CSS?

  1. puckcircle
    Member

    I noticed in the theme filter there is the "featured image" filter, and only 20 or so themes have this I believe. So I thought I'd narrowed it down when I got to this point, that these were the only ones that supported slideshows, but then I realized I could add a slideshow in all the other themes too. The slideshow button still existed. One time, using the p2 theme, it wouldn't show up, saying "This slideshow requires JavaScript," but other than that, it seems to work in themes even though the themes don't have featured images enabled. Elegant Grunge doesn't have it listed I dont believe but my slideshow worked on it if I'm remembering right.

    So what's the answer here? How do I truly filter out the themes that don't support slideshows? How do I hone in on a theme with the attributes I want, such as slideshow, when the "featured image" filter actually seems to filter out many themes that do support a slideshow? Is there a list of themes that can do slideshows or something to that effect?

    Also, with the themes that say they allow you to post a featured image header for your posts, in addition to the one at the top of the home page, is that something I should be worried about being listed on a theme, or is it something I can just embed in HTML (or java or which is which) for each post even in themes that don't list "featured image header?"

    And what about themes with sticky post, or post format, should I be making sure I pick a theme that has these things, or not worry about it because I can always do those myself in CSS or HTML even if it's not listed in the theme attributes?

    Maybe, in terms of theme functions like sticky post, post format, adding a photo slideshow, and all those things, if someone could post a list stating which of those things can be done in CSS even if your theme doesn't have it by default, and which ones you need to make sure you pick a theme that has them as default if you want to use them, that would be very helpful, so that myself and others can know which ones they have to make sure their theme has to start with, and which ones they can create on their own, so as to not limit themselves to the very limited selection of themes that actually have all these functions built-in.

    Thank you.

    The blog I need help with is puckcircle.wordpress.com.

  2. justjennifer
    Member

    Every theme on WordPress.com supports the Shortcodes found here http://en.support.wordpress.com/shortcodes/ irrespective of whether or not you have the Custom Design upgrade. The Custom Design upgrade will allow you to style your blog, but not it's underlying functionality.

    If you haven't already done so, you should look at the WordPress.com tutorial for beginners http://learn.wordpress.com/ and get familiar with the Support docs and the help menu from your blog's Dashboard.

    It's my gut feeling that you are trying to decide too many things at once right from the get-go. Go with the very first theme that catches your eye and start blogging. As you use the Dashboard and get familiar with how the program/site/blog works, you'll be able to make more informed decisions on where you want to take your site.

    Good luck!

  3. panaghiotisadam
    Member

    As for featured images and slideshows, the answer is: totally unrelated to one another.

  4. puckcircle
    Member

    Thanks again just jennifer. I have spent days and days and days previewing various themes so I am very familiar with the dashboard and all of that stuff. I just dont know CSS, and every new theme I try seems to have some hidden rule that I wasn't told about until after it's too late and I've put hours into a theme that it turns out can't do something important.

  5. justjennifer
    Member

    @puckcircle-If you don't know CSS, then in my opinion there is no point in asking question after question about how to do things with CSS. Again, it seems to me that you are chasing after a lot of extraneous information which may be irrelevant to actual blogging. I don't know about any "hidden rules", although for sure some themes have their quirks.

    Hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of WordPress.com bloggers post on their blogs every day without problem. If they have a problem they use the support resources available to them, including the Support docs, the forums, Support staff, Learn WordPress. etc.

    I realize that you want to find the best solution for you, but endless questions about what dress to wear to the ball isn't getting you to the ball. Just saying.

    Good luck with your blogging.

  6. santafecanon
    Member

    I have tested several themes for uploaded images and slideshows.
    Some themes display the slideshows at same size as still images (we will call this 960px)
    Elegant Grunge theme runs the slideshow in a black box and the image size is reduced to around 600px Dont know if there is a setting I have not found or that's the way E Grunge does it? I have page attributes set to full width.

    I

  7. panaghiotisadam
    Member

    @santafecanon: The WP slideshow looks like this:
    http://en.support.wordpress.com/slideshows/#additional-information

    It's landscape-shaped, and it's designed to occupy the whole column (only this doesn't work well in flexible-width themes and in a few other themes).

    So the displayed image size depends on the width of your main column, on the size of the original images, and on whether they are landscape- or portrait-shaped.

  8. puckcircle
    Member

    justjennifer,

    thanks again for responding, but as the saying goes, help would be more helpful than not helping.

    ... (that's copyrighted, just so everyone knows).

    I do have a reason for asking questions about CSS despite not being a CSS expert, or I wouldn't be asking. The reason is there is (or was) a staff CSS helper who told he or she would help me upload a header in CSS if the theme couldn't do it normally. But for he or she to help me upload a header in CSS, the theme has to allow a header to be uploaded through CSS. However with that particular issue, it seems like every theme can do that, so I don't need to ask about that specific function.

    But for the other functions, it's the same idea. Once I find a theme that can do everything I want it to do through CSS, I will then find out how to do it in CSS. I've been told buying the CSS upgrade also purchased me staff help here on the forum, plus there are many very helpful forum members on here as well. So I will figure out how to do the things I want to do in CSS when the time comes. But first I have to make sure the theme I pick is compatible with everything I want to do, otherwise it doesn't matter how much CSS I or anyone else knows, I won't be able to change certain things in CSS.

    I'm not sure if I wrote about it in this thread or not, or just in another thread, but I've explained that I've already sunk hours into the two themes I picked without much guidance, Elegant Grunge and Structure, and ran into unfixable roadblocks hours in. So all the hours I put in went to waste. That is why I am now trying to make sure to pick the right theme that can do what I need of it before sinking hours into it. Right now I am zeroing in on P2, but just need to make sure of a few more things before choosing it as my theme and then asking for help on the CSS. If someone could please just give a quick yes or no on the following questions: • Can P2's comment box be altered in CSS so that people can comment with their twitter and facebook names? I see this function on many other themes, but with P2 the current comment box makes you write in a new name, you can't log in with an account from anywhere else. Can this be altered?
    • Does P2 use fixed background images? I am hoping no because I need to alter the content width in CSS. Is this possible?
    • Can the background color of the content area be changed? I figured out how to change the background color outside of the content area, but am not sure about the content area. Can it be altered?

    Those are my only final concerns that I can think of that I need cleared up. The twitter comment box I can probably live without if need be, so as long as the width and background colors can be changed in CSS, I will pick this theme, unless there are other shortcomings with the theme that any of you think I should be aware of.

    Thank you!

  9. raincoaster
    Member

    As tp your first "quick question", NO, that is not a CSS function, it would require code hacking at the base level, and it's not possible to do that here. If staff don't present the theme with that functionality, it cannot be changed in CSS.

    People can, of course, write in any name they want and provide the link to their Twitter or FB pages in the box for "URL". You can do that in any theme.

  10. puckcircle
    Member

    @justjennifer (and everyone can answer this too if you know the answer)

    In the other topic on P2 specifically, jenia closed it I guess because she thinks I haven't purchased a CSS upgrade, when I have. But in my other topic on P2, we were talking about slideshows, and you were describing how to do it, saying it could be done, but then you posted "update: it's a bug, or another of P2's oddities."

    Does this mean P2 in fact cannot post a slideshow after all? Also what oddities are you referring to? What do I need to be aware of that's specific to P2 before deciding on it? If it can't use a slideshow I think that's the nail in the coffin right there. But if you just meant there's a bug but you can get around it and still post slideshows, I think I'd want to use it as long as the oddities you refer to aren't big or don't affect what I'm looking to do.

    Thank you

  11. puckcircle
    Member

    Thanks raincoaster. No commenting with twitter. Got it. Cross that off the list of questions. Also the background question has been answered. From now on I am operating under the assumption every theme can have its content background altered in CSS.

    The one biggest question no has answered which I still need answering, is whether P2 can have its content width edited in CSS (jenia? Once that and the P2 slideshow question are answered I think this can be closed if no one else has unanswered questions in it).

    Does anyone know?

  12. raincoaster
    Member

    Yes, of course it can.

    IF you're good at CSS. Support along the lines of "here are the eight things I want to do, please give me the code for each of them" simply does not exist here. I won't repeat the advice given above, but it holds. It's up to you to do your own CSS changes. You must learn CSS. Then what you can do in terms of appearance (not functionality) is limited only by your own skill level.

  13. justjennifer
    Member

    P2 = no slideshow, at least not the native WordPress.com slideshow. It may be possible to use one of the 3 other options on this page. http://en.support.wordpress.com/tag/slideshows/

    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/tags/p2 are previous discussions on P2 and I suggest you do some reading to get a better understanding of what other users have run into while using P2.

    Again, good luck with your blogging.

  14. puckcircle
    Member

    @raincoaster,

    "Of course it can?" Despite this being appearance and not functionality, some themes actually can't have their content width edited through CSS without the creation of new background images at specific sizes (in other words, a headache). That's why I asked. I wanted to confirm that P2 does not use fixed background images.

    I don't know what advice you're talking about.

    Support along the lines of "here are the eight things I want to do, please give me the code for each of them" simply does not exist here.

    I don't see why not. I understand why you wouldn't want to take the time to figure out what the code is for my questions, but you're not a paid professional. As I understand it, I paid for the staff help with my CSS upgrade. Anyone on the forum can tell you how to find the "add new post" button on your dashboard. I'm sure the reason they also have paid professionals here on the forum in addition to just the community is for the complex questions. Of course I wouldn't ask them to write 500 pages of code for me, or any at all. It's simply just telling me which piece of code out of the code that is already there pertains to what I want to change, and then I go in and specify the width I want and the colors by putting that in myself. I'm sure the professionals here are very familiar with all the themes so they probably even know which code is which off the top of their head for many themes, and the ones they don't, given they know CSS, would only take them a couple minutes to identify the things I need.

    So I'm not really sure what you're getting at, unless you're just talking about the bloggers, not the staff. Regardless all I need one time help with is adding a header through CSS, changing the content width, and layout colors. I may learn CSS at some point (how difficult is it?), but my type of blog is not reliant on daily CSS coding. I just need to set the layout of my blog with the help of other bloggers or staff, a one time thing, and then once it's set I won't need CSS anymore, at least different CSS. And once I'm told what's what, I'll copy it down on my computer with a description of what each code does, like I did when I was figuring all that out myself going through elegant grunge the other day.

    "Header text code, now orange, at the top of the page." "Background color and margin and padding behind the main content text, now green." That way I don't need to ask for help every time I want to edit it. I can just copy a unique piece of the code from my computer into the search box of my browser, which will take me right to that code on my CSS sheet, where I will be able to change it, knowing what I'm changing.

    @justjennifer, the last two seemed to work pretty well. The default one might be the best but I think this is manageable. Thanks again for your help. I searched P2 before but there were tons of topics none of which seemed to apply to my questions. What others have run into you say, is there anything in particular I should be looking out for or worried about?

  15. puckcircle
    Member

    I just visited the P2 demo page, and also watched the P2 theme video. I noticed in the video and the demo, anyone with a wordpress account can post on their P2 themes as posts. My blog, I want people to be allowed to comment, but not post blogs themselves. Is this possible or does P2 always allow everyone to make posts with it on your blog even if they're not administrators?

  16. raincoaster
    Member

    Well, let's put it this way. The support you ask for exists, but not for free.

  17. puckcircle
    Member

    No it's possible you were right the first time. I saw someone mention that the only CSS helpers here are volunteers. Might have been a dated post but maybe not. If that's the case then that changes things. I can't believe the "biggest blogging service on the planet" can't afford to pay a few people to help out with CSS on the forums though.

  18. thesacredpath
    Member

    Staff do help out with CSS, but the thing is, they aren't here to design your site for you one question at a time, and neither am I. If you have zero knowledge of CSS then you really shouldn't be attempting it.

    Read through some of the CSS tutorials and then set up a test blog and use the CSS preview function to try things out.

    CSS isn't rocket science, but you have to have a basic knowledge of how the XHTML (markup) and the CSS relate to one another. Read this post by Devblog, a CSS guru of the highest order: http://csswiz.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/css-101/ .

  19. sl1k
    Member

    [Moderation Notice] Please only use the tag section for tags that pertain to the thread and also please re-frame from inputting inappropriate tags.

    S^K

  20. timethief
    Member

    @puckcircle
    I think you are far from being an ordinary WordPress.com blogger and I sincerely think you would benefit from paying a codepoet to help you achieve what you want on a WordPress.org install. Code Poet is a directory of WordPress professionals, web designers, and developers brought to you by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com. Here's the link > http://codepoet.com/

  21. sl1k
    Member

    Thread closed upon request via the tag section...

    S^K

Topic Closed

This topic has been closed to new replies.

About this Topic

Tags