Wordpress Tips & Tricks | WebsByAmy.com

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WordPress Lesson: Creating a Download Link in a Post

Today the question was "How do I create a download link so I can include a document in my post?" And I want to thank Robin Messenheimer who asks the BEST questions!

This short tutorial will assume that you have the WordPress plug-in FCKeditor (which I include with all WordPress installations that I do). FCKeditor replaces the standard WordPress editor with an awesome "MS Word" type editor.

Follow the step-by-step, matching the numbered step in the photo below.

Type the word that you want to link (by the way, it also works with a photo) and then ‘select’ (or highlight) it.
Click the "Link" icon and a menu will pop-up
Click the "Upload" tab and then "Browse" to find the document you wish to have be the download
Click "Send it to the Server" and wait until you get the confirmation… do NOT click "Send it to the Server" multiple times, or you will corrupt the file.

Click on the image below for larger detail:

Make a PDF from almost any document

Do you want to share a flyer or a newsletter that you created in Publisher or Printshop or another application that isn’t widely distributed and worse–can only be read in the application? Perhaps you have created a Word document, but you’ve used fancy fonts and you want the photos and text to display exactly as you’ve created it… well you are in luck! (more…)

Post-dating a post (in WordPress 2.5+)

You are going away… to convention or cruise (shouldn’t we all…) and want to still post while you are gone. How about a series of posts? It’s very easy!

When you are creating a post, you may not have noticed, but in the right hand column (under Preview this Post) there is a "Publish Status" area and a choice "Publish Immediately" and EDIT (which is a link)… see first screenshot. When you click "Edit" you will get a date/time menu that you can choose.

REMEMBER: Your date/time must be properly set in >Dashboard >Settings > Also, you must click "Publish" (it will remain a draft until you hit publish).

Putting HTML in a post–and a Paypal trick

It is relatively easy to put HTML into a post using the "Source" button on the editor. (Of course the editor in my hosted blogs include the souped-up FCKeditor that I install as a standard ’must have’ plugin). If you don’t have this plug-in, the simple editor that comes with WordPress will have a ‘Plain Text’ option that you can work in.

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When is a blog… not a blog?

When it uses ‘pages’ only!

I LOVE the look of the new "CoastCreations.ca" which is a blog that utilizes only pages… doesn’t it look great?!

The ‘about us’ is the left sidebar and the logo is in the right sidebar. This particular theme doesn’t have any lines defining the sidebars from the body, so you can achieve this look easily.

One of the biggest plusses to this is that it is SO EASY to update and edit, unlike a traditional HTML site.

New Tutorials

I have created two new tutorials! For future reference, they are on my links bar under "Flash Tutorials". The first one is posting a blog entry and adding a photo (click here). This was created for the 2.3 series of WordPress and with the FCKeditor plug in activated… this is a fabulous plug in (see my Plug In list on my sidebar).

All new blogs I am creating will automatically include FCKeditor and some other cool plug-ins for your blogging ease! If you are blogging with 2.2 series or less, contact me for an upgrade (at which time I will include my favorite plug-ins added as well!). The 2.3 series of WordPress is terrific and also fixes security issues in the 2.2 and previous editions of WordPress. The second one is how to edit a photo in Photoshop 7.

If you have Photoshop Elements, it is very similar. It goes over all aspects of cropping and resizing as well as exporting to the proper format. You can view that tutorial here. I am new at the flash video of keystrokes but look forward to creating many more to help you in your blogging endeavors with WordPress! As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions and concerns.