Thesis Tutor

An Update, Info and Recommended Tutorials

by Matt on June 6, 2011

Wow, have I been busy. With all the development work I’ve been doing, I simply haven’t had time to write any tutorials. So, I’m going to share a few tutorials that I have used lately. I’d also like to share a couple of must reads for all of the newbies out there. I know a lot of you guys and gals are scratching your head wondering what WordPress and Thesis are all about. So, I decided to include a couple of important links that will help newbs understand Thesis, WordPress, hosting and the lot.

A couple of the biggest questions I receive from beginners and less code savvy users are:

What is Thesis?
What is a theme framework?

When somebody asks me “What is the Thesis Theme?” my response is “It is a theme framework.” Of course, I know that the next question will be “What is a theme framework?” Honestly, the answer is simple. A theme framework provides an underlying system that makes designing on WordPress easier, more scaleable and (generally) allows for easy modifications to design without compromising your HTML markup. Additionally, all worthwhile companies who sell frameworks have excellent support staff. I know support isn’t directly related to theme frameworks, but believe me: in my early days I relied HEAVILY on the support forums and moderators for help and you will, too.

Often, I get users who are new to websites in general. They have heard of HTML and CSS but they can’t write either. They have heard of hosting and WordPress but they don’t know where to get either and they certainly don’t know how to set it all up. Sometimes I run into the user who is really dedicated to learning about HTML, CSS, PHP, etc. But frankly, most people are looking for answers and not endless amounts of studying. My recommendation to them is managed WordPress hosting.

What? Huh? Managed hosting removes essentially 99% of the work it takes to get a site up and going. It keeps your software up to date, provides much tighter security, backs up your database (where all your posts and options are saved) and typically has many other excellent features. Managed hosting is best for people who DO NOT want to fiddle with their server. It is also great for newbies who want to learn WordPress and may someday handle their own server, but aren’t presently capable of doing so. Is it more expensive than traditional shared servers? Yes. Is it about ten thousand times better? Yes.

A couple of tutorials, as promised!

Unless you don’t work on the internet, are a luddite or are in a coma you have definitely heard of the Google +1 button. DIYthemes has made putting the Google +1 code on your site is easy as pie. I highly recommend that tutorial.

I don’t personally use Fascistbook…oops I mean Facebook, but if you do and want other Facebook users to be able to recommend your site, I suggest you check out the DIYthemes tutorial on adding a facebook share button.

A quick final note

I know that it is a little cheap to post and not write an actual tutorial (though you can’t be mad, I still hooked it up). I do intend to release a few freebie plugins fairly soon, so watch out for those. If you really want to help me move along with them, check out my github page and ask to participate. Also, be sure to visit @mattonomics (me) on Twitter. If you are truly a glutton for randomness and weird stuff, you can always visit Mattonomics.com.

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How to Exclude Posts with a Certain Tag in Thesis

by Matt on June 28, 2010

Many of you have found the post on excluding categories from you blog very helpful. However, what happens when you want to exclude posts with a certain tag from appearing on the blog? Well, thankfully that is an extremely simple operation.

The first thing you have to do is figure what the tag id is. Simply go to Posts->Post Tags and hover over the name of the tag. Look at the bottom of the browser window (in the status bar) and look at the number on the end.

ID location

If you are confused, watch this video.

Next, open up custom_functions.php and enter the following (yes, that is two underscores between tag__not ):

function exclude_tag($query) {
if ( $query->is_home) {
	$query-> set('tag__not_in',array(ID));
	}
return $query;
}
add_filter('pre_get_posts','exclude_tag');

Where I have ID, you should have the number for the tag you want to exclude. For instance, 24 or 1. It is very important that you do not put apostrophes around the number. Also, if you want more than one tag, you would do the following:

function exclude_tag($query) {
if ( $query->is_home) {
	$query-> set('tag__not_in',array(ID, ID, ID, ID));
	}
return $query;
}
add_filter('pre_get_posts','exclude_tag');

That is pretty much all there is to it!

Remember, if you don’t have the Thesis Developer’s License, you are really missing out!

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Add WordPress 3 Custom Background to Thesis

by Matt on June 25, 2010

Did you know that Thesis has supported adding custom background colors (but not images) to the <body> for a few versions now? Well, it has WordPress has decided to catch up and add in a CSS background generator. Basically, WordPress adds <style> body { background: blah blah; } </style> to your <head>.

Remember, this is completely unnecessary if you just want a background color. Thesis already provides this functionality. This tutorial is aimed towards the very lazy user [ahem...] who wants to put a background image on their <body>.

Here’s what you do: open custom_functions.php and enter the following:

add_custom_background();

Embarrassingly simple

Get Thesis now!

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How to Register Multiple WordPress Menu Locations in Thesis

June 24, 2010

Before you can start this tutorial, you’ll need to follow the tutorial on how to add the WordPress 3 menu to Thesis. Once you finish that tutorial, you will have the following in your custom_functions.php: add_action(‘init’,'register_menu’); remove_action(‘thesis_hook_before_header’,'thesis_nav_menu’); add_action(‘thesis_hook_before_header’,'wordpress_menu_support’); function register_menu() { register_nav_menus( array( ‘primary’=>’Primary Menu’ )); } function wordpress_menu_support() { if (function_exists(‘wp_nav_menu’)) wp_nav_menu(‘theme_location=primary&fallback_cb=thesis_nav_menu’); else thesis_nav_menu(); [...]

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How To Add A Filter To The Homepage H1

April 22, 2010

In a recent job I was doing, I needed to change the <h1> tag on the homepage of my client’s site. In Thesis, the homepage <h1> is set as the tagline, and I not only needed to change that, but have a simple solution for all my sites from here on out. My setup was [...]

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How To Make A Rotating Header Image In Thesis

March 5, 2010

When Chris Pearson, the creator of Thesis, recently redesigned Pearsonified.com on Thesis, he did something amazingly cool: he put rotating images in his header area. Well, I was so inspired by his design that I wanted to figure out how he did it. It turns out that putting rotating images in your header is extremely [...]

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