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.

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!

Updated! 03/23/10

Well I can’t spell apparently. I had misspelled ‘slideshow’ in the code below. The issue is fixed and my wife is now administering me weekly spelling tests. Thanks, Scott and Willie.

Slideshow Made Simple

Making a jQuery image slideshow in Thesis is actually very easy. There are four basic steps:

• Insert a few lines of code into the header.
• Make a slideshow <div id="slideshow">.
• Put some images into your images folder.
• Write a little custom.css code magic.

To begin, I want to outline a few assumptions. I am going to assume that you have images of the same size (height and width). Also, although you can put any HTML into a “slide” I will only be using images. Lastly, I will be using a default transition effect called “fade” and I will not be adjusting all of the variables. In fact, if you read the Cycle Plugin documentation, you will see that there are about a million tweaks possible.

Update 2/18/09

For the sake of this tutorial, I am going to assume that you only want the slideshow to appear on your home page. If you want the slideshow on every page simply remove if (is_front_page()){...........}. Also, never be embarrassed to ask me for help! I am the Thesis Tutor, after all.

Now, onto the juicy parts!

First, copy and paste the following into your custom_functions.php:

function slideshow() {
if (is_front_page()) {
?><div class="slideshow">
    <a id="slide1" class="slide" href="http://yourblog.com/link"></a>
    <a id="slide2" class="slide" href="http://yourblog.com/link2"></a>
  </div>
<?php
}}
add_action('thesis_hook_after_header','slideshow');

function slide_script() {
echo "\n\n";
?>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://cloud.github.com/downloads/malsup/cycle/jquery.cycle.all.2.72.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function() {
    $('.slideshow').cycle({
	fx: 'fade' //You can change transition effects here.
	});
});
</script>
<?php
}
add_action('wp_head','slide_script');

It is important to note that you can add as many images as you please, just be sure to give them each a unique id so you can target them later in the CSS.

Next, drop the images you want to use in the slideshow in your images folder.

Last, we need to add some CSS to whip this little slideshow into shape. So, open up your custom.css and paste this little bit of code in there:

.custom .slideshow .slide { display: block; height: ---em; width: ---em; outline: none; }
.custom .slideshow #slide1 { background: url('images/image-1.jpg') no-repeat; }
.custom .slideshow #slide2 { background: url('images/image-2.jpg') no-repeat; }

Be sure to insert your images names and height/width. By default, the font-size is 10px. Therefore, to convert to ems, simply divide pixels by 10. Yes, it is THAT easy.

That should cover it, folks. Happy coding!

Categorical Exclusion

Sometimes, there is a benefit to excluding posts of a certain category from the main blog page. For instance, you may want a page that updates frequently. Rather than go in and edit the page each time you want new content, you could simply write a post, mark it in a special category, exclude that category from the main blog [this tutorial], and have posts within the special category appear on the page [another post]. Shoo! That sounds like a lot, but it is actually very simple.

Consider this post part of a series in which I will explain the process of excluding a post from the main blog, then having it appear on another page [instead of page content, that is].

The Code

Alright guys and gals, this is super easy to pull off. Simply copy and paste the code in the box below and change the number to the Category ID for your site. That’s it!

function exclude_cat($query) {
if ( $query->is_home) {
	$query-> set('cat','-13');
	}
return $query;
}
add_filter('pre_get_posts','exclude_cat');

Don’t forget to get your copy of Thesis!

In this video, I will show you how to create a custom page template using Thesis. In theory, this could be used on any page; I just happen to do the home page in this example. Many people have asked me how to move their blog to a different part of their site and create a custom home page or landing page (in sales). This technique is very useful for those of you who have a product you want to sell and would like your website visitors to see the product as soon as they come to your site.

Here is the PHP I used in this tutorial:

remove_action('thesis_hook_custom_template','thesis_custom_template_sample');

function sales_page() {
?>
Your custom HTML here.
<?php
}

add_action('thesis_hook_custom_template','sales_page');

Feel free to name your function anything you would like. Since this video is from a request for a guy who is trying to make a sales landing page, I just happen to name my function sales_page.

Make sure to give your page a unique custom class via the Thesis in-page options!

Also, don’t forget to either upgrade or Get Your Thesis Developer’s Package!

Please send all questions to ThesisTutor [at] gmail [dot] com!

This is the first installment of two videos that are designed to show you how to make an awesome static home page using WordPress and Thesis. This video will show you how to use only WordPress with a dash of Thesis to create a very simple, yet effective, static homepage. This is useful for those of you who are not primarily bloggers and desire to, perhaps, showcase a product or service. In essence, you are simply creating a page in WordPress, using Thesis to determine the text of the home nav menu item, and moving the blog to another part of your site.

It is important to note that although the nav menu will say “Home” for the page you choose as the static homepage, the actual page name is determined by what you call it in WordPress.

Again, this is a very simple technique for those of you wishing to simply make a static homepage. This is also the first step to creating a custom page template. So, if you are looking to do more custom work, you will still need to watch this video first.

Remember to Get Thesis and take your blogging to a new level of efficiency and professionalism.

Send your questions to: thesistutor [at] gmail [dot] com

Recently, I was asked how to add an image after the content div. There is, of course, a hook for that. The image will appear after the prev_next div (which has the “previous entries” link). Also, this certainly is not limited to images. In theory, anything can go there.

1. Open custom_functions.php.
2. Enter the following fancy pants code:

   function cute_lil_pic() {
   ?>
   Your img or whatever html goes here.
   <?php
   }
   add_action('thesis_hook_after_content','cute_lil_pic');

There you go. Just that easy. Oh yeah, don’t forget to save your work. And if you don’t have Thesis, GET IT!