Dear Christina - Latest Comments

Re: Modify WordPress Header image?

Misty4ever — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 13:53:15 -0000

I used WP to upload a theme.

Never again..I expected the theme to also be installed automaticly to the host...It did not happen as I plnned at all. There was a problem that needed to be sorted out with the theme <functions.php> I could not change it to default to make the needed changes.

I lost the site altogether, fine now but I had to go back to a saved XML file. And thats another thing I learnt with WP save at least once a month your XML.

I followed a tutorial to add a second sidebar to a theme that had only one sidebar and thats where my template problem started.Probably someone who knew exactly what to do without a tutorial would have walked it.

Once over a few versions ago when a theme went wrong WP would default to the default theme..no longer.

Two things:
Use your FTP to upload to your host.
Read Instructions when you find sites that give tutorials...then read again. Install a testbed install of Wordpress to test.

I did what I wanted from Christines site so many thanks..

Re: Add external links in WordPress navigation

Christina Nelson — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:41:47 -0000

Thanks for asking this.
You can make any page point to an external link using PageLinksTo.
When adding a new page/post, name it what you want and then in the right side area of the text editor page you'll find a drop-down box called "Parent". Choose the page you want the link to be a child of and then scroll down to set the URL you want it to point to (in pagelinksto area) ,save/publish.

If you mean you have categories as your main navigation and you want to make a child category point to an external URL- I don't know of a plugin for that at this time. That is something you may need to have hardcoded into your theme.
~C

Re: Add external links in WordPress navigation

Venkman9993592 — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:39:45 -0000

How do you do this so the external link appears as a child of a particular category?

Re: Add external links in WordPress navigation

Rachael Sullivan — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:46:35 -0000

thank you for this information. the Page Links To plug-in works beautifully! I can now use my .com Wordpress site as a CMS and link to my external blog from the navigation menu.

Re: Add external links in WordPress navigation

Christina Nelson — Sat, 29 May 2010 08:08:03 -0000

Glad it worked for you Tee :-)

Re: WordPress Backups?

Christina Nelson — Sat, 29 May 2010 08:03:50 -0000

Sorry Kimberly, Just realized I never replied to your question. You CAN move your htaccess file but it isn't imperative. And yes, it is just that easy :-)

Re: Add external links in WordPress navigation

Tee — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:30:11 -0000

Ok it totally worked! I just had to wait while processed after refreshing, it takes awhile to show new changes! Yay! lol THANKS CHRISTINA!

Re: Add external links in WordPress navigation

Tee — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:25:05 -0000

For whatever reason, doing this manually is not working :/ .... frustrating!

Re: WordPress Backups?

Kimberly — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:20:09 -0000

Hi Christina,
Great info to have and it prompted me to install that plug-in and backup my database right then. However, there is a message in red now at the top of my dashboard which says:

Your backup folder MIGHT be visible to the public

To correct this issue, move the .htaccess file from wp-content/plugins/wp-dbmanager to /home....(list my home path).

My question about whether I should indeed move the htaccess file and is it as easy as just removing the file from where it's at now to the place where they recommend I put it?

Re: Work on new WordPress theme while old theme still active? Pt.1

Heather — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:46:27 -0000

Christina,

It appears that I may not have thanked you for you help with my issue. I thought I repled in VAForums, but if I didn't, Thank You so much for your help.

I ended up buying a new domain name that I use strictly for "playing" with my themes.

Thanks again,

Heather

Re: WordPress Backups?

tahneesha — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:37:35 -0000

Hi Christina,

Oh my gosh, that completely helps. I was very nervous about installing a new version of WP because I was concerned about losing my information.

Your advice gives me the resources and confidence I need to further maintain my own business website.

Many thanks,

Tahneesha

Re: Moving WordPress site to new host

Christina Nelson — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:25:56 -0000

Thanks so much for adding that info. Some of my more "adventurous" readers will be able to utilize your suggestion.

Re: Moving WordPress site to new host

lawless — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:18:49 -0000

Also, sometimes, hosts will have an IP address where your site is accessible.

You can access it through the IP address directly if your DNS info has been changed.

Easiest way to dump out the database is to use phpMyAdmin and select the export tab. Select All , choose SQL, make sure Structure and Data are checked and check the "Save as file" box at the bottom.

This will dump out a full SQL backup of your db. On your new host just select the "Import" tab and import the SQL file.

This way everything is native to phpMyAdmin and you won't have formatting issues with a plug-in backup and phpMyAdmin import function.

Any decent host that has mySQL databases will have a phpMyAdmin interface.

Re: Moving WordPress site to new host

Christina Nelson — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:55:14 -0000

Dave,
You are correct. Completely forgot about changing back.
Even though Mary and I discussed it, the whole "account active till end of month" didn't sink in to my brain receptors apparently. :-)

Just goes to show, we are all constantly learning. Sharing what we know helps others.

~Christina

Re: Moving WordPress site to new host

Dave — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:43:05 -0000

Waitwaitwait! Just because you changed the DNS settings doesn't mean that the old site is inaccessible!

Just change the DNS settings to point to your old host, and grab your stuff!

If for some reason you can't do that, edit your HOSTS file on your computer to point to the old server
For instructions see "External Links" at the bottom of this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Re: Moving WordPress site to new host

Mary H Ruth — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:26:15 -0000

Thanks Christina - Got this properly bookmarked!

Re: Add external links in WordPress navigation

Scott McKirahan — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:52:26 -0000

I tried doing this manually but it didn't work. The theme I'm using is configured quite cryptically. I did, however, download the PageLinksTo plugin and it works like a charm!

Thank you so much for the information. I've been trying to figure out how to do this for a year!

Re: Work on new WordPress theme while old theme still active? Pt.1

Christina Nelson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:45:04 -0000

David,
If you did a 2nd installation of WP it will not show your current posts/pages because it isn't directed to your current DB. If you are just working on customizing a new theme it's best not to have your DB directed to it. You can copy/past a few items just as reference though.

Once your new design is ready you will be moving only the folder that your new theme is in over to your "live" wp-content/themes folder so there is no need to change any DB settings. Then, if you prefer, you can just delete the "test" installation.
Any more questions, please let me know.
~C

Re: Work on new WordPress theme while old theme still active? Pt.1

David — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:08:15 -0000

I did this, but it created a whole new install without any of my old posts in it. How do I get it to point to my current db. By the way - I did copy the wp-config.php

Re: Add external links in WordPress navigation

Sue Pamment — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:15:59 -0000

Thank you, Christina! I searched for this everywhere and couldn't find which code to change. Your instructions are very clear and helpful.

Sue Boedeker

Re: Add external links in WordPress navigation

Christina Nelson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:07:17 -0000

Other reasons for external linking:
-you have three companies and want to give visitors access to all easily.
-maybe you want a link to your flickr account
-you could have a survey you want to link to for an extended period of time

Re: Add external links in WordPress navigation

Janine Gregor — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:49:56 -0000

Great information...it worked! I'm linked!

Another related question...other than linking a blog to a website tab, what other uses would adding an external link offer?

Janine

Re: WordPress Blog to Business Website

Christina Nelson — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:36:35 -0000

*blushing* Thanks Janine. You have great questions.

They test my brain & I like that.

Re: WordPress Blog to Business Website

Janine Gregor — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:15:40 -0000

Christina,

You are incredible...repeat...you are incredible!

Thank you so much for explaining this in lay-woman's terms.

I'll give it a go and see how it all falls in place. I searched and searched for documentation but none had a better explanation than you offered here.

Thank you again for making this resource available to the general public. You truly are an expert.

Janine
PS...I will be brave...:)

Re: Adding Meta Tags to WordPress Pages

Tahneesha — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:04:38 -0000

Christina,

This information is excellent! Thank you for the detailed explanation and tips.

Tahneesha