How to create Rotating Ads on your site

I was looking for a solution that displays more than just one advert or banner in one spot. Say I have some space in my sidebar and I wanted to display some adverts there – but I don’t want them to be the same one all the time.

I’d like a solution that upon a page refresh gives me a random banner out of a selection that I can define.

Enter Datafeeder’s Random Ads V2 Plugin!

As if these people had read my mind, this amazing plugin does exactly what I had imagined in my dreams:

You can define several groups of banner codes (say one for vertical sidebar banners, one for pre-post horizontal banners, etc). You can add as many groups as you like, and add as many “code-snippets” as you like to each group.

Read more

How to modify MANSION by GraphPaper Press

I wanted to use Mansion for my Miami Beach Huts website. It was ideally suited, however all my images are portrait instead of landscape. Some tweaks were necessary which I thought I’d share with you for endless hours of fun.

I wrote this for Version 0.2 of this theme. A few things have changed since then, especially the documentation. Keep that in mind while I’ll talk you through some tips and tricks of MANSION.

Read more

How to style THESIS by DIYThemes

Thesis is one of THE most amazing premium themes there is. Nearly every element of your website can be amended and styled thanks to the use of hooks.

It’s got a vast array or user options in the back end and I’m not lying when I say they’re the most sophisticated I have ever seen in a premium theme.

When you decide to buy the theme, you’ll get access to a huge moderated members only forum so all your install/how-to/troubleshooting/styling questions will be answered promptly.

At the time of writing, Thesis is at version 1.8. Consider getting it before version 2.0 hits the market – Chris Pearson has hinted at a hefty (and well deserved) price increase from then on – which won’t be applicable for version 1.x subscribers! You can get Thesis here.

Whenever I built a new site, I often start with Thesis – which is why I often have to tweak some defaults to my liking. Here are the small bits of code I always forget where to find:

Read more

Themes and where to get the Good Ones

There are literally thousands of WordPress Themes out there on the net. Here’s a list of repositories you can have a look at and see which one’s right for you. I sometimes review Themes and give you an in-depth description of the pros and cons – check out all I’ve written on this topic here. … Read more

Mansion: a Photoblogging Extravaganza

I’ve just come across this wonderful theme and wanted to share it with you immediately:

MANSION by Chandra Maharzan is a Photoblogging Extravaganza. It automatically turns your site into a dimmed-out photo wall. Each thumbnail then links to the post it comes from – you don’t lift a finger to make it look super swish. And best of all: it’s FREE!

Read more

Testing Testing… this thing on?

So this is a newsletter and I’ve added you to it because you’re one of my hosting clients. You’re in good company too, because you seem to be growing in numbers. Sweet!

If there’s any news on the Guru Network, you’ll be the first to know – unless you’d rather I leave you alone, in which case feel free to unsubscribe from this list (see the bottom – no hard feelings).

And speaking of news, there’s lots of it.

Read more

How to fix the “Press This” 404 Error

If you’re not already using Press This, maybe now’s a good time to start. Press This is a for you if you’d like to share excertps from other websites on your own site. It’s a simple Javascript bookmarklet that opens a new window with a link to the site you’re on. It then lets you add pictures, text and post it to your site – just as if you’re writing a new post. It’s genious! Find it under “Tools” and drag the link to your browser bar – no installation needed, it’ll only be a simple bookmark.

However, on some sites the new window brings up a 404 error, indicating that something’s amiss. Turns out that WordPress is getting confused about certain mod-rewrite rules or something… Whatever the reason: Fret not, there’s an easy solution to fix this (thanks to Blogmum and the WordPress Forum for these instructions).

Read more