Editor
This is a special page that only a logged in administrator can see. The public cannot see this page at all.
I have added in here some tips on editing and where to go for help.
GUIDANCE
This is a special page which is set to private. The only way anyone can see it is if you are logged into the site as an administrator. I have set this up so you can see the organisation of a page on the website from the inside. It is split into sections (Blue edge), Rows (turquoise edge) and columns generally black.
The website is built on a premium template called Divi. It is extremely flexible, easy to use, but you need to understand the following, otherwise you may find it a little complicated. A page has an intermediate level which controls the layout. You did not have that in your previous WordPress website.
It means the content needs to be broken down into smaller chunks of information. Once it is broken down, you can reorganise it.
The site is also highly responsive, which means it adapts to the screen size of the device that is being used to view it.
- A section contains one or more rows.
- A row may contain one or more columns.
- Each column space may have something in it
- There are around 35 elements with special features you can add in
- Anything bright green, don’t edit it without consultation because it is global (everywhere, on most pages, you edit one and it changes all of the others!)
Some of the elements contain unique formatting. If you see something you like you can go to that page, save a copy of it to the library. You can then add it to another page, while retaining all of the formatting information and then edit the content in the element.
Click on the button below for a short ppt PDF presentation that covers how the Divi editor is organised.
Pages
Pages are fixed content, they represent the static part of your website, or if you like brochure. The content on these pages will generally stay the same.
Pages are also generally accessible from a menu. This template has three menus. At the very top the secondary menu, you can add special pages in here if you wish. Below that the primary menu. Right at the bottom of the site is a Footer Menu which tends to cover legal and administrative things.
If you wish to add a page to the site, you can do so very easily by creating a new page, turning Divi on, then selecting either an existing page from the website which you can base your new page on, a ready made template, or create one from scratch. The easiest thing to do is load an existing page you like, this will add in the header and footer areas automatically and then all you need to do is edit the content in the middle. Either by deleting it all and adding in new columns and rows, or just editing what is there.
The last thing you do is connect the new page to the menu. You do that by going into the dashboard and selecting Appearance, and Menus. Select the appropriate menu, and insert the new page, then move the page to where you want to see it in the menu
Posts
Most of what you will be doing is adding in Posts. This is a special type of content that will appear on News or Blog pages. You do not need to place them on the page, they go there automatically. So adding a news item is very quick and easy.
Posts are dynamic content. They are not accessed through the menu system. They go to special pages automatically and are displayed in the order they are added. When a new item is added the rest move down the page. Unless you delete them, they remain on the website, but just get buried deeper in the site. I recommend retaining your news. It is your best advert to the world which shows what you have been doing. So even if an event has now passed, retain it. You can also add a new item to say XYZ raised £2000 if you were running a major campaign.
Don’t keep your good news to yourself. Celebrate the little wins as well as the large ones. Keep the site alive and vibrant. If you look like you are delivering a great service, and you are marketing it, you will be more likely to attract funding than someone that says nothing.
I have built a special library Post Element which includes guidance on what you need to do. You start by creating a new post, then turn on Divi, then load the template. This gives you the guidance, an area to start, and an element for navigating between posts.
Other Useful Resources
Editing Tutorials
Editing tutorials are available at Wingrove-Services.co.uk. There are several that might be of interest as a refresher. Go to this page: https://wingrove-services.co.uk/tutorials/ Many of these are quite old now, and WordPress and the templates I use have changed. Check the following: Tutorial 11 Introduction to Divi, Tutorial 12 Editing Basics Revisited, Tutorial 16 Advanced Posts; Applying Consistency. Tutorial 7 is also useful for preparing images for the website. Although the sizes you now need to consider are 800px wide or high for this site unless it is a special purpose image.
NEW Editing Tutorial
A very short and newly introduced video shows you how to use the built in Visual Builder in Divi. Follow this link to find out more about it and view it online: Divi Builder Visual Builder. This is a perfect tool for quick amendments to existing content.
Getting the most out of Divi
There is a more comprehensive set of video tutorials and other supporting documentation about the template used on this site and the 37 elements you can use within a page. This covers a lot more than I use and know. But if you wish to experiment, please do so, if you have any questions, let me know. The resource page can be located here: https://www.elegantthemes.com/documentation/divi/
Your local guide
A guide for adding news to your site is included below stored in the website. This step by step guide tells you everything you need to know to put posts on this site.
Use this guide for general editing of existing page contents
This guide is for creating news items for your site.
Go to the editing exercise page
Images and where to get them
Where to get free images from. Oce useful source is unsplash.com another is pixabay.com. The images there are free and you do not need to attribute them back to the photographer, but it would be nice if you could. Go to my services website for more sources of free images.
If you spend more than 10 minutes looking at your screen wondering what to do, call me on 07511 336046 or 01494 863136. Happy to help.
