ReadMe Site Manual
Below are the instructions for using the Winnipesaukee Gateway site prepared for the LRPC. For general WordPress questions, please consult the WP documentation.
The current site install is WordPress 3.0.1. Be sure to backup the data before upgrading to a new WP release. Backup the data by selecting Tools: Export and export all the data.
Plugins used:
1. Cimy Header Image Rotator: This plugin controls the rotating images found on the site homepage. The image and the rotation settings can be modified through Settings: Cimy Header Image Rotator.
2. WP-Table Reloaded: This plugin is used to display data in table format. We used it primarily to show the data of smaller tables (larger tables were formatted and modified in excel and then added to the site. See below for additional detail on uploaded tables and their formatting). This plugin is located under Tools: WP-Table Reloaded. The table format is controlled via the plugin options on the WP-Table Reloaded settings page. The support documentation for the plugin is very good and can be found here.
Homepage Notes:
The homepage template can be found at the following relative address /wp-content/themes/ze-lrpc/page-home.php .Key features of the page:
- The rotating images on the top left of the page are controlled through the Cimy Header Image Rotator (accessible through Settings: Cimy Header Image Rotator).
- The text content on the top right of the page is editable via the “Home” page listed under pages.
- The Blue Box content to the lower left of the page is controlled through the “Introducing the Gateway” page (post id=1175). Here the title, text, and image content of the blue box can be modified.
- The Green Box to the lower right of the page contains the two latest posts. Use this section to call attention to upcoming/recent events and other timely/important issues.
- Homepage text size is controlled via the Theme Options link at the bottom left of the WP navigation.
Page Templates:
There are two general page templates: the “default template” (used for most pages) that includes a left hand navigation sidebar and the “no sidebar” template without the sidebar. Guidelines:
- When creating a new page or modifying an existing page, simply select the desired template from the Page Attributes section of the page (right hand side). Also, select parent pages to organize the page hierarchy.
- There are a number of additional map templates (monitoring, restoration, status, search, and watershed) that show different maps via iframes in the template.
- To add future maps to the site, just copy an existing map template, modify the iframe link, and change the template name.
Top of Page Image and Summary Text:
On many of the site pages, you will notice a 250px wide image and summary text at the top of the page (view the top of the water quality page). The image and the text are controlled via the “Short Description” section of the page editor (this is below the text editor). The Short Description section is used to add the top image (note that this image should be resized to fit appropriately. We used a width of 250px for most of the images), the summary text, and to control page redirection should it be necessary.
Site Images:
Throughout the site we have generally used images that are approximately 300px wide. We disabled links on these images to make site navigation easier for users. Some of the graphics and maps lend themselves to larger images. For these we add a smaller (300px width) image to the appropriate page with a link to the full size image. This helps optimize page loading time while providing the detail necessary to view the maps/charts in full.
General Notes:
The section titles used throughout the site (all capitalized with a little extra padding. The section titles on this page are examples) are using the <h3> css style. The footers with photo credits have the following styling: font-size: 12px; font-style: italic;
Menus:
Use the Appearance: Menus section of the site to control the site menus. There are four different menus controlling site navigation (the specific menu can be selected from the top of the Menus page). The most important menu is the Main menu. This menu controls the main site navigation. Drag and drop pages to add or modify the menu order. The Footer Menu controls the footer links and the Top Menu controls the header links. The Plan 1 menu is currently not being used. It could be activated for showing in the left hand sidebar if necessary.
Posts:
The two most recently added posts will appear in the Green “What’s New” box on the homepage.
Footer:
The footer content can be modified via the footer.php page located in the following directory: wp-content/themes/footer.php . This file is also accessible through the Appearance: Editor. Just select the footer.php file once you are there (need administrator privileges). The actual links for the footer are controlled from the Footer Menu found at Appearances: Menu: Footer (select the Footer tab from the top tabs).
Header:
The header content (including the code for the navigation areas) can be modified via the header.php page located in the following directory: wp-content/themes/header.php . This file is also accessible through the Appearance: Editor. Just select the header.php file once you are there (need administrator privileges). The actual links for the Navigation bar and the Top Menu can be controlled through Appearances: Menu: Main and Top Menu, respectively.
Theme:
The theme currently applied to the site is the “ze-lrpc” theme. Themes and the underlying pages are controlled via Appearance: Themes and Appearance: Editor, respectively.
Users:
Users can be added via the Users section of the site. Permissions are also controlled via the users section.
Site Design and Table Formatting:
In order to keep the site content consistent we spent a significant amount of time conforming the site’s charts and tables. We did our best to match the format and colors. The site color palette can be found in the attached excel spreadsheet. The excel documents used to make the charts on the Management Plan pages can be found here: most of the tables, Plan Recommendation Tables, and the Issue of Concern tables.