How to Use Special Pages

Revision as of 07:09, 18 November 2011

Through the PageLines / "Special" settings panel, you can change the layout of the following Special Pages: Blog, Archive, Category, Search Results, Tag, Author and 404.

What are Special Pages?

Special Pages refer to the WordPress pages which dynamically display data from your site. For example, your Blog is a Special Page, because it takes all of your individually entered posts and displays them on one page.

Another example of a Special Page is an Author Posts page which displays all the posts by an author.

Category pages display all the posts in a category. And so on... for all the Special Pages.

Special Pages are different than Regular Pages

On Special Pages, you do not edit the content directly. Instead, content is pulled from other places and then displayed.

On Regular Pages (or static pages), you edit the content directly via your WordPress administration panel "Pages".

Examples of some Regular Pages you might create are: an About page, a Contact page, or even a Home page (if you have set your site to display a static home page.) By default, WordPress displays your Blog on your home page. For more information on how to place a static page (which you can edit) on your home page, click here.

PageLines makes it easy to change the layout of Special Pages

Historically, it has been difficult to change the way information is displayed on Special Pages without altering the underlying php code.

But help is here! The PageLines Framework provides a robust and simple drag-and-drop solution for changing the layout of these Special Pages.

Special Pages Panel

Special Pages Panel

Here is a quick overview of the PageLines "Special" Pages panel.

From your WordPress Administration Panel:

1. Select the "PageLines" panel, then "Special"
2. Select the Special Page you want to change (in this example, the Blog Page)
3. Select the Settings you want to change
   • The "Page Setup" panel controls the overall layout of the special page. See tutorial below for more details.
   • On the other panels ("Callout Meta," "Carousel Meta," etc.) you can add the content for each section and control how sections appear on the special page.
4. Make changes in the meta panel
5. Save Options

For this tutorial, the Blog Page is used. Settings function the same across all Special Pages, so you can use these same steps for any Special Page you need to change.

Page Layout vs. Post Layout

The Special Pages settings are used to layout the overall page and add meta to Sections. This panel does not handle how the post content itself is displayed.

For Post Layout, see the tutorial: How to Use the Blog and Post Settings. From the PageLines / Settings / Blog and Posts page, you can manage Post Layout and Excerpt Handling and configure the Post Metabar and Sharebars. Changes to the "Blog and Posts" Settings are universal and will apply to all of the Special Pages.

Special Pages "Page Setup Meta"

Page Setup for Special Pages

The below example sets the meta for the Blog Page. Follow similar steps for all special pages. See the examples of all Special Pages at the end of this tutorial.

From your WordPress Administration Panel:

1. Select the "PageLines" panel, then "Special"
2. Select the Special Page you want to change
3. Select "Page Setup"
4. Set Individual Page Content Layout if you wish to override the default Pagelines layout settings
5. Choose to show or hide activated sections
   • For sections to be available in this panel, they must have been activated in the Pagelines Settings Template Setup panel.
   • If sections are set to Hide This By Default in the Template Setup, you can choose to Show the section for this Special Page
6. Select a background image
   • Use this setting if you want a background image that is different from the rest of your site.
   • Otherwise, you can leave this setting blank, and any "Site Background Image" you setup in the PageLines / Settings / Color Control panel will be used.
7. Select a Secondary Navigation Menu
   • Use this setting to set a secondary navigation menu for the Special Page
   • There is no site-wide setup option for Secondary Navigation, so if left blank, the secondary navigation section will not appear on the Special Page (even if active in the template.)
8. Save Options

Activate Sections on Special Pages

Activate Section

PageLines Drag-and-Drop Sections can be activated on Special Page templates just as you would on any other template.

From your WordPress Administration Panel:

1. Select the "PageLines" panel, then "Templates"
2. Select the Template Area where you wish to place a section
3. Select the Special Page (in this example, the Blog Page)
4. Drag-and-Drop Sections into "Active Sections"
5. Section Order is automatically saved

Tip: If Sections are Inactive

Section Inactive

If a section is "Inactive", the meta data can be added, but the section will only appear on the Special Page if it has been activated in PageLines / Templates.

To easily activate the section from the Special Pages panel:

1. Click on the inactive section under "Select Settings Panel"
2. Click on "Inactive On Template"
   • This will take you to the PageLines / Templates panel where you can activate the section following the instructions above

Special Pages "Section Meta"

Set Section Meta

Add content to sections and control how they appear on the Special Page.

From your WordPress Administration Panel:

1. Select the "PageLines" panel, then "Special"
2. Select the Special Page you want to change (in this example, the Blog Page)
3. Select the Section you want to change
4. Set the meta
   • For tutorials on setting up various sections (e.g. Callout, Boxes, etc.), see the How to Use "Sections" tutorials
   1. If you have a cloned section in your template (e.g. "Callout Meta (#2)", set the meta for those sections by clicking on the cloned section
5. Save Options

Special Pages Examples

Where to Find Special Pages

Special Pages Examples

The first image shows how Special Pages might be accessed from your website.

1. Notice the Archives, Categories, Search and Tags areas in the Sidebar.
2. The Blog Page is accessible in the header navigation.
3. Author Posts pages are accessible by clicking on the Author link in the post metabar.

• To test the 404 Special Page, go to a page on your site that does not exist. (e.g. www.yoursiteURL.com/jibberish)

Special Page examples:

1. Blog Page
   • With a section added to the Full Width Page Templates area. Try adding a Feature or Carousel Section here!
2. Archive Page
   • With a section added within the content area below the Posts Info Bar
3. Category Page
   • With a Carousel section added in the Header
4. Search Results
   • With a section added within the content above the Posts Info Bar
5. Tag Listing
   • With a section added within the content area below the Posts Info Bar
6. Author Posts
   • The layout is changed so the Sidebar appears on the left
7. 404 Page
   • The default "No Posts" section is removed and replaced with a text section