Documentation

Reference these help pages on my website along with any other help pages you locate and find useful:
WordPress Basic Documentation
WordPress Blocks Documentation

Pages & Posts

Pages have been created using the Block editor because each page is two-column and this is the best method. If a page is opened in Classic editor, it won’t recognize reusable blocks that are in the sidebar.

Posts have been created using the Classic editor because they are all one column with a standard sidebar pulled in through widgets. You may change these to Block editor mode for consistency in learning the editor, if desired.

In the Block editor, the layout of the blocks on a Page or Post can be seen by expanding the List View, shown by a three-staggered-line icon in the upper left. This can help make sure a new block is placed in the right place such as within a parent group or column.

When adding a new “Page:”

• Add Title, Publish.
• Click the “+” to add a new block, search for “Page Template Convert” and select. Immediately click second icon from right in icon bar to convert to a regular block.
• Then begin to add blocks such as paragraph or image to each column.
• Move each block up or down by dragging or with arrows, and delete dummy text.

When adding a new “Post:”

• Simply start typing, or paste paragraphs from another source, being careful not to include undesirable formatting (such as from Microsoft Word).
• Add a featured image (in the right sidebar) to be displayed at top (horizontal preferred).
• Add any additional images desired within the content.
• Add a Gallery block if desired. Each image must link to its Media file in order to show the larger version in a lightbox.
• Add to appropriate categories (in the right sidebar).
• Back-date if necessary.
• Post content will be contained in the main column. Primary sidebar created with preset widgets will display at right. Next/previous navigation is included at bottom.

PDFs

When adding a PDF to the Media Gallery, you will likely want to copy the URL if you will insert it into a Page or Post. When adding to a Page or Post, type something meaningful and highlight it to link it to the PDF.

• When in Block editor, the most efficient steps are to toggle “open in new tab” before entering the link and clicking the “enter” arrow. If you miss doing this, just click within the link again and toggle.
• When in Classic editor, paste the link, click the gear and click the checkbox to open in a new tab, then update. (Note: Be careful, I have seen the text change to reflect the URL, but this may have been fixed in WordPress.) If you miss doing this, click back into the link, click the pencil, then the gear, then the checkbox to open in a new tab, then update, then publish if done.

Images / Gallery / Lightbox

An image pulled from the Media Gallery will come into a page or post with a caption if it has one. A caption can be added to an uploaded image or changed within the page as needed. Ken asked about linking to a larger version of the image and we discussed lightbox overlays as a good way of doing this. I’ve installed a lightbox plugin. Each image must link to its Media file in order to show the larger version in the lightbox.

Embeds vs. iFrames

Use the YouTube Embed block to add a YouTube URL.

Use the Custom HTML block to add an <iframe> such as the Google map below.

We tried to use this to add a Facebook post, but it pulled the video out of it instead, so that is not a proper result and the behavior could change someday. Embedding videos from YouTube is highly preferred.

The FaceBook video that you put into the Forestry page is inside a paragraph block, so just do the same as needed elsewhere, copying and pasting the <iframe>.

Reusable Blocks

The following reusable blocks are included/repeated within appropriate pages/posts: Retail Hours, Retail Staff, AddressPhone, Service Area, and Forestry. They can be found within the block repository under the fourth diamond-shaped “tab” if desired to add in other locations. Updating in any one location will update in all locations. A reminder to expand the List View to confirm if you are editing a regular block or a reusable block so you don’t unintentionally edit in multiple places. Make sure you edit inside the reusable block.

Note: Reusable blocks are not available within the widgets, presumably because some widgets already appear on all pages.

This text is here simply as a placeholder and to force the right column to its full 27% width. The main column is set to 73%.

Sample image: