HELP! Will this plug in destroy the SEO value of my Page Title

[jkgourmet]

The plug in: Page Blocks - This plugin extends WordPress pages by allowing the placement of widgets above and below page content reducing the need to code custom page templates.

Here's the page that I am working on with this plug in:

http://wineofthemonthclubreviews.com/reviews/california-wine-club/

At the top of the page, the words "The California Wine Club" are coming in from the plug in. This is actually a text widget and those words are the Title field. The next section is the text that I put into the widget. The plug in allows me to put these widgets on every page, different places, different styles, up to four on a page. Cool so far.

HOWEVER, below the text (really, below the widget) are the words "California Wine Club". This is coming from the standard WP Page Title. If I use the Page Block Plug in, this has to be removed - unless somebody can tell me how to stop it from appearing, but still have it picked up for SEO purposes.

While you guys are figuring this out, I'm going over to play with the flutter plug in. Maybe that will be better to use. . .

[marksierra]

Hmm, I'm not really clear on the purpose of this plugin. Is it supposed to allow to put different chunks of text wherever you choose on a post/page? Or is it the same chunk of text?

Once I have a better understanding of it, I'll give you some more feedback. :)

[jkgourmet]

Thanks Mark. It allows a coding idiot like me to put chunks of text and images on a page. (I don't remember if it works on posts, but I bet it does.) Technically, it's allowing you to put a widget in the body of a page or a post - NOT just on a side column. Then you can drag and drop the widgets to one of the boxes.

A total of four boxes are allowed - basically one at each corner, or you can combine two vertically to get one long chunk, like my page shows. You can also put borders around them and customize the fonts, etc. It's quite easy to use.

[marksierra]

Thanks for the info. :)

Okay, so after reading that it brought the question I had in the back of my mind to the forefront and that is, "What is YOUR purpose for using this plugin?"

Why not just add your own text or image on the page using the page editor? If it's a concern over how to get text to wrap around an image, you can do that using the controls within the editor.

Sorry if I'm missing the point here, but on the surface it sounds like this plugin, while it may be useful, could be making things more complicated.

[retta719]

With this page as the example, I'm sure you could have done much the same thing within the regular page just as easily, possibly easier. I think I'm missing the point of the plugin here as well. It sounds like it would be useful for adding blocks of Adsense code or banners to your pages though, or to avoid using table code in certain layouts.

[marksierra]

...useful for adding blocks of Adsense code or banners to your pages though, or to avoid using table code in certain layouts.

Yes, that what I was thinking! Something that could be integrated into the page layout and not even bother with widgets. If that's the case, then there are other plugins that I think are more suitable. Max Banner Ads comes to mind, though it will have sponsored link attached to it that's very small.

[jkgourmet]

I think I've not explained what I'm trying to accomplish. I'll try again.

Imagine a page cut into a plus sign (+). Four quadrants.

I'd like to put text (and maybe some images) in a single quadrant (block), and sometimes add a border to it. I'd like to be able to size that block to take up the entire vertical width of the page (the right and left upper quadrants). I'd like to be able to put smaller blocks on pages, taking up just one quadrant. All of these blocks of text (with and without images) could have borders or not.

This plug in allowed me to place the blocks of text (with images or not, with borders or not) in those four quadrants. I could take expand a quadrant to a larger size, if I wanted.

I know that this can be accomplished with coding for borders, width and God knows what else. But truthfully, I spent about four hours yesterday trying to figure that out, but my skills at speaking html and css are less than my skills at speaking Chinese.

I am very open to suggestions. And need the help. Thanks everybody.

[marksierra]

I see what you mean, Jeanette, but I must go back to my original question, I'll word it differently though: what is it that you're trying to achieve by doing all that?

Whether you're trying to convey information in a more creative way to the reader, or trying to condense information above the fold, there's something that you're trying to do that's motivating you to solve an issue of some sort.

Think of it this way: I'm going to take a piece of paper and cut it into 4 parts. Each part has a bit of text on it. I will then put those parts next to each other to make a whole page. So why am I cutting it into parts? I don't know, I guess it's because I have a pair of scissors next to me and it seemed to be a waste for me not to use them.

Please, please, please, don't mistake my reply as being argumentative. That is SO not my intent. :) I'm just trying to help think outside the box while at the same time trying to get at the heart of the problem. :)

[AlexNewell]

maybe a total code hater like me can help a bit...

:-)

All the text you want can be put on the page with the text editor.

All the pictures you want can be put on the page with the text editor using the right toolbar icon.

So why is there any problem? Is the problem that your text editor is not up to snuff?

[Adriana]

Jeanette,

Are you trying to create posts/pages like that all the time? Or would that be just an occasional post?

All you want to do with that plugin can be done easily with tables: you can create a "template", save it in a text document and just fill in the info when you need it.

[jkgourmet]

Okay, now I'm totally confused. But appreciate everybody's help.

Text Editor? I'm using the thing that comes with WP that allows me to type stuff in and another area where I can look at and adjust html. What am I missing?

Templates? Huh? If it didn't come already installed in my theme, I probably haven't learned how to do it yet.

I'm thinking that I ought to just back off this layout and plan something simpler. Use a simple plug in to put widgets in the body of the page. . .

[marksierra]

Doh! Sorry. Didn't mean to add to the confusion. :(

[jkgourmet]

No, Mark, you didn't!!! My brain is where the confusion is - I seriously appreciate you guys trying to help out.

So - is that what YOU meant as a text editor? I know there are other things (notepad, Filezilla?), but since I don't hard code, this thing that's built into WP has worked okay - until I tried getting fancy!

I'm going in another direction at this point. Better to move on than get stuck.

Can you tell me how Rosalind Gardner gets the Sections called Adventures and Travel Gear News on her home page? I think those are widgets, right? Is there a plug in that does this on the home page? www.roamsters.com

[Rick Olsen]

Jeanette - Rosalind is using the Lifestyle theme by Brian Gardner. It's $59.95. You can find it here: http://www.studiopress.com/themes/lifestyle

In another thread you mentioned using the tinymceadvanced plugin. This plugin has a table icon. Using this you can easily add tables to any page you want. This is what everyone has been trying to explain to you.

Using tables you can have bordered or unbordered boxes, with any border color you want, anywhere you want them. Your table can contain whatever you want to put in it.

[jkgourmet]

Thanks, Rick. Maybe when I stop being so frustrated, I can stop and actually understand some of this stuff.

It's been a tough day.

[marksierra]

No, Mark, you didn't!!! My brain is where the confusion is - I seriously appreciate you guys trying to help out.

So - is that what YOU meant as a text editor? I know there are other things (notepad, Filezilla?), but since I don't hard code, this thing that's built into WP has worked okay - until I tried getting fancy!


Whew! It's important to know when it's time to move on. I wish I learned that early on with the things I've gotten into. The good news is that if you decide to return to it, I'm sure the solution is within reach. :)

You asked about the text editor. Someone else mentioned that, but I think what was meant by it was the text field you're currently using in WP. Honestly, between that and any stand alone text editor (yes, like Notepad), they both would do you well, it's just a matter of maybe some additional features that such a tool can offer you to make coding a bit easier.

[jkgourmet]

Whew! It's important to know when it's time to move on. I wish I learned that early on with the things I've gotten into. The good news is that if you decide to return to it, I'm sure the solution is within reach. :)

You asked about the text editor. Someone else mentioned that, but I think what was meant by it was the text field you're currently using in WP. Honestly, between that and any stand alone text editor (yes, like Notepad), they both would do you well, it's just a matter of maybe some additional features that such a tool can offer you to make coding a bit easier.

Mark, I'd be thrilled if you could suggest a tool that would make coding a bit easier.

Using my credit card to pay somebody else to do this is the only tool I can think of, and that's not a good long term solution. :)

[marksierra]

Well, Notepad is a little too simple for me as a text editor. I like "stuff" that helps with doing things like coding, but not just coding.

Here are some text editors I recommend, but please note that the convenience they offer does not include doing the coding for you necessarily. Some knowledge of how to do basic HTML is very helpful. Where these things can help is eliminating the extra typing required to enter in HTML tags like <a href=blah blah blah...>.

HTML Kit (http://www.htmlkit.com/download/)
This one I used some time ago. It's free. It's probably going to be the one you'll be most interested in and comfortable with because it provides a lot of short cuts on code insertions. (If I'm not mistaken, I believe it also has a built-in table maker that would address the original topic of this thread!)

Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/download.php)
I've used this tool for years and still do from time to time. It's free and has more in it than most people will use, to be honest. But it doesn't have code insertion capabilities.

NoteTab (http://www.notetab.com/downloads.php)
While this has a few versions to choose from (one of which is free), I took the plunge recently and purchased the pro version. It, too, has the ability to insert code. What I especially like about it is that it has clip libraries where I can save code that I use over and over again.

I hope all this isn't overwhelming, especially if you decide to install any one of these. The last thing I want to do with anyone is add more to their plate. :) But maybe just install one or two and look at it occasionally to learn how to use them.

But remember this: using the text editor in WordPress like you've been doing all along is just fine. It's designed without all the bells and whistles for a reason. ;)

[jkgourmet]

Close the thread. I'll take the volumes of information I've gotten and get it figured out. Thanks everybody, I really appreciate you guys.

[retta719]

Can you tell me how Rosalind Gardner gets the Sections called Adventures and Travel Gear News on her home page? I think those are widgets, right? Is there a plug in that does this on the home page? www.roamsters.com
Magazine theme layouts have it coded into the index page to show snippets from certain categories (code bits that can be a royal pain in the you know what :p)

I think I see in my mind what you're trying to do with the plugin now with the four quadrant reference, sort of like the kids do four squares for their English papers .... I think if we start over at the beginning we can figure it all out ;)

[Clay Franklin]

Whenever I get stuck I head over to w3cschools.com (http://w3cschools.com)and do a search for the topic.

They have try it editors so you can copy the code they provide and paste it into your WP page (html) tab. It is realy cool.

I looked at your code and the plug in looks like it just adds a table for the quadrants.
This is what some folks are suggesting here anyway.
it is simple coding with table, table row table data. The size of the tables on your theme are maintained in the CSS file (style) so that is good. You can tell it is CSS because it says <tr id=" "> the id goes to the CSS file to get instructions.
For SEO according to my teacher, CSS based pages are better than table based pages. I just remember it from class and have not tested it or validated the statement.
Once you get the inbound links, this will be very important for the SEO as well as your internal linking.

[TraciKnoppe]

As others have said, Rosalind's page layout is the way her theme was designed. Those 'boxes' are areas that have code in them to pull in snippets of posts or categories into those 'box' areas. Those are not widgets.

Since you do not know html code, I would not suggest you dive into any outside editors at all. WP has what you need built-in, you just need help in learning how to use it. ;)

[AlexNewell]

There are a few plugins that you might try that extend the capabilities of the built in editor.

The most obvious - and you may have this already is Tiny MCE Advanced (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tinymce-advanced/)

Otherwise as you will gather from Traci - the appearance of your blog is controlled by your theme. Don't let all this stuff get on top of you - the crucial thing is to write and publish and other things will sort themselves out as you go


All The Best

Alex

[Nelson Swett]

Jeanette, as some people have explained, many of the features on rosalind's sites are because of the Theme that she is using on her site. I'm using the Lifestyle theme on my site as well, if you decide to go that route (which is definitely easier for neophyte coders like myself) I would be happy to help. Here is my site. (http://www.ldssinglesdating101.com) I admit that it's a work in progress, but everything works the way that I want it to and now I spend my time writing posts, seeking links, etc... When i have extra funds, I'll outsource a better header graphic, but for now, I'm content.