major permalink/ link issue

This is bugging me for three days now, I am having a real problem with permalink......My top page links " meet, P&P," and "who is Monsanto" work fine, but as I post a blog, it only allows one permalink, so, say I write about Monsanto, and another on Diabetes, they both have the same permalink....... If I change one, it changes both!

Is permalinks maybe just for pages and not the home blogs? that would mean my blogs wouldn't have links?

Then, My category links... i.e." in the news"... don't work because they all say.. Organichealthcure.comcategory/inthenews.... there is no slash after "com" com/category.......and there is no way to change it, I've been looking for three days.............UUUGGGHHH!!! anyway, like Cindy said, I need to post another ???????

Also, I am thinking my site doesn't look "clean and fresh" ....what do you think? I have heard of the Socretes that Pablo is doing but can not afford to pay for a theme right now, I am using Amazing Grace......any thoughts?

Thanks again,
Paula

Paula

I am assuining you are using Wordpress? It does look like you have a problem with the permalink settings as the link to the my healthy child page goes to

http://organichealthcures.comcategor...y-health-child

try changing the permalink settings (settings then permalink option in the wordpress admin options) to something like

/%category%/%postname%/

in the custom option, or choose one of the common settings

You also have lots of different colors and fonts which does not help give the site a clean look. If you want a free theme you could do worse than suffusion

wordpress.org/extend/themes/suffusion

Baggs,

Yes, Wordpress, I have tried to change the category settings but the stupid thing wont let me. Do you think it could be a program problem with the theme?

Are you saying Suffusion is better? I misunderstood your last point.

When you say too many colors and fonts, are you referring to my text articles or in the site layout?

Sorry........I am really only a 5yr old in Kindergarten trying to do 12th grade...:( I'll learn though.......I have too!!

Thanks
paula

Dear Paula,

First, I'm proud of you for your tenacity. Second, know that you are not alone; it is frustrating especially in the beginning.

What permalink structure are you currently using?

Peace,

Roey.

I had a similar problem last year (I'm not sure which theme it was) and the answer turned out to be a silly little period in the category base box, which should have been empty.

I have no idea if this is the same situation, but it might be worth a try to check under settings then permalinks then optional then see if there is anything in the category base box. If you have a dot in the box, try removing it and don't forget to click save changes. If that wasn't it, go back in and put the period back in. Good luck and hopefully someone with more knowledge and experience can join in and help.

Peace,

Roey.

ok Roey,

sorry but I am going to copy and paste what I see below. I went to settings, then permalink, under "optional ' there is nothing in the category base box but there is a "custom " box... I hit that when I made my first article " who is Monsanto" so I put /who-is-monsanto in that box......... now every article has that permalink.......see???

Permalink Settings

By default WordPress uses web URLs which have question marks and lots of numbers in them, however WordPress offers you the ability to create a custom URL structure for your permalinks and archives. This can improve the aesthetics, usability, and forward-compatibility of your links. A number of tags are available, and here are some examples to get you started.
Common settings
Default http://organichealthcures.com/?p=123
Day and name http://organichealthcures.com/2010/06/04/sample-post/
Month and name http://organichealthcures.com/2010/06/sample-post/
Numeric http://organichealthcures.com/archives/123
Custom Structure http://organicheealthcures.com/who-is-monsanto
Optional

If you like, you may enter custom structures for your category and tag URLs here. For example, using topics as your category base would make your category links like http://example.org/topics/uncategorized/. If you leave these blank the defaults will be used.
Category base
Tag base

Eureka! I think I can help! :)

In the custom box you need code, not the actual name of the post. There are many custom codes you can use. This is a structure that tells how to make the URL for each of your posts. Take out "who is Monsanto" from the custom box and use one of the common codes such as:

/%post_id%/%postname%

or as Baggs suggested:

/%category%/%postname%/

or simply:

/%postname%/

or:

/%postname%.html

There are pros and cons for choosing each of the above structures.

The post_id will put a number before the post name in the URL. The category will insert the category you have chosen for the post before the post name in the URL. Of course, postname is as it sounds - puts the name of the post in the URL.

There are debates about whether or not to include the last "/" and another debate about the ".html" (I've got a thread about that on the forum.)

Every character matters! if you have an extra anything ("/.:" whatever) it could mess you up. That's the first place to look when something goes "squirrly."

If you are going to use more than one category for each post, then I suggest NOT using the structure with %category%. If category is going to be an important way for your readers to get to your information, then that structure may be good for your purposes. I've decided for what I am doing now to use the /%postname%.html permalink.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Peace,

Roey.

Here's the blog post where Lynn explains the permalink structure

http://www.clicknewz.com/783/smart-permalink-structure/

You'll find the custom permalink code Lynn uses and just plug that into the custom box. Then you won't ever have to bother with that box again and all your posts will then have that new structure however if you have current links live, you will need to do a redirect and that is where I get stuck. I'm not sure exactly how to do that.

OMG!!! Roey!!!!! IT WORKED!!!! I used /%postname%.html because I will use multiple catagories for some articles..... and it fixed everything!

Thank you, thank you and thank you again.... HTML is such a wierd language, I am very grateful you taught me this.

AAAhhh.... one step at a time ... now I am going to get rid of that calendar, and try to shrink my pic, and e-mail sign up, oh, and take the adds off the home page as per advice from " The Affiliate handbook".....before I make more content.

Paula

You're welcome, Paula!

"Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt" as they say - lol.

I'm glad it worked.

Also, like Angie said, you might need to do a redirect for your existing pages now that the structure is changed; I'm not sure. There should be a plug-in. That's on my "to-do-list." :)

Peace,

Roey.

Angie,

Thanks, I just read the blog.......I am amazed at how simple something is, when you know what to do.

I am learning, more and more each day and know one day I will be where you all are....Thank Lynn for me, her report was the first one I read that put me on this path, something that I have always wanted to do.

paula

I think it's worth mentioning that the makers of WordPress strongly recommend that you do not use just the post name as your permalink, for "performance reasons." It has something to do with WordPress not knowing if the link is a page or a post, and therefore having to store bunches of extra info in the database and slowing it down. The WordPress codex recommends using some kind of numeric field first, such as /%post_id%/%postname%

Just FYI. ;)

Yes, Cindy,

I also read that in Lynn's article..... I just changed it to that one.

Thanks
Paula

Glad you got it working :)

Wordpress recommend against using post name as permalink for performance. This confuses the engine about whether it is a link or a post. Use a numeric field before the link.