Here is an advanced trick for Wordpress users. This is how I removed the sidebar from one specific page (titled forum) on my wordpress site. After much searching, I found that I needed to implement conditional formatting using php.

Here’s my problem:
I wanted one single wordpress page to not have a sidebar. I wanted it to take up the entire width of the page. Makes sense for a forum, right? Not so easy…

Solution:
In the wordpress dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Editor > page.php.
On page.php, I changed:

<?php get_sidebar();; ?>

to:

<?php if(!is_page('Forum')) get_sidebar();; ?>

Here’s what that means:
Typically, wp displays the sidebar. That’s what we usually want. In this case, the exclamation point means “if it is not”. So, the php translation is, “If it’s not the Forum page, then show the sidebar.”

Perfect, so far. However, there was a blank space where the sidebar used to be. Another problem. The forum should be wider. This won’t happen, though, because my stylesheet says the page can only be 510 pixels wide.

So, I went to my stylesheet and created a div titled #widecolumn with a width of 100%.

Back on page.php, I changed the original div titled #contentleft to:

<?php if(!is_page('Forum')) { ?>
<div id="contentleft">
<?php } else { ?>
<div id="widecolumn">
<?php } ?>

Again, with the php translation: “If it’s not the Forum page, use the div #contentleft (with a width of 510 px). If it is the Forum page, use the #widecolumn div that you just made (with a width of 100%).

Yay!

Now I know more about permalinks, and how it’s important in WordPress. A permalink is simply a URL for a WordPress entry/page. The default URL, or permalink, in WordPress look something like this: http://www.billselak.com/?p=153. Pretty ugly. Here is how to fix that in WordPress:

1. Go to Settings > Permalinks.
2. Change the radio button from Default to Numeric.
3. Save Changes.

So now, your URLs that once looked like:

http://www.billselak.com/educ525/?p=153

now look like:

http://www.billselak.com/educ525/weekly/week2

Now, when you write a new blog post or create a new page, there is a little box that lets you type in the URL you want.

If you’ve recently installed WordPress, you are all set! If, however, you already typed in the nasty default URLs, you’ll want to go back and update them. WordPress will automatically forward the old links, but it’s in bad form to leave it that way.

Here is my solution:
I created an empty folder on my server (inside public.html) named educ515, and simply installed another Wordpress account inside that folder. Now, I can log in to my main Wordpress, or my 515 Wordpress. Once I’m logged into my 515 account, I created one (static) page for each week of class, with directions, reminders, and notes from that class session. Disclaimer: I’m not sure if this is how you’re supposed to do it, but it’s working really well so far.

This is yet another reason I’m happy to pay for my own hosting service. So much more control than the free wordpress.com blog, so less hassle (and work) than a web site built from scratch.

Wordpress.org is a publishing platform. Yes, you download it. No, you don’t use it locally (on your computer). Once downloaded from wordpress.org, you install WordPress onto your host’s server. When you go to your domain (like billselak.com), you can log in to make changes to your web site. The cool thing about using WordPress to power your site is that you don’t need to spend hours in Dreamweaver designing a site–WordPress takes care of it for you on the server.

Wordpress.com is a free place to host a simple blog. You could go to blogger.com or to wordpress.com.

Here’s the biggest upside to paying monthly for your own host: you can create pages using WordPress. I can have a page for my resume, my photos, classes I teach, and a blog. I just click on Pages > Add New, and I have a new page on my web site. Super easy.

After much consideration, I decided to use WordPress to power my site. WordPress recommends BlueHost as a hosting solution. And let me say, I have been nothing but pleased with BlueHost. Installing WordPress on to the server (hosted by bluehost.com) was really easy. Check out this simple, straightforward how-to video if you’re interested in why BlueHost and WordPress rock:

http://tutorials.bluehost.com/wordpress/