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I did it!! Artisteer site live. Can someone please help me add a blog using artisteer?

by TMW
4 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |
Hello everyone. Well after many many trials and tribulations, I finally finished an artisteer site, html version, and uploaded using file manager to HG. So I have no CMS.

My question, which I pray to God someone will answer, is: how in the world can I add a blog feature to the home page of the site? I see this option in artisteer. I can figure out how to add the page to the site on my local computer. But I'm wondering: will I have an associated CMS when I upload this file, since I created an html site, not WP or Joomla?

Perty please help!

Thank you!! Very very exciting my first website, and it doesn't even look to bad!!
#add #artisteer #blog #live #site
  • Profile picture of the author Susan Hope
    This is probably not very helpful but what I would have done is to install WordPress - then would have made a WordPress theme using Artisteer and had the front page display a static page and a blog page to show recent blog posts. WordPress isn't just a blogging system nowadays you can do all sorts with it and not have it look like a blog on your home page..

    That is what I used to do a long while ago now when I was learning my way around WordPress and had Artisteer (haven't used Artisteer now for a couple of years, so not up to date with the newest version).

    Hope you get a better answer soon

    Sue
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    One-to-One WordPress Coaching Service Available at Low Hourly Rate - Let the frustration end now! WordPress Installs, Theme Design, Site Tweaks & other WordPress services available
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    • Profile picture of the author TMW
      Originally Posted by SusanneUK View Post

      This is probably not very helpful but what I would have done is to install WordPress - then would have made a WordPress theme using Artisteer and had the front page display a static page and a blog page to show recent blog posts. WordPress isn't just a blogging system nowadays you can do all sorts with it and not have it look like a blog on your home page..

      That is what I used to do a long while ago now when I was learning my way around WordPress and had Artisteer (haven't used Artisteer now for a couple of years, so not up to date with the newest version).

      Hope you get a better answer soon

      Sue
      Thank you. Unfortunately that caused me quite a few problems, including most importantly that the website looks 10000 times better without WP. But also I don't want a completely static front page--I'd like a mix of blog and static. I've read having something moving on FP is important to SEO and I believe it. So I don't like the static FP option on WP.

      *But* for my next site I might try some instructions I found for making a semi-static WP front page. I appreciate the thoughts just will not work for this website. It's already finished and we really like the look. For future site, do you have any template you like that allows semi-static front page?

      Thank you for answering!!
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      • Profile picture of the author Susan Hope
        Originally Posted by TMW View Post

        Thank you. Unfortunately that caused me quite a few problems, including most importantly that the website looks 10000 times better without WP. But also I don't want a completely static front page--I'd like a mix of blog and static. I've read having something moving on FP is important to SEO and I believe it. So I don't like the static FP option on WP.

        *But* for my next site I might try some instructions I found for making a semi-static WP front page. I appreciate the thoughts just will not work for this website. It's already finished and we really like the look. For future site, do you have any template you like that allows semi-static front page?

        Thank you for answering!!
        I presume, what you mean by your first statement is that, before posting here, you already tried installing WP first and then adding a theme made by Artisteer and that caused you problems?

        I get the feeling that this is actually down to lack of knowledge of what a WordPress based site can do (understandable, there is a lot it can do).

        Yes you can have a WP site, with a mixture of static info and regularly updated (fresh content) blog posts on the home page.

        One of the things about WP are the multitude of WordPress plugins that can be added to a site to further enhance the functionality. Also, there are a ton of WP themes, free and paid out there that also add more functionality to the site.

        This is going to look like I am pimping my services but really I am not but I don't have time to go searching for stuff for you so to get an idea of what I mean, take a look at our portfolio, lots of sites made for clients, all different from each other, all WP, some with static home pages and then fresh content added via widget areas where you can use plugins to pull in content from the rest of your site (or other websites) and some with the latest posts being shown, again with other areas to display more static bits of content.

        To give an example, this site is essentially a store to sell our clients own brand pregnancy fitness clothing - obviously for that kind of site you don't want it to look "bloggy" and you don't need latest posts showing but for ongoing fresh content and SEO it's good to have a blog on the site, so she has a blog page, which in this case we called the page "Articles of Interest" that pulls in posts from whatever category (subject) we tell it to - she has only done one post at this time but the blog page will show snippets of each new post, in chronological order so that the reader can scan each one and then go to the full post of whichever "article" interests them.

        On the home page, you can see in the right hand sidebar (a widgetized area) you can see we have placed a widget that will pull in just the titles of each blog post, as she adds them, so this will change as she adds posts.

        Not forgetting this is "just" a WordPress based site, there is also a store on the site, not a store with loads of bells and whistles as she only has a few products at the moment.

        This is the site: BadaBump.com

        Next is one of our client sites for a business guy who understands the value of fresh content and he blogs several times a month and wanted a "magazine" look and feel to his site.. so this site is showing a non static home page, with posts shown in snippets again (scroll down past the "Featured Post" scroller to see the magazine layout of the home page).

        On this home page we have used horizontal widgetized areas instead of the more traditional sidebar on the left or right, one of them houses the featured post slider with, on the right a couple of RSS widgets that pull in information from other sites.

        This is the site: Business and Software Strategy for Globalisation

        So I hope you can see from those that there is way more scope with WordPress, plugins and themes than you think.

        Lastly, for your next project, you can achieve a lot with the standard WP theme that comes loaded with each install OR once installed, search through the extensive library of free themes right from within your WordPress dashboard, to find all kinds of themes that will fit your needs. Word of warning though, don't be tempted to upload OLD themes that are not now compatible with the newer version of WP, same goes for plugins.

        Good luck with your sites
        Sue
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        One-to-One WordPress Coaching Service Available at Low Hourly Rate - Let the frustration end now! WordPress Installs, Theme Design, Site Tweaks & other WordPress services available
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  • Profile picture of the author TMW
    Sue,

    That was the most incredibly thoughtful post I have read in a long time. Thank you VERY much. I am going to come back and study what you said again, in a hurry at the moment, but just wanted to thank you sincerely.

    The problem I had with this particular site was that I created the entire thing, to my liking with various boxes on the screen, background we liked, etc. I didn't realize that I was using the html version of the site until I had everything written, graphics where I wanted them, photos where I wanted them, etc. Then when I realized that either WP or Joomla would not look the same, I was stuck. Now I can't change the content very easily, can't add snippets from a blog to the home page, can't add a FB like button, and lots of other problems. Problem is we love the background in terms of matching logo, etc. So for this site I"m thinking of trying to learn Joomla, which I think will give me the best chance of recreating the look of the site.

    But I am slated to make another site, totally different, will not need to match any particular logo. I will either use Joomla or WP. Could you tell me your preferred template for having a snippet of the blog link (changing w/new posts) on the front page, and whatever plug in you use to create that effect? I've looked at thesis and am considering trying that next. But then I heard someone say you need knowledge of html to work with thesis, so now I'm not sure. I am aware of the various extensions for WP, have browsed through them, but not sure exactly which ones would accomplish what I'm seeking to do. Site will be pretty simple aside from this moving blog on otherwise static front page. I did several google searches and found blogs talking about the difficulty of creating a "semi-static" front page on WP, which is why I thought it couldn't be done without html knowledge. But I absolutely LOVE that you told me otherwise--I would love to use WP!! I had another longish running blog on WP a few years back and of course loved the ease of use. I just haven't been able to figure out functionality beyond blog on WP.

    Thank you and would greatly appreciate knowing what template and/or plug-ins you use for this semi-static front page in particular (preferably also a theme that has a decent look). I don't mind paying for the template, just want something highly functional. I am going to come back later today or this weekend and check out your example sites. Thank you again!! Have a great day and weekend!!

    Tina
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