Attractive Appearance of a Sidebar - (The Possibility Of)
Oh, what a time waster today has been. An extremely wet and stormy Sunday which seemed perfect for creating some content! Instead, I have wasted hours, firstly with the idea of changing a theme, secondly with attempting to customize the appearance of sidebars.
The reality was that I didn't change the theme as it proved to be too hard, or even scary!
After watching Jay's webinar yesterday and discovering the 'Marketer' theme, it seemed that would be the best way to obtain reasonable looking sidebars on GeneratePress, the theme I chose early this year for my affiliate site.
However, the warning I received about changing that particular theme to an existing site brought that idea to an end.
The Reason for the Change
I am most unhappy about the Sidebars in GeneratePress. I'm not used to such basic sidebars on my websites! As it is easy to see, there is nothing attractive about a sidebar such as this block of text.
Had I been able to change the theme to 'Marketer', I would be happy to have sidebars such as this screenshot from the 'Marketer' theme, as promoted.:
Enter Elementor
I have understood this plugin to be the answer to a webmaster's prayer. However, I'm not totally convinced on this matter.
After watching video after video attempting to find a solution to my sidebar dilemma, I've given up on that idea and now turn to my friends at Wealthy Affiliate.
Does Anyone Know How to Create an Attractive WordPress Sidebar, Please?
It seems the more I learn about WordPress the greater amount of inefficiency I create with regard to this affiliate site. It's worse than trying to train a puppy, kitten or anything else for that matter.
Surely, I'm not the only person who has this dislike about the appearance of GeneratePress sidebars.
When searching for a solution I find numerous videos about how to use sidebar widgets. But, that's not what I need. Design is the major concern.
Thank you,
Recent Comments
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Themes baffle me...was going to try GeneratePress for my newest website, but now not sure I want to.
Have you used widgets? Or tried the "customize" possibilities?
Fran, if you are starting a new website GeneratePress will be fine. You would have the same problem with Sidebars if you stay with basic/original GeneratePress theme which is what I did due to not being aware of the choices available in the GeneratePress Library.
If I were to start a new website I would use GeneratePress Premium (which I have now), and I would select a different theme from the GP Library.
Yes, I do use widgets but had not found a way to customize them, except for using Elementor. However, this didn't work for me due to the existing content.
All very tricky!!
That can be a problem, Derek. I'm seldom satisfied with the appearance of my websites.
Thanks for your comment :)
Valerie
Interesting question. I'm a DIVI user and love it but after Jay's last live training, I'm thinking I should at least build one site with one of the theme's he was talking about just in case DIVI does prove to be noticeably slower or starts littering up my site with site code. So far, all is good.
Still, it wouldn't be a bad idea to be cross-trained in another theme.
I don't have much knowledge about DIVI other than I understood it to be an expensive way of building a website. I always use premium themes but not at the cost of running a DIVI site.
A second site can be a good option, but it's a matter how much time you have to work on two sites.
Thanks very much for your input KC, and best wishes if you start another site :)
Here is what you can do:
1. Remove Recent posts widget if you do not like it.
2. Add Related Posts by Taxonomy plugin. It will add related posts in the sidebar with small pictures. I am using it with the same GeneratePress theme.
Thanks very much your help. I will do this first thing tomorrow morning, as I've logged for the night.
Much appreciated :)
Hopefully you will get the desired response. I will be keeping track as I have the exact same issue. I have previously asked the same question but I went along the lines of 'theme' specific questions. No luck there. Maybe your question will elicit a greater response.
Fingers crossed as my sidebar is 'pants'.
Hi Twack, it's good to receive your message. Tomorrow I will look at the options suggested by Alex and others that may surface. Let's hope we find a solution. I will keep in touch.
Hi Valerie, both Generate Press and Elementor have some excellent and well-supported facebook groups which can be an excellent place to ask theme related questions. Comes in real handy when you can not find the answer here in WA.
Just broaching this with you, have you thought about having a play with CSS to work on those design elements, there are a number of plugins on word press . org.
One that comes to mind is;
https://wordpress.org/plugins/custom-css-js/
Have a look, just a thought, it can help a theme, punch above its weight.
Another option is CSShero, paid, they have an excellent affiliate program I think they are paying 40% commissions at the moment.
Hi Alex, thanks so much for your response. I am so grateful as this issue has been tremendously time consuming.
It had not occurred to me to try CSS.
After a full day of this I'm a little weary but tomorrow I will try your recommendations and let you know the results.
Many thanks,
Valerie
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Good afternoon Valerie,
I started with my 2 websites in January 2017, same theme, same layout, they could be sisters. Michael always makes those nice widgets in the sidebar and that is all I can say about it. I like the total look but that is my personal taste of course.
Well, I hope you are able to figure it out.
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
Good Afternoon Taetske,
You are very fortunate that Michael is able to help you with your websites.
For a number of years, maybe as many as six, I did not experience any problems with my websites. They all had a great appearance, clean, tidy and very attractive sidebars. However, the theme was Woo Canvas and Woo stopped supporting this theme in 2017, I think. I decided to stay with Canvas until eventually, it was necessary to update the WordPress version. I hadn't updated WordPress for too long!. The result was that WordPress updated successfully but it was detrimental to the Canvas theme. All colour had gone and I couldn't repair it. From that day on themes have not been a favorite thing of mine. I still have two websites on Canvas, and will leave them for now!
As technology has progressed and websites have become more sensitive to weight and the effect on speed, together with the need for greater SEO results, the more difficult it is to find a theme that meets requirements. So this is where CSS comes in.
I will arrive at a theme design that I'm happy with even though it is taken time away from creating content. We all know important content is to our success.
With best wishes_Valerie
Good Morning Valerie,
Have you checked your website with WebSiteGrader?
When I did I found out about a couple of things which needed improving. For example, all the widgets were too heavy. Michael redid them and now each one is around 50 kB. Then he deleted the heavy ones from the Media File of the website, helps with speed.
The other, very important thing we discovered was that the SiteMap did not function. The reason being missing to check one little box, happy I found out about that.
I can imagine it must be awful when suddenly the theme you had so many years does not function anymore. I hope you will soon find a new theme you like.
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
Good Afternoon Taetske,
Thanks very much for your advice about WebSiteGrader. I haven't yet checked my website but I will do that. I had some very busy weeks, recently, and have had limited time for my websites and WA.
I'll let you know the results from WebSiteGrader when I've completed the task.
Sending best wishes_ Valerie