Help with setting up the blog section

[abheeshekj]

Hi
Thanks for the killer theme I just need a little help with setting up the blog section

I want a menu on the left with items and sub items (states and districts respectively). And the blog page to change and show the posts depending on the state and district selection.

When the page is loaded. By default it can show the top posts or something.
I am attaching an image to help you understand what I’m trying to achieve. Please help!

Thanks and Regards

AJ

[Prasant]

Hello @abheeshekj,

Thanks for asking.

Let me bifurcate the changes you are looking for into submodules so that it’s easier for you to achieve the Blog Layout that you are looking for.

• The first task is to create Menu Items that will list all the State and Districts. You can do the same in two ways. First, create categories (States) and sub-categories (Districts) and then display using Category Widget under Appearance > Widgets. Second, you can create Menu Items and sub menu items under Appearance > Menus. I have recorded screencast that you can take a look wherein I have shown both the process. Now you might ask, which one to use? I suggest you to use the Menu option as it will give you better control on the visibility aspect of the items you want to display.

Category

Menu

• Next, I suggest you to create a custom Sidebar under Appearance > Sidebar and assign the same to the blog page. Here’s a screencast that you can refer.

To learn more about the custom sidebar feature, please take a look at following resource.

https://theme.co/apex/forum/t/features-unlimited-sidebars/95

• The default Blog Page: The blog index page, you can have all the recent post articles displayed either in Masonry Layout or standard layout that you can get in X > Theme Options > Blog > Style.

Hope that helps you to get started.

Thanks.

[abheeshekj]

Hi i tried following this but the blog page wouldnt display any sidebar. please check?

[friech]

Hi AJ,

Is that the site that you’re working on below? It has already the left-sidebar menu.

What you need to do now is add a sub-menu (states and districts) on that blog item. To do that navigate to Posts > Categories and add all your states and districts as categories.

Then navigate to Appearance > Menus and add the categories (states and districts) to your menu, and make it a submenu of the blog item.

WordPress Menu User Guide

There is nothing showing up on your /blog/ page now, right? please navigate to Settings > Reading and set that blog page as your Posts page

Hope it helps,
Cheers!

[abheeshekj]

Hi Friech,
I tried doing what you asked me to do, but it just ends up showing dummy posts on the blog page.
This is not what I want. Also, I added around 30 categories (30 states and a few districts), made a category blog menu. Made a sidebar too. In the widget section, I added Navigation menu and blog sidebar.
But even after doing all this I’m not able to achieve anything (the sidebar doesn’t even show!)
I’ve been wondering, is it because of the Theme X stack I am using?

For reference I am attaching the screenshot again slight_smile:
Please help me out with this!

[abheeshekj]

also, after trying things out and being unable to do the same, I have reset these(the blog page) to the way they were before.

[ruenel]

Hello There,

Thanks for updating in! It turns out that you are using Icon stack. Please be aware that with Icon, you will not have a sidebar to display because of its unique design. You may need to choose Ethos, Integrity or Renew stack to be able to achieve the layout that you wanted.

Once you have chose another stack, please do this:

• Go to X > Theme Options > Layout & Design > Content Layout. You must select the one with a sidebar, Sidebar Left, Content Right.
• Go to X > Theme Options > Blog > Layout and make sure that it is set to “Use Global Settings” so that the sidebar will display.
• Since you already set the widget for the sidebar, you should be seeing the menu in the sidebar in your blog index.

Hope this helps.

[abheeshekj]

If i choose a different stack, will I lose my website? I mean all the customizations I have made?

[friech]

Hi Abhishek,

So basically you need a sidebar with a menu showing all the categories, please navigate to X > Theme Options > Layout and Design and Change the Content Layout to Sidebar Left, Content Right, then save.

Now navigate to Appearance > Widgets and add a Menu Navigation widget on the Main Sidebar and set that Menu Navigation to your Category menu

You need to remove your current left-side header, so it does not overlap with the left-side sidebar. You can do that by using any No Header page template.

@abheeshekj

If i choose a different stack, will I lose my website? I mean all the customizations I have made?

No, you won’t. But the feel and vibe (overall styling) of your site will change.

Hope it helps,
Cheers!

[abheeshekj]

Hi,
guess this is not working out. Starting over, can you please help me by suggesting how can i make a blog page with my current stack where the user can select a state and a district withing that state and be shown the articles related to that state.
Drop downs would work too!

[christian]

Hey @abheeshekj,

The filtering functionality you described is not available in X. You will need to use a faceted search plugin like FacetWP. Please just note that this is not a plugin recommendation. I’m just giving an idea. For further questions about the plugin’s functionality, please contact the plugin support.

Thanks.