WordPress › Support » Instructions for this plugin

kostas123
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Hi,
I have a good basic knowledge of WordPress , not an expert though .
I made an successful installation on my development environment but can't figure out how to enable/ configure a slideshow .
It seems that this plugin has good features .
No matter how excellent a plugin may be , without detailed instruction manual it will never get it's target ( to get widely accepted from the community ) .
Even the FAQ page is very limited for helping a developer , also the link that points to an video-tutorial is broken . .
My opinion is that this plugin deserves a better instruction manual .
Looking forward .....

ps My intention is to make a positive/creative criticism .
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Hi Kostas123,

Sorry for the trouble. I'm trying to find a balance between actively developing new/essential features and getting solid documentation in place. The link to the documentation videos is: http://missingpiecestudios.com/

If you have a few specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Thanks for checking out the plugins and keep the feedback/criticism coming! We're all learning here :)

-Jacob
ghansen
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

First, thanks for what I hear is a great plugin! That being said, I can't figure out how to use it. In the WP Admin, when I click Add New Slide, I see I can create the code and define dimensions, etc. However, how the heck to I associate images to be used in the slideshow? Right now all I can do is generate code like [anything_slides width=515 height=190 ] but that does nothing. How do I get it to work with images?

Your response is appreciated. Thanks!!!
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Hi ghansen,

When you add a new 'slide', you can add whatever content you want to the 'post'/slide. Each 'slide' post is a slide in the slideshow.

Once you have a few slides setup, you can go to a Post or Page and add that shortcode [anything_slides] with whichever attributes you like.

Make sense?

Did you have a chance to watch the video tutorials on http://missingpiecestudios.com/?

Thanks,
Jacob
ghansen
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Hmm... well, first, I did go to missingpiecestudios.com but I don't see any videos. I just see a slider at the bottom, but doesn't tell me much. Sorry!

So, let's take you through what I'm doing...

I click "Add New Slide" and I see an new edit window.

First thing I do is give it a title... let's call it Slide 1.

Second thing I do is click "Insert Slideshow" icon, which pops up a window. All my choices are "Choose Category" and then sizing attributes. Since there's no place for me to choose images, I click "Insert Slideshow."

In my content edit window, I see the slideshow code:
[anything_slides width=515 height=190 ]

And that's it! I know I'm missing steps, but I don't know what they are.

Thanks!
pastv
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

hi, i have a kind of issue. In a few words, the slider doesn't work in my web site. I've check every step, but i didn't make it work.
is there the possibility of the plugin doesn't work or create some kind of mess with the css of the theme?

Please look this, this is my test number 1.
In this test i see the slider, but also insert pictures above and below

Maybe is an issue with the theme, as i think, but always is better to talk with and expert.
And sorry with my english, its a little bit rusty.
Thanks a lot!!
ghansen
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

pastv, I see your issue! Can you tell me how you even got images to display? I can't get to that point yet... once I do I may be able to help you.
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

ghansen,

Here's the issue:

when you go to add new slide, don't insert a slideshow, add content and/or images.

when you've added a few slides, go to a Post or Page. From there, insert a slideshow. Make sense?

Also, the missingpiecestudios slideshow is full of videos. They should help you out in this case.

Let me know if that helps.

Thanks,
Jacob
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Hi pastv,

It looks like the slideshow is working. Are you concerned about the extra padding the default theme adds on the left hand side?

If so, check out my video about custom theming. Should help you out.

Thanks,
Jacob
ghansen
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

OK thanks. I couldn't find the videos but I'll look again tonight. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Thanks!
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Sounds good. Thanks!
ghansen
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Jacob,
OK, I found the videos and followed the directions and successfully added 3 slides. However, when I insert the slide, it doesn't work. As an FYI, I put all three slides in the same category, assuming the slideshow would only display these 3 images and no others (my plan is to add other categories).

This is the dev URL:
http://bigideasolutions.com/fitnessfactory/the-club/palisades-park/gallery/

I'll watch the video for sizing the actual slideshow, but I want to get the slideshow working first :-)

Also, if I want to add captions, do I just add text to the actual slide page? When I put in actual captions in the image properties, it came out messed up. Of course, if I can't, no biggie.

Thanks!
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Hey ghansen,

Thanks for the follow-up. Glad you were able to get a slideshow inserted into a page. It looks like it isn't playing because the autoPlay and enableArrows options are disabled. Enable either of those, and you should see some action!

You can definitely add captions into the slide. Currently, you'll need to write the css for them. I'm working on adding built in CSS to handle a bunch of that. Stay tuned!

-Jacob
ghansen
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

We're getting there!! How do I change the overall width of the slideshow? It's putting in an inline style for width that is too wide. I've gone into the plugin settings and changed it to 300x300, but it's still putting in the 547px width as an inline style which I can't get rid of.

Once there I think I can fix the alignment. Thanks!
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

When you call the shortcode in your Post or Page, you should have seen an option to set a custom width/height. Are you using the latest version of the plugin? 0.6.4.1?
ghansen
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Hmm... I'm using 0.6.3 ... let me look to upgrade! But yes, I did set the width in the attributes when inserting the slideshow.
ghansen
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

OK, I think that did the trick!
http://bigideasolutions.com/fitnessfactory/the-club/palisades-park/gallery/

Now I just have to find the proper sizing to make sure the slides tile evenly... unless you know of a better way?

Thanks!
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Glad it's working!

It looks like there is a bit of CSS that is overriding slideshow styles.

Line 1279:
#subpage .content ul li

Line 1274:
#subpage .content ul

It's the margin and padding declarations on each of those that are mis-aligning the panels.

-Jacob
ghansen
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Damn! I had it all perfect, went into the plugin settings to suppress the panel navigation below the slide, and now all the inline width styles are back ... and back wider! I reinserted the slide and manually put in 400 x 300, which is showing up in the shortcode, but look at all the inline widths that I can't edit. Any ideas?

<div class="anythingSlider anythingSlider-default" style="width: 615px; height: 312px;">
<div class="anythingWindow">
<ul class="anythingSlider anythingBase" id="slider-224" style="width: 1845px; left: 0px;">
<li class="panel activePage" style="width: 615px; height: 312px;">
<div class="content clearfix"> <img height="232" width="300" title="Palisades Park Fitness Factory" alt="Palisades Park Fitness Factory" src="http://bigideasolutions.com/fitnessfactory/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Exterior-Pal-Park-FF1.jpg"> </div>

<li class="panel" style="width: 615px; height: 323px;">
<div class="content clearfix"> <img height="243" width="300" title="Friends training preacher curls" alt="Friends training preacher curls" src="http://bigideasolutions.com/fitnessfactory/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Friends-training-preacher-curls.jpg"> </div>

<li class="panel" style="width: 615px; height: 310px;">
<div class="content clearfix"> <img height="230" width="300" title="Ab Chair" alt="Ab Chair" src="http://bigideasolutions.com/fitnessfactory/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/male-teen-doing-ab-chair1.jpg"> </div>

</div>
<div class="anythingControls" style="display: block;">
<ul class="thumbNav">

</div>
<span class="arrow forward"><span></span></span><span class="arrow back"><span></span></span></div>
ghansen
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

And the nav buttons when they appear on hover don't work... I have them selected as Yes in both Appearance and Function settings. I appreciate all your help and will definitely donate to your plugin!
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

All of the inline styles are normal. They're calculated based upon the width/height you declare in the shortcode.

if you'd like me to take a look, send me a username/password to jacob [at] jacobdubail [dot] com. That email also works for donations :)

Also, I think if you comment out the css that I referenced earlier, you'll see the width/height work as planned.

Better yet, add this to you stylesheet:
.anythingSlider ul,
.anythingSlider li { margin: 0 !important; padding: 0 !important; }

Let me know if that works.
ghansen
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Thanks! I'll send you an email with some info...
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 10 months ago #

Awesome. Glad we could get you squared away.
mediatracts
Member
Posted 9 months ago #

I followed the instructions for Using the navigation formatted although mine is embedded in the theme (home.php)

But it doesn't seem to work.

URL http://www.wwmf.org
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 9 months ago #

Hi mediatracts,

I just looked at your site and it looks like the navigation formatting is working great.

What is working for you?

-Jacob
mediatracts
Member
Posted 9 months ago #

Hi Jacob,

Sorry it wa really late here in the UK. I had updated the call in the theme file to look like yours in the tutorial video and it didn't work... Played around with it a bit and realised I didn't need the qoute marks around true

Not working code was
`<?php echo do_shortcode( "[anything_slides navFormat="true"]" ); ?>'

Correct code is
'<?php echo do_shortcode( "[anything_slides navFormat=true]" ); ?>'

Great work on the plugin by the way, just love the video embeds etc
jacobdubail
Member
Posted 9 months ago #

Nice catch. I'll update the docs.