So after chasing after a couple of different suggested ways of doing this, I am more confused than ever. I finally got a tip from Esmi on how to make both my sidebars dynamic (Woo! and thank you!), have gotten everything customized the way I want it - and then realize that the font I want to use (Stylistic SF) will not actually display for a good number of people. :::bangs head on desk:::
My solution, of course, is to use an image instead of a font. Easy, right?
Not if you're using widgets, it's not. :::sighs::: Add to that the fact that there seem to be a whole lot of opinions on HOW to accomplish this, and most of them are geared towards much older versions of WP and/or do not relate to my existing theme's coding.
Or else I'm just a doofus, which I freely admit is the most likely possibility.
So to sum up - instead of having the titles (Archives, Blogroll, Categories, etc.) of my widgets be text that is font-defined by the CSS, I want to use actual images for each widget I decide to use. Ones where the words are part of the image, not imposed on a background image by the CSS.
I'm completely lost on how to accomplish this, and I think my eyes are crossing... I'm seeing CSS and php when I close my eyes.
Potentially relevant file content -
Function:
<?php
if ( function_exists('register_sidebar') )
register_sidebar(array(
'name' => 'Sidebar Left',
'before_widget' => '',
'after_widget' => '',
'before_title' => '<h3>',
'after_title' => '</h3>',
));
register_sidebar(array(
'name' => 'Sidebar Right',
'before_widget' => '',
'after_widget' => '',
'before_title' => '<h3>',
'after_title' => '</h3>',
));
?>
Sidebar:
<!-- Sidebar -->
<div class="sidebar">
<?php if ( !function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') || !dynamic_sidebar('Sidebar Left') ) : ?>
<?php endif; ?>
</div>
<!-- Sidebar -->
Footer (because my right sidebar is here):
<!-- Sidebar -->
<div class="sidebar2">
<?php if ( !function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') || !dynamic_sidebar('Sidebar Right') ) : ?>
<?php endif; ?>
</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
<!-- /Main -->
<!-- Footer -->
<div id="footer">
<!-- Copyright -->
<div id="copyright">
<br />(c)Copyrighted Blah Blah Blah, All Rights Reserved.<br />
</div>
<!-- /Copyright -->
</div>
<!-- Footer -->
</div>
<!-- /Page -->
</body>
</html>
And last but not least, my CSS (which would not define for my newly dynamic right sidebar until I put the definitions in the /*Footer*/ which might be a tip that helps someone else on that score):
/* General */
body {
margin: 0;
background: url("images/bg.png");
}
h1, h2, h3, h4 {
margin: 0;
}
img {
border: 0;
}
.clear {
clear: both;
height: 1px;
overflow: hidden;
}
/* Page */
#page {
margin: 0 auto;
width: 1004px;
}
/* Header */
#header {
width: 1004px;
height: 400px;
background: url("images/header.jpg") no-repeat;
position: relative;
}
/* Header - Info */
#header #header-info {
position: absolute;
top: 70px;
left: 350px;
}
#header #header-info h1 {
color: #ffffff;
font: bold 30px "Stylistic SF Bold", Comic Sans MS;
}
#header #header-info h1 a {
color: #ffffff;
text-decoration: none;
}
#header #header-info .description {
color: #ffffff;
font: bold 15px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
}
/* Header - Menu */
#header #header-menu {
position: absolute;
top: 70px;
left: 26px;
height: 53px;
}
#header #header-menu ul {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
list-style-type: none;
height: 53px;
}
#header #header-menu ul li {
float: right;
height: 53px;
margin-right: 8px;
font: bold 10px/43px "Verdana", Verdana;
color: #ffffff;
text-transform: lowercase;
background: url("images/header_menu_left.gif") no-repeat;
}
#header #header-menu ul li a {
color: #ffffff;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 0 40px;
background: url("images/header_menu_right.gif") no-repeat right top;
display: block;
}
#header #header-menu ul li a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
#header #header-menu ul li ul {
display: none;
}
/* Header - Topbar */
#header #topbar {
position: absolute;
top: 225px;
left: 0px;
width: 1004px;
height: 201px;
color: #000000;
font: normal 12px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
}
#header #topbar h3 {
font: bold 15px "Verdana", Verdana;
color: #000000;
}
#header #topbar ul {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
list-style-type: none;
}
#header #topbar ul li {
padding-top: 12px;
color: #ffffff;
font: normal 12px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
}
#header #topbar ul li a {
color: #ffffff;
text-decoration: none;
}
#header #topbar ul li a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
/* Header - Topbar - Boxes */
#header #topbar #topbar-left {
width: 285px;
padding: 35px 33px;
float: left;
}
#header #topbar #topbar-center {
width: 306px;
float: left;
padding: 12px 0 0 30px;
}
#header #topbar #topbar-right {
width: 287px;
float: left;
padding: 12px 0 0 30px;
}
/* Main */
#main {
width: 1004px;
background: url("images/main_1.gif") repeat-y;
}
#main-top {
width: 1004px;
background: url("images/main_top.gif") no-repeat;
}
#main-bottom {
width: 992px;
padding-left: 12px;
min-height: 50px;
background: url("images/main_bottom.gif") no-repeat left bottom;
}
/* Main - Content */
#content {
float: left;
width: 570px;
padding: 6px 16px 0 16px;
}
/* Main - Content - Post */
#content .post {
color: #FFFFFF;
float: left;
margin-bottom: 16px;
width: 554px;
padding: 7px;
background: #191D27;
}
/* Post - Title */
#content .post .post-title {
width: 554px;
height: 51px;
color: #FFFFFF;
font: bold 12px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
}
#content .post .post-title a {
color: #FFFFFF;
text-decoration: none;
}
#content .post .post-title a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
#content .post .post-title .post-date {
float: left;
background: url("images/post_date.gif") no-repeat;
width: 60px;
height: 51px;
color: #0D2845;
text-align: center;
text-transform: uppercase;
margin-right: 10px;
font: bold 10px/15px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
}
#content .post .post-title .post-date span {
margin-bottom: 2px;
display: block;
font: bold 16px/34px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
}
#content .post .post-title h2 {
padding: 4px 0 3px 0;
color: #FFFFFF;
font: bold 19px "Verdana", Verdana;
}
#content .post .post-title h2 a {
color: #FFFFFF;
text-decoration: none;
}
#content .post .post-title h2 a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
/* Post - Entry */
#content .post .post-entry {
font: normal 12px/18px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
color: #FFFFFF;
padding: 0 4px;
width: 546px;
}
#content .post .post-entry a {
color: #FFFFFF;
text-decoration: none;
}
#content .post .post-entry a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
#content .post .post-entry .more-link {
font: bold 12px/20px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
color: #FFFFFF;
float: right;
padding-bottom: 5px;
}
#content .post .post-entry .more-link a {
color: #FFFFFF;
text-decoration: none;
}
#content .post .post-entry .more-link a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
/* Post - Info */
#content .post .post-info {
padding: 10px 4px 0 4px;
width: 546px;
clear: both;
font: bold 12px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
color: #FFFFFF;
}
#content .post .post-info a {
color: #FFFFFF;
text-decoration: none;
}
#content .post .post-info a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
/* Post - Comments */
#content .post h3 {
color: #FFFFFF;
font: bold 17px "Verdana", Verdana;
margin: 25px 0 5px 0;
padding: 0 4px;
width: 546px;
}
#content .post .comments {
padding: 0 4px;
width: 546px;
font: normal 12px/18px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
color: #FFFFFF;
}
#content .post .comments a {
color: #FFFFFF;
text-decoration: none;
}
#content .post .comments a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
#content .post .comments ol {
margin: 10px 0 10px 0;
padding-left: 25px;
}
#content .post .comments ol li {
padding: 5px;
}
#content .post .comments ol li.alt {
background: #000000;
}
#content .post .comments ol li cite {
color: #FFFFFF;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: bold;
}
#content .post .comments ol li cite a {
color: #FFFFFF;
text-decoration: none;
}
#content .post .comments ol li cite a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
#content .post .comments ol li .commentmetadata a {
color: #FFFFFF;
text-decoration: none;
}
#content .post .comments ol li .commentmetadata a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
#content .post #commentform {
margin: 0;
font: normal 12px/18px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
color: #FFFFFF;
padding: 0 4px;
width: 546px;
}
#content .post #commentform a {
color: #FFFFFF;
text-decoration: none;
}
#content .post #commentform a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
/* Main - Content - Navigation */
#content .navigation {
font: bold 12px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
color: #ffffff;
width: 495px;
height: 25px;
float: left;
margin-bottom: 25px;
}
#content .navigation a {
color: #ffffff;
text-decoration: none;
}
#content .navigation a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
#content .navigation .navigation-previous {
float: left;
}
#content .navigation .navigation-next {
float: right;
}
/* Main - Sidebar */
.sidebar {
float: left;
width: 189px;
font: strong 12px/18px "Stylistic SF Bold", Comic Sans MS;
color: #ffffff;
padding: 28px 0;
}
.sidebar a {
color: #8E0000;
text-decoration: none;
}
.sidebar a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
/* Sidebar - Titles */
.sidebar h3 {
padding-left: 20px;
font: bold 22px "Stylistic SF Bold", Comic Sans MS;
text-transform: lowercase;
color: #ffffff;
height: 46px;
width: 189px;
background: url("images/sidebar_title.gif") no-repeat;
}
/* Sidebar - Menus */
.sidebar ul {
margin: 0 0 20px 18px;
padding: 0;
list-style-type: none;
}
.sidebar ul li {
color: #ffffff;
font: normal 12px/26px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
}
.sidebar ul li a {
color: #ffffff;
text-decoration: none;
}
.sidebar ul li a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
/* Sidebar - Forms */
.sidebar #searchform {
margin: 0 auto;
padding: 15px 0 25px 0;
width: 145px;
text-align: center;
}
.sidebar #searchform #s {
width: 145px;
}
/* Sidebar - Tables */
.sidebar #calendar_wrap {
margin: 5px auto 20px auto;
width: 120px;
}
.sidebar #calendar_wrap caption {
font-weight: bold;
}
.sidebar #calendar_wrap #today {
font-weight: bold;
}
/* Sidebar - Texts */
.sidebar2 .textwidget {
padding: 0 10px 20px 10px;
}
/* Footer */
/* Main - Sidebar2 */
.sidebar2 {
float: left;
width: 189px;
font: strong 12px/18px "Stylistic SF Bold", Comic Sans MS;
color: #ffffff;
padding: 7px 0;
}
.sidebar2 a {
color: #8E0000;
text-decoration: none;
}
.sidebar2 a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
/* Sidebar2 - Titles */
.sidebar2 h3 {
padding-left: 20px;
font: bold 22px "Stylistic SF Bold", Comic Sans MS;
text-transform: lowercase;
color: #ffffff;
height: 46px;
width: 189px;
background: url("images/sidebar_title.gif") no-repeat;
}
/* Sidebar2 - Menus */
.sidebar2 ul {
margin: 0 0 20px 18px;
padding: 0;
list-style-type: none;
}
.sidebar2 ul li {
color: #ffffff;
font: normal 12px/26px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
}
.sidebar2 ul li a {
color: #ffffff;
text-decoration: none;
}
.sidebar2 ul li a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
/* Sidebar2 - Forms */
.sidebar2 #searchform {
margin: 0 auto;
padding: 15px 0 25px 0;
width: 145px;
text-align: center;
}
.sidebar2 #searchform #s {
width: 145px;
}
/* Sidebar2 - Tables */
.sidebar2 #calendar_wrap {
margin: 5px auto 20px auto;
width: 120px;
}
.sidebar2 #calendar_wrap caption {
font-weight: bold;
}
.sidebar2 #calendar_wrap #today {
font-weight: bold;
}
/* Sidebar2 - Texts */
.sidebar2 .textwidget {
padding: 0 10px 20px 10px;
}
#footer {
margin-top: 45px;
width: 1004px;
height: 62px;
position: relative;
color: #FFFFFF;
font: normal 10px/15px "Trebuchet MS", Verdana;
text-align: center;
}
#footer a {
color: #CCCCCC;
text-decoration: none;
}
#footer a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
Please understand that I have tried to follow the (exceptionally brief and apparently assumptive of higher skills than I have) suggestions I've managed to find through searching strings such as "widget title image" and the like - but I have not been able to accomplish my goal. So if anyone is willing to take a shot at this, please assume I have the coding skills of a 90 year old grandmother who thinks the internet is something you use to hold your intestines inside your body - because after repeated failures and realizing I'm blind to the obvious (thank you again, Esmi), that is PRECISELY how I would define my skill level tonight.
Thanks for any ideas you can offer, and so help me if I find out there is a plug-in that would make simple work of this (which I also haven't found), I'm going to need one of those internets to keep myself from losing my lunch in shame.