Caneval

There must be a way that this can be done. For example, if on the homepage/index.php I push the posts’ IDs into an array called $homeids, how could my recent posts column/sidebar.php template access and exclude $homeids from being displayed?

Okay well I solved my own problem. I added a new div, pasted a post loop inside, and to specify the number and type of posts I wanted the column to list, I inserted the following code in the relevant template (for me, that’s the index.php file) below the start of the div code “<div class=”[name]”> “

<?php
 $topbox = get_posts('numberposts=3&category=8');
 foreach($topbox as $post) :
    setup_postdata($post);
 ?>

--content, e.g. post title, thumbnail info, excerpt info goes here--

 <?php endforeach; ?>
</div>

Edit how you see fit.

Then I changed the width of columns via CSS so they appear on the homepage.

I can’t say if my solution is the correct and cleanest way, but so far it’s working fine.

Thanks WPyogi, I understand. I thought separating and styling individual elements would be a task! Here’s hoping someone has the answer as it could prove very useful.

Spot on, your advice works and thank you for being clear. The only issue now is removing the big white space under the header. I could use [e.g.] margin-bottom: -14px; to remove it, but is that good practice or is there a better way?

Lastly, I want the body text to sit above the featured post image (as it is), and to the right of the non-featured posts’ thumbnails below. This code is in the index.php file, which is what I’ve been editing and is what the page uses – is this what you mean?

<?php
/**http://www.thelayreporter.com/
 * Index Template
 *
 * This is the default template.  It is used when a more specific template can't be found to display
 * posts.  It is unlikely that this template will ever be used, but there may be rare cases.
 *
 * @package Origin
 * @subpackage Template
 */

get_header(); // Loads the header.php template. ?>

	<?php do_atomic( 'before_content' ); // origin_before_content ?>

	<div id="content">

		<?php do_atomic( 'open_content' ); // origin_open_content ?>

		<div class="hfeed">

			<?php if ( have_posts() ) : ?>

				<?php while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>

					<?php do_atomic( 'before_entry' ); // origin_before_entry ?>

						<div id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" class="<?php hybrid_entry_class(); ?>">

							<?php do_atomic( 'open_entry' ); // origin_open_entry ?>

							<div class="sticky-header">

								<?php echo apply_atomic_shortcode( 'entry_title', '[entry-title]' ); ?>

							</div><!-- .sticky-header -->

								<div class="entry-summary">

								<?php the_excerpt(); ?>

								<?php wp_link_pages( array( 'before' => '<p class="page-links">' . __( 'Pages:', 'origin' ), 'after' => '</p>' ) ); ?>

							</div><!-- .entry-summary -->

							<?php if ( current_theme_supports( 'get-the-image' ) ) {

								if ( is_sticky ( $post->ID ) ) {

									get_the_image( array( 'meta_key' => 'Thumbnail', 'size' => 'single-thumbnail', 'image_class' => 'featured' ) );

								} else {

									get_the_image( array( 'meta_key' => 'Thumbnail', 'size' => 'thumbnail', 'image_class' => 'featured' ) );

								}

							} ?>

							<?php do_atomic( 'close_entry' ); // origin_close_entry ?>

						</div><!-- .hentry -->

					<?php do_atomic( 'after_entry' ); // origin_after_entry ?>

				<?php endwhile; ?>

			<?php else : ?>

				<?php get_template_part( 'loop-error' ); // Loads the loop-error.php template. ?>

			<?php endif; ?>

		</div><!-- .hfeed -->

		<?php do_atomic( 'close_content' ); // origin_close_content ?>

		<?php get_template_part( 'loop-nav' ); // Loads the loop-nav.php template. ?>

	</div><!-- #content -->

	<?php do_atomic( 'after_content' ); // origin_after_content ?>

<?php get_footer(); // Loads the footer.php template. ?>